Plot twists are always tough to handle. The great ones ("I am your father") add substance to the film, give the characters more depth and force the audience to reevaluate what they have just seen. If your film employs one of these twists, it's vital to keep it a secret because the shock enhances the experience of watching the movie for the first time. One trick Nolan used when writing
The Dark Knight Rises was to give two characters, Robin and Talia al Ghul, aliases so fans didn't know their true intentions. It's a clever way to misdirect the people who follow the production of these movies very closely. The twists may seem obvious now, but I'm sure there were more than a few moviegoers who fell for the "John Blake" and "Miranda Tate" identities before they saw the film. I know I was caught off guard (if only a little bit) when the big reveals came. The way the team handled it was smart. When you think about it, there was absolutely no reason for anyone to mention Talia al Ghul during the pre-release phase of
The Dark Knight Rises. The marketing materials highlighted Bane as the ultimate adversary and Selina Kyle's alliances were never made 100% clear. In some trailers, she was helping Batman. In others, she was threatening Bruce Wayne. The villain department was covered for trailers and TV spots. The decision to push "Miranda Tate" in the background proved to be extremely beneficial. People knew Marion Cotillard was in the film, but she was an afterthought by the time July 20 rolled around. Nolan had positioned her character as a potential love interest for Bruce as he looked to get his personal life back on track. Nobody thought much of her, but the twist changed everything.
This is an instance where a secret definitely helped the film. Prior to the revelation, Miranda Tate was nothing more than a throwaway character who seemed superfluous to the plot. The twist elevated her character by giving her depth and purpose. It was a nice way to bring the trilogy full circle, up the emotional stakes (Talia is the daughter of
Batman Begins villain Ra's al Ghul for those who don't know), and call back one of the many iconic lines of dialogue, "theatricality and deception are powerful agents." Bane - with his plane heists and football field demolitions - represented theatrics. Talia was deception. It's a great touch. In my opinion, the best way to handle the Talia situation was the way Nolan did in his film. Until that moment in the third act, there was never really a suitable time for Miranda to say, "I'm Talia." If it had happened at an earlier part in the film, it would have felt out of place. Nolan really had no choice but to keep the character a secret, and that move paid off. Also, it's not as if Talia al Ghul was expected to be a major part of
The Dark Knight Rises in the first place. People were excited to see if Bane would break Batman's back or if Bruce would die at the end, not watch a showdown between the Dark Knight and Talia al Ghul. By underplaying this element of the movie, Nolan not only blindsided some audience members, but gave his trilogy another layer that ultimately made it better. If the director had told us Miranda was Talia before anyone saw the film, that moment wouldn't have been so impactful and the character probably wouldn't have been as interesting as she became after the reveal. We would have just been sitting there waiting for Bruce to find out instead of learning with him. It was smart. Click "Next" to see how secrets can be detrimental to a film...