Is Batman Still A Force For Good?

Taylor Marvin analyzes the philosophy of violence in The Dark Knight series:

The Dark Knight … feels disturbingly real. This reality is the film’s greatest achievement, and director Christopher Nolan knows how to use it. Why does the films’ evocation of dread work so well? Because the realism of The Dark Knight’s fiction gut punches us into believing it could actually happen: costumed vigilantes aside, Gotham’s social breakdown isn’t unimaginable in a northern Mexican metropolis. It’s this social breakdown — the loss of government’s monopoly on violence — that’s the film’s central theme. … Bruce Wayne’s motivations are noble, but violence outside of the state monopoly on force is always destabilizing. Nolan’s Batman isn’t a civic-minded champion: he’s a tragic hero.