Judge Scarecrow

[BatmAngelus]

What did you think of Crane's cameo in The Dark Knight Rises?

It just occurred to me recently that the concept of Scarecrow/Crane as a "judge" in the Nolanverse was actually foreshadowed four years ago in Batman: Gotham Knight in which Scarecrow does something similar, in the "In Darkness Dwells" segment that was written by David Goyer himself. 
"Can anyone here speak for the holy man?"

In my midnight showing, his appearance was one of the few times the film got applause (Not surprisingly, audience response to this movie was far less than the reactions I remember from watching The Dark Knight in theaters, so whenever there actually was a reaction to TDKR, I noted it) and it's kinda cool that he cemented himself as the only villain to appear in all three movies.

Personally, though, it also felt like a cameo for the sake of a cameo.  I didn't see a reason why Crane would've taken on this role or why Bane himself wouldn't have been sentencing these people to death, since he was the dictator in Gotham.  Also, performance-wise, Murphy seemed to have been playing a different character.

[phantom stranger]

Ideally, it would've been Two-Face acting as the Judge since it fits better with his psychosis.

In fact, that's pretty much what happened in No Man's Land. I can't locate the issue but I'm sure BatmAngelus can.

[BatmAngelus]

^ Yep.  BATMAN #572 and DETECTIVE COMICS #739.  http://about-faces.livejournal.com/5863.html

If they did keep Two-Face alive at the end of The Dark Knight, I would've loved to have seen an NML-style trial scene with Two-Face prosecuting Gordon over all his actions (i.e. trusting Batman, lying to the city, etc.).  Heck, if they hadn't rushed Two-Face's development and killed him off in The Dark Knight, I'd have loved to have seen Two-Face's revenge on Gordon, over failing to save Rachel, done in this trial form, too.

[Bobthegoon89]

Some didn't like it as it felt far too "comic booky" an idea in a Nolan Bat film. Wasn't sure about it myself at first. Now glad they did it as it's just a fun thing to see. Almost becoming a fun Burtonesque Batman type idea again.

[The Joker]

Fun little cameo for the most part. Wasn't really required for the narrative of course, but excluding Scarecrow completely most likely would have been one of those things often mentioned by fans with any criticism pertaining to TDKR.

[HarryCanyon]

It was a nice cameo to see one of my fave Batman villains as a judge, Murphy was good casting i should say.

[ElCuervoMuerto]

I enjoyed it. I was waiting for Murphy's cameo and when I first saw the trial set up I was like "Crane gonna be here". It was a nice way to unify the whole trilogy.

[The Dark Knight]

Two-Face or The Joker would've been a better fit in the role of a kangaroo court Judge. But alas, both character were off limits. One by life (Nolan could have recasted but chose not to) and one by narrative choices in the previous film.

I suppose they had the angle of Crane being a master of fear, inspiring that vibe in people in his lose/lose judgements. It was alright, but the scenes didn't thrill me like they could've.

I guess they wanted to show some form of development in the character. Going from a sick minded Arkham employee who uses fear gas, a dealer and then somewhat back to where we met him. Sick and cruel minded but without the mask and theatricality. That's part of why I think the scenes fell a little flat. It was more of less just Cillian Murphy delivering lines. Moore oomph was needed.

[Azrael]

It was fun.