The only thing that bothers me about the ending...

[The Laughing Fish]

Does it bother anybody else that we don't get to see Batman's reaction in the aftermath following the Joker's demise? Batman avenges his parents' murders and Gotham is safe once again, but the ending cuts off too quickly and Batman gets down to business as usual as he watches the Batsignal light up the sky in the end.

[johnnygobbs]

Does it bother anybody else that we don't get to see Batman's reaction in the aftermath following the Joker's demise? Batman avenges his parents' murders and Gotham is safe once again, but the ending cuts off too quickly and Batman gets down to business as usual as he watches the Batsignal light up the sky in the end.

I thought it was a wonderfully triumphant ending that endeavoured to, and in my opinion succeeded in, leaving its audience on a high despite all the preceding moments of darkness.  Burton directs in shorthand without masses and masses of exposition, and thank goodness, so do we really need an extra scene of Batman/Bruce contemplating Napier/The Joker's death?  Plus, maybe it's too early to see what kind of impact the death of his parents' murderer has on Batman/Bruce.  It's not something one can digest moments afterwards, which is why it's great that we ended up with a sequel where we do see Bruce alone in Wayne Manor in deep contemplation, just before he is roused to come, once again, to Gotham's rescue.

[The Dark Knight]

The public letter says it all, really. The job is done and he's going to continue his crusade. He's obviously going to think about the Joker occasionally, but I don't think we need to have it shown. At times I think it's important Batman has space and privacy - that there's a wall between us and the character. Just as he provided the GCPD the bat signal without being in attendance.

[Slash Man]

Never thought about that, but it is a mystery as to what he was thinking exactly. It seems like at some point, Batman gave up his mission for revenge, and focused on justice.

[riddler]

I think it would send the wrong message if they showed Batman happy over the Jokers death especially with controversy over him killing people. The defense of Keatons character is that he takes necessary risks that end in death but if he were shown taking pride in killing people it would fit the argument that he is an executioner (which he does do in batman returns after the dynamite kill).

The ending we got does evoke the message that the heroes job is never done.

[DocLathropBrown]

Keaton's Wayne isn't one that would have had a measurable reaction. I think he would have just held in the victory for himself. I doubt he even told Alfred how he had avenged their deaths. Vicki would have only known because she heard him say "you killed my parents" in the Belltower.

[The Laughing Fish]

I'm looking at Sam Hamm's first draft for the script right now, and there was a bit of an epilogue between Vicki and Bruce following the Joker's death:

[NT. WAYNE MANOR - STUDY - DAY

     ALFRED, in his apron, on the phone.

                            ALFRED
               No, Mr. Wayne is in Thailand. I'm
               afraid he's quite unreachable.

     INT. WAYNE MANOR - DAY

     The glass-enclosed room which houses BRUCE's Olympic-sized
     SWIMMING POOL. Outside, snow is falling.

     In the pool, on an inflatable rubber raft, is BRUCE WAYNE.
     Beside him, waist-deep is the water, is VICKI -- helping
     him rehabilitate his leg and shoulder.

                            VICKI
               I don't know why I'm doing this. I
               half wish you'd stay a cripple.

                              BRUCE
               Ohhhh... you don't mean that.

                              VICKI
                     (grasping for words)
               I don't, but... I do. It's just... I
               love you, Bruce. I --

                              BRUCE
                     (taking her hand)
               Vicki. Do you love half of me? Or
               all of me?

     A hard question for VICKI to answer. She thinks it over for
     several beats, then SMILES... SLOWLY, SADLY.

                              VICKI
               I guess you did it, didn't you. You
               saved everyone.
                     (pause)
               Almost.

     For a moment he stares deeply into her eyes. Then he pulls
     her over, takes her in a tight embrace.

                              BRUCE
               I don't know how to explain this so
               it makes sense... but you saved
               me.

Source: http://www.dailyscript.com/scripts/batman_early.html

Keep in mind though that this draft is completely different to the final product we got, e.g. the inclusion of Dick Grayson and he becomes Robin in the end, Alexander Knox dies etc. Regardless, this exchange wasn't quite what I was looking for. While I appreciate everybody else's answers to my question, I believe that if we were going to see Bruce's reaction to avenging his parents, I'd prefer that we see him coming to terms how revenge is never going to make the pain go away completely, and he swears to continue his crusade against crime for the rest of his life. Nonetheless, he still makes that pledge at the end of the movie.

[Grissom]

Nice excerpt! One thing I love is ghat after the cathedral  showdown, we don't see " Bruce"  again just Batman looking up at the signal. If If they had a lot of additional scenes after the showdown, it might have dulled the impact of that superb climax.

[The Dark Knight]

Nice excerpt! One thing I love is ghat after the cathedral  showdown, we don't see " Bruce"  again just Batman looking up at the signal. If If they had a lot of additional scenes after the showdown, it might have dulled the impact of that superb climax.

I agree completely. It clearly has been some time between Joker's death and the batsignal unveiling, especially considering Vicki's different appearance. But by not showing Bruce again, it gives the vibe Batman hasn't moved on and is still in that vigilant mindset. He's still in that 'moment'.

[riddler]

It does fit well with the beginning of returns as we see Batman lookiing up at the signal to end this film and the next shot of Bruce wayne in the sequel he seems to be literally sitting and waiting for the signal that his presence is required again.