The Reason Behind The Map

[BatmanFurst]

There are two scenes in this movie that I need help with. The first is when Alfred asks Bruce to tell Vicki the truth, and the second is right before Bruce asks Alfred for the file on his parents. In both of these scenes Bruce is staring at a map. In the second one he's staring at a monitor with Axis Chemicals circled on it. My question is what's the point of the maps? Did Bruce figure out that's where the Joker was hiding, or did he finally figure out that's where Smylex was being manufactured?  I was under the impression that the main reason he blew it up was to kill the Joker which is why the Joker says " miss me" later on so I'm thinking it's the former rather than the latter.

[thecolorsblend]

There are two scenes in this movie that I need help with. The first is when Alfred asks Bruce to tell Vicki the truth, and the second is right before Bruce asks Alfred for the file on his parents. In both of these scenes Bruce is staring at a map. In the second one he's staring at a monitor with Axis Chemicals circled on it. My question is what's the point of the maps? Did Bruce figure out that's where the Joker was hiding, or did he finally figure out that's where Smylex was being manufactured?  I was under the impression that the main reason he blew it up was to kill the Joker which is why the Joker says " miss me" later on so I'm thinking it's the former rather than the latter.

Batman had already deciphered the secret of the Joker's poison. It's logical to assume that he'd know where the Smylex was being manufactured.

Eliminating Axis Chemicals is a no-brainer. I don't think Batman was necessarily aiming for the Joker with that operation. He simply needed to shut down the Smylex at the source. If the operation just happened to eliminate the Joker as well, I don't think Batman would've regretted it for an instant. But I don't think the Joker was the priority target with the attack on the chemical factory.

[BatmanFurst]

There are two scenes in this movie that I need help with. The first is when Alfred asks Bruce to tell Vicki the truth, and the second is right before Bruce asks Alfred for the file on his parents. In both of these scenes Bruce is staring at a map. In the second one he's staring at a monitor with Axis Chemicals circled on it. My question is what's the point of the maps? Did Bruce figure out that's where the Joker was hiding, or did he finally figure out that's where Smylex was being manufactured?  I was under the impression that the main reason he blew it up was to kill the Joker which is why the Joker says " miss me" later on so I'm thinking it's the former rather than the latter.

Batman had already deciphered the secret of the Joker's poison. It's logical to assume that he'd know where the Smylex was being manufactured.

Eliminating Axis Chemicals is a no-brainer. I don't think Batman was necessarily aiming for the Joker with that operation. He simply needed to shut down the Smylex at the source. If the operation just happened to eliminate the Joker as well, I don't think Batman would've regretted it for an instant. But I don't think the Joker was the priority target with the attack on the chemical factory.

Then maybe he was looking at the maps to find the best route in? Idk, clearly there's some detective work on display with him studying these maps, but idk what he's looking for.

[thecolorsblend]

There are two scenes in this movie that I need help with. The first is when Alfred asks Bruce to tell Vicki the truth, and the second is right before Bruce asks Alfred for the file on his parents. In both of these scenes Bruce is staring at a map. In the second one he's staring at a monitor with Axis Chemicals circled on it. My question is what's the point of the maps? Did Bruce figure out that's where the Joker was hiding, or did he finally figure out that's where Smylex was being manufactured?  I was under the impression that the main reason he blew it up was to kill the Joker which is why the Joker says " miss me" later on so I'm thinking it's the former rather than the latter.

Batman had already deciphered the secret of the Joker's poison. It's logical to assume that he'd know where the Smylex was being manufactured.

Eliminating Axis Chemicals is a no-brainer. I don't think Batman was necessarily aiming for the Joker with that operation. He simply needed to shut down the Smylex at the source. If the operation just happened to eliminate the Joker as well, I don't think Batman would've regretted it for an instant. But I don't think the Joker was the priority target with the attack on the chemical factory.

Then maybe he was looking at the maps to find the best route in? Idk, clearly there's some detective work on display with him studying these maps, but idk what he's looking for.

The maps are part production design (eg, illustrating that he's got stuff going on in the Batcave) and part visual shorthand (eg, he's got a target picked out). In reality, nobody would draw up such didactic visual aids and put them on display like that. But it's meant to show the audience that he's done his homework without having to say that he's done his homework.

It's not worth overthinking.

Still, I do think we're supposed to infer that a few days or even a full week have passed between the time that Batman gave Vicki the full report in the Batcave and the time that Batman destroyed the chemical factory. What that tells me is that Batman carefully planned the operation out. It wasn't done on a whim. He's took the time to study the factory and plan the best way to burn it to the ground.

I admire his precision in conceiving the plan ahead of time and his ruthlessness in carrying it out. No nerves, no internal conflict, no moral qualms; only a clear-eyed vision of what must be and then the pure will to carry it out, quickly and efficiently.

This Batman is a predator.

[The Dark Knight]

Apart from all else colors posted, there is something to be said about brooding. Having a map with Axis highlighted gives you something to focus on, almost like placing a bullseye over a photo of your worst enemy.  My guess is that Bats had a strong suspicion Axis was the nerve centre of the operation. But once Napier broadcasted his speech on TV, Bruce connected the dots and sealed the deal. Napier was the Joker, Joker was born at Axis, and Axis was the place. Vicki and Knox use maps to determine so called flight patterns of Batman. It's a way the movie showcases research and deduction.

[Silver Nemesis]

I've always felt there was an element of desperation behind Batman's attack on Axis Chemicals. Burton's Batman had operated with more subtlety up until that scene. I know some fans interpret his change in tactics as a reaction to realising the Joker killed his parents. That could partly be it, but I also think the timeframe presented by the Joker's challenge was a factor. Bruce didn't know precisely what the Joker was planning, but he knew he was going to strike at midnight. That didn't give him much time to act. He had to cut off the supply of Smilex as quickly as possible. I've never thought his primary objective in blowing up the chemical plant was to kill anyone. I doubt he'd have shed a tear if the Joker had been caught in the blast, but I believe his primary goal was to destroy the source of the Joker's greatest weapon: the Smilex poison.

Perhaps the scenes of Bruce contemplating the map were meant to represent him formulating alternate attack strategies. Simply blowing the place up was unlikely to have been his preferred course of action. Maybe he was considering other options, then simply ran out of time when the Joker announced his plan to throw a parade. So in the end, out of pure necessity, he had to opt for the most blunt and destructive course open to him simply because it was the quickest.

Ultimately colors is right though about the map being set dressing. The internal mechanics of Bruce's deductive processes are never elucidated in Batman '89. He just comes up with the answers and we're left to infer how he did it based on what we see in the Batcave. And in that regard the map on the computer screen is a visual clue signifying 'detective at work' to the viewer.

[BatmanFurst]

Everybody's given great answers to this question it could be any one of the above.