7 Striking Similarities Between Skyfall and The Dark Knight & The Dark Knight Rises

By now, we've probably all heard about how director Sam Mendes was inspired by Christopher Nolan's Batman films while making Skyfall, but just how far do the similarities go?
Before we start listing them off, it should be noted that these similarities do not, by any means, take away from Skyfall, which is undeniably one of the best Bond films to date. If you haven't seen it, Skyfall is Daniel Craig's third film as the British spy James Bond, and is certainly his best. It also stars Judy Dench and Javier Bardem. This post may contain spoilers, so if you haven't seen the film, proceed with caution.
So here they are, the undeniable similarities between Skyfall and The Dark Knight.

007. Start With a Bang

The easiest place to start is, of course, with the introductions. Skyfall immediately plunges into a huge action scene, wasting no time on set up. Both The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight rises follow a similar pattern. The Dark Knight kicks off with Joker's bank robbery and The Dark Knight Rises begins with Bane's grand scheme unfolding thousands of feet above the earth.
Of course, plenty of films begin with some great action scenes, and there are some big differences here, the most obvious is that Skyfall's opening scene focuses on the hero, while the Batman films introduce us to our villains right away.

6. Newcomers Welcome

Possibly the best thing about TDK/TDKR is that both films can easily exist without the other, and even without the often forgotten Batman Begins. Both films contain full stories with beginning, middle and end and can easily be enjoyed without their predecessors.
This is also the best thing about Skyfall. To create a fully functioning and highly enjoyable film that can exist without prequels, especially in a franchise with as much history as James Bond, is no easy task, but Skyfall greatly succeeds here. Not only do you not need to be a James Bond fan to enjoy Skyfall, you don't even need to see the previous two Daniel Craig films. Skyfall is jam-packed with references to previous Bond films, but these small jokes are by no means necessary to the overall story. The ability to be incredible stand-alone stories are fantastic features of all three of these films, and is something that more sequels should try.

5. Orphaned Heroes

Obviously, Batman is an orphan. It is what drives Bruce Wayne to do everything he does. However, Skyfall introduces the idea that James Bond is also an orphan. Skyfall dives deep into the hero's backstory, something that I normally wouldn't enjoy in a franchise film, however, unsurprisingly, this one succeeds.

4. Change of Place

In both The Dark Knight and Skyfall, we see the hero's HQ temporarily relocated to an underground bunker.
In Batman Begins, Wayne Manor is burned to the ground, forcing Batman to relocate the famous Bat-Cave to a hight-tech underground facility. In Skyfall, MI6's London headquarters is attacked early in the film, forcing the organization to relocate to an underground bunker. In both films, the relocation isn't exactly a huge part of the story, but there's no denying that this similarity is very much present.

3. A Helping Hand

Batman would be nothing without the information and gear supplied by Lucius Fox. It is thanks to Fox that Bruce Wayne isn't immediately killed in action as soon as he hit the streets to fight crime in Batman Begins. In The Dark Knight, Fox helps Batman track down the Joker using an advanced mapping system which utilizes the signal produced by cell phones around Gotham City.
Similarly, James Bond's Q supplies the master spy with the gadgets he has become famous for over the years. Much like in The Dark Knight, Q helps bond track down Silva using high-tech computer systems that even look kind of like Fox's setup in The Dark Knight.

2. The Hero Rises

After the events of The Dark Knight, Batman is symbolically dead to Gotham City, who peg him as a villain after the death of Harvey Dent. However, a great hero can never stay down, so when big bad Bane shows up to bring Gotham to it's knees, Batman must rise up once again and save his city.
In Skyfall, James Bond is thought dead after a botched mission. Living in hiding, away from his life as MI6's best spy, Bond decides he must return when the headquarters are attacked by unknown terrorists. Both films see a retired hero return because of an overwhelming sense of duty and loyalty, unable to stay away from the lifestyle they vowed to leave behind.

1. Some Men Just Want To Watch The World Burn

The Joker. The ultimate Batman villain. His love of mayhem and anarchistic nature make him one of the most unpredictable villains of all time. The perfect match for Batman, a hero with a strict moral code, whose lack of superpowers are replaced with genius research and detective skills, plus strong physical training as a member of the League of Shadows. Silva. An ex-MI6 agent with a penchant for destruction and violence. The complete opposite of the suave master spy James Bond.
The hero and villain pair in both films are reminiscent of yin and yang. Contrary to popular belief, yin and yang do not represent good and evil. They are two opposite forces which remain interdependent and connected. Batman and Joker can never be without the other. The Joker can never stop his criminal quest for anarchy and disorder, a cause that Batman can never stop fighting. It is a never-ending conflict. While Bond and Silva do not have the same history, Silva is undeniably the ultimate Bond villain. The yin to Bond's yang.
Both the Joker and Silva are villains designed to be everything their counterparts are not. Both men have ultimate goals involving utter chaos and the destruction of all the hero holds sacred, and despite their chaotic nature, both villains use extensive amounts of planning and meticulous design when it comes to their grand schemes, both of which allowing themselves to be captured in order to complete a piece of the puzzle. These villains help define the heroes by being their polar opposites.

As you can see, Skyfall and Christopher Nolan's Batman films are undeniably similar in many ways, but is this a bad thing? Of course not. Skyfall is in no way a rip-off or cheap copy of the Batman films. Introducing similar themes and plot elements does not take away from the film at all, it improves it. It is obvious that Sam Mendes greatly admires Christopher Nolan's work, he is not trying to cash in on his ideas.