What makes this scene (actually, the entire training sequence, which lasts probably a good 1/2 hour and involves several scenes and timeline jumps) stand out as so fucking awesome is the editing and the fantastic score. Its so well paced, and the Zimmer/Newton Howard score is so effective. Ive said it a billion times, so why not once more: BB in its fist 40-50 minutes of running time is darn near flawless. It comes back down to earth when he actually becomes Batman, when the character stuff is thrown into the back seat.
What makes this scene different from anything in TDK is, again, that its really building the character of Bruce Wayne/Batman. As phenomenal as TDK, Bruce Wayne/Bats are already established, and he really doesnt have much of an arc, and TDK certainly isnt as focused on exploring him as BB was. Thats fine though, as both films strive for different things, and both succeed wonderfully. At the end of the day though, Id say that if you prefer character development and delving into what makes Batman tick, you'd prefer BB, while if you prefer sweeping epics filled to the brim with symbolism and thematic elements, you'd prefer TDK.
