Given the recent release of the teaser trailer for “The Dark Knight Rises” as well many set pictures and the first official image of Catwoman making its debut on the internet. I thought I would just take a little time to give my early thoughts on Chris Nolan`s third and final Batman movie. Discussion will include the teaser trailer; the Bane set pictures and first Catwoman picture released.
First up, we have the teaser that debuted with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2. In all senses of the word it is a teaser. First up I really liked the trailer using footage from the prior movies, while this might disappoint others because of a lack of new footage, I personally think the use is very good.
This movie will be Nolan`s final Batman film and from a lot in the news, it will greatly refer back to Batman Begins in essence something that comes full circle. That is why I liked seeing the previous footage, once the third movie is over, we will be looking at the bigger picture and its already interesting to see that just by the teaser. In addition the last shot of The Dark Knight before getting new footage was a nice touch. Now onto the second half of the trailer, it was a bit of shock to see Commissioner Gordon in a hospital bed, especially as hearing not one month ago that there were strong rumors, that Alfred will end in hospital. This first shot is great and such a shock and pretty much throws down the gauntlet and says visually that no one is safe in this movie.
Now as for what Gordon says, it was a little hard to understand at first but now having it seen it quite a few times, it translates as this: “We were in this together and now you’re gone. Now this evil rises. The Batman wants to come back” and in response the anonymous person says “What if he doesn’t exist?” and then the good cop says twice “He must” These are interjected with various images that I will discuss in tandem.
Firstly I think the person that Gordon is talking to is Bruce Wayne. However from prior experience of watching trailers for Nolan`s Bat movies, the way they are cut lines could be changed or refer to completely different scenes or be in absolutely different contexts. However just to go with my original premise, if it is true this quite a revelation and thinking about the implications of it are just very exciting. Now in some comics, Gordon is aware that Bruce Wayne is Batman especially in the later years. For this movie I could perhaps see them playing this relationship as quite subtle almost like Fox knowing Batman`s alter ego, where it’s just a silent acknowledgement. Though I wonder if there is a scene where Gordon finds out and we see him reacting. Potentially if this scene occurs it could be played quite straight or comically.
In between we see flashes of Bane`s face in the form of close-ups. Hardy looks great, he is ferrous, scary and engaging, I am really looking forward to seeing his performance and dare I say at this point he could possibly top Heath`s Joker. If Nolan could do such an amazing job by giving a new spin on such an iconic character that is seventy plus years old such as the Joker. Then think of what he can do with the eighteen year old Bane that has hardly been molded as a character either in the comics or other media. The basic skeleton is there for his character however the possibilities for what Nolan could do with him are just too exciting to contemplate but I am sure they will be spectacular come July 2012.
There is a little shot after Gordon says “this evil rises” where see a unknown character climbing out of a well, I that this is Bane and maybe this is a shot from those scenes filmed in India of where Bane`s rumored origin is seen in flashback. Once we get the title, “The Dark Knight Rises” we get some chanting which seems to be “The fire is rising” which was actually present in the viral marketing campaign. Then we get the final and probably coolest sequence of the trailer. We see Bane walking towards a stumbling and sweaty Batman, while in the distance a man in a white suit is pointing a gun at our hero. From this you could easily infer that Bane is going to be a huge physical challenge to the Caped Crusader in this movie. In addition the general tone of the teaser suggests that he is a major player and driving force in this film.
Overall the teaser trailer for “The Dark Knight Rises” fulfils on what a teaser should, it gets you discussing the movie while waiting in absolutely anticipation for a future one. The genius of it really is, the images that Nolan has chosen to show, why is Gordon in a hospital bed? What is Bane`s role, what is that last sequence about and is the dialogue suggesting that Batman is going to go into hiding? Plus we still got a question of Catwoman and that creates further excitement for fans and movie watchers as what her role and look is going to be. But most notably, the teaser for me personally makes me feel that for the first time that this movie could possibly top “The Dark Knight” and that my friend is a great feeling to have.
Moving onto the set pictures, primarily they have been focused on Bane. To be honest while I can see strange resemblance to Hush in terms of Bane`s look in these pictures they do not distract me to the point of disliking his character look. I think so far from everything I have seen of Bane for this movie that probably out of all the villains presented in the Nolan verse that Bane has the most costume changes.
On the surface, this might be a very superficial point to pick on but think about it this way, his costume changes could represent his state of mind or seeing many different facets of the character in the film. For example the recent set videos suggest that he is a sort of leader trying to ask Gotham to take back control of their city; this opens up a lot of possibilities for Bane which I am very excited to see. Also just one final point, from seeing the fight pictures between Bane and the Caped Crusader, I am very giddy that we are getting a Batman versus Bane fight in the snow in IMAX and this gets me very excited.
Now onto the final item of the day, needless to say the first picture of Catwoman has been getting negative reaction but I have a very different take on it. I think Catwoman might be playing the somewhat Harvey Dent of “The Dark Knight Rises” So you might be seeing her rising up to become Catwoman until we get on full on feline costume complete with cat ears at the end. So this picture could be her at least from a costume point of view on her way to becoming Catwoman. In the context of the picture she could be just a simple cat burglar who Batman encounters for the first time stealing the Bat-pod. In terms of the look, I think even without the ears you could recognize it as Catwoman. I think the Nolan brothers have been looking at the Jim Lee and Tim Sale drawings of Catwoman and are going for that, especially with like the goggles and the black leather, it’s a good look thus far and I can`t wait to see it in motion.
Overall at this point in time, I am very excited for “The Dark Knight Rises” and I really think it could top The Dark Knight. This is due in part to the untapped potential in Bane, the tone of the teaser and some of the character choices in terms of adaptation. I really like Bane`s new look, Catwoman looks solid so far and visually from everything I have seen thus far, Nolan is really going to show us new aspects of Gotham we have not seen before and really knock it out of the park for this movie. The only real concern I have yet is Anne Hathaway as Selina Kylie/Catwoman. To be honest I am not really sure about her as the character so far. But this is not enough to shake my positive buzz for this movie which should be awesome when July 2012 rolls around.
Posted by Sartaj Singh of Scarecrow756`s Movie Shrine
