After willfully ignoring the bootlegged version that leaked and
refusing to sit through another epic length Harry
Potter flick at the multiplex, my patience was finally rewarded. The teaser for The Dark Knight Rises surfaced online today. Since the film hasn’t actually been shooting
for that long, I wasn’t expecting much in the way of “money shots” or iconic
images, but I was expecting something to stoke the fires of my
anticipation. Well, something is exactly
what I got, though I’m not sure it was worth enduring all of the hype that
preceded it.
The trailer starts out ominously, with recycled footage from
the two previous Batman films. They are juxtaposed with footage of the
camera rapidly ascending alongside obvious CGI walls, with ominous words
flashing briefly onscreen. We see
familiar shots from Batman Begins:
one of Bruce trekking across the mountainous terrain leading to Ra's al Ghul’s
(Liam Neeson) Tibetan fortress, the other of Bruce conquering his childhood
fears in the soon to be excavated batcave.
There is foreboding voice over by Liam Neeson that is actually a
monologue from Batman Begins.
After that lengthy preamble, the first bit of footage from The Dark Knight Rises is revealed:
Commissioner Jim Gordon (Gary Oldman) lying in a hospital bed, pulling a
breathing apparatus away from his mouth to deliver a speech to an off-screen Bruce
Wayne (Christian Bale). Someone is shown
climbing out of an endless well. There is
a shot of Bane (Tom Hardy) performing push-ups, and another of his mask glowering
into the camera. The shot of the CGI
buildings transitions into the image from the teaser poster. Just after the titles appear onscreen, the “money
shot” arrives: an exasperated Batman facing off against a hulking opponent who
rises slowly in the foreground.
![]() |
Batman (center) and Bane (left foreground) square off while someone looks on in the background (right). |
What does this all mean?
For one, it means that either Nolan doesn’t have enough footage for a
trailer yet, or he is willfully holding back so as not to spoil any of the “surprises”
he has in store. I’d say it’s a little
of both. It also means that the dark and
foreboding tone of the last two entries will not only be maintained but perhaps
intensified. Nothing here looks
particularly hopeful, as Gordon is either in Ill Health or severely
injured. He is also begging for Batman’s
help. Then there is the Rocky IV style shot of Batman huffing
and puffing as he raises his dukes to confront whoever or whatever it is that’s
rising in the foreground. Startlingly,
Bats seem apprehensive. He’s actually
backing away. Could this be the moment
where we see the “breaking” of Batman? And
who or what is that figure in the left hand corner of the far background of the
frame?
Truth be told, this is a rather unremarkable teaser. There are no surprises, and it doesn’t set
the audience up for anything that it wasn’t already expecting. When all is said and done, it announces the
coming of another Batman film. The main thing that makes this teaser
worthwhile is that brief and breathless moment at the end, which effectively sets
up Bane as Ivan Drago to Batman’s Rocky Balboa.
What makes it all the more startling is the lack of an epic look. It’s a medium shot that could have come out
of your average boxing flick. The
chanting on the soundtrack gives it an air of finality, as if something
important and inevitable is taking place. Everyone will have to wait for the
full trailer to get a real taste of Nolan’s vision, but for now we can all just
rewind and watch those last few seconds to our hearts content.
No comments:
Post a Comment