The Dark Knight Rises Directed by: Christopher Nolan Starring: Christian Bale, Tom Hardy, Anne Hathaway Rating: Not Yet Rated Release Date: July 20, 2012
TRAILER SCORE: 8/10
Thoughts by TSR: Batman Begins and The Dark Knight are both in my top tens of their respective years. Due to that, The Dark Knight Rises is one of the 2012 releases I’m most looking forward to – though it’s not at the top of that hypothetical list. This (rather ominous) trailer was never going to be able to hugely affect my feelings on the film, but I’m happy to find it mostly satisfying.
There is one part of this trailer I can’t stand, but first I want to touch on the good stuff. Number one is Tom Hardy as Bane, who is certainly a formidable foe to Gotham. I love his look, his accent, and his one line is probably my favorite moment in the trailer. A close second is Anne Hathaway as Selina Kyle. I love the way she delivers her lines, and she looks stunning while doing so (not to mention wearing the heck out of that hat).
In addition to Hardy and Hathaway, there are a few more things worth mentioning. The big daytime battle in the snow looks appropriately grand, and the Batwing chasing a camouflage Tumbler through the streets of Gotham is a tantalizing image. I also find the foreboding shots of a broken down Bruce Wayne to be interesting, as they hint at a couple potential roads this film could be taking.
Unfortunately, as I said, there’s one part of this trailer I’m struggling with: the ridiculous football scene. My biggest issue is how goofy and out of place it feels, but it goes deeper than that. For one thing, the effects look quite poor. Obviously they have time to fix that, so I trust it’ll look better by July. Another issue for me is the suspension of disbelief that has to go into buying the ball carrier being oblivious to the entire field crumbling behind him. I also think it’s an unnecessary distraction having Hines Ward in the scene using his real name and number, but that probably won’t bother many people. These things often play better in context, so hopefully that is the case here as well.
We’ll have to wait until July to see if Nolan and company stick the landing, but I have faith that The Dark Knight Rises can bring the series full circle and be the finale its predecessors deserve.