Yes, No, Maybe So: "The Dark Knight Rises"
Monday, December 19, 2011 at 10:39PM It's our practice to break trailers down to their components which make us eager / annoyed / unsure. But for this sort of event we're aware we're supposed to be all YES, already in the (bat) tank. But let's break this down anyway. Batman would surely appreciate the importance of rituals and this is how we do.
The Greatest Logo in the History of Super Logos
YES
- That friction between Anne Hathaway's menacing whispers and that young choirboy's national anthem is perfect. But then Chris Nolan movies are always good with the sound.
- The chanting at the end is also hot: Best Sound Editing #2 here we come.
- Oooh Escher-like staircases inside. Where are we? Let's go to there.
- The brief glimpses of Inception players Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Marion Cotillard are welcome. Because movie trailers are future movies invading our dreams, right? Come on in.
- Anne Hathaway's Hepburn hat. This is so girly for a Nolan movie. They better bring it with Catwoman. That's sacred ground!
- I'm fond of the trailer's and possibly the movies interest in vertical points of view rather than horizontal spaces. Batman should be vertiginious. He is Gotham City.
- It also makes me happy that he is fighting during light snow flurries for some reason.
- That collapsing football field is sick. Also reminds me of Sunnydale as sinkhole at the end of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. And anything that reminds of Buffy...
- "Ward" the quarterback, eh? I hope that's a Dick Grayson/Robin injoke because these movies need a few jokes.
NO
- Football? for a second I thought I was watching the wrong trailer.
- Ugh where is Aaron Eckhart?! I feel cheated.
- Um... Anne Hathaway doing Catwoman at a masked ball? Is this a Batman Returns homage? I'm not sure I'm comfortable with this. I love me some Hathaway but #PfeifferPforever. Don't risk direct comparison!
MAYBE SO
- Christian Bale looks so haggard. Is this an intriguing aestethic choice or is he just bone tired from all the weight loss muscle gain flip-flopping of the past ten years?
- Speaking of weight loss/gain. Can someone give Tom Hardy a role where he is forced to lose the steroid look and the alien trapezius. He looks so much better human.
- Speaking of... what kind of voice is he doing? And will I be able to decipher the words under that mask. Covering up the best pair of male lips in the movies is such a crime!
- More politics with the Mayor and such zzz
- I'm not sure I trust Chris Nolan with political plotlines/metaphors. As I recall The Dark Knight was quite muddled in the messenging arena. And we REALLY don't need martyr heroes made of the 1% in the movies nor the 99% as angry crime mobs and that's kind of what the visuals and Catwoman's speech suggest, right? Is this Iron Lady 2: Right Wing Harder !?
Are you a Yes, No or Maybe So?
This tweet from Matt Patches is a perfect joke about how wild people go for every glimpse of future event movies, particular movies by the blogosphere's favorite human person director Chris Nolan.
Hee.
So perhaps for this one we should just ask how much of a "Yes" you are?
And since we've got Oscar on the brain (tis the season) why don't we go there, too, in the comments. Batman Begins received one nomination (Cinematography) and The Dark Knight eight bids with two wins (Supporting Actor and Sound Editing). What's the ceiling for this one without the elevating force of Heath Ledger (RIP) but with the momentum of this franchise's epic epicness and ever expanding Nolan mania ?
Reader Comments (33)
I do wonder if Nolan really nails it, might we get a whiff of Return of the King sweepiness?
I don't expect it to be quite as all encompassing as that, but perhaps at least at the nomination stage I would not be surprised if it nabs a bucketload including Pic, Director, and probably every technical award.
Also, I'm a bit confused about the Bane voice. I understood it perfectly well(in the trailer, i haven't seen the prologue). I'm Australian though, so could it be an accent issue that Americans have trouble with? It wouldn't be the first time...
Haha, I wasn't expecting the Steelers to keep their names and numbers in the movie. I love Hines Ward!
I am very much a yes, although I would like to see more of Hathaway. I've just seen her play so many sugary sweet characters that I have trouble taking her seriously as a bad guy. Hopefully she rocks it though.
I'm very much a yes on this of course, but as a sports and movie fan I should probably inform you that although Nolan may well have some sort of a "Ward" joke in mind, the Ward in question here is actually a star receiver for the Pittsburgh Steelers named Hines Ward. They shot this scene at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh, so that's what's what there.
As for The Dark Knight's politics, I don't recall them being particularly muddled. It was more that the right wing decided to claim it for their own as it was uber-popular and not obviously left wing like Avatar while most sane people looked at them and went, "Huh"? Although I must say that Hepburn hat Hathaway's wearing in the trailer doesn't seem particularly 99%ish.
When you ask about Aaron Eckhart, earlier in the trailer is his funeral right? Who I was looking for was Cillian Murphy actually. IMDB doesn’t list him, but some say he’s spotted on the set filming. Ugh, confusion.
I’ve had enough with the Bane introduction actually. We see him occupying 80% of this trailer, in the prologue and on the poster. But where is the Catwoman suit? I need some more teaser of Anne Hathaway wearing that suit.
RE the politics...
I wish people would stop it with the 99%/1% labels. It's not even a real thing.
Of course this is a yes. I have total confidence in Nolan to knock this out of the park. And I guess count me with the ones who didn't find TDK's politics particularly muddled. Co-opted by right wingers, sure, but the movie itself seems pretty clear as to what Nolan is on about...
Mikhael - Bane doesn't have the mainstream recognition that Catwoman does, so I imagine that he'll have to be the central focus of the marketing campaign for a little while.
Nathaniel - TDKR is supposed to take place eight years after TDK, so Bale's look is intentional I imagine.
Anyway, I'm a HELL YES on this but I was that when they announced the film. It doesn't quite pack the punch of TDK trailer but it's still very effective. I'm just glad this film seems to be throwing focus back on Bruce Wayne, which made BB so enjoyable and was sorely missing from TDK.
As for Oscar prospects, I will no longer be getting my hopes up for Nolan getting a Best Director nomination but it should kill in the technical categories and maybe Hathaway and/or Hardy could slip into the Supporting Categories.
I actually found TDK pretty left-wing...although I hardly found the politics of the film to be the meat and potatoes of what Nolan wanted to convey, it seemed more psychological than political. This however...Nathaniel, gonna have to agree with you. Hopefully it's less foolhardy than the trailer makes it seem. Tom Hardy seems to be sadistically charming and that bit about Alfred not taking care of Bruce properly touched me. That should be interesting in the film, eh?
Hmmm I guess one or two nominations, count in the Best in Sound Editing.
I'm a Batman fanboy so I'm obviously a yes. I'd like to echo Anthony in that Caine's delivery of the "I swore to them I'd protect you--and I haven't" I find really moving. I hope Hathaway is as good as she looks, because I still have some reservations about her casting. But Hardy is perfectly cast methinks, and shock and awe seems like the sort of thing that Bane would do.
P.S. I'd like to nominate Kit Harington from Game of Thrones for best lips. I know its not the big screen but still
It would be so amazing if Anne Hathaway could pull off a Catwoman that fit in the epically awesome line of Eartha Kitt, Julie Newmar and Michelle Pfeiffer. I do think she is capable of it. Keeping my fingers crossed.
Two-Face dies in The Dark Knight. There's no reason for Aaron Eckhart to be back for this one.
I thought of Batman Returns and Michelle Pfeiffer right after seeing that masked ball scene. I hope that Anne Hathaway brings it for this. I'm slightly more convinced that she can take on this iconic role now.
Didn't Bale start on this riight after "The Flowers of War"? That is why he probably looks so beat more than the yo-yo dieting.
Pretty thrilling trailer. There's my girl Marion Cotillard! All of these Inception alums with Cotillard, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and Tom Hardy (didn't understand a word he said though).
I did get a "Occupy: Gotham" vibe from this that gives me pause. I think Nolan's better at the universal themes vs. the of-the-moment political rhetoric. But maybe he'll surprise me. I'll trust that he does the trilogy justice.
There was no question for me being a "yes" to this trailer, so there you have it.
Am I crazy for not realising Marion Cotillard was in this? I remember people hoping she was going to get cast as Catwoman though.
Obviously I'm a yes, but... well, we'll see, won't we?
September 03, 2008
CS/SHH!: Is Harvey Dent alive?
Aaron Eckhart: No. He is dead as a door nail.
CS/SHH!: So he's not coming back?
Eckhart: He ain't coming back baby!
You (December 19, 2011): Ugh where is Aaron Eckhart?! I feel cheated.
WHY SO SLOW?
The same goes for the rest of the text. If your head is empty, then we should not say anything.
I'm a Yes but with reservations. Not a big fan of the previous ones but I did like the trailer, as lame as the political messages might be.
I'm obviously a yes (aren't we all-this movie is going to make ridiculous amounts of bank), but I have to admit I'm more excited as a result of a wicked Hathaway-I think all actors should be forced to play a well-written (assuming, considering that Nolan typically can pul that off) villain at some point in their career. Watching an actor play against type isn't always a good idea, but a strong enough actor should be able to pull off a villain at least once in their career.
I was about to do the whole yes, no, maybe so thing, but then I thought, what the hell? If I've seen the other two parts, unless this one is really terrible, I'll be seeing it anyway. That said:
No: I'm not into the politics of this saga.
Maybe so: not so much into Hathaway either. I know this is just a trailer, but to me it looks self-conscious.
Not to hiding Hardy's hotness. Wtf with the voice? Does every character wearing a mask need to have a distorted voice? Darth Vader can only happen once.
Nolan's not going to be making Robin jokes. He just HATES the idea of Robin being in his movies and I can sort of see where he's coming from. Nolan's going for the most sympathetic possible take on Batman and Robin has always been one of the least sympathetic aspects of the character, especially if you read Frank Miller's take on Robin's origin. The speech: Interesting. If this is a final act speech, the movie will come across as suddenly and deeply right wing (Begins was centrist, The Dark Knight was centre-left), but I'm guessing this speech is somewhere within the first twenty minutes and is Bruce Wayne's call to doing more to do more to help the city in his day job.
RussiaBalalaika -- while i appreciate the concern for my empty head, anyone who thinks comic book movies and series consider DEATH to be the end note on a character... well, THAT'S COMIC! never has an artform considered death so temporary as comic books :)
Glenn -- i knew but forgot until she smiled in the trailer ;) as i don't live for these movies.
Volvagia -- people have a REALLY weird idea about "center" in politics these days. we've been drifting right wing for so long that perspective is just... ugh.
Timothy -- that's what i'm hoping too. It's not like i can ONLY handle Pfeiffer in the role (love the predecessors and its such a great role) but it just the direct comparison having a similar scene feels... foolhardy somehow.
I'm sorry, I just don't think Anne Hathaway is sexy...this was miscast. There are so many other actresses who harness more power, sexually--this role really demands it, too.
By the way, Tom Hardy is exceptionally hot in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, if you're looking for some Tom Hardy goodness.
If you've seen the first two films, which most everyone has, I'd imagine you'd be a yes even if Halle Berry reprised her role at Catwoman. So with that said... I'm obviously a yes. :-)
I'm a Yes, but I'm not particularly excited about it. The Dark Knight was one of the most overrated films of the past ten years and I just CAN. NOT. with all the fanboy-ism around these movies. That said, I don't think Nolan has ever made a bad film, and the trailer is intriguing enough that I'll probably see it no matter what the reviews are. That, and Michael Caine's opening speech is truly touching.
Yeah, I understand that. But the reason why America (and expats who mostly live IN America) has been drifting to the right over the past ten years (usually countries drift to the left over time) is that 9/11 happened and the far left is guys like Rage Against the Machine. You know, the guys who have said that all the presidents should be tried and executed without understanding the apolitically political implications of such a statement. My view is: To most people in a democratic society, your elected leaders are a piece of yourself, and saying that they should be tried and executed means you're asking the American people (excuse the Harry Potter term) to support killing their collective Horcruxes. And if anyone that far on the left can be that stupid about their views, why should people trust them? Also: Nolan's movies are very realist leaning pieces. That thing everyone speculated might be a Lazarus Pit? It's not. It's most likely nuclear waste (Pavel is a nuclear physicist) and he's not going to revive a soul. Though I'd love a good movie (yes, X3 doesn't count) based on superheroes and superhero mythology to actually pull the "I died and came back to life" card, it's not going to be a Nolan film. I've mentioned a few times that that's my main disappointment with Megamind. When even a cartoon parody is actively trying to shun this part of superhero myth, it's clear the studio heads are uncomfortable with this piece of comic book mythology.
Jen == i was happy to get a Tom Hardy fix in that one, yes. :)
Sorry, Cotillard should be Catwoman instead.
The Dark Knight Rises - Yes.
The Hobbit - YES.
Is it bad that I got more excited for Marion Cotillard's blink and you miss it appearance than Anne Hathaway's whole purring routine?
Hathaway is sadly ill-equipped for this role.....
Few things to say:
denny: Have you rewatched it? Yes, the fanboy hype was a bit annoying, but although it's not as good as, say, Heat, it's still a darn good film that I'd confidently place in my top 150 ever made, though admittedly below Memento.
Everyone who says Hathaway's ill-equipped: Nolan has a VERY cold, (almost JP Melvillian), take on his characters and I'm guessing his take on this character will be similar. Not quite sexless, but less sexually blatant than EVERY other non comic book take on the character and I think Bane and Catwoman might wind up being a "right wing/left wing" kind of thing. Cotillard, on the other hand... Which, if that winds up true, would make this movie a $250 million dollar movie with the same politics as Andy Warhol's Dracula.
I had confidence in Anne, but she does seem a bit too self-aware...idk..
I would've loved to see Marion in this delicious dark role.
Or Evan Rachel Wood. I'd have loved that.
Just someone who can harness the sexuality more naturally.
Who knows, maybe she'll be great.
I could see this getting a BP nomination, maybe finally a director nod for Nolan, a bunch of technical stuff, and a supporting actress nod for Hathaway, whether she's perfect or not. That's what I could see it getting at this time.
Unsure about Hathaway...when I first heard she was cast I was very NOOOOO, then when she started talking...I was still NOOOOOOO but by then end of the speech, she was starting to sell it to me ya know.....will just have to wait and see.
Bt yea, I found Cotillards 1 second smile more interesting than Hathway at this point, but to be fair I am a fan, still wish she cold have been catwoman
Bane and Cat Woman are a nice addition to the cast, I'm a little skeptical about Anna Hathaway, but she plays the part good in the trailer though, so I guess we'll have to see what happens. For more insight on this film feel free to stop by and see some more on The Legend