The Dark Knight Rises - teaser trailer review

It’s been a long, long wait for the third and final installment of Chris Nolan’s Batman trilogy, but The Dark Knight Rises promises to bring the story to a close in spectacular fashion.

Thanks to its theatrical premiere alongside Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2, the Web is already buzzing about the Dark Knight Rises teaser trailer and all its implications for how the story will come to a close – and now the official teaser trailer is here!

There isn’t much you have to give away with a teaser trailer (hence the name), and in truth, this was more of an “announcement trailer” than a bonafide “teaser,” so even less was required (or expected) of it.

At this point you need very little to get fans excited for these Nolan Batman films. The Dark Knight teaser trailer had very little going for it when it was released – just a couple of familiar insignias (Batman’s and The Joker’s) alongside some choice dialogue that at once set up the premise and themes of the film. The actual “tease” came in the form of finally hearing Heath Ledger’s Joker voice and laugh.

The new footage contains Commissioner Gordon (Gary Oldman) lying in a hospital bed, pleading that "Batman" must return and take his rightful place as Gotham's "Dark Knight". The sweeping shot of the city landscape-turned-bat-insignia reminiscent of the final sequence of Nolan’s Inception teaser trailer. Directly contrasting The Dark Knight title screen.

In the end, the two points that had me on the edge of my seat were:

1) Is it “Batman” or “Bruce Wayne” Gordon is conversing with? (which is intriguing, either way).

2) The final shot of the teaser, with a seemingly frightened Batman backing away from the hulking brute that is Tom Hardy’s Bane. This shot was pure gold in its implications of the kind of menace Batman will face – one that might finally give us some epic Batman/villain fight scenes, which NONE of the Batman movies have ever really pulled off that well.

Finally, that fleeting glimpse of fatigue and horror on Batman’s face gave new credit to the "Knightfall" rumour we’ve been hearing. Which any real fan should recognise. For those unfamiliar:

“Knightfall” involves Bane coming to Gotham City on quest to beat Batman and take control of the city’s crime syndicates. To accomplish this, Bane blows up Arkham Asylum, flooding Gotham’s streets with all the lunatics that Batman has locked up. Batman tries to recover the fugitives, and in the process wears himself down both mentally and physically. When he’s at his lowest, Batman is confronted by Bane inside of Wayne Manor and an epic fight ensues, ending with Bane breaking Batman’s back. The incident leaves Gotham without a protector, until Bruce Wayne recovers from his injuries and takes the city back.

While it holds obvious appeal for fanboys hoping to see their beloved source material realised on the big screen, there is the obvious risk of having a Batman movie where Batman is out of commission for a significant portion of the film, until he inevitably “rises” to overcome his injuries and stop Bane.

Sure, having “Batman” out of the picture would allow star Christian Bale a fresh opportunity to do a deeper exploration of the character of Bruce Wayne, without the costume and cape getting in the way (which, personally, I could see being an approach that would appeal to Nolan). But would fans respond well to a superhero movie like that? And wouldn’t watching Bruce Wayne climb his way back into the mantle of Batman mirror Batman Begins a little too much?

There’s also the possibility that all those secondary characters like Catwoman (Anne Hathaway), Miranda Tate (Marion Cotillard), or John Blake (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) were purposefully meant to “over crowd” the film, in order to give viewers more characters to follow while Bruce Wayne is injured. Catwoman’s presence in this scenario is especially interesting, since the character has just as often been portrayed as an anti-hero as she has a villain. Could she step up to defend Gotham while Batman can’t?

Then there are those Lazarus Pits rumours, which would take on new possibilities if Bruce Wayne needs a means to fix his broken body…

I could go on and on speculating, but let’s not jump the gun. This is still a HUGE INTERNET RUMOUR that has not been confirmed, and likely won’t be until Nolan wants us to know.

THE DARK KNIGHT RISES TEASER TRAILER HERE