Even with some very heavy competition next summer, THE DARK KNIGHT RISES is still the most highly anticipated film of 2012. Last week, Warner Brothers released the new poster for the film (above) and it's a dynamite piece of marketing that depicts one of the film's key moments.
I have to wonder why they are dancing around that big moment in the new trailer. The cat's out of the bag now... Bane defeats Batman; the poster confirms it. Isn't the suspense now based on what he will do after getting beaten? Why not give us something to really salivate over? As is, the trailer feels underwhelming. No Catwoman in costume, no Batman in jeopardy, nothing that equals the power of that poster image.
Here's an imbed of the trailer:
Unfortunately, it's been known since the beginning of this film's production that this would be the last one in this series and the tagline, "The legend ends." certainly drives that point home.
Surely I'm not the only one who feels that it is a mistake to close out this series with a third film. The great thing about THE DARK KNIGHT was the re-interpretation of the Joker by Nolan and the late Heath Ledger. That opened the door for them to retool other iconic villains from the rich history of Batman stories and the disappointment that it won't happen now... is hanging over this new film for me.
I remember when THE DARK KNIGHT came out in 2008, Nolan wasn't sure that he would do another film. No contract existed and no story was on paper so he can't even claim that this three-film arc was planned. The opportunity to have a filmmaker like him tackle the Penguin, the Riddler, or maybe even Robin seemed like an amazing prospect (especially the Riddler, which is perfect for an intellectual filmmaker like Nolan.) So why close the door? I know that each film has higher and higher expectations and Nolan doesn't want to be doing Batman films forever, but ending it definitively seems like vanity to me.
And... it means yet another reboot for the character in just a few years time.
I'm still excited for THE DARK KNIGHT RISES, but it makes me question whether I would have liked it better if Nolan had not done a third movie. Warner Brothers could have gotten anyone they wanted to continue the franchise after the success of THE DARK KNIGHT. Would it have been better if other filmmakers had a chance to continue this series using the template Nolan created?
I guess we can only answer that after seeing the final chapter of this series. July seems a long way off right now. I hope it's worth the wait.
