Trailer Tuesday: The Dark Knight Rises (Trailer 2)

After the arguably cruel tease of the trailer for Nolan's third and final Batman outing earlier this Summer, a new, officially full trailer has arrived. Prepare to get goosebumps, people, this is one heck of an intense trailer. But first, a synopsis, for the less acquainted with the story:

"Eight years after the events of The Dark Knight, the terrorist leader Bane arrives in Gotham City, pushing it and its police force to their limits, forcing its former hero Batman (Christian Bale) to resurface after taking the fall for Harvey Dent's crimes." - IMDb

Dim the lights, mute the TV and put down the phone. This just got interesting:
(Turn off annotations if you can)

• 0:21 - Michael Caine's Alfred gets all choked up over Bruce's care. I guess letting him dress up as a bat and risk his life every night isn't strictly speaking "protecting him". 
• 0:27 - Significance of this shot? Well it's Gotham, but what I'm looking at is the Sunrise, because TDKR is actually going to be feature a lot of day time, unlike the previous two instalments. 
• 0:39 - "Peace Time" looks to be a prominent theme for the film, somewhat insinuating that it is in fact Batman himself that brings about chaos and crime a la The Joker. This is 8 years after The Dark Knight, remember. 

And here she is in full thieving gear

• 0:43 - Finally! We get our first look at Anne Hathaway as Selina Kyle aka Catwoman. While not in full thieving gear here, that masquerade mask and ears certainly does elude to a more classic Catwoman look. And her warnings of things to come definitely sounds suspicious: is she in league with Bane? 
•  0:56 - Is this the Wayne mansion being torn down by ruthless mobs, possibly Bane's mercenaries? And he just got that place refurbished!
• 1:02 - What I just want to say about the quote here, "You're all going to wonder how you could live so large, and leave so little for the rest of us", is that it may have some very political subtext. While this can be applied to Batman, it could be before Selina knows that Bruce is Batman. So is she talking instead about Capitalism and the unfairness of the rich, economic inequality? After all, her words are paired with a suited up, business type man being dragged from under a table, and these times certainly are relevant for it. I wouldn't put it past Nolan's genius to subtly incorporate such a poignant theme into the works, especially as the rest of the series has taken such a mature approach. 
• 1:06 - Prison break, or as this trailer analogises: All Hell Breaks Lose. And I swear they're chanting "This is awesome, awesome!" (More on that chant later). Anyway, I presume this is Blackgate Prison, not Arkham Asylum, for those of you familiar with the Batman Universe.

Ra's in Pit

• 1:14 - Now this place has me stumped. Lots of stone stairs with people in robes on them? And Bruce  has a beard and is in a similar get-up? My best guess: this is to do with Ra's al Ghul, Batman Begins villain, played by Liam Neeson. It may be set during those days too, when Bruce trained with him, but that's only speculation based on his beard. Anyway, Ra's is notorious in the comics for coming back from the dead, due to something called the Lazarus Pit, which heals anyone dipped in to its chemical depths. So, while the chant is still presumably going on here, Bruce's companion (is that Alfred?) tells us that it means "Rise". Now what I'm suggesting is that it's saying "Rise" as in "From the Lazarus Pit". Still following? One Lazarus Pit in the comics was in the Himalayas, where people wear those kind of robes, so...  Now take in to account the fact that there will be a flashback scene of a young Ra's, which I reckon could be him discovering the Pits, and that Liam Neeson may be doing a cameo appearance, and what do you get? Awesome, that's what. If this is true, it'll be exciting to see how Nolan does the whole "Pits of restoration thing", seeing as his films have always been sunk so deep into a gritty reality.
• 1:24 - Here we have an example of the kind of terrorism we can expect from Tom Hardy's Bane. Ra's destroyed transport systems, The Joker blew up health care systems and now Bane looks to be taking on the sport and entertainment district. Goodbye football field... Hello terror. 
• 1:34 - Bane (to a beat up Bruce): When Gotham is in ashes, you'll have my permission to die. - Making the hero watch as everything they've worked for falls apart - that's classy villainy if you ask me.
• 1:36 - Marion Cotillard reveals her pretty face as Wayne Enterprises board member, Miranda Tate. While speculation did run wild that this would in fact turn out to be Talia al Ghul (Ra's' Daughter), Cotillard has promised that her character is "a completely new creation". 
• 1:42 - Is this an assault on the "supposed" pit from earlier? We see wired up assailants drop further past the steps later on at  1:49 too. 
• 1:43 - Joseph Gordon-Levitt appears briefly busting through some doors, as John Blake (again a newbie character). He's been described as  "a Gotham City beat cop assigned to special duty under the command of Commissioner Gordon.". What I really want though is to see his character take up the mantle, in some way, shape or form, from Batman, if he really does die/get defeated by the end of all this. It's big dreaming, but I just think JGL is such an awesome actor/guy. 
• 1:44-1:48 - Massive riots are set to take place in Gotham this time around, as these shots prove. Batman's going to be going head to head with Bane here, promising the greatest physical challenge for Bats yet. Also seen is a tank firing into the riots (and at maybe a bank?), which I believe is one of Bane's as it has been revealed that he owns a few tumblers much like Batman's Batmobile. Another interesting point is that this was filmed in Manhattan, right when all the Occupy Wall Street protests were going down. I can just smell the metaphor!

Shit storm walking...

• 1:50 - Trying to hold it together now, while geeking out insanely at this shot. Yep that's the Batplane, tailing one of Bane's tumbler. We don't know for certain whether it is actually Batman piloting, as it has been leaked that Catwoman has some fun in that at one point...
• 1:58 - And as that title hits, we're all reminded that the amazing Hans Zimmer will be scoring this undoubted masterpiece. Prepare for horns. Many, many horns. 
• 2:04 - Summer 2012. IMAX. July 20th. Be there!

Before I pass out with excitement, I'd just like to say that I think this will be perfect (in case this wasn't already clear). A lot of people have been saying they think it'll suck just because of the "Rule of 3" thing with Superhero movies (the 3rd is always a let down. See: Spiderman 3, X-Men 3, Superman 3), but I mean come on! Have a little faith in Nolan, will you! This is the same guy that brought you Inception. I now I can often be over-optimistic about forthcoming films, but this one has 0% doubt, positively. It may have a lot to live up to with The Dark Knight and Heath Ledger, but this is a seriously talented cast and crew that can surely pull this off. Roll on 2012, I say. 

ATR