There are only 12 days left until the U.S. release of The Dark Knight Rises and director/co-writer Christopher Nolan is starting to reveal more secrets.
A brand new 13-minute featurette, complete with movie clips, exclusive cast and crew interviews, and behind-the-scenes footage, uncovers just what we would expect from a Nolan film: it looks thrilling, epic and is powered by something other than pure action — a strong emotional core.
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And clearly, there’s a reason why the film is already getting Oscar buzz.
Here are 8 things we learned from the clip:
1. It’s been eight years since Batman has been missing from Gotham and TDKR shows what the city has become without him. And it’s not good. Everything looks fine on the surface, but “it’s all built on a lie.”
2. Father figure/butler Alfred (Michael Caine) once again acts as the moral compass for Batman, who’s coming to grips with his personal pain. And, of course the big question: Will Batman return?
3. The characters are fully fleshed out. Even the bad guys. A big complaint of many a movie has been the one-dimensional villain (remember the last Mission Impossible movie?). No worries there. Tom Hardy‘s beefy baddie Bane is a fully realized character and the film explains what drives him and what he wants. And as Nolan puts it, “None of it is good news.”
4. Tom Hardy is a fanboy. He recounts seeing Christian Bale in the makeup chair and goes into full childlike squeal mode. “There’s a 3-year-old in me saying ‘That’s Batman.'”
5. Anne Hathaway‘s Catwoman could be alright. Since her casting was announced, Hathaway’s character has been the big question mark for fans. Nolan himself admitted he was nervous about bringing Catwoman to the big screen. But, as he explains, Selena Kyle is ultimately grounded by her beliefs — she couldn’t just be this femme fatale. She operates a code of ethics (whether or not they’re accepted by others).
6. The scale of the film is earth-shattering — literally. More footage is revealed of the epic stadium explosion that’s showcased in the trailers. The scene, filmed at the Pittsburgh Steelers’ stadium, was one of most demanding scenes in film. But it’s an achievement on par with Nolan’s other effects spectacular (those folding buildings in Inception).
7. They really did fill Wall Street with thousands of people. Because Nolan wanted to shoot everything as real as possible, there were no visual effects used to enhance the number of people shot in a soon-to-be-infamous Wall Street fight scene. They brought in 1,200 extras and it was “controlled chaos.”
8. As suspected, the Batplane really is awesome. A big part of Batman, of course, has always been his incredible billionaire toys. And, as the featurette reveals, the new show pony of the film doesn’t disappoint. As one of the biggest creations, it measures 30 feet long and 17 feet wide. And on the IMAX screen? It’ll be larger than life.
Geek out with the full featurette below and get your advance tickets at Movietickets.com.
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