Nobody likes a tease. Well, except Batman fans.
Audiences will get a first glimpse of The Dark Knight, with Christian Bale reprising his role as the Caped Crusader, in a six-minute “teaser” in front of the action epic I Am Legend. The only catch: you’ll have to go to an IMAX theater to see it. And Batman himself appears only for a few tantalizing seconds.
Still, despite the relatively few venues for the piece, the strategy is poised to pay off. Anticipation for director Christopher Nolan’s follow-up to the 2005 hit Batman Begins is at an all-time high. The story remains a closely guarded secret, but only one thing is for sure–a certain green-haired, white-skinned, purple-clad villain, played by the unlikely but inspired choice of Heath Ledger, will figure prominently.
The footage will begin unspooling Dec. 14, and here is what viewers can expect to see (skip ahead of you want to be surprised): A rare opening shot of Gotham City in broad daylight, seen from a rooftop point of view. Forget the Gothic statues and stylized fortresses of films past; this Gotham is distinctly earthbound, if still sinister look. Next is a street level scene, creeping up behind a slouched, disheveled figure with an overflowing knapsack in one hand and a grimacing clown mask in the other.
But before you can say “Joker,” he is joined by a team of cold-hearted gunmen, each wearing clown masks obscuring their features as they careen through streets, fire cables, and hotwire security systems, all culminating in bank robbery–one bad mother of a bank robbery, to be precise. It’s bound to be one of the more suspenseful, thrilling armed heists we’ve seen for a long while.
Following the robbery, which will be the opening of the completed film, is a blurring montage of scenes, showing the familiar, tank-like Batmobile, its two-wheeled cousin called the Batpod, Batman standing atop a rooftop at dusk, and a shot of Commissioner Gordon, played once again by Gary Oldman, ceremoniously swinging an ax at the famed Bat signal, raising the question: Has Gotham and its citizens lost faith in Batman just when they need him most? Hard to say, because the teaser lives up to its name, coming to a close all too quickly.
As thrilling and fun as the sequence is, it’s not for the squeamish. There may not be much blood, but the deadly implications are there. Parents may want to think twice before bringing young children, and that warning alone is probably enough to please hardcore Batman fans and everyday viewers put off by campy elements of the past.
The release of the material exclusively on IMAX represents something of a risk for Warner Bros., but it helps that it’s piggybacked on a movie starring Will Smith, arguably one of the few remaining movie stars who appeals to all demographics.
Not that Batman needs much help. A clever viral marketing campaign for the film, with fake “Gotham City” newspapers and an online scavenger hunt, has only boosted speculation on the story of the film, which has a built-in audience. The advance release of this much footage, which resembles a short film more than a preview, is sure to widen the appeal of the still-emerging format. While many blockbuster franchises have been exhibited in IMAX in recent years, The Dark Knight is the first major movie to film scenes specifically using the highly specialized cameras. The result is breathtaking–the crispness, clarity and sense of depth are unparalleled.
Director Nolan has been a long-time fan himself, after first seeing the process years ago at the Museum of Science in Industry in Chicago. For a long time, because of the bulk of the cameras and the limited number of theaters, only documentaries and short films specializing in stunning vistas were made in the format. But Nolan always dreamed of making story-driven, mainstream movies in IMAX. “It seemed completely logical to me,” he said, after introducing a select preview of the opening sequence. “It’s the best moving image there is.”
The variety of movie formats has grown in recent years, and keeping them straight can be somewhat confusing. It breaks down like this:
For more than a century, most movies have been photographed and projected using 35mm film, a format so reliable and aesthetically pleasing that digital technology, while easier to use, has taken years and years to arrive at an acceptable match. In fact, many filmmakers remain convinced that celluloid may never be exceeded in image quality, and so it goes that the IMAX format uses 70mm film, resulting in an area 10 times the size of standard frame.
Rounding out the cast for The Dark Knight are Michael Caine as Alfred the butler, Aaron Eckhart as District Attorney Harvey Dent and Maggie Gyllenhaal replacing Katie Holmes as love interest Rachel Dawes. The film is set for release in July 2008 in both standard theaters and IMAX venues.
