The Dark Knight Rises released it’s first full trailerMonday and HOT DAMN. For those of you who do not know, Christopher Nolan‘s concluding film to his blockbuster Batman trilogy takes place 8 years after the previous one and will feature antagonists Bane and Catwoman. Warner Bros. also released a 7 minute prologue to The Dark Knight Rises attached to the IMAX release of Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol which was an introduction to new villain Bane. Warner Bros studios has since received a lot of criticism for one particular issue that kept coming up: no one can hearwhat the primary antagonist Bane was saying. Bane dons a grim-looking mask strictly of course for fashionable purposes but does so however at the cost of having a muffled and hard-to-understand voice. The legend himself Christopher Nolan has reportedly commented that the studio is fully aware of the issue but will not make significant changes to the sound. Apparently Nolan wants his audiences to have to listen up and ‘participate’ rather than just be dumb stupid idiots. What Nolan evidently is not aware of is the fact that 99% of people are in fact dumb stupid idiots. Despite Nolan’s slight misconception let’s take a look at The Caped Crusader himself and his well-rounded supporting cast.
Bruce Thomas Wayne is an arrogant billionaire industrialist and notorious playboy by day, and a ruthless masked vigilante by night. Characterized by his physical prowess and technical ingenuity, Batman‘strikes terror into the hearts of criminals everywhere’. Indeed Batman has a thick skin and is a hard-nosed utilitarian, doing whatever it takes to get the job done. Bold, daring, impulsive and adaptable with a strict adherence to utilityThe Caped Crusader is undoubtedly an Artisan.
Alfred Pennyworth is Batman’s trusty, faithful, and tireless butler, confidant, and surrogate father figure. Alfred has served the Wayne family and maintained Wayne Manor for all of Bruce’s life, and essentially raised him. Serving as a beacon of strength and stability, Alfred helps Bruce Wayne keep his tumultuous two-sided life on an even keel. Highly dependable, extremely stable, serving as a provider and a pillar of strengthAlfred Pennyworth is a classic Guardian.
Lucius Foxis Bruce Wayne’s financier, gadget man, and the President and CEO of the international corporate giant that is Wayne Enterprises. Fox is extremely intelligent and business savvy, and turned Wayne Enterprises from a failing venture into a successful multinational conglomerate. Fox is very knowledgable in the realm of technology, and heads a lot of Wayne Enterprises‘ engineering projects like the creation of the Batwing. Highly pragmatic, astutely skeptical, technologically intelligent, serving as a voice of reasonLucius Fox is a prime example of a Rational.
Finally Commissioner James Gordon is Batman’s trusted ally, connection to Gotham City’s Police Force, and a dear friend. Commissioner Gordon and Batman share a deep and unrelenting desire to ridGotham Cityof evil no matter what the cost. A man of integrity and honor, Gordon quickly realized that Batman was one of the only men in Gotham City that he could trust. In a city riddled with crime and corruption, Gordon is a beacon of light and hope, and has made many sacrifices in the name of making Gotham City a better place. Highly altruistic, tacitly optimistic, and undeniably spirited serving as a bright light in a very dark city Commissioner Gordon is a true Idealist.
Let me get this straight. You think that your client, one of the wealthiest, most powerful men in the world, is secretly a vigilante who spends his nights beating criminals to a pulp with his bare hands; and your plan, is to *blackmail* this person? …..Good luck.
The Dark Knight Riseswrapped principal photography in New York last week and in a recent interview with Empire Magazine, Christopher Nolan discussed his final Batman film. Nolan revealed that the films’ events will be taking place 8 years after the events of the previous film, during a time when Bruce Wayne is “not in a great state”. He also talked about choosing Bane as the primaryvillain, saying that the goal was to testBatman both physically AND mentally. Since Bruce went and got everyone excited by going to ninja school in Batman Begins, some critics were largely disappointed with the lack of martial arts in The Dark Knight, which evidently will not be a problem in this film:
“He [Bane] is brutal. Brutal. He’s a big dude who’s incredibly clinical, in the fact that he has a result-based and oriented fighting style. It’s not about fighting. It’s about carnage. The style is heavy-handed, heavy-footed, it’s nasty. Anything from small-joint manipulation to crushing skulls, crushing rib cages, stamping on shins and knees and necks and collarbones and snapping heads off and tearing his fists through chests, ripping out spinal columns. He is a terrorist in mentality as well as brutal action.” — Christopher Nolan
Well that sounds pretty dope Mr. Nolan. Thankyou for that. I think we’re all glad to see that this Batman franchise is finally headed in the right direction. The direction of ripping out peoples’ spinal cords. Regardless of whether that ends up in the movie or not lets take a look at Batman and his new nemesisBane.
Bruce Thomas Wayne had the unfortunate luck of witnessing his parents murder when he was a child, an event that birthed his life goal of ridding Gotham City of evil. Bruce has since evolved into an arrogant billionaire industrialist and notorious playboy by day, and a ruthless masked vigilante by night. Characterized by his physical prowess and technical ingenuity, Batman‘strikes terror into the hearts of criminals everywhere’. Indeed Bruce Wayne is a martial arts ‘prodigy’ and excels specifically in japanese jujitsu, ninjitsu, Keysi, and Aikido. Bold, daring, and audacious with a strict adherence to utilityThe Caped Crusader is undoubtedly a Promoter Artisan. Indeed Batman has a thick skin and is a hard-nosed utilitarian, doing whatever it takes to get the job done. The Dark Knight however knows all too well as most Promoters do, that “he who travels fast, travels alone”. Until Bane shows up.
Banespent his childhood and early adult-life in prison, serving a sentence for his fathers crimes. Bane’s ‘natural abilities’ allowed him to develop ‘extraordinary skills’ within the prison walls including a plethora of brutalmartial arts. Bane has since evolved into a ‘super intelligent world-class fighter’ and a ‘tactical genius’. Bane is most known for causing a prison break to overwhelm Batman, and then breaking his back while he is weak and tired. Impulsive, fearless, and ridden with brute strength, Bane is undoubtedly a Crafter Artisan. Certainly, Bane like all Crafterscommunicates primarily through his actions. Bringing his prison mentality to Gotham City, Bane decided to go after the man that everyone feared: Batman. Indeed a physical specimen, actor Tom Hardypacked on 30 pounds of muscle to play the role. Like his fellow Crafters, Bane is ‘fascinated by weapons of all kinds’ and wields them with ‘lethal virtuosity’, taking ‘pride’ in his ‘prowess’. In other words if I saw this dude on the street, I probably wouldn’t talk sh*t.
The Dark Knight Rises is now in it’s final filming stages as it takes its talents to Manhattan, New York. Naturally, more eyewitness videos and photos have popped up online, this time showing a chase sequence with motorcycles, GCPD patrol cars, the Batwing, and Bane’s ‘earthquake device’. Though we know where Bane and Batman stand (on opposing sides) many wonder what role new characterCatwoman will ultimately play in the film. While Anne Hathaway has received criticism for the above picture, she assures us that ‘we’ve only seen a tenth of what the suit can do’. Let’s then ignore the slight goofy-lookingness of the above picture and proceed with analyzing the Feline Femme Fatalle.
A young orphan who grew tired of being abused, Selina Kyle opted to take her chances surviving on the streets of Gotham. Kyle became a talented thief, gymnast, and martial artist, but practiced her own unique brand of justice, and always gave back to the slum that raised her. Fiercely independent, unabashedly shy, highly intuitive, and infamously ambiguousCatwoman is undoubtedly a Healer Idealist. Indeed Selina Kyle’s status as a hero or villain is up in the air, as she possesses her own unique moral code. Kyle often has romantic encounters with Batman and is always pursuing her own identity in Gotham City. While Selina often fights against Batman, she also has a tendency to display deep affections towards him in times of need. In true Idealist fashion, Selina Kyle eventually gives birth to a daughter, and quits her vigilantism for good. An event, however, we will not likely get to witness in Christopher Nolan’s blockbuster conclusion. The Dark Knight Rises is now starting to wrap up shooting and can be seen in all it’s glory July 20, 2012.
My world is all just shades of grey, Batman. That’s why you’ll never really understand me.
DC/Warner Bros. launched a bit of a news counter-attack this week no doubt in an attempt to ‘one-up’ it’s rivalMarvel/Disney as the epic battle between the two stellar organizations rages on.
The highly anticipated console game Batman:Arkham Cityhit counters yesterday and was met with rave reviews across the board (97/100 on Metacritic). The game is extremely well done, has a great story arch, hosts a slew of bat-villains, and allows you to beat the sh*t out of people as Batman. Need we say more?
In related bat-news The Dark Knight Rises is reportedly set to occupy Wall Street starting October 29th for 14 days, which very well might overlap with the on-going Wall Street protests currently taking place. Being the film-making gangster that Christopher Nolan is, the protests apparently will not interfere with his plans, as he will “simply be using the protests as a back-drop or stand-in for something that already exists in the film”. And that ladies and gentlemen, is how you turn a frown upside down.
Given this slew of bat and bat-related news, let’s take a look at The Dark Knight Rises’primary villain, the hard-knockbad-ass known as Bane.
Bane spent his childhood and early adult-life in prison, serving a sentence for his fathers crimes. Bane’s ‘natural abilities‘ allowed him to develop ‘extraordinary skills‘ within the prison walls: reading all the books he could get his hands on, building his physique in the prison gym, and picking up a plethora of martial arts. Banehas since evolved into a ‘super intelligent world-class fighter‘ and a ‘tactical genius‘. Bane indeed turned out to be a truly brilliant tactician, as he is most known for causing a prison break to overwhelm Batman, and infamously breaking the Bat’s back while he is weak and tired. Impulsive, fearless, and ridden with brute strength, Bane is undoubtedly a Crafter Artisan. Indeed Bane utilizes a variety of different ‘tools‘, including the super-drug ‘Venom‘, a reported army of mercenaries, a couple of ‘tumblers’, and evidently a ‘doomsday machine’. Bane like all Crafterscommunicates primarily through his actions: bringing his prison mentality to Gotham City, Bane decided to go after the man that everyone feared: Batman. Indeed a physical specimen, actor Tom Hardy packed on 30pounds of muscle to play the role. Like his fellow Crafters, Bane is ‘fascinated by weapons of all kinds‘ and wields them with ‘lethal virtuosity‘, taking ‘pride‘ in his ‘prowess‘.
You know nothing of strength, little boy. I know strength. Such as the strength that comes from numbers. And the strength one gains from knowing his enemy’s weaknesses. Checkmate.
UPDATE: Warner Bros. Pictures will release an 6 minute IMAX prologue for The Dark Knight Rises that will be attached to the IMAX release of Mission Impossible – Ghost Protocol. This also strongly suggests that Warner Bros. will also give us a new TDKR trailer with their big holiday release Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows. Full story here.
With the Dark Knight Rises filming in major cities Pittsburg and now Los Angeles naturally a plethora of on-set spy photos and videos have surfaced all over the web, most of which have been quite spoilerish. This most recent spy video is perhaps the most revealing one as it shows Bruce Wayne ‘limping’ with a cane out of his Lamborghini into a party. This of course strengthens arguments that the film will borrow plot points from the story arch “Knightfall“ in which antagonist Banebadly injures Batman and infamously breaks his back.
Without giving too much away let’s take a closer look at the titularCaped Crusader, and his well-rounded supporting cast. Bruce Thomas Wayne had the unfortunate luck of witnessing his parents murder by a mugger as a young child, an event that no doubt had a major impact on his life. Arrogant billionaire industrialist and notorious playboy by day, and a ruthless masked vigilante by night, Batman/Bruce Wayne is undoubtedly a Promoter Artisan. Bold, daring, and audacious with a tough-minded persona Bruce knows as most Promoters do that ‘nice guys finish last‘.
Primarily trusting his impulses with a knack for tool usage, Batman is definitely an Artisan, but certainly doesn’t get the job done all by himself. Alfred Pennyworth is Batman’s faithful and tirelessGuardian butler and confidant. Lucius Fox is Batman’s Rationalfinancier, gadget man, and behind-the-scenes business manager of Wayne Enterprises. Commissioner Gordon is Batman’s Idealist link to Gotham City’s Police Force who is strictly and naively concerned with ridding Gotham City of evil. Given such a well-roundedbat-squad let’s hope that even with a broken back Batman will be able to best his powerful nemesisBane in Christopher Nolan’s highly anticipated conclusion to his blockbuster trilogy.
Word on the streets is that the Dark Knight Rises’ ending sequence is so over-the-top that it is only known by five people including Christopher Nolan and will be done entirely in CG. So apparently Nolan’s conclusion is so epic that it has to be done entirely in visual effects? Guess we’ll find out July 20, 2012!
