This week I was asked to make an appearance on the Imperial Trouble podcast (ground I’ve trodden before) specifically to talk about the latest trailer for The Dark Knight Rises, which millions will be seeing tonight and this weekend attached to The Avengers.
As you may have noticed, the latest trailer fits in with the precedent set by the previous two for more reserved, tonally evocative looks at the film that focus less on money shots and more on building a sense of dread. These trailers — the newest especially — are trying very hard to convince us that 
Gotham is in real trouble, and that the Batman may very well have to go to hell with Bane to stop it. The delightful Jason Mallory of Imperial Trouble and I talk about this tone that’s been struck in some detail on episode 76 of their podcast. It’s a Skype show so the quality isn’t perfect, but I hear rumors we’ve gone back in and fixed the mix so you can understand us. I wouldn’t worry about it.
You can listen to the podcast on the IT site right here, or you can make it happen in iTunes for your pod, pad, or other player, or you can just slam an MP3 directly into yourself here.
We also get into a bit of a conversation that could be considered a follow up to my piece about the potential of The Dark Knight Rises to be as reflective of the mood of our country as its predecessor was in 2008. The third trailer has a few bits of imagery that generally support the idea, as well as some interesting subtext about Bane as a post-Joker villain. Jason also connects Catwoman’s hat to an anecdote about the Kentucky Derby, which might call for the creation of a “Best Segue”
If all of this overwrought, possibly over-thought examination of mere trailers is a bit over-serious for you, don’t worry- this is not a particularly dour podcast. Since I can’t complete a sentence — no matter how elaborate or thoughtful it may be — without alluding to a bodily function or being generally obscene, the pod is not stuffed too far up its own ass.
Also, I do talk about the Jurassic Live Tour as well, which you should be aware of, if you’re not already.
So give everything a listen and let me know what you think in the comments. Have theories of your own about the tone of TDKR? Get a different sense of the film than we do from the trailers? Let me know down below.
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7 comments
That’s exactly why I loved the Rises trailer–it builds a sense of absolute dread that most films (save for Prometheus) don’t even bother with.
Yes, it has my excitement going through the roof. It is something that the overprocessed cheesiness of The Avengers could possibly not spoil…
“It’s a Skype show so the quality isn’t perfect, but I hear rumors we’ve gone back in and fixed the mix so you can understand us. I wouldn’t worry about it.”
Well played, sir.
Agreed on the sense of dread and unease – something Nolan has always captured well, IMHO – right up until the flipping (pun intended) Batplane shot. It’s a genuinely bum note, not simply because “Hey! Levity” (again, pun intended) but because it really does jar against the emotional state the trailer otherwise seeks to provoke.
I was concerned you wouldn’t get around to pissing on the Avengers in only a couple of line of type following a non-Avengers article. Silly me.
Yeah, “It’s not a car” is chessy as “I’ll get drive thru”. Totally takes you out of the realistic “dread” the trailer had built up.
chessy = cheesy
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