Spider-man? Nearly. X-Men? Nope. Superman? Fail. No superhero series has ever delivered the perfect movie trilogy – the third movie often proving the fatal stumbling block. Still, you’d fancy Christopher Nolan’s chances of delivering his Bat-finale with the sort of epic, IMAX-sized storytelling and action that made The Dark Knight, Inception and Memento into essential cinematic experiences. In anticipation of The Dark Knight Rises July 20 release, here’s our A-Z of Nolan’s Bat-verse…
A is for Applied Sciences
The Siberia of Wayne Enterprises: it’s where good gadgets go to die. The ideal place then for nocturnal spelunking base-jumping enthusiasts to cherry-pick rejected military grade tech such as the Tumbler, The Batpod and a certain Bat-like flying contraption. And as a bonus, it all comes in black. Having said that, given that Coleman Reece rumbled Bruce through trawling the archives, and modded Tumblers have been spotted in Bane’s arsenal, maybe the AS Division's next project should focus on internal security.
B is for Bane
“Let the games begin.” From the pits of hell, this scarred scourge has come to finish what the League Of Shadows started, and turn Gotham and its delusions of civilization into an expensive landfill. Team Nolan have refined Bane from his gimmicky comic book origins – a drug-fuelled monster of brains and brawn specifically dreamt up (a la Doomsday) to break the Bat – to a credible cinematic nemesis: a ruthless general, a relentless warrior. Although surely that mask – feeding him life-saving (and battle-enhancing) painkillers rather than Venom – couldn’t prove to be a fatal flaw?
C is for Commissioner Jim Gordon
“Commmm-ishion-errrr” Gordon is the lone good cop on an utterly-corrupt force who became a 'wartime' hero, and now finds himself about to be cut adrift in the Harvey Dent-inspired peacetime. The role of the world-weary Gordon also marked a sea change for Gary Oldman, who’d started to OD on OTT villain roles – although Gordon’s gleeful delight about piloting the Tumbler looks about as genuine as can be.
D is for Rachel Dawes
Or, to give Dawes her full and correct name, RAAAAACHEEEELLLL! Bruce Wayne’s sole friend and soul mate also turns out to be catnip to a series of doomed DAs, before undergoing an unexpected cremation care of Joker’s cruel ol’ switcheroo trick. Maggie Gyllenhaal was gifted the role in the sequel when Katie Holmes declined to reprise it in favour of starring opposite Queen Latifah in crime-caper Mad Money. Which kind of writes its own punchline.
E is for Escalation
Batman: cure or curse? One of Team Nolan’s deftest touches is to ask pertinent questions about the wisdom in having a semi-licensed vigilante in Gotham’s battle against the mob – especially when he seems to bring all the crazies out to play while justifying every angry jackass with a sporting goods discount card who wants to get padded up and get some time on that particular pitch themselves.
F is for Fox, Lucius
He’s risen from his basement exile to the CEO of Wayne Enterprises, but the cunning silver Fox still keeps a special side-interest in the Applied Sciences division. Morgan Freeman dishes up the tech porn with a mischievous twinkle in his eyebrows, but Fox is also a vital point on Bruce’s moral compass, throwing his expensive toys out of the pram when he feels his boss has tripped over the ethical line. Well, if you’ve got sage advice to offer, Morgan Freeman’s got the voice to deliver it.
G is for Gotham
Having stepped back from the brink of social collapse, the world’s greatest city – with London, Chicago, LA, and a huge Shepperton set doing sterling double-duty – is once again a thriving, bustling centre of civilization… for those on the right side of the economic divide anyway. The Bat reboot has created a real sense of Gotham’s geography – especially if you got sucked into The Dark Knight’s innovative virals – tracing routes from the Narrows to the waterfront, and from Arkham to Wayne Tower. Expect to see property prices crash come July 20. Actually, just expect properties to crash.
H is for Harvey Dent
“You either die a hero or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain.” In the end, the internal affairs agent turned dashing DA turned semi-charbroiled murderer didn’t get much say in the matter. With Batsy and Gordon covering up Dent’s coin-flipping murder boner, the tragic Two-Face has been cast as Gotham’s White Knight – a Kennedy-esque inspiration for Gotham’s citizen’s to sweep away the last of the mob and usher in the good times. Gotham City believes in Harvey Dent. For now.
I is for IMAX
Treating the rule book like Bane treats spinal columns, Nolan was the first feature director to shoot action sequences in proper IMAX – including TDK’s bank heist opening and truck-flipping pursuit – with Rises now expected to have over an hour of 15/70 footage. After The Dark Knight’s success, studio heads stopped treating IMAX as a naff gimmick and proceeded to leap aboard the bandwagon like it contained free Facebook shares. Yeah, of course Wrath Of The Titans needed to be seen in IMAX…
J is for Joker
Having teased us at the end of Begins, Team Nolan delivered the goods for The Dark Knight – conjuring up a shifting, complex take on the gasoline-fuelled fiend, with the match being struck by the late Heath Ledger’s Oscar-winning performance. Inspired by the psychologically-slippery tracks laid down in Arkham Asylum and The Killing Joke – with a dash of Clockwork Orange punk thrown in for good measure – they created the perfect psychopathic foil to the ‘incorruptible’ Bat.
K is for Kyle, Selina
The purrfect princess of petty pilfering, Kyle is the feline femme fatale for whom robbing the rich is merely righteous repossession, while ethics is where David Beckham comes from. Nolan, Goyer and actress Anne Hathaway’s Catwoman is a tough-headed, tough-kicking survivor – especially with her blade-heeled boots – whose allegiances are as slippery as her outfit. But will the pretty kitty grow a conscience before her claws are clipped?
L is for League of Shadows
“We restore the balance,” insists the LOS’s chief recruiting officer and *ahem* dual-passport holder Henri Ducard, whose brutal-if-theatrical methods of combat spark a few ideas in unsuitable applicant Bruce Wayne. Dating back thousands of years, the LOS have been there to help yank the chain whenever a civilisation required a courtesy flush – Rome, medieval London and now, finally, Gotham. We respectfully suggest Mr Ra’s Al Ghul points his ’tashe in the direction of Jersey Shore.
M is for Masks
“Your real face is the one that criminals now fear,” Rachel explains to Bruce at the end of Begins, as he faces up to a lifetime of having to pretend to be a feckless billionaire (oh, the misery…). Masks and appearances have been central to Nolan’s Batman: Bruce, Scarecrow and Bane all need them for practical reasons; Two-Face’s twisted psyche is scarred into his face for all to see while the mysteriously scarred Joker wears a clown mask only to reveal that underneath lies… another clown mask. Freud would have a field day, once he’d finished with the latent daddy issues.
N is for Nolans, The
Epic emotional drama? Complex narrative trickery? A knack for an astonishing visual? The ambition to pull it all off? As Memento, The Prestige and Inception demonstrate, the Bat-flicks aren’t flukes. Even if the Dark Knight Rises is half as good as its predecessor, Chris and his writer-brother Jonathan – together with indispensable co-screenwriter David Goyer - will have pulled off a unique cinematic first: the great superhero trilogy. It’s no coincidence that the triple-headed Bat-beast is overseeing The Man Of Steel reboot.
O is for Occupy Wall Street
Of all the people making a stand at Wall Street late last year, perhaps Batman and the Gotham Police Department were the strangest: Nolan shot the climactic dust up between Bane’s army and the countering cops – featuring over 1,000 extras – on the steps of the world’s financial centre. The coincidental timing couldn’t have been more ironic given that economic injustice is one of Rises’ underlying themes – with the 99% coming for their due.
P is for Pennyworth, Alfred
A cockney butler? That’s just not good form, old chap. But if Lucius is Bruce’s brain and Rachel his conscience, then Alfred is his heart. As played by Chris Nolan’s good-luck charm Michael Caine, he’s the ex-soldier who understands what it means to make tough decisions – fresh from burning down Burmese forests hunting for a thief – but knows his ward even better: his secret burning of Rachel’s Dear John being the only tender salve for a heartbroken Bruce.
Q is for Q&A
“You... complete me.” The Dark Knight’s real centerpiece is the interrogation room, with the two opposing ideologies finally colliding in a dramatic face-off to rival Heat – a masterpiece of boiling tension and dramatic switches as Batman and the newly promoted Gordon soon discover that Joker holds all the aces, despite his captivity. As they lose control of the situation, the Commissioner’s faith in his vigilante buddy comes crashing down around him, alongside his one-sided mirror.
R is for Ra’s al Ghul
This false father figure offers Bruce an alternative path, one that offers brutal justice of a more homicidal sort. The Demon’s Head’s mass-murderous musings look to have had more of an impact on one of his other errant apprentices: Bane. But is Ra's al Ghul really immortal? Rumours of the Lazarus Pit making an appearance in some form – and the return of Liam Neeson – have been circling ever since Rises began production. Birth of the Demon anyone?
S is for Scarecrow
There’s nothing to fear but fear himself. With Bruce's personal terrors – and plans to creating some pant-streaking new ones for his enemies – at the heart of Begins, it made perfect sense for Nolan and Goyer to book an appointment with Dr Crane; the maggot-masked physician’s hallucinogens providing Begins with its most unsettling moments. Cillian Murphy’s brief cameo in The Dark Knight further helped give Gotham the feel of a cohesive universe; could he be making more unprofessional diagnosis in Rises?
T is for Tumbler
“It’s a black… tank.” Avoiding the subtle flashing neon-wang designs favoured by Burton and Schumacher, the mainstay motor of the Nolan Bat-flicks reflects the practical nature of rebooted Dark Knight: a rejected military bridging vehicle able to perform ramp-free jumps. Petrol-heads will be delighted to know that working models of the vehicle were created, capable of reaching 0-60 in 5.6 seconds – that is if you’ve got a spare $250,000. “I’ve got to get me one of those,” Gordon marvels. Not on those wages, mate.
U is for Underground
Effectively born in the bat-filled caves and secret caverns under Wayne Manor, Batman makes them his home, overseeing some rather specific interior decoration in the rebuilt Wayne Manor. Rises however sees him meet his equal in underground décor: Bane is using the Gotham tunnel networks as a discreet base from which to transport his terror, before rising to introduce himself to his new neighbours in truly explosive fashion. A bottle of wine would have been fine.
V is for Voice
One of the most divisive aspects of the Nolan reboot is Christian Bale’s Bat-rasp – a throat-shredding 120-a-day growl that screamed ‘virus’ but went viral instead. To compound the vocal vagueness, cinemagoers watching the first Rises trailer came out complaining that Tom Hardy’s sub-Caribbean bur – or blur? – was inaudible thanks to Bane’s mask. We’re eagerly awaiting the pair’s on-screen dialogue. Maybe it’ll be subtitled.
W is for Wayne, Bruce
Team Nolan’s masterstroke has been to put the focus heavily on Wayne rather than his pointy eared, sore-throated alter ego: Christian Bale is credited as playing only Bruce Wayne – the Batman is merely an extension of the billionaire philanthropist’s battle against injustice. The role finally put Christian Bale on the A-list, after years of poking around the lower reaches of the alphabet, and gave him the perfect outlet for his complex, angst-filled charisma and occasional OTT tendencies. And if Nolan really wanted to get him riled up for a scene, he could just have someone walk through his eyeline.
X is for X-Rated
The only guarantee in Hollywood is that with great success comes a not-so-great porno parody. Axel Braun’s ‘mega-budget’ parodies are one of the few ways that old-guard grot-flicks can distinguish themselves from their amateur on-line cousins (which none of us writing or reading this have ever seen, obviously). His Dark Knight XXX – following on from the cunningly titled Avengers XXX – not only features Bane, Joker and Catwoman, but chucks in John Constantine and Zatanna for good measure. Actually, that Bat costume’s pretty good.
Y is for Year One
Following the neon-nippled nightmare that was Joel Schumacher’s Batman & Robin, Warner Bros spent five years trying to get the franchise back off the ground before hiring Chris Nolan and David Goyer in 2003. Other proposals included a straight fifth sequel revolving around the Scarecrow and Man-Bat, a live-action Batman Beyond and a Batman Vs Superman flick to relaunch both. The most interesting possibility though was Requiem For A Dream’s Darren Aronofsky directing a doubtlessly intense and blood-splattered adaptation of Batman: Year One starring… Christian Bale.
Z is for Zimmer, Hans
The German synth maestro – along side composer James Newton Howard – created a masterpiece in restrained heroics to perfectly match the subdued complexity of Nolan’s hero, later creating a jarringly atonal suite for the Joker by scraping a razorblade along the instruments’ strings to conjure those unsettling sounds. It’s up there with his other personal highlights, the theme tune for Going For Gold.
Source : ign[dot]com
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