The
Dark Knight Rises is a 2012 British-American superhero film directed
by Christopher Nolan, who co-wrote the screenplay with his brother
Jonathan Nolan and the story with David S. Goyer. Featuring the DC
Comics character Batman, the film is the final installment in Nolan's
Batman film trilogy, and it is the sequel to Batman Begins (2005) and
The Dark Knight (2008). Christian Bale reprises the lead role of
Bruce Wayne/Batman, with a returning cast of his allies: Michael
Caine as Alfred Pennyworth, Gary Oldman as James Gordon, and Morgan
Freeman as Lucius Fox. The film introduces Selina Kyle (Anne
Hathaway), a sly, morally ambiguous cat burglar, and Bane (Tom
Hardy), a mercenary bent on destroying Gotham City. Drawn back into
action by new threats facing the city, an older Bruce Wayne is forced
to come out of retirement and become Batman once again.
Hathaway auditioned not
knowing what role she was being considered for, admitting that she
had one character in mind, but only learned that the role was Selina
Kyle after talking with Christopher Nolan for an hour. She described
the role as being the most physically demanding she had ever played,
and confessed that while she thought of herself as being fit she had
to redouble her efforts in the gym to keep up with the demands of the
role. Hathaway trained extensively in martial arts for the role, and
looked to Hedy Lamarr (who was the inspiration for the Catwoman
character) in developing her performance. Initial fan reaction to
Hathaway being cast was negative (not the girl for Ella Enchanted the
internet feaked out). The objections were similar to those raised
when Michael Keaton was cast as Batman in Tim Burton's 1989 film.
Like Keaton, Hathaway would prove her critics wrong and she would
make an excellent Catwoman, later winning the Saturn Award for Best
Supporting Actress for her performance as Selina Kyle.
Christopher
Nolan was initially hesitant about returning to the series for a
second time, but agreed to come back after developing a story with
his brother and Goyer that he felt would conclude the series on a
satisfactory note. Nolan drew inspiration from Bane's comic book
debut in the 1993 "Knightfall" storyline, the 1986 series
The Dark Knight Returns, and the 1999 storyline "No Man's
Land". Filming took place in various locations, including
Jodhpur, London, Nottingham, Glasgow, Los Angeles, New York City,
Newark, and Pittsburgh. Nolan used IMAX cameras for much of the
filming, including the first six minutes of the film, to optimize the
quality of the picture. A variation of the Batplane termed "The
Bat", an underground prison set, and a new Batcave set were
created specifically for the film.
Warner Bros. president of
production Jeff Robinov had hoped a third film would be released in
2011 or 2012. Nolan wanted the story for the third installment to
keep him emotionally invested. "On a more superficial level, I
have to ask the question," he reasoned, "how many good
third movies in a franchise can people name?" Nolan said that he
never even thought a third film was possible in the foreword for his
book The Art and Making of the Dark Knight Trilogy. Nolan only agreed
to a third film on the basis of finding a worthwhile story, fearing
that he would become bored halfway through production if he
discovered the film to be unnecessary. By December 2008, Nolan
completed a rough story outline, before he committed himself to
Inception. Later in December, Alan F. Horn confirmed that while
discussions with Nolan about a third film were ongoing, no casting
had been done, and Horn denied all such rumors. Before Nolan
confirmed his involvement, Gary Oldman had said he was confident
Nolan would return. Following the success of the Joker in The Dark
Knight, studio executives wished for The Riddler to be included as
the primary villain as he was considered a similar character and
encouraged the casting of Leonardo DiCaprio. However, Nolan wanted
the antagonist to be vastly different than the previous incarnations
and committed to using Bane instead, citing the need for a character
with a physical presence within the film. He was initially unfamiliar
with the character's back-story, but pointed out the appeal of an
archetype, labelling it as "the extreme of some type of
villainy". When comparing the choice of Bane with the Joker, Nolan
highlighted the Joker as an example of "diabolical, chaotic
anarchy and has a devilish sense of humor", juxtaposing him
against Bane, who he likened to "a classic movie monster with a
terrific brain."
It was not until February
9th, 2010, that it was announced that Nolan had "cracked"
the story of a sequel to The Dark Knight and was committed to return
to the project. Shortly afterward, it was announced David S. Goyer
and Jonathan Nolan were working on a screenplay. Goyer would leave
the project during pre-production to begin work on Man of Steel;
Jonathan continued writing the script based on the story by his
brother Chris and Goyer. Chris Nolan said that his brother's original
draft was about 400 pages. The film's storyline has been compared
with the Batman comic book series' story arc "Knightfall"
(1993), which showcased Bane; the mini-series The Dark Knight Returns
(1986), in which Batman returns to Gotham City after a ten-year
absence; and the story arc "No Man's Land" (1999), which
depicts a Gotham cut off from the rest of the world and overrun by
gangs. Nolan confirmed the Joker would not return in the third film,
and dismissed rumors that he considered using unused footage of Heath
Ledger from The Dark Knight. The Dark Knight Rises reunited Nolan
with many of his past collaborators, including cinematographer Wally
Pfister, production designer Nathan Crowley, editor Lee Smith,
costume designer Lindy Hemming, special effects supervisors Paul
Franklin and Chris Corbould, and composer Hans Zimmer.
Untitled
AV
CLUB FEATURETTE DEPARTMENT
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Warner Bros. Pictures' and
Legendary Pictures' "The Dark Knight Rises" is the epic
conclusion to filmmaker Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy. Leading
an all-star international cast, Oscar(R) winner Christian Bale
("The Fighter") again plays the dual role of Bruce
Wayne/Batman. The film also stars Anne Hathaway, as Selina Kyle; Tom
Hardy, as Bane; Oscar(R) winner Marion Cotillard ("La Vie en
Rose"), as Miranda Tate; and Joseph Gordon-Levitt, as John
Blake. Returning to the main cast, Oscar(R) winner Michael Caine
("The Cider House Rules") plays Alfred; Gary Oldman is
Commissioner Gordon; and Oscar(R) winner Morgan Freeman ("Million
Dollar Baby") reprises the role of Lucius Fox. You
can add The Dark Knight Rises to your DVD collection here.
During location scouting in
December 2010, Nolan began searching for locations such as India,
Romania, and Michigan. The film had an estimated budget of
$250–300 million, coming down to about $230 million after tax
credits. Nolan elected not to film in 3-D, but instead stated that he
intended to focus on improving image quality and scale using the IMAX
format. The Dark Knight Rises featured over an hour of footage shot
in IMAX (by comparison, The Dark Knight contained 28 minutes). Nolan
had several meetings with IMAX Vice-President David Keighley to work
on the logistics of projecting films in digital IMAX venues. Wally
Pfister had expressed interest in shooting the film entirely in IMAX,
but because of the considerable noise made by IMAX cameras, 35mm and
70mm cameras had to be used for shooting the film's dialogue scenes,
as dialogue had to be dubbed when shot with IMAX cameras. Chairman
and president of the IMAX Corporation Greg Foster stated that IMAX
plans to run the film in its theatres for two months, despite only
being contractually committed to run the film for two weeks. Nolan
also bypassed the use of a digital intermediate for the film,
resulting in less manipulation of the filmed image and higher film resolution.
Filming
was scheduled to start in May and conclude in November 2011.
Principal photography commenced on May 6th, 2011, in Jodhpur, India
at the Mehrangarh Fort before moving to Pittsburgh, where it operated
under the working title Magnus Rex to reduce the visibility of the
production. Shooting locations within the city included Heinz Field,
the site of the football game, with members of the Pittsburgh
Steelers playing the Gotham Rogues football team. More than 11,000
extras were used to depict the shot sequence. Filming in Pittsburgh
also took place at the Mellon Institute and Software Engineering
Institute at Carnegie Mellon University. A letter sent out to
residents and business owners detailing road closures revealed that
the streets of the city would be featured "as the start of [the]
film". 9-1-1 operators were told to expect an increase in calls
related to gun shots and explosions in the film's production. The
Pittsburgh leg of production wrapped after three weeks on August
21st, 2011. The next portion of the filming began in Los Angeles in
late August and finished up on October 23rd after nine weeks of
filming. New York and New Jersey were the next places of filming. The
Trump Tower replaced the Richard J. Daley Center as the location for
the headquarters of Wayne Enterprises. In November 2011, shooting
shifted to Newark, New Jersey. Newark City Hall and Military Park
were among the locations used for filming. Other shooting locations
include London and Glasgow, the latter of which was used for
"additional exterior filming". Principal photography
concluded on November 14th, 2011. The external waterfall scene at the
end of the film was shot at Sgwd Henrhyd falls, on the edge of the
Brecon Beacons National Park in Wales.
Production
photos from filming in Pittsburgh showed a second Tumbler chassis
after the first was destroyed, indicating that a new Batmobile would
be in the film, following the destruction of the first in The Dark
Knight. Further set photos revealed a "new vehicle" being
transported to Wabash Tunnel, prompting speculation as to its nature.
In June 2011, Autoblog confirmed the presence of the new Lamborghini
Aventador on the film set.
Several accidents occurred
during the production of the film. While filming at Wollaton Hall,
Nottingham, a tractor-trailer crashed into the main entrance, though
no one was injured. A stuntman parachutist later crashed through the
roof of a home in Cairngorm Gliding Club, Feshiebridge in Scotland,
and became wedged there after a failed landing during a skydiving
stunt; he was not seriously injured. While filming scenes in
Pittsburgh, Hathaway's stunt double crashed into an IMAX camera while
filming a sequence that required her to ride a Batpod down a flight
of stairs during a riot. There were no injuries, but the camera was
destroyed. A second accident took place in Pittsburgh when the truck
carrying the then-unidentified vehicle later termed "The
Bat" went off-course and crashed into a lighting array, damaging
the model of the aircraft. Production was delayed while the model was repaired.
Shortly before Christmas of
2011, Christopher Nolan invited many of America's most prominent
directors, including Edgar Wright, Michael Bay, Bryan Singer, Jon
Favreau, Eli Roth, Duncan Jones and Stephen Daldry, to Universal
CityWalk's IMAX theatre for a private screening of the first six
minutes of The Dark Knight Rises, which had been shot on IMAX film
and edited from the original camera negative. Nolan, feeling that the
use of film stock in cinema is currently being phased out due to the
introduction of digital cinematography and projection, used this
screening to make a case for the continued use of film, which he
asserts still offers superior image quality to any digital format,
and warned the filmmakers that unless they continued to assert their
choice to use film in their productions, they may eventually lose it
as an option. Nolan explained; "I wanted to give them a chance
to see the potential, because I think IMAX is the best film format
that was ever invented. It's the gold standard and what any other
technology has to match up to, but none have, in my opinion. The
message I wanted to put out there was that no one is taking anyone's
digital cameras away. But if we want film to continue as an option,
and someone is working on a big studio movie with the resources and
the power to insist [on] film, they should say so. I felt as if I
didn't say anything, and then we started to lose that option, it
would be a shame. When I look at a digitally acquired and projected
image, it looks inferior against an original negative anamorphic
print or an IMAX one."
Costume
designer Lindy Hemming explained that Bane uses a mask to inhale an
analgesic gas, which, in director Christopher Nolan's words,
"keeps his pain just below the threshold so he can
function." In designing Bane's costume, Hemming needed it to
look "like an amalgam of all sorts of bits and pieces he cobbled
together, as he passed through some very remote places. We made parts
of his vest, for example, from fragments of an old military tent. His
clothes are militaristic, but are not in any way a uniform."
Hemming also designed Bane's mask to look "animalistic".
Costume effects supervisor
Graham Churchyard created a three-dimensional model of actor Tom
Hardy's face and skull to design the mask, allowing the mask to
perfectly conform to the contours of Hardy's face.
Hemming personally designed
Bane's coat, which she admitted took two years to complete. Taking
inspiration from a Swedish army jacket and a frock coat from the
French Revolution, it was designed to make Bane look like equal parts
dictatorial and revolutionary. The design was difficult as Hemming
struggled to find a tailor in Los Angeles who could work with shearling.
The Batsuit consisted of
110 separate pieces, each of which had to be replicated dozens of
times over the course of the production. The base layer was made of a
polyester mesh that is utilized by the military and high-tech sports
manufacturers because of its breathability and moisture-wicking
properties. Molded pieces of flexible urethane were then attached to
the mesh, to form the overall body armor plating.
Carbon fiber panels were placed inside the sections on the legs,
chest and abdomen. The cowl was sculpted from a cast of Bale's face
and head to become a perfect fit for Christian Bale. The suit
remained unchanged for the film since The Dark Knight.
In creating Selina Kyle's
catsuit, two layers of material were used, with the outer layer being
polyurethane coated spandex, embossed with a hexagonal pattern. The
catsuit also consisted of elbow-length gloves, a utility belt, and
thigh-high boots with spike heels. Meow.
Concept artist Tully
Summers commented on Nolan's style of cinematography when asked about
the difference between his designs for this film and fantasy-based
designs for Men in Black 3: "The difference for me was
Christopher Nolan's visual style. One of the things that makes his
Batman movies so compelling is their tone of plausibility. He will
often prefer a raw, grittier design over one that is very sleek and
product design pretty. It's sort of a practical military aesthetic.
This stuff is made to work, not impress shoppers. The Dark Knight
Rises is a war film." Producer Emma Thomas stated this Batman
film has a different visual aesthetic from the first two
Nolan-directed features, explaining that "it's meant to be
winter in Gotham, so that right there is going to lend a whole
different look to the film."
The
film introduces a vehicle that has been compared with the Batplane,
dubbed "the Bat". In designing the Bat, Nathan Crowley
approached it as if it were an actual military project, emphasising
the need for it to "fit into the same family" as the
Tumbler and the Batpod. The final version of the Bat takes its design
cues from the Harrier Jump Jet, Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey and the
Boeing AH-64 Apache. Chris Corbould described the Bat's size and
shape as presenting a major challenge for filming given Christopher
Nolan's emphasis on practical effects over computer-generated
imagery. In order to make the Bat "fly", it was variously
supported by wires, suspended from cranes and helicopters, and
mounted on a purpose-built vehicle with hydraulic controls to
simulate movement.
When designing the Batcave
set, Crowley and fellow production designer Kevin Kavanaugh hit upon
the idea of flooding the Batcave and having Batman's equipment, the
Batsuit and a supercomputer rise from the water. Another set was
designed at Cardington as an "underground prison", a
rough-hewn labyrinth of stone cells in a vast abyss with a 120 foot
(37 m) vertical shaft leading to the surface. Exteriors above the
prison were filmed in Jodhpur, India, chosen because the
"forbidding landscape added to the desolation".
In an interview in October
2010, composer Hans Zimmer confirmed that he would be returning to
score The Dark Knight Rises. James Newton Howard was offered to
return and write the score with Zimmer as he did for Batman Begins
and The Dark Knight, but he chose not to because he noted that the
chemistry established between Zimmer and Nolan during the making of
Inception would make him seem like a "third wheel". Zimmer
included several cues from the earlier scores, but explains that he
wanted to go in a "completely different direction" for
Bane's theme. While the theme accompanying Selina Kyle is
deliberately ambiguous, the musical thread spanning throughout the
trilogy was composed exclusively for Bruce Wayne.
The
official website launched in May 2011 introducing a viral marketing
campaign similar to the one used to promote The Dark Knight. The
website streamed an encrypted audio file described by users as
chanting. Users decrypted the audio to the Twitter hashtag,
"#TheFireRises". Warner Bros. removed a pixel from the
webpage for every tweet using the hashtag. The website revealed the
first official image of Bane.
In July 2011, a teaser
trailer leaked online before its official release with Harry Potter
and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2. The studio released the teaser
three days after the leak to mixed reviews. Later the theatrical
trailer was leaked online as well, before being released the
following week attached to theatrical prints of Sherlock Holmes: A
Game of Shadows. Critics noted political undertones with dialogue
foreshadowing the theme of income inequality and an "Occupy
Gotham" campaign within the world of the story. Receiving more
than 12.5 million views in the first 24 hours after its release, the
trailer set the record for most combined downloads from iTunes,
beating the previous record held by The Avengers. However, the second
trailer for The Avengers again set the record with 13.7 million
downloads. Warner Bros. attached a second theatrical trailer for The
Dark Knight Rises to theatrical prints of The Avengers.
Continuing a method used
with The Dark Knight whereby the opening sequence of the film was
attached to IMAX prints of I Am Legend seven months before release, a
six-minute prologue of The Dark Knight Rises was attached to 70mm
IMAX prints of Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, again
approximately seven months before release. Critical reaction to the
prologue was positive, with one critic commenting that "no one
gets to make a film on this kind of scale anymore. Except for
Christopher Nolan," though a round-up of reviews highlighted the
way many critics found Tom Hardy's dialogue very difficult to hear.
Addressing the issue in an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Nolan
said "I think when people see the film, things will come into
focus. Bane is very complex and very interesting and when people see
the finished film people will be very entertained by him."
Viral
marketing campaigns for the film continued as magazine companies
Empire and Wired received "CIA documents" concerning a
"Dr. Leonid Pavel", with its mugshot connected to actor
Alon Abutbul. According to the first document, Pavel is a missing
Russian nuclear physicist, while the second document appears to be an
edited transcript of a conversation discussing the handover of Dr.
Pavel to the CIA by Georgian separatists, but with most of the
conversation redacted. These were later shown to be plot elements of
the six-minute prologue. The official Twitter account later linked to
another censored document, this time, referencing "Operation
Early Bird". A website of the same name was discovered,
revealing a countdown timer. When the countdown finished, the site
presented a map showing all available theaters that would be
screening the film's prologue earlier than its release. Various
websites received a package that included a cylinder map of
"strike zones", and a "fire rises" T-shirt. In
April 2012, the film's official website was updated with a
"dossier" on a suspect named "John Doe" also
known as "The Batman" for an arrest, with a list of several
accusations. The premise of the campaign starts when the mayor of
Gotham City "redoubles" the effort to capture Batman and
anyone supporting his return in preparation for the upcoming
"Harvey Dent Day". The site also includes an extensive list
of real-world locations where "graffiti related to movement in
support of the vigilante's return" is located. For each tweet of
a specific location marked on the list, a frame of the second
theatrical trailer for the film was released on a separate website.
In
January 2012, six months prior to the film's release, tickets for
midnight IMAX showings in New York, San Francisco, and Los Angeles
went on sale and sold out immediately. Purchased tickets surfaced for
sale online for over $100, compared with their original price of $17.50.
At the American
International Toy Fair, Mattel unveiled figures for Batman, Bane, and
Catwoman, and Batman's flying vehicle, The Bat. The Mattel figures
will also be released in the "Movie Masters" line,
featuring more highly detailed and articulated presentation, and
Quiktek versions that feature interchangeable accessories. Lego is
set to release building sets and mini-figures based on the film and
incorporating other DC Comic characters. Additionally, Funko is
releasing a series of plush toys, Mezco Toyz are releasing vinyl
figures, and Hornby are releasing the Batman Tumbler car. Other
partners include Jakks Pacific who are creating novelty and
large-scale figures and plush toys, and PPW Toys, who are creating a
Batman themed Mr. Potato Head. Various clothing items including
shoes, t-shirts, hats and wallets are also being produced.
A video game of the same
name was released on the same day as the release of the film for the
iOS and Android devices for promoting the movie. The game features
open world with primary focus on stealth and combat. The combat
system of the game is inspired from Arkham Asylum and Arkham City. It
takes place in Gotham City, with a somewhat similar but still
significantly different plot from that of the movie. IGN gave it a
mediocre score of 5.5/10.
The film novelization,
written by author Greg Cox and published by Titan Books, was released
alongside the film on July 24, 2012.
Warner Bros. partnered with
Mountain Dew to do a cross-promotion that included a special paint
scheme on the No. 88 Chevrolet Impala owned by Hendrick Motorsports
and driven by Dale Earnhardt, Jr. in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. On
June 17, 2012, the car won the 2012 Quicken Loans 400 at Michigan
International Speedway. On July 4, 2012, the studio signed a deal
with Formula One team Lotus F1 to have the film's logos appear on the
Lotus E20s driven by Kimi Räikkönen and Romain Grosjean at
the 2012 British Grand Prix. Räikkönen and Grosjean went on
to finish the race in fifth and sixth place respectively. Warner
Bros. had previously followed a similar promotion at the 2008 British
Grand Prix, when the now-defunct Toyota F1 carried a livery to
promote The Dark Knight.
Two digital comic books
entitled Batman Origins and The Dark Knight: Prologue were released
exclusively for Nokia Lumia devices. A special movie application has
also been released, featuring trailers, wallpapers, movie schedules
and Batman trivias. Limited editions of the Lumia 710, Lumia 800 and
Lumia 900 were also released featuring a laser-etched Batman logo.
This massive marketing
campaign would crash into a real life tragedy on July 20th, 2012.
During a midnight showing of the film at the Century 16 Cinema in
Aurora, Colorado, a gunman wearing a gas mask opened fire inside the
theater, killing 12 people and injuring 58 others. Police responding
to the shooting apprehended a suspect, later identified as
24-year-old James Eagan Holmes, shortly after arriving on the scene.
At the time of his arrest, Holmes allegedly identified himself as the
Joker to police.
Warner
Bros. stated that it was deeply saddened by the shooting, and
announced the cancellation of the Paris, Mexico, and Japan premieres
of The Dark Knight Rises, and suspended the marketing campaign for
the film in Finland. Several broadcast networks also suspended
television ads for the film in the United States because of the
tragedy. The trailer for Gangster Squad, another Warner Bros. movie
which was included in the screening of The Dark Knight Rises, has
been removed as it contains a scene which shows gangsters shooting
submachine guns at moviegoers through the screen, similar to the
shooting in Aurora. Director Christopher Nolan released a public
statement calling the shooting "unbearably savage". Other
stars of the film released statements expressing their condolences,
with star Christian Bale and his wife (above) paying a personal visit
to the survivors and the memorial in Aurora.
On
July 6th, 2012, Warner Bros. held a special IMAX screening of The
Dark Knight Rises for more than one hundred reporters and critics.
However, technical issues with the computer device synchronising the
sound and picture forced the studio to postpone the screening by a
day. The film later premiered on July 16th at the AMC Lincoln Square
Theater in New York City, New York, followed by a European premiere
on July 18th at Leicester Square in London, England. The film was
released in Australia and New Zealand on July 19th, and was later
released in North America and the United Kingdom on July 20th.
The Dark Knight Rises
received positive reviews from critics. The Telegraph granted the
film a maximum score of five stars, stating that it is "a
superhero film without a superhero," comparing it with The
Godfather Part II and praising Hardy's performance as well as the
film's intricate plot and narrative. Kenneth Turan of the Los Angeles
Times thought the film was "potent, persuasive and hypnotic"
and that it was "more than an exceptional superhero movie, it
is masterful filmmaking by any standard." The Playlists Todd
Gilchrist wrote " A cinematic, cultural and personal triumph,
The Dark Knight Rises is emotionally inspiring, aesthetically
significant and critically important for America itself – as a
mirror of both sober reflection and resilient hope." IGN gave it
a 9 out of 10, noting similarities in tone and theme to Batman Begins
over the trilogy's second installment The Dark Knight, but also
describing Bane as "that bit less interesting to watch"
than Ledger's Joker, despite praising his "menacing voice"
and "body language-driven performance". Roger Ebert of the
Chicago Sun-Times gave the film three out of four stars, stating
"the film begins slowly with a murky plot and too many new
characters, but builds to a sensational climax." Film critic
Richard Roeper gave the film an "A", calling it "a
majestic, gorgeous, brutal and richly satisfying epic", and
citing the final scenes of the picture as "the best five minutes
of any film this year."
The Daily Mail's Chris
Tookey said that the film was bloated and overly long, and criticized
the sombre tone and lack of humor, despite praising the film's visually-impressive
set pieces. CNN's Tom Charity called this a "disappointingly
clunky and bombastic conclusion to a superior series" and even
went so far as to call it Nolan's worst film. Anthony Lane of The New
Yorker says that the "story is dense, overlong, and studded with
references that will make sense only to those intimate with Nolan's
previous excursions into Batmanhood".
Writing
in Salon, David Sirota, a progressive political commentator compared
The Dark Knight Rises and the game Call of Duty to 1980s popular
culture reflecting the political period of the time, accusing them of
perpetuating a conservative agenda: "Just as so many 1980s pop
culture products reflected the spirit of the Reagan Revolution's
conservative backlash, we are now seeing two blockbuster, genre-shaping
products not-so-subtly reflect the Tea Party's rhetorical backlash
to the powerful Occupy Wall Street zeitgeist." An article in
Variety reported Chuck Dixon, the co-creator of the Bane character,
as saying that Bane is "far more akin to an Occupy Wall Street
type if you're looking to cast him politically." Catherine
Shoard of the center-left British publication The Guardian claimed
the film "is a quite audaciously capitalist vision, radically
conservative, radically vigilante, that advances a serious, stirring
proposal that the wish-fulfilment of the wealthy is to be championed
if they say they want to do good." In contrast, liberal
commentator Jonathan Chait opined in New York that "What passes
for a right-wing movie these days is The Dark Knight Rises, which
submits the rather modest premise that, irritating though the rich
may be, actually killing them and taking all their stuff might be
excessive." Writing in USA Today, Bryan Alexander called Bane
"the ultimate occupier" and reported that Christian Bale
was amazed that the script had "foreseen" the Occupy movement.
Nolan has denied the film
criticizes the Occupy movement and insists that none of his Batman
films are intended to be political: "I've had as many
conversations with people who have seen the film the other way round.
We throw a lot of things against the wall to see if it sticks. We put
a lot of interesting questions in the air, but that's simply a
backdrop for the story. What we're really trying to do is show the
cracks of society, show the conflicts that somebody would try to
wedge open. We're going to get wildly different interpretations of
what the film is supporting and not supporting, but it's not doing
any of those things. It's just telling a story. If you're saying,
'Have you made a film that's supposed to be criticizing the Occupy
Wall Street movement?' – well, obviously, that's not true."
Alternatively,
politically-conservative commentator Rush Limbaugh, who has never
let the facts get in the way of one of his rants, alleged that the
film was biased against 2012 Republican presidential nominee Mitt
Romney due to Bane's name being a homophone for Bain Capital, the
financial service company Romney used to head, despite the fact that
the character has existed as a major Batman foe since 1993. In
response, Nolan said that the comments were "bizarre",
while Dixon and Freeman said that the comments were "ridiculous".
Similarly, comparisons
between Bane and Bain have also been made by bloggers on both sides
of the political spectrum, with Democratic adviser Christopher Lehane
noting the similarities between the narratives of the film and the
presidential campaign.
This is similar to when
some saw a "political agenda" in Star Wars, Episode III:
Revenge of the Sith. Then neoconservatives criticized the Star Wars
film, claiming it has a liberal bias and is a "weak"
commentary on the George W. Bush Administration and the U.S./Iraqi
war. Some websites went as far as to propose a boycott of the film.
However, Lucas defended the film, stating that the film's storyline
was written during the Vietnam War, and was influenced by it instead.
Lucas did note however that "The parallels between Vietnam and
what we're doing in Iraq now are unbelievable." Still, some saw
echoes of Bush in the film. In one scene, Anakin Skywalker/Darth
Vader tells his onetime mentor, Obi-Wan Kenobi, "If you're not
with me, you're my enemy." The line is seen as a reference to
Bush's post-Sept. 11th threat "Either you are with us, or you
are with the terrorists."
Some
of these critics see "secret agendas" in everything even
if it was never intended by the director or writer. A few years later
they would find similar "secret agendas" in The Muppet
Movie. The Dark Knight Rises hardly supports any "right wing
agenda". Batman is a character who fights for the underdog and
the average citizen of Gotham City, many of whom are looking forward
to his return. While Bane tears down the Gotham City elite, and the
right wing pundits see this as the goal of the "Occupy Wall
Street" movement, he doesn't do it to better the lot of the
average citizen. His rhetoric is merely a ploy to gain power by
trying to trick and mislead the masses into supporting him. They soon
learn that Bane's plan to "occupy" Gotham City benefits
only those in his inner circle. At the end of the day he is as well
funded as any of the most powerful people he claims to despise and
will betray the very people he claims he is there to save.
The
Dark Knight Rises opened on Friday, July 20, 2012. Hours before the
midnight release, several box office analysts suggested as much as a
$198 million domestic opening weekend. However, in the wake of the
mass shooting during a midnight screening of the film, Warner Bros.
decided to not report further box office figures for the movie until
Monday, July 23rd, 2012. As a result, other distributors also delayed
the release of their official estimates as well. The shooting is also
speculated to have hurt the ticket sales as E! Online reported that a
North Carolina audience member had stated that "this theater was
kinda empty". Some reports released on July 21st, 2012 said that
rival studios estimated that the film grossed $75 million to $77
million on its opening day. Warner Brothers shortly after released a
statement to ABC News stating that they delayed the release of their
estimates for the opening day total of the film "out of respect
for the victims and their families," and added "Warner
Bros. Pictures will not be reporting box office numbers for The Dark
Knight Rises throughout the weekend. Box office numbers will be
released on Monday."
The Dark Knight Rises
earned $448,139,099 in North America, and $636,300,000 in other
countries, summing up to a worldwide total of $1,084,439,099 and is
the third-highest-grossing film of 2012. The film set a worldwide
IMAX opening-weekend record with $23.8 million (previously held by
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2) and also broke
the record for the fastest movie to make over $50 million in IMAX
theatres. On the 2012 Labor Day weekend, it became the third film
distributed by Warner Bros. and the thirteenth film in cinematic
history to cross the $1 billion mark. The film also became the second
movie (after Avatar) to reach $100 million in worldwide IMAX grosses.
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Christopher
Nolan was initially hesitant about returning to the series for a
second time, but agreed to come back after developing a story with
his brother and Goyer that he felt would conclude the series on a
satisfactory note. Nolan drew inspiration from Bane's comic book
debut in the 1993 "Knightfall" storyline, the 1986 series
The Dark Knight Returns, and the 1999 storyline "No Man's
Land". Filming took place in various locations, including
Jodhpur, London, Nottingham, Glasgow, Los Angeles, New York City,
Newark, and Pittsburgh. Nolan used IMAX cameras for much of the
filming, including the first six minutes of the film, to optimize the
quality of the picture. A variation of the Batplane termed "The
Bat", an underground prison set, and a new Batcave set were
created specifically for the film.
Nolan
highlighted the Joker as an example of "diabolical, chaotic
anarchy and has a devilish sense of humor", juxtaposing him
against Bane, who he likened to "a classic movie monster with a
terrific brain."
Filming
was scheduled to start in May and conclude in November 2011.
Principal photography commenced on May 6th, 2011, in Jodhpur, India
at the Mehrangarh Fort before moving to Pittsburgh, where it operated
under the working title Magnus Rex to reduce the visibility of the
production. Shooting locations within the city included Heinz Field,
the site of the football game, with members of the Pittsburgh
Steelers playing the Gotham Rogues football team. More than 11,000
extras were used to depict the shot sequence. Filming in Pittsburgh
also took place at the Mellon Institute and Software Engineering
Institute at Carnegie Mellon University. A letter sent out to
residents and business owners detailing road closures revealed that
the streets of the city would be featured "as the start of [the]
film". 9-1-1 operators were told to expect an increase in calls
related to gun shots and explosions in the film's production. The
Pittsburgh leg of production wrapped after three weeks on August
21st, 2011. The next portion of the filming began in Los Angeles in
late August and finished up on October 23rd after nine weeks of
filming. New York and New Jersey were the next places of filming. The
Trump Tower replaced the Richard J. Daley Center as the location for
the headquarters of Wayne Enterprises. In November 2011, shooting
shifted to Newark, New Jersey. Newark City Hall and Military Park
were among the locations used for filming. Other shooting locations
include London and Glasgow, the latter of which was used for
"additional exterior filming". Principal photography
concluded on November 14th, 2011. The external waterfall scene at the
end of the film was shot at Sgwd Henrhyd falls, on the edge of the
Brecon Beacons National Park in Wales.
Production
photos from filming in Pittsburgh showed a second Tumbler chassis
after the first was destroyed, indicating that a new Batmobile would
be in the film, following the destruction of the first in The Dark
Knight. Further set photos revealed a "new vehicle" being
transported to Wabash Tunnel, prompting speculation as to its nature.
In June 2011, Autoblog confirmed the presence of the new Lamborghini
Aventador on the film set.
Costume
designer Lindy Hemming explained that Bane uses a mask to inhale an
analgesic gas, which, in director Christopher Nolan's words,
"keeps his pain just below the threshold so he can
function." In designing Bane's costume, Hemming needed it to
look "like an amalgam of all sorts of bits and pieces he cobbled
together, as he passed through some very remote places. We made parts
of his vest, for example, from fragments of an old military tent. His
clothes are militaristic, but are not in any way a uniform."
Hemming also designed Bane's mask to look "animalistic".
plating.
Carbon fiber panels were placed inside the sections on the legs,
chest and abdomen. The cowl was sculpted from a cast of Bale's face
and head to become a perfect fit for Christian Bale. The suit
remained unchanged for the film since The Dark Knight.
The
film introduces a vehicle that has been compared with the Batplane,
dubbed "the Bat". In designing the Bat, Nathan Crowley
approached it as if it were an actual military project, emphasising
the need for it to "fit into the same family" as the
Tumbler and the Batpod. The final version of the Bat takes its design
cues from the Harrier Jump Jet, Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey and the
Boeing AH-64 Apache. Chris Corbould described the Bat's size and
shape as presenting a major challenge for filming given Christopher
Nolan's emphasis on practical effects over computer-generated
imagery. In order to make the Bat "fly", it was variously
supported by wires, suspended from cranes and helicopters, and
mounted on a purpose-built vehicle with hydraulic controls to
simulate movement.
The
official website launched in May 2011 introducing a viral marketing
campaign similar to the one used to promote The Dark Knight. The
website streamed an encrypted audio file described by users as
chanting. Users decrypted the audio to the Twitter hashtag,
"#TheFireRises". Warner Bros. removed a pixel from the
webpage for every tweet using the hashtag. The website revealed the
first official image of Bane.
Viral
marketing campaigns for the film continued as magazine companies
Empire and Wired received "CIA documents" concerning a
"Dr. Leonid Pavel", with its mugshot connected to actor
Alon Abutbul. According to the first document, Pavel is a missing
Russian nuclear physicist, while the second document appears to be an
edited transcript of a conversation discussing the handover of Dr.
Pavel to the CIA by Georgian separatists, but with most of the
conversation redacted. These were later shown to be plot elements of
the six-minute prologue. The official Twitter account later linked to
another censored document, this time, referencing "Operation
Early Bird". A website of the same name was discovered,
revealing a countdown timer. When the countdown finished, the site
presented a map showing all available theaters that would be
screening the film's prologue earlier than its release. Various
websites received a package that included a cylinder map of
"strike zones", and a "fire rises" T-shirt. In
April 2012, the film's official website was updated with a
"dossier" on a suspect named "John Doe" also
known as "The Batman" for an arrest, with a list of several
accusations. The premise of the campaign starts when the mayor of
Gotham City "redoubles" the effort to capture Batman and
anyone supporting his return in preparation for the upcoming
"Harvey Dent Day". The site also includes an extensive list
of real-world locations where "graffiti related to movement in
support of the vigilante's return" is located. For each tweet of
a specific location marked on the list, a frame of the second
theatrical trailer for the film was released on a separate website.
In
January 2012, six months prior to the film's release, tickets for
midnight IMAX showings in New York, San Francisco, and Los Angeles
went on sale and sold out immediately. Purchased tickets surfaced for
sale online for over $100, compared with their original price of $17.50.
Warner
Bros. stated that it was deeply saddened by the shooting, and
announced the cancellation of the Paris, Mexico, and Japan premieres
of The Dark Knight Rises, and suspended the marketing campaign for
the film in Finland. Several broadcast networks also suspended
television ads for the film in the United States because of the
tragedy. The trailer for Gangster Squad, another Warner Bros. movie
which was included in the screening of The Dark Knight Rises, has
been removed as it contains a scene which shows gangsters shooting
submachine guns at moviegoers through the screen, similar to the
shooting in Aurora. Director Christopher Nolan released a public
statement calling the shooting "unbearably savage". Other
stars of the film released statements expressing their condolences,
with star Christian Bale and his wife (above) paying a personal visit
to the survivors and the memorial in Aurora.
On
July 6th, 2012, Warner Bros. held a special IMAX screening of The
Dark Knight Rises for more than one hundred reporters and critics.
However, technical issues with the computer device synchronising the
sound and picture forced the studio to postpone the screening by a
day. The film later premiered on July 16th at the AMC Lincoln Square
Theater in New York City, New York, followed by a European premiere
on July 18th at Leicester Square in London, England. The film was
released in Australia and New Zealand on July 19th, and was later
released in North America and the United Kingdom on July 20th.
Writing
in Salon, David Sirota, a progressive political commentator compared
The Dark Knight Rises and the game Call of Duty to 1980s popular
culture reflecting the political period of the time, accusing them of
perpetuating a conservative agenda: "Just as so many 1980s pop
culture products reflected the spirit of the Reagan Revolution's
conservative backlash, we are now seeing two blockbuster, genre-shaping
products not-so-subtly reflect the Tea Party's rhetorical backlash
to the powerful Occupy Wall Street zeitgeist." An article in
Variety reported Chuck Dixon, the co-creator of the Bane character,
as saying that Bane is "far more akin to an Occupy Wall Street
type if you're looking to cast him politically." Catherine
Shoard of the center-left British publication The Guardian claimed
the film "is a quite audaciously capitalist vision, radically
conservative, radically vigilante, that advances a serious, stirring
proposal that the wish-fulfilment of the wealthy is to be championed
if they say they want to do good." In contrast, liberal
commentator Jonathan Chait opined in New York that "What passes
for a right-wing movie these days is The Dark Knight Rises, which
submits the rather modest premise that, irritating though the rich
may be, actually killing them and taking all their stuff might be
excessive." Writing in USA Today, Bryan Alexander called Bane
"the ultimate occupier" and reported that Christian Bale
was amazed that the script had "foreseen" the Occupy movement.
Alternatively,
politically-conservative commentator Rush Limbaugh, who has never
let the facts get in the way of one of his rants, alleged that the
film was biased against 2012 Republican presidential nominee Mitt
Romney due to Bane's name being a homophone for Bain Capital, the
financial service company Romney used to head, despite the fact that
the character has existed as a major Batman foe since 1993. In
response, Nolan said that the comments were "bizarre",
while Dixon and Freeman said that the comments were "ridiculous".
Some
of these critics see "secret agendas" in everything even
if it was never intended by the director or writer. A few years later
they would find similar "secret agendas" in The Muppet
Movie. The Dark Knight Rises hardly supports any "right wing
agenda". Batman is a character who fights for the underdog and
the average citizen of Gotham City, many of whom are looking forward
to his return. While Bane tears down the Gotham City elite, and the
right wing pundits see this as the goal of the "Occupy Wall
Street" movement, he doesn't do it to better the lot of the
average citizen. His rhetoric is merely a ploy to gain power by
trying to trick and mislead the masses into supporting him. They soon
learn that Bane's plan to "occupy" Gotham City benefits
only those in his inner circle. At the end of the day he is as well
funded as any of the most powerful people he claims to despise and
will betray the very people he claims he is there to save.
The
Dark Knight Rises opened on Friday, July 20, 2012. Hours before the
midnight release, several box office analysts suggested as much as a
$198 million domestic opening weekend. However, in the wake of the
mass shooting during a midnight screening of the film, Warner Bros.
decided to not report further box office figures for the movie until
Monday, July 23rd, 2012. As a result, other distributors also delayed
the release of their official estimates as well. The shooting is also
speculated to have hurt the ticket sales as E! Online reported that a
North Carolina audience member had stated that "this theater was
kinda empty". Some reports released on July 21st, 2012 said that
rival studios estimated that the film grossed $75 million to $77
million on its opening day. Warner Brothers shortly after released a
statement to ABC News stating that they delayed the release of their
estimates for the opening day total of the film "out of respect
for the victims and their families," and added "Warner
Bros. Pictures will not be reporting box office numbers for The Dark
Knight Rises throughout the weekend. Box office numbers will be
released on Monday."
