Preview: The Dark Knight Rises

It's been a long wait but from the looks of it, it is well worth the wait. The looks and tone of the trailer it seems as if this may just go down as the best of the series. The start of the trailer with Alfred explaining his failures to Bruce as he promised his parents that he would always protect him, which he hasn't. That alone should lead people to understand how brutal this film will be. The Dark Knight was brutal in it's own right, but this looks to add on to it. After all, that is realistic to what Batman is. He is just a man with one big paycheck fighting some battles that may just be too big for one man and that looks to be what he is getting into in this next movie. Selina Kyle (Catwoman)'s speech to Bruce on the dance floor also gave me chills. Selina tells Bruce that him and his friends that a storm is coming that they are not prepared for. If that's the way Anne Hathaway will portray the Cat throughout the movie then she will go down as one of the best to ever portray the part. My one complaint remains to be the voice of Bane. Tom Hardy is talented actor, no one can dispute that but he can be kind of difficult to understand at times and now you place a mask on top of his mouth. The mask muffles his voice it seems, but it definitely makes him much more sinister on the positive side. I can't imagine that Christopher Nolan will not fix this as it has been a complaint from many after viewing the trailers and the six minute prologue. This article however, we delve into where I think the film will go judging by what I have seen from the prologue, and the two trailers. Most of it is speculation, my inner nerd, and educated guesses. I have nothing to really firmly base it off of.

Bruce Wayne's idea when he put on the cowl and became Batman was not some hobby he picked up to pass the time. Bruce Wayne died on the inside when he was robbed of his opportunity to kill the man that murdered his parents and from that moment on he embraced the idea that is Batman. He gave in to the ideal of becoming something better than a man. He wanted to become something everlasting, something incorruptible so that Gotham had something to look up to as a role model. Gotham before Batman was on the brink of destruction, by it's own people. With Batman, Gotham had hope. After Joker turned it's White Knight into the villain, the Dark Knight did what he had to to keep Gotham's spirits high. If they knew that their golden boy had been corrupted it would have destroyed them. Now in his final act, facing off against a brutal opponent such as Bane, he will finally meet his equal in combat and through wits.

It is my belief that Batman will meet his end in this film. In his death, he would then live on as a legend. He will die fighting for the city that he loves, the city that he strives to make a better place in front of all of his people. Batman will be feared throughout the film as they believe he killed all of the people that Harvey Dent killed in the past movie but after seeing him die for them all, then he will become the legend. Bruce wanted the people of Gotham to ultimately treat others better and the city itself better. In the beginning of Batman Begins, he saw the mob tearing the city apart and how ruthless it's people became. Upon becoming that legend, he would have then inspired everyone to do better.

The villain that broke the bat. That's what Bane is known for, in the comic books he broke Batman's back. Quite the feat for any villain but that goes to show just how brutal and how gifted of a fighter Bane is. In the comic books Bane was brought up in a prison called Hard Rock, which his father escaped from. Due to his father's escape, his life sentence was then passed on to his son. He was confined to amoral penitentiary environment where he read countless amounts of books, used the prison's gym and learned to fight in the prison yard. Bane establishes himself as the "king" of Hard Rock, to which the supervisors recognize and make him into a test subject for a drug called Venom. At first the test nearly kills Bane, but it greatly increases his psychical strength but he must take it every twelve hours to avoid the dire side-effects.

Judging from what I have seen of Bane in the two trailers and the prologue I would assume that is the upbringing that Bane endures. Dr. Pavel is the doctor that gives him the Venom formula. His upbringing is also what drives him insane, the one thing I still don't get is what drives him to Gotham. It leads me to believe that he is led to Gotham by someone else who wants Gotham to be destroyed as it's destruction is the only way for salvation. Sound familiar? It should.

Catwoman is a mysterious character, she can be a villain but she can also be an anti-hero. Frequently her on and off again feelings for the Bat can sway what side she fights for but ultimately she is looking out for numero uno. She is an agile fighter and a master thief. The most intriguing aspect about her character that can match with the films his her relationship to mob boss Carmine Falcone. In the Long Halloween sequel (the Long Halloween comic book was one of the comics used in the creation of The Dark Knight film) it is implied that Catwoman is the daughter of Falcone.It is further implied that she was put up for adoption within the states, but not much proof is given. If Nolan decides to go this route it would explain why Catwoman comes to Gotham. Catwoman in this version may know who her father is and travels to Gotham to confront the man that put him behind bars. Upon seeing the Bat, she may fall for him but is still conflicted about her feelings on whether to be a loyal daughter or to follow her heart. However, it seems inevitable that she will end up helping the Bat when he is confronted by an enemy that he may not be strong enough to take on alone. The last we saw of Falcone he was strapped on to a headlight making the figure of a bat. Going this route would also help the film and the series once again go full circle which is the way that it seems to be setting up.

Remember how I previously said Bane could be led by someone else who felt that the only way to bring Gotham to salvation was through it's own destruction. Bingo, that was this guy's plan through the first film. Ra's Al Ghul in the comics was virtually immortal due to the Lazarus Pit that he had at his disposal, but I doubt he will come back in the third. For sure he will be back through flashbacks, but I'd say it is safe to say that he died in the train crash at the end of Begins. Ra's did have a daughter by the name of Talia Al Ghul that frequently followed in his footsteps but ultimately she never gave into her father's ideals. Marion Cotillard has been cast in the movie in the role of Miranda Tate, which I don't believe. I find it much more believable that she is Talia Al Ghul and in an attempt to make the series come full circle she will have a role in bringing Bane to Gotham. Ra's came to Bruce in a jail cell upon seeing him dispose of criminal after criminal deeming him a prime canidate for the League of Shadows. It is likely that he heard of Bane and how he become a "king" among other criminals in jail and decided that Bane would be the back up plan in case Bruce didn't follow in line. Ra's then when to try to recruit Bruce, while Talia went to recruit Bane. Ra's however knew that Bane was unstable and that is ultimately why he views him as a back up plan. This would also help explain why Bane comes to Gotham as he would then know that he was second fiddle, and no one likes to be runner up.