Damn, Who Decided Wednesday Was Killer Big News Day?
Guys, some of us are trying to write reviews, features and DVD pieces, christ. Hot on the heels that Robert Rodriguez is off “Deadpool,” “The Hobbit” is confirmed for a New Zealand shoot and James Cameron has officially decided that his next two films will be “Avatar 2 & 3” comes some major news on Christopher Nolan‘s sequel to “The Dark Knight.”
Things you’ll be happy about? The comic book drama will not be shot in 3D which means it won’t likely have bad 3D post conversion either; Nolan’s one of the few directors that can demand this after the massive success of “The Dark Knight” and “Inception” (though he did consider 3D conversion for the latter, but decided against it). Things you might not be so happy about? One of the characters considered to be the frontrunner villain was the Riddler, but apparently, the enigmatic antagonist won’t be in the film. And lastly? There’s an official title too.
HeroComplex breaks this news and evidently the third ‘Batman’ film will be called, “The Dark Knight Rises.” A wise title when you remember that “The Dark Knight” still holds the domestic record for third highest grossing film of all time (gotta keep ‘TDK’ in there somewhere). So who will the be villain? In an exclusive interview with the LAT, all Nolan allows is, “It won’t be the Riddler.” He added, cryptically, only revealing a handful of clues, “we’ll use many of the same characters as we have all along, and we’ll be introducing some new ones.” Evidently Dr. Freeze (a ridiculous choice anyhow played by Arnold Schwarzenegger in the equally ridiculous 1997 disaster, “Batman & Robin“) has already been ruled out too.
Presumably by returning he means, Michael Caine as Alfred, Gary Oldman as Commissioner Gordon and Morgan Freeman as Lucius Fox (And Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne/Batman of course). Tom Hardy, the breakout star of “Inception” is the only new actor cast so far and many presume (including us), he’ll play the main antagonist. The writer of the L.A. Times pieces tries to posit, what if Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart) isn’t dead? To which Nolan responds, “Oh, you know me, I don’t talk.” What Nolan does round-aboutly allude to that there is likely a signature villain from the comic books in the film (or at least that’s how we read the quote) when asked if Warner Bros. would allow him to use a villain not central to the comic books; though arguably he did that to some extent with “Batman Begins“.
That seems like a lame guess frankly, we expect a new world and new situations. Bringing back Dent is akin to the Death Star coming back in “Return Of The Jedi,,” and it’s far beneath Nolan. No other details are given. The script was written by Jonathan Nolan and David Goyerr based on a story idea by Goyer. “The Dark Knight Rises” is expected to shoot in April 2011 and is already slated for a July 20, 2012 release.
I really wanted to see a Nolan Riddler, after that embarrassment known as Batman Forever, but I know that Nolan knows what he\’s doing. The Dark Knight Rises is way better than The Caped Crusader, which might have been good if not for that 60\’s TV catastrophe.
I\’m fine with the title.
But if they had to choose something else I wish they would\’ve gone with GOTHAM\’S FINEST.
There may be nothing wrong with the title, but it sounds uninspired. Unfortunately.
\”The Caped Crusader\” at face value doesn\’t sound any more campy than, I don\’t know, the name \”Batman\”??? My point is, with a title like that it is all in the presentation. Crusades can be dark, dangerous, gut-wrenching, bloody affairs. Besides the words Crusader and Knight and practically synonymous, and everyone\’s already seen Nolan\’s Batman wear a cape. I don\’t get where the \”campy\” part would come in.
But it is what it is. The title is the title, and I am holding out hope that the screenplay will be a great one.
\”The Caped Crusader\” beckons too much to the old campy image of Batman, which wouldn\’t fit Nolan at all. I think the title is fine, there\’s nothing wrong with connecting it back to the huge accomplishment that was TDK. That\’s typically what sequels do, and its better that \”TDK II\” or \”Batman Begins III.\”
I was kind of looking forward to seeing what Nolan would do with The Riddler, but to be honest I completely trust him and his judgment in making a quality film. As a Batman fan, I wouldn\’t mind seeing Dent brought back to life (although the interviews following the film exclaiming his death would be a bit misleading to the fans). I\’m also a huge fan of Tom Hardy and would definitely like to see him in a major antagonist role rather than some mundane crooked cop type character.
I have mixed feelings about this news. I think \”The Caped Crusader\” would have been a nice title for the final Nolan Batman. \”The Caped Crusader\” to me says everything \”Rises\” says but does so in a new way–Batman is back and on a mission. \”The Dark Knight Rises\” just feels like a marketing choice to me. \”Hey, let\’s make sure everyone knows this is the sequel to TDK!\”
On the other hand, without the Riddler in the film, I think I\’m even more excited though to see something new from this movie.