PreREview: The Dark Knight
The Dark Knight Theatrical Trailer 1! The One That's Got Us All Panting For More!
The Dark Knight
June 30th, 2008 - I of course had the option of reviewing the first or second theatrical previews of The Dark Knight, and decided to go with the first, because it's the one everyone was waiting for since the credits started to roll on Batman Begins. It was our first full glimpse into this darker new world, and our first chance to see what Heath Ledger did with the juicy Joker role. So let's examine exactly why some of us have carved JULY 18th into our arms in moments of temporary insanity, shall we?
WATCH IT HERE!
This is a solid opening. Over black, we hear that low THWOMP sound as the WB logo comes up, and a steady, foreboding heartbeat-ish thumping noise kicks in and already we're bolted into the correct tone for the trailer (and, of course, the eventual movie). This is serious, this is grounded, this is intense, and the disembodied voice of the Joker intoning "You've changed things..." while we see the Batpod rushing away from us through a tunnel grounds us right smack-dab in the middle of a whole new direction for Batman movies. Gone are the days when we have hints of over-stylized Gothic overtones or Prince pop songs accompanying the release of a Batman movie. Time was, you would say "Batman" to someone and immediately the Danny Elfman theme would leap to mind (or the 60's show version, depending on your age). Now, you say "Batman" or "Dark Knight" and all I see are dips to black, that low, slow-but-fast thrumming in the background, and that bat-cycle with the cape flapping in the wind...it's coming out of the dark, it's intense, and it's going TO GET YOU. THIS is the Batman for a new generation, and I say welcome to him.
Then we see the lonely Batman, half in costume, sitting in a room with a great view of his beloved city, another dip to black while the Joker (we think) says "There's no going back", and a spectacular but all-too-brief shot of Batman crashing down onto the roof of a van, smashing the windows out. This is a classic, iconic, grandiose Batman image, but that heartbeat undertone and lack of music gives it a certain sense of gravity, reality, and seriousness that I don't think has ever been present in a Batman movie before. Already in this preview we're seeing that this is a conflicted man, a man who feels he must do what he does, and he'll do anything to reach his goals, no matter how crazy or dangerous. AND we're already grooving to the fact that he's somehow raised the stakes, that there's someone out there that has taken the cue from his crazy bat-antics and holds him responsible for the behavior they're now exhibiting. So already we know that he not only wants to avenge his parents, save his city, but also that he has to deal with the fact that his efforts may indeed be making things worse.
Suddenly I'm reminded of the hooplah over how Tim Burton's "Batman Returns" was too dark. Now I realize it wasn't too dark, it was too bizarre, too closely hinting at strange fetishes and unwholesome proclivities. This film, the aptly titled "Dark Knight", THIS is dark. This is serious. And I already know this by watching a mere 25 seconds of its initial preview. Amazing.
Then there's a great, potentially-epic, and thankfully actually-filmed (not CGI) shot of Batman standing at the very very top of a skyscraper, looking out over the city, as the Joker continues his fearsome monologue ("...see to them, you're just a freak..."), then a dip to black, and we see the Joker, Batman's polar opposite, on the ground, relatively colorful, in the middle of the road and staring at the camera with that maniacal Joker grin as we hear his shrill voice saying "Like me!"...and then BOOM! Huge explosion! A building falling down CHAOS! Everything Batman stands against! And then pushing into a burning deck of cards with the Joker card in the middle as we finally hear the Joker's mad cackling.
And there you have it, folks. Even if the trailer stops there, that's enough to get me into the theater. They've brilliantly exposed us to the central themes of the film, they've set up the main character's dilemma, they've introduced the antagonist without giving too much away; they've given us a tantilizing glimpse of the entire story while telling a mini-story itself and successfully grabbed our full attention with grace and aplomb. This is the work of excellent filmmakers. This is superb moviemaking skill on display, and it's all, somehow, in the service of a SUPERHERO MOVIE.
That should not go overlooked. Superhero movies, by and large, are not known for their overwhelming quality. Sure, they can be fun, mostly-well-executed pop delights, but you'd be hard-pressed to find someone who admits that they're good movies in and of themselves. What Christopher Nolan and the rest of his trailer-making team have announced here is that they have full control of this story, they know exactly what they're doing, they know how they want to tell the story they want to tell, and they know how to get you interested in seeing it. This is, in a way, filmmaking at its most primal; images and sounds cobbled together to intrigue, inform, and amaze. They've told us a story without telling us too much. They've introduced us to characters and themes without blatantly announcing them. They've single-handedly redefined a genre of films that don't get (or deserve) much respect and raised the bar for all superhero movies to come.
And I haven't even seen the movie yet.
Then we're psuedo-introduced to the Joker in half-shots and close-ups of the contents of his pockets, while Commisioner Gordon lets us know they've got 'nothing' on him, he wears custom clothing, and all he has in his pockets is knives. Then we finally see him, the new look of the Joker, and at first, as a comic fan, you say to yourself, 'really? that's it'?, but the more you think about it, the more you realize how perfect it all is. The Joker is the opposite of Batman. Batman wants control, order, peace. So he's all dressed in armor (essentially), as protected as possible, in the most sensible color (or non-color) possible, black. He's designed to inspire fear, sure, but it's all for a purpose. The Joker, on the other hand, is chaos personified. He's disshevelled, he's a mess--his makeup is splotchy and carelessly applied, his hair a mess, and his manner is, to put it mildly, socially unacceptable. He licks his chops and looks casually up, as if he doesn't care where he is or what he's looking at. And we hear him say, in an overly-characterized intonation, "Good evening, CO...MISH-oner..." and it's clear that he doesn't even want to speak like anyone else speaks. All at once you see that this is the kind of Joker we should've had all along; delightfully insane and murderously callous.
Then we see him grabbing someone's face and asking "Why so serious" in such a way that makes it clear he's barely containing himself from killing them right then and there (he is holding a knife, after all), another bright explosion, then a shot of the Joker hanging out of a police car (too far for good sense), letting the wind blow through his hair. Exciting shots of the Batpod, Batman landing, yelling "WHERE IS HE!!" follows, and then again proof that the Joker is unhinged; we see him fire off a rocket from a rocket launcher and recoil in surprise, as if he simultaneously didn't know what he was doing and didn't know he was doing anything at all. Brilliant.
Bruce Wayne then asks "People are dying. What would you have me do?", of his mentor and friend Alfred, while we see chaos spreading throughout the city; a massive police funeral being disrupted, the Bat signal being smashed, the Batpod rushing through a filthy alley, an explosion and the Joker playing with a knife--clearly the stakes are high, Batman is in trouble, and Bruce Wayne is struggling himself.
We then see a touch of Gotham High Society with Rachel Dawes and Bruce Wayne at a fancy function, which of course the Joker crashes, and Rachel asserts herself as a strong woman. The Joker, naturally, makes a joke about it, and Batman, who I guess pops up out of nowhere, and we get the first indication of a Batman-Joker fistfight. Which of course makes the fanboy in me more than a little giddy. It's been too long!
Then we see the escalation of mayhem; cars blowing up, more explosion, the Bat-vehicles crashing through things, people pointing guns, etc. We're now clearly in thrilling-action-movie-territory, and it's not a bad place to be. We see the Joker driving a truck, and another (?) truck, a semi, somehow flipping directly up and over in the middle of the street. VERY cool action movie image. Over black, we hear the Joker inform us "It's all...part of the plaaan..." and then a shot of the Joker storming down the street shooting a machine gun then demanding "HIT ME!", before the Batpod swerves around him in the street and we see his Joker turn in a close up, all determined and angry, and we know--Batman's got a real figt on his hands.
That great Joker laugh carries us into the music swell of the new Batman theme as the title comes up, and I am more hooked for a movie than I have ever been in my life.
I know it seems like I'm being hyperbolic, but I can't get enough of this trailer. This is how it's done. This is the high-water-mark for films of this kind. This screams quality, excitement, drama, and intensity.
Don't agree? Prove me wrong.
*10* (out of 10)