'The Dark Knight Rises' Is Still Looking Good

Last night Warner Bros. released a third trailer for the gut-twistingly anticipated summertime movie The Dark Knight Rises, and it is good. Like, "this is definitely the movie of the summer, right?" good.

Last night Warner Bros. released a third trailer for the gut-twistingly anticipated summertime movie The Dark Knight Rises, and it is good. Like, "this is definitely the movie of the summer, right?" good.

The trailer is beautifully cut, with dramatic shots of action contrasted with quiet, plaintive music that eventually crescendos into those hallmark Hans Zimmer booms. Like the trailer that came before it, with that eerie child's voice singing the national anthem, we also get some purring Catwoman voiceover, all prophetic-sounding about how everything's going to hell and there's nothing anyone can do to stop it. This is an aurally arresting clip reel.

We also get to hear more from Tom Hardy's Bane, who sounds like a folksy yet erudite Darth Vader. Actually there's a hint of Sean Connery to it too, if Sean Connery was radioing up to us from a submarine after a heavy night of drinking. Whatever the voice is, we like it. It's creepy without being over the top, menacing and inhuman but also recognizable. The same goes for Anne Hathaway's lowered register as Catwoman. We were initially very skeptical about Hathaway's casting — she's so theater kid-y, so hammy, it just doesn't seem to fit director Christopher Nolan's dark aesthetic — but we must admit that the few clips we've seen of her so far look and sound way better than expected. Just as Heath Ledger rose above against-type casting to dazzling effect in The Dark Knight, maybe Hathaway will defy expectations here. Probably not to quite the same degree, but still.

We also get to hear Joseph Gordon-Levitt's character, a police officer named John Blake, speak for the first time in this trailer, though he doesn't say much. There's some speculation about who this character might be, with some guessing he'll become a Robin-type figure, others saying he'll be a villain. We're leaning toward the Robin camp right now, though we doubt that, if that is the case, Nolan will make the partnership as hokey as it is in other Batman & Robin tales. Maybe he'll just get some help, that's all.

And then of course there are all the exciting action bits, with the previously seen collapsing football field plus some new stuff with a mid-air abduction, various New York Gotham bridges falling into the river, and a flying version of the Batmobile. We can't help but find all the Bat vehicles a tad silly looking, but we trust that Nolan will use them smartly. We actually have deep faith in this entire movie. While it's unlikely that anything will reach the bracing heights of The Dark Knight, it's the series' Empire Strikes Back after all,  all signs so far indicate that  Rises will be a fitting end to Nolan's terrific, moody, grownup trilogy. Hurry up, July!