A look at ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ prologue

You want to talk about an impossible mission? Being reminded after six breathtaking minutes of The Dark Knight Rises that six minutes is all you’re getting and moving on to watching some other movie whose title you can’t immediately recall because you’re too disappointed. It’s lucky Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol is a fantastic movie or the psychological results could be disastrous!

Hyperbole aside, this six minutes of Bane-soaked goodness [available in select theatres across Canada] was incredible. Is it better than the Joker prologue? All things being relative, I’m going to say yes. If there’s CG happening in this completely mind-bending scene (there MUST be), it’s seamless. Bane is as brutal as his comic-book counterpart and this bodes VERY well for a movie where Batman…

[SPOILERS FROM HERE ON DOWN!]

…probably gets his back broken. But I’ll leave that bit of speculation for message forums and comment sections.

The prologue kicks off with Commissioner Gordon (Gary Oldman) eulogizing the late Harvey Dent (Two-Face). It doesn’t seem to tie in to the action that follows, but it’s a quick reminder of the previous film and it’s presented in standard wide-screen, allowing us to get the full effect of IMAX when the frame changes.

The very next shot immerses us in the world of the Canadian-born giant-screen format. A pick-up truck is delivering some hooded bad guys to a plane in the middle of nowhere.  The score is still Zimmer-gone-Batman, but fresh. As the music builds, the CIA take the hostages and talk in hushed tones about “the masked man – Bane.” Clearly he warrants some level respect and/or fear.

They take off and it turns out pretty quickly that Bane is actually ON the plane. A lot of folks have complained that he’s too hard to understand. I only missed one line, but I went in knowing I’d need to pay attention. They will probably need to address that between now and the film’s release.

There’s a quick conversation between Bane (who is restrained) and a CIA operative. While this conversation doesn’t reveal much of anything about the plot, it tells us a lot about the latest Batman bad guy: he’s fearless, intelligent, and most definitely crazy. Sound familiar?

The conversation ends with the CIA operative taunting Bane and asking him what the next part of his brilliant plan is.

“Crashing this plane. With no survivors.”

With that, Bane stands up and effortlessly snaps his restraints and punches the CIA agent in the face. More baddies descend from a cargo plane that has arrived above the smaller aircraft and begin shooting almost everyone on board. After that they hook cables to the plane’s mid-section.

What follows is some of the craziest stunt mayhem ever committed to film. The smaller craft is turned vertical and the wings are ripped/blown off. Then the tail-section. More baddies bring in a body bag and some sort of blood transfusion occurs. Bane is kidnapping one Dr. Pavel, but he’s not after the ransom. They want him presumed dead.

As one of the baddies goes to strap himself in for exit, Bane puts a hand on his shoulder and the music goes quiet. The exchange here pays homage to the film’s title and sets an ominous tone.

Bane: “No. They expect one of us in the wreckage, brother.”
Bad guy: (grinning) “Have we started a fire?”
Bane: “The fire rises.”

The hostage is not maintaining his cool here and Bane delivers another gem of a line that has me thinking he’s going to be dropping lyrics like bombs throughout this entire film.

“Calm down Doctor. Now’s not the time for fear. That comes later.”

With that, Bane hits a button and the plane drops away from around him and a VERY freaked out Dr. Pavel. The scene dissolves as we watch them hanging from a cargo plane by a steel cable.

Yeah, so ALL of that takes place in mid-air and was shot on IMAX. The sense of immersion handily batted away even my favourite 3-D experience.

Following the scene is a quick montage of goodies (which I’ll detail below) ending with the most exciting/worrisome shot of anything they’ve shown us to date. If you can’t see this footage before the movie comes out, at least check out the latest poster.

In closing, let me say that if this footage came before any movie other than MI:4, it would have been a huge letdown to have had to stay in my seat. I’ve already asked my wife to get me seven months of cryo-sleep for Christmas.

The Montage

• Batman with a crazy looking light-rifle.
• Bane walking between some pillars, surrounded by soldiers, in the snow.
• A brown Bat-Tumbler being followed by what seems to be the Batwing.
• Someone dropping down a well.
• Batman taking a swing at Bane on the same steps, snowing harder.
• Catwoman (Anne Hathaway) walking behind some bars.
• Batman on the Bat-cycle weaving through underground traffic.
• John Blake (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) doing the sneaky cop walk through a hallway.
• Anne Hathaway looking creepy whilst riding in a car.
• A massive street clash involving smoke grenades.
• Bane doing the “blow something up behind me” maneuvre.
• Some sort of truck hitting something, maybe the Batmobile.
• Bane walking through rain or some sort of water with the shattered mask of Batman, which he tosses aside.

Have you seen The Dark Knight Rises prologue? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

Jason Armstrong is a Canadian filmmaker and founder of Skeleton Key Films. Check him out at skgfilms.com.