The Dark Knight Rises is the 14th episode in Screen Junkies comedy series Honest Trailers. It was written by Andy Signore, Brett Weiner and Dan Perrault. It was the final Honest Trailer narrated entirely by Gannon Nickell. In addition to Nickell, it featured on-screen appearances by Mike Stoklasa and Jay Bauman of RedLetterMedia. It parodies the 2012 DC superhero film The Dark Knight Rises. It was published on December 4, 2012, to coincide with the film's release on home video and Blu-ray. It is 4 minutes and 58 seconds long. In the 6 years since its initial publication, the trailer has been viewed over 12 million times.
Watch Honest Trailer - The Dark Knight Rises on YouTube
"A nearly three-hour Batman movie where Batman only shows up for about 33 minutes." ~ Honest Trailers - The Dark Knight Rises
Script[]
From director Christopher Nolan, comes the obligatory finale to his Dark Knight Trilogy, that clearly peaked with the Joker.
The Dark Knight Rises
The epic final chapter that will mildly entertain you when you're watching it, but will ultimately anger and disappoint you when you really start to think about it.
Revisit the iconic Bruce Wayne, a man who turned the pain of his parents' death into a superhero, but for some reason, mopes around for eight years after his sort-of-girlfriend dies. Suit up as he spends the first 45 minutes hobbling around on canes, getting knocked over easily, growing a gross depression beard, and be told that his body is in complete shambles, even though in the entire trilogy, he's only clocked in maybe a year and a half as the Batman.
But chaos will arrive in the form of Bane, a villain who no one can fully understand...
Bane: Peace has cost you your strength. / --where I learned the truth about despair... / But I never escaped. / I'm on your schedule, Captain.
...prompting Mope-Man to un-retire and plop on a magic knee brace that will instantly cure him, so he can take Bane head-on for a few minutes, until he's crippled again for a huge chunk of the movie, leaving this mumbling warlord to fulfill his overly complicated plot of terrorizing Gotham for three pointless months, which prompts only one riot and zero gridlock. Seriously, where is everybody?
Get ready for a nearly three-hour Batman movie, where Batman only shows up for about 33 minutes, and when he does show up, he's so terrible, he... reveals his secret identity to complete strangers...
Blake: When you started, why the mask?
Bruce: To protect the people closest to me.
...never conducts background checks on his maids, or his board members; uses ineffective gadgets; stands atop random buildings that are way too dangerous to balance on; and wastes several hours painting a bridge in gasoline.
A story so large in scale, that it was partly shot in IMAX, which becomes super-distracting when it's constantly changing aspect ratios, and a film so poorly paced, it moves slow for two hours, then randomly zooms through three months of time without telling the audience, forcing this completely rushed ending that will leave you asking questions, like...
Mike Stoklasa: Why are the criminals constantly hitting Batman with their guns instead of shooting him?
Jay Bauman: Why would the CIA let masked men onto their plane without checking who they were first?
Mike Stoklasa: How did Bane know about the existence and the exact location of Batman's secret armory, especially after Lucius said it was off the books?
And, why has no one stumbled upon his huge-ass airplane?
Jay Bauman: How did Bane and his henchmen hide motorcycles inside the stock exchange?
Mike Stoklasa: How is it possible that Bruce Wayne completely healed his broken back in less than three months? Didn't he need a... doctor?
How did Batman get from the hole in the middle of nowhere into the quarantined Gotham without any money or equipment?
Jay Bauman: Why would they send the entire Gotham City police force into the sewers all at the exact same time?
Mike Stoklasa: If Talia knew he was Batman, why did she let him wander off with Lucius? Why didn't she just kill him when she had the chance?
Jay Bauman: In fact, why didn't she just detonate the bomb right then?
And, why does Batman talk to Catwoman in his Batman voice when she knows he's Bruce Wayne?
Jay Bauman: How come everybody in Gotham could figure out that Bruce Wayne was Batman except for Commissioner Gordon?
Mike Stoklasa: Even the character with Down syndrome played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt figured it out. Why did Bruce Wayne show up in a French café after being pronounced dead? Think that would've attracted the attention of the media...
How did Batman eject and swim nine miles to survive if he only had five seconds left on the bomb?
Jay Bauman: Didn't anyone in Gotham think it was weird that Batman and Bruce Wayne both died on the exact same day?
Mike Stoklasa: Bruce Wayne was Batman?!
Starring: The Cast of Inception (Marion Cotillard, Michael Caine, Cillian Murphy, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and Tom Hardy reuniting for the film); Princ-ass Diaries (Anne Hathaway as Selina Kyle/Catwoman); Kristen Stewart's Mouth (Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne/Batman); My Cocaine (Michael Caine as Alfred Pennyworth); Bruce Willis (Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Robin John Blake); and Bane Boobs (Tom Hardy as Bane).
The Dark Knight Rises
Ugh, I'm pretty worried about Man of Steel now...
Trivia[]
- Honest Trailers have been produced for virtually every other Batman movie, including Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, Batman Returns, Batman, Batman Forever, Batman & Robin, The Killing Joke, Suicide Squad, Batman v Superman and Justice League. See list of Honest Trailers for more.
- This was Gannon Nickell's last appearance as sole narrator. He enlisted in the army and was unavailable to do voiceover work. Jon Bailey took over as narrator. Despite his short tenure as narrator, Nickell later returned to provide additional narration for The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi Honest Trailers.
- An Honest Trailer Commentary for this episode was recorded and was available on the Screen Junkies Plus until the website/app was discontinued. Screen Junkies don't currently have any way of releasing the video.
- This is the final episode where the Epic Voice Guy character didn't appear.
Reception[]
Honest Trailers - The Dark Knight Rises has an 93.6% approval rating from YouTube viewers. Slash Film wrote that the Honest Trailer was both "hilarious and brutal" and it re-opened "old wounds" that affected the geek community around the theatrical release of the film. Cinema Blend said some of the flaws that the Honest Trailer highlights were obvious, (e.g. "Bane's plot is ridiculously overwrought"), but others were insightful (e.g. "why would Batman spend all that time putting a gasoline bat symbol on a building?"). EW wrote that the Honest Trailer was "pretty much a devastating compendium of every plot hole and loose end in the movie." Collider noted "the trailer takes aim at a few of the larger criticisms of the trilogy closer, some more warranted than others. They sharply tackle how weak of a Batman/Bruce Wayne story the film is and have their go at Bane’s dastardly plans. It’s all in good fun, though, and there are a couple of solid jokes to be found thanks to the guys at Red Letter Media."
Production credits[]
Video thumbnail for Honest Trailers - The Dark Knight Rises
Series Created & Directed by Andy Signore & Brett Weiner
Executive Producer Mitch Rotter
Written by Andy Signore, Brett Weiner & Dan Perrault
Edited by Andy Signore
Voiceover Narration by Gannon Nickell
External links[]
- LOL: ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ Honest Trailer Reopens Old Wounds - Slash Film article
- Honest Trailers points out the horrible danger of actually thinking about Dark Knight Rises - io9 article
- The Dark Knight Rises Honest Trailer: Did Bane's Plan Make Any Sense? - Cinema Blend article
- Honest Trailer for THE DARK KNIGHT RISES - Collider article
- The Honest Trailer for The Dark Knight Rises - Slate article
- HONEST TRAILER: THE DARK KNIGHT RISES - IGN article
- 'The Dark Knight Rises' gets the 'Honest Trailer' treatment, and it ain't pretty -- VIDEO - EW article