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The following is an opinion piece written by Matt Smith, a friend of Batman-News.com. Views expressed here are his own.

The Dark Knight Rises being a PG-13 movie should be a surprise to no one who is an aficionado of superhero movies. For those who don’t know, the film is officially rated PG-13 for “intense sequences of violence and action, some sensuality and language.”

Intense sequences of violence/action are nothing new to Nolan’s Batman movies or superhero movies in general for that matter.  It is pretty much a given with every superhero film that there will be action scenes and violent moments that, despite the degree of their intensity, is an automatic PG-13.  The PG-13 rating is a wonderful tool for the studio because it advertises, “our movie is for a grown up audience, but please take your kids too.”  It’s more alarming for fans if a superhero film is rated below PG-13.  Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, for example, gained a PG rating for “sequences of action violence, some mild language and innuendo” in 2007.  It is possible to attribute the lower box office to the rating itself leading movie goers to believe it would be a more of a kid-oriented movie.

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For the past hour on my drive home I’ve been trying to think how I can put into words what I just saw. Thanks to “Operation Early Bird” I got to see The Dark Knight Rises’ prologue this evening at my local IMAX theater. Warner Bros. representatives were there, and I was able to score both of the t-shirts they were handing out. A Batman shirt that reads “Legend” and a Bane shirt that says “End”, which are pictured above. This was just the start of an awesome night. I’m not going to give you a blow-by-blow description, if that’s what you’re looking for check out my post from last week. I’m just going to try to summarize everything that’s going through my head right now after seeing the first six minutes of The Dark Knight Rises.

For the past three years I’ve been wondering how Christopher Nolan could top The Dark Knight. Well, it only took him six minutes into The Dark Knight Rises to do it. Nolan told Empire that this would be the introduction of Bane, and give us a taste of the rest of the film too. It’s clear as to why Gary Oldman keeps saying this movie is going to be epic, I can’t think of a better way to describe it either. To put it simply, the opening sequence involves an airplane heist… which is already a step up from The Dark Knight’s bank heist — on paper. But Nolan delivers, in a way that only Nolan can. You’ve never seen anything like this before, and the crazy part is… most of this stunt was probably done without the aid of CGI. I did have one complaint though, which probably won’t surprise you if you’ve read other reviews. Bane is very hard to understand. Keep in mind, the scene takes place on a noisy airplane, so maybe if they tone down the background noise it won’t be so bad. But as it is now, it’s a struggle to keep up with what he’s saying.

Driving for two hours to see six minutes of The Dark Knight Rises was definitely worth it. If you have the opportunity, go see it in front of select showings of Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol! After the prologue there was a montage of clips from the rest of the movie. We get a good look at Batman and his new gadget, a nice look at Catwoman in full costume (she looks fantastic!), a quick stare down between Batman and Bane, and lastly, as hinted by the new poster, a shot of Bane tossing aside a piece of Batman’s cowl. If nothing else, this got me extremely excited for The Dark Knight Rises trailer #2 which will be hitting theaters on Friday.

So what did you guys think? If you were lucky enough to attend a screening tonight, share your thoughts in the comments. I’ll try to answer any questions you might have too.

The post Thoughts on The Dark Knight Rises’ prologue appeared first on Batman News.

This article has been republished with permission from Hypable. This opinion article may contain some spoilers. This is a long article, which has been split into 2 pages. You can continue onto Page 2 at the bottom of the post.

Yes, the film is still 10 months away. Be quiet. Anyway, the specifics of the final installment of Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy are under tighter lock and key than America’s missile launch codes. From a cinematic standpoint however, a little analysis goes a long way. Sure, we don’t know what is actually going to happen in the movie (it might just feature a wind up monkey making its rounds for two hours) but if we know Nolan, he will tie up some loose ends like these. For example-

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The following is an opinion piece written by Vin Richitelli, a friend of Batman-News.com.

With The Dark Knight Rises most likely being Christopher Nolan’s last Batman film, I wanted to review the selection of villains chosen for each film.

The first thing that comes to my mind when I think of all of the villains that Christopher Nolan and co. have used and will use is how powerful they are in their own way. I know some were disappointed when Nolan scratched a few villains off the list such as Mr. Freeze, Penguin, and most notably The Riddler but ask yourself this question, how powerful realistically are those villains? Sure they are great but when it comes down to it you want someone to push Batman to his limit, I really didn’t see how any of those villains mentioned above would be able to do that, again realistically. With how The Dark Knight ended with Batman pretty much in the dumps in the eyes of Gotham; you want someone to keep beating him down mentally and physically until he ‘rises’ which will be triumphant and quite possibly the best story in all the Batman movies to date.

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Last night the trailer for the Batman: Arkham City (the sequel to 2009′s Batman: Arkham Asylum) video game premiered at Spike’s Video Game Awards. The main villain in this trailer is Dr. Hugo Strange. As Batman-News.com first reported back in November, it’s rumored that Tom Hardy will be playing Hugo Strange in The Dark Knight Rises.

Hugo Strange was introduced in the comics even before The Joker or Catwoman. He’s appeared in animated Batman TV shows, but is not well known to the “mainstream” audience. Arkham City is one of 2011′s most anticipated video games, and would be a great way to introduce a wide audience to Hugo Strange. By introducing Strange in a video game, Warner Bros. will also get people excited to see the character on screen in The Dark Knight Rises.

On the other hand…this type of synergy between Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and Warner Bros. Pictures would have to include Christopher Nolan’s participation. Nolan is the type of director who likes to keep things close to the chest. Warner Bros. didn’t even get their hands on the script until last week. It’s hard to believe that Nolan would have told Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment that he planned to use Hugo Strange as the villain in The Dark Knight Rises.

Still, Warner Bros. is a business, and topping The Joker from The Dark Knight is no easy task. By introducing Hugo Strange in 2011, and then bringing him to life on screen in 2012, perhaps you tone down the “can you top The Joker” talk and get people excited for a character that’s never been seen before. We still don’t even know if Hugo Strange will be in The Dark Knight Rises, but all recent rumors point to ‘yes’. So what do you guys think? Is Hugo Strange’s appearance in Arkham City a coincidence, or is it all…part of the plan? Check out the trailer for Arkham City after the break and let me know what you think in the comments!

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Using Alternate Reality to get us back in touch with Actual Reality.

The following is an opinion piece written by Vincent Marone, a friend of Batman-News.com.

It surely wasn’t your typical mid-Spring day.  A steady hum pulsated through the air across cities, states, and a whole country.  We were in the midst of something big and we would settle for nothing less than to be a part of it.

It was a Friday Afternoon in Center City Philadelphia.  Droves of people bustled about the busy intersections, horns scolded those that went astray, and the sparkling spires of this splendid city ripped into the sunny sky with proud pomp.  It was at 17th and Chestnut Streets, the epicenter of Liberty Place, where an unusual crowd started to gather for seemingly no reason at all.

We were young and old and all shades of light and dark.  We were jeans and t-shirts, slacks and ties, premature sundresses and bundled too tightly for spring.  Through the awkward glances and guarded body language we knew we were there together.  Dozens of strangers uniting for one sole purpose: to take back Gotham City.

At about a quarter after three a white Ford Economy van peeled down 17th and screeched to a stop near the corner.  The mass of people felt their pulse combine into one rhythmic beat; one prideful call.  A strange voice cut through the city’s soundtrack to join in on that call,   “I BELIEVE IN HARVEY DENT!  TAKE BACK GOTHAM!”

Within an instant, Center City Philadelphia transformed into Downtown Gotham City.

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The following is an opinion piece written by Matt, a friend of Batman-News.com.

With the start of principal photography on Christopher Nolan’s third Batman film getting closer, speculation on the Dark Knight’s next adventure is growing rampant. As the months have passed, there has been increasing anxiety amongst the fans to learn the details of the film’s story and, particularly, the villain(s).

Over the past year or so, there have been various casting rumors for villains such as Catwoman and the Riddler. Talented actresses such as Angelina Jolie and Emily Blunt have been rumored for the role of Selina Kyle while Joseph Gordon Levitt and Johnny Depp have been frequently mentioned for Mr. Nygma. There’s even been a rumor that Phillip Seymour Hoffman could be up for the Penguin (a rumor that was also prevalent prior to The Dark Knight’s production). Killer Croc is the most recently rumored nemesis for the film. But that’s precisely what all these reports are: rumors.

Even the actors slated to return, like Gary Oldman, Morgan Freeman, and Michael Caine, have said they don’t know who Batman will be facing come spring.

With filming slated to begin six months from now and the lack official casting news or villain reports, this leads me to speculate, could Batman 3 not have a main villain?

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