Even though mash-ups have been done to death, there are still the rare few that burst through the thick layer of crap and actually impress. Just the other day we shared a clever and well executed parody of Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris recut to Kanye West and Jay-Z's "Niggas in Paris" off their "Watch the Throne Album." Today it's another Batman themed edit but instead of the traditional mash-up, this video, with voice-over from The Prestige, acts like a brand new trailer for The Dark Knight Rises as well as Christopher Nolan's trilogy as a whole.
Michael Caine's voice-over narration from the opening of The Prestige works perfectly, and not just because he also happens to play Alfred in the Batman films - although that certainly doesn't hurt - but because the 'three-acts to a magic trick' speech is a wonderful way to describe Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy. Of course, it could serve as an apt analogy for any of Nolan's films (the very reason for including in The Prestige, a film that is as much magic trick as narrative) but when played over the chronologically edited images it is oddly powerful.
A lot of credit obviously belongs to Nolan, DP Wally Pfister and the actors for creating such powerful and indelible images but it's still a well put together piece of fake advertising. The slow build of the voice-over which eventually gives way to the now iconic Zimmer and Newton-Howard score is really well done. The video was made by Dominaz3000 and posted on his YouTube page before making its way to reddit. Don't get me wrong, it's certainly not perfect, a few of the cuts are a little too on the nose, but overall it does an amazing job of building even more anticipation for the final chapter in the caped crusader's cinematic saga. Not that it's a particularly hard sell.
The Dark Knight Rises opens July 20. It stars Christian Bale, Gary Oldman, Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, Anne Hathaway, Tom Hardy, Joseph Gordon Levitt and Marion Cotillard. It is directed by Christopher Nolan. More information on The Dark Knight Rises can be found in our Blend Film Database.
