SNEAK PREVIEW: The Dark Knight Rises

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: The preview sketches the film’s themes and conflict without ever spelling out the plot. SPOILER ALERT! The trailer begins with a boy launching into the national anthem at a football game. It’s a flourish that signals the beginning of a high-stakes game — and a drama about the current state of the union. As “The Star Spangled Banner” plays, we hear some dialogue about replacing Commissioner Gordon (Gary Oldman) — he’s a “war hero” in a time of peace. And in perhaps the trailer’s most loaded moment (not counting the various beats of gunplay), we see Anne Hathaway’s Selina Kyle — a.k.a. Catwoman — hissing a line into the ear of fat-cat playboy Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) that suggests she’s been spending time with the unhappy campers at Occupy: Gotham City. “You think this is going to last. There’s a storm coming, Mr. Wayne. You and your friends better batten down the hatches because when it hits, you’re all going to wonder how you ever thought how you could live so large and leave so little for the rest of us.” As we hear this line, we see the sacking of an opulent home, and we get a lot of ominous imagery involving Thomas Hardy’s fearsome Bane and a small army of goons laying siege to Batman’s hometown. “When Gotham is in ashes,” Bane growls to an incapacitated Bruce, “you have my permission to die.” MORE