

With a mere two weeks left to go until it opens, the excitement for Christopher Nolan‘s final part of his Batman trilogy, The Dark Knight Rises, has never been higher. For months, we’ve been inundated with multiple trailers, TV spots, and other viral materials that merely gave us a glimpse at how awesome the film could be, but now, with the first screening of the film having happened earlier today, we have the first reactions to the completed version.

The screening, which had about 40-50 people in attendance, most of which were critics, received a standing ovation and many, many positive reactions.

Here are just a few reactions from the attendees:

The Dark Knight Rises has just finished screening for the press and critics, receiving a STANDING OVATION!!! – Lauren Hiestand Just finished the screening of Dark Knight Rises…so much awesome…can’t wait to see it again. And again. 9 out of 10 for me. I’d put Amazing Spider-Man at a 7.5 and Avengers at an 8.5. The trilogy is greater than the sum of its parts, and for me the 3rd was the very best part of the whole story. Dark knight is a classic in its own right – it stands alone, but in this trilogy, and as a closer, this film exceeds. It’s an ending that presents opportunity for thought for sure. Risky/tough story well told, brilliantly acted, great cinematography, awesome score. To your original question [Who had the best moments?] – there are things I criticize in every film, but this one measures high on many measures. There will be some surprises but not big ones, the beauty of the film is how well it tells the story. Tom Hardy was incredible as Bane, the storyline was fantastic. I think the Joker is far more iconic than Bane, with more memorable quotes, but this story was great, including Bane’s origin. Godfather 3 never happened. Xmen 3 & Spider-Man 3 were awful, this film was the perfect final chapter in the trilogy. – Tom McAuliffe

As far as audience reaction, there were only 40-50 ppl in attendance (mostly critics), but there was applause and I leaned over and shook Michael Uslan’s hand and congratulated him when his name appeared in the credits. I, myself, cried twice…once out of sadness and once out of pure geeky uncontrollable happiness. – DKRSHH

Minor spoilers in this last one:

Bane, whilst nowhere near as impressive as Joker, was an excellent choice for a bad guy. This guy is pure malevolence. There is a particularly violent moment which involves bane and a poor wall street dude. It’s something all parents need to be aware of before taking kids. Selina was great and Hathaway nailed the character and made her own interpretation but there are many little traits from past origins that come into play. JGL is not robin nor does he appear in the suit. He is just an idealistic beat cop. Nothing more. His character is handled and written well. Bale was excellent as Batman and finally, The Bat Voice, is done with justice. It’s not as forced as it was previously. Action scenes were excellent and truly make this move epic. The last 20 minutes with Batman and Bane are some of the finest fight scenes I’ve ever seen in a superhero movie. The camera is pulled back and slowed down to show the blows. – SHH’s KnightOfTheFall

Sounds like it’s going to be one hell of a send off for the Caped Crusader. All of the marketing we’ve received up to this point has certainly made it look like an extremely epic conclusion and now firsthand accounts are telling of its sheer awesomeness. My level of excitement was high before, but this has lifted it even higher.

If the rest of the critics end up feeling the same as these guys, could there be a real shot at major Oscars in its future, especially after the tragic neglect of The Dark Knight in almost all of the major categories? We’ll just have to see as official reviews start pouring in over the next two weeks.

We don’t really have that much more waiting to do, though these last two weeks are going to seem like an eternity for some. You can bet that midnight screenings are going to be insane, so if you haven’t gotten your tickets yet, you might want to think about getting on it, if you’re not too late already.

The Dark Knight Rises finally opens on July 20, 2012. And just in case you’ve been living under a rock for the past year, you can check out the epic trailer below.

(Source: Comic Book Movie)