'The Dark Knight Rises' Gets Standing Ovation, Possible Spoilers Emerge

A choice few critics got the very first glimpse at Christopher Nolan's coming The Dark Knight Rises on Friday. And it looks like it's good. So good in fact that the film received a standing ovation.

Although it's impossible to know the movie's true quality from early reports of its first screening, this is a good sign that The Dark Knight Rises may live up to the impossible levels of hype it's built up. At the very least, it looks likely that the film isn't a complete dud. The studio is confident in showing it off to critics and dedicated fans, and it's a good sign that the viewers reacted positively to the news.

Early Twitter and Facebook reports have praised the direction of the film, citing new villain Bane (played by Inception actor Tom Hardy) as a credible threat to the Caped Crusader with strong screen presence. Others called the story ambitious, claiming that Nolan handled a difficult plot very well.

Twitter user Tom McAuliffe wrote: Just finished the screening of Dark Knight Rises...so much awesome...can't wait to see it again. And again. He added that the film was the perfect final chapter in the trilogy.

Of course, with this being the Internet, plenty of those critics invited to the screening have gone on to post some spoilers. It doesn't look like anything too big has leaked online yet, several descriptions of specific scenes have popped up on Twitter.

We won't post them here, but ComicBookMovie happens to have an archive of social media posts online. It has even kept track of several spoiler-filled posts that seem to have been removed at Warner Bros.' request.

Recent press releases have also confirmed a few more details about the film. The running time will apparently clock in at a whopping 2 hours and 44 minutes, longer than most other summer blockbusters by at least half an hour.

The Dark Knight Rises stars Christian Bale, Anne Hathaway, and Tom Hardy. It opens nationwide July 20.