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Movie Review: The Dark Knight

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The world of Batman is one that I love to revisit time and time again. To say that I am a fan is an understatement. Obsessive is more like it. I have a modest toy collection that is solely based on Batman figures. I have started collecting collectible statues of Batman and I have been reading Batman comics since I’ve learned to, well, read.

Like many Batman fans, I was eagerly anticipating the newest Batman movie, The Dark Knight. Forget about Heath Ledger (and I respectfully say that), I was looking forward to another live action excursion to Batman’s world. Anyone who has read my reviews know that I can be extremely critical but the child in me was quite excited about the buzz the film was getting. I kept reading accounts of how great it was—that it is the best Batman movie ever made, the best crime drama ever. The superlatives were just so much that I was beginning to buy into the hype. So I fixed my schedule last week in order to catch the movie in a theater near my home. And I left… deflated.

Don’t get me wrong. I liked the movie, it was quite entertaining and I can safely say it was one of the better Batman movies I’ve seen. But the greatest? I’ll have to disagree.

First, the good things. Christopher Nolan has grown as a filmmaker. The maturity is evident in how he conveyed atmosphere and emotion in well placed shots and camera angles. The first few minutes of the movie can be considered as one of the best first 15 minutes that I can think of in recent years. There was a kinetic fluidity there that reminds me of Michael Mann in Heat. And it was really great start. The acting was superlative across the board. Yes, Heath Ledger managed to turn in a very disturbing, psychopathic performance of the Joker that really went near the edge but never fell into the world of parody. I think that was the ultimate power of Ledger’s performance, the level of abandon that he brought to the role but with still a conscious restraint that prevented his portrayal from getting too cheesy. I have to say though that Aaron Eckhart may have stolen the show from all of the other actors. His Harvey Dent was a driven character who sees everything in black and white, much like Batman. But his strength, and unfortunately also his weakness, is his love for Rachel and his determination to rid Gotham of crime no matter what.

Technically, I have to give props to the cinematography, the whole thing is amazing to look at. It was a great interpretation of how Gotham would’ve have looked like in an actual real-world city.

Christian Bale is a consistently good actor but in this movie, he has acquired for exaggerating his mouth movements that is, frankly, too distracting. Another complain is Nolan’s ability to direct an action sequence. For the life of him, he still cannot direct a proper fight scene. It’s too bad because the film would have been elevated to a higher plane with properly shot fight sequences. The script was also quite cliché-ridden. There were just too many lines that you’ve heard before and the psycho-babble is just not written with any kind of credibility.

So is The Dark Knight a good movie? Yes it is, unequivocally. Is it a great movie? Definitely not.

Rating: B

First picture of Chatwin as Goku

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The live action Dragon Ball movie is already booked to be shown on April 10, 2009. The movie, which stars Dustin Chatwin (Goku), Emmy Rossum, Chow Yun Fat, James Marsters and Eriko Tamura, among many others, has already been getting a lot of cynical comments on the internet. The general consensus is that this movie will most probably suck, based on just the cast, the director (James Wong) and a couple of pictures of the set.
Fans will now have a more substantial target to hit with the release of the first picture of Chatwin as Goku. The picture, which was taken from a Japanese magazine, shows Chatwin looking at what could well be one of the Dragon balls.
Sorry, but from this first picture, it does look like it is going to suck. I’m holding judgement until I see the trailer though.
Both DBtheMovie and the Dragon Ball Movie Blog alerted us to this scan taken from a Japanese magazine showing the first image of Justin Chatwin as Goku in Fox’s Dragonball movie. Written and directed by James Wong, the big screen adaptation is scheduled for an April 10, 2009 release. James Marsters, Jamie Chung, Emmy Rossum, Eriko Tamura, Joon Park, Chow Yun-Fat, Texas Battle, Randall Duk Kim and Ernie Hudson co-star.

First pic of Samuel L. Jackson as Octopus

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Samuel L. Jackson’s surprise cameo in Iron Man as Nick Fury will definitely be in the list of most memorable movie cameos for 2008, and a shoo-in for the best film cameos of all time. Jackson is an avowed comicbook fan so any opportunity to appear in a comicbook property is a treat for him. Much like his new role as the Octopus in The Spirit.
The Spirit is based on the award-winning comicbook by Will Eisner and is directed by another comicbook legand, Frank Miller. Jackson plays the arch-nemesis of The Spirit. Comic Con recently released the first picture of Jackson as The Octopus, and to say that he looks so bad ass in the photo is a vast understatement.

Are rumors on The Dark Knight true?

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There are rumors going around that there have been secret screenings being conducted for The Dark Knight in different parts of the US. While screenings like this are quite par for the course for many movies, the results of those screenings could be a cause for concern for both Batman and Heath Ledger fans.
According to rumors, there is a certain scene in the movie that has made viewers react negatively. The said scene shows The Joker (played by Ledger) pretending that he is dead and with him being pictured in a body bag. With Ledger’s untimely passing still fresh in the minds of many people, the effect has been less than desirable and this is leading executives to the decision to delete the said scene.
Although no one can confirm that there is indeed a scene like that in the movie, the decision to tear it apart could be a big disservice to the memory of Ledger, who is well known for being an uncompromising actor. In his memory, this movie should not be butchered.
We’re torn as to if this is a good idea or not. On one hand, the film is a film as it stands right now, and if film doesn’t let us transcend real life then it doesn’t work as a movie.
On the other hand, if there are real test audiences who are reacting badly, one establishing shot of a dead-looking Joker can probably be tossed without sacrificing the plot point, and if there’s one thing that is noticeable about The Dark Knight from the press, it’s that the film is already pretty dark.
This isn’t studio execs cutting out a sequence, from what we understand, it’s a shot. It’s the World Trade Center getting cut out of Spider-Man promotions.
However, this reports is slightly suspect because we haven’t heard from or even of anyone who has seen The Dark Knight. Especially for a hot property that is still running a full Alternate Reality Game online, it seems like news that these “secret screenings” were occurring would at least make a tiny rumble on the landscape.

Tyrese Gibson is a tiara and a yellow shirt away from being “Luke Cage”

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cage.jpgSci-Fi Wire is reporting that Tyrese Gibson is closer than ever to playing “Luke Cage” – an early African-American Marvel comics superhero.
“They’re doing rewrites on it now, and we actually have a meeting coming up on it soon, from what I hear, just to see where we are with the whole thing,” Gibson said in an interview while promoting Transformers. “Right now they’re in the process of getting the rewrites done, and then they’ll, I guess, do kind of a formal presentation to see if it’s going to be a go.”
Gibson is very enthusiastic about the project.  When asked why he wanted to play the “Hero for Hire” he replied: “I just love his presence, and I love the fact that he’s one of the first black comic-book characters. I’d like to make the comic-book world proud with what I’m looking to do with Luke Cage. So hopefully the opportunity all pans itself out. Me and Singleton are both looking to be a part of it, if the screenplay turns out right. I met with [producer] Avi Arad, and he’s very excited about the possibility. But you can’t do a great movie without a great script, and the ducks have got to line up.”