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  • A.P. Fuchs’s movie reviews, ranging from horror to superhero to sci-fi and a bunch of other stuff.

  • Canister X Movie Review #35: Green Lantern: First Flight (2009)

    Posted on by A.P. Fuchs

    Green Lantern: First Flight (2009)

    Green Lantern First Flight
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    Green Lantern: First Flight (2009)
    Written by Alan Burnett
    Directed by Lauren Montgomery
    Runtime 77 min.
    4.5 out of 5

    Pilot Hal Jordan goes for the ride of his life when his test pod is mysteriously transported from the safety of an air force hanger to a rocky desert only to encounter a bizarre dying alien named Abin Sur, who had summoned Jordan via his powerful ring. Abin Sur dies and Hal’s world is turned upside down when he is introduced to the Green Lantern Corps, guardians of the galaxy. Under the tutelage of Sinestro, Hal learns to use his newfound power and witnesses, thanks to Sinestro’s words and actions, that the Guardians of Oa—those who created the Green Lantern Corps and the green lantern power battery—have grown soft in their approach to intergalactic crime. Sinestro believes a more stern approach is needed and so takes Hal under his wing to show him that might makes right.

    The Corps faces a crisis as the Yellow Element—the only force capable of weakening the Green Element, which powers the Corps’s green battery on Oa—has been stolen. Should it be used against them, the Green Lantern Corps will crumble and the galaxy as we know it will no longer be protected and chaos and evil will reign.

    Green Lantern, to me, has always been a cool character, yet he’s also always been an overlooked character outside the realm of us hardcore superhero guys. Batman? Sure. Superman? We know him even better. Spider-Man? Yeah, good movies on the big screen. But Green Lantern? Wasn’t he that green guy from that old Super Friends show, the one with that ring that does stuff and, um, well . . .

    Green Lantern is an outsider character. He’s known and he’s unknown. I think of him like Superman, the difference being is he takes the ring off and he’s a guy like you and me. Superman doesn’t have that option because no matter what kind of clothes he’s wearing, he’ll always be a Kryptonian. Green Lantern: First Flight reminds us of that: that beneath the cool power ring Hal Jordan is just your average guy.

    I really appreciated the origin tone of this movie and even more so that 99% of it didn’t take place on Earth. Here we got to get a solid look at the world of Green Lantern, which is an intergalactic one and not confined to a bustling Metropolis or an eerie Gotham.

    To see the Green Lantern Corps—all those weird aliens with varied green uniforms—really added to the scope of what the Corps is all about and a visual reminder that humanity’s protection is only a small part of what they do. According to this movie, there are thirty-six hundred green lanterns, each with their own sector to watch over. Solid.

    I had only a couple minor quibbles with this movie. I thought Hal Jordan dove into the Green Lantern thing rather quickly. He gets the ring and suddenly—BAM—he’s all green and knows what to do. He also seemed too casual and calm about all these alien encounters he suddenly finds himself having. If that was you or me, we’d be freaking out the second Abin Sur showed up, green ring or otherwise.

    Likewise, Hal Jordan seemed to be the only guy who got back to wearing regular clothes when the ring came off, whereas everyone else still retained their uniform. I thought the uniform came with the ring. Take the ring off and you’re back to wearing whatever it was when you put it on.

    Again, minor, but something I would have liked to have seen handled better.

    I know that comic books and comic book movies are not as much for kids as they used to be. Once again this DC film has some foul language in it. Not impressed because it’s kids asking their moms for these flicks. It’s not like the old days where superhero cartoons were clean language-wise.

    The action is great. The fights are cool.

    If Green Lantern: First Flight is meant as a primer for the upcoming live action film, man, we’re in for a real treat and an awe-inspiring experience come 2011.

    This flick is solid, enjoyable and fun. Check it out.


    Movie Reviews Superhero Movies 📎and tagged

  • Canister X Movie Review #34: Green Lantern (2011)

    Posted on by A.P. Fuchs

    Green Lantern (2011)

    Green Lantern
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    Green Lantern (2011)
    Written by Greg Berlanti, Michael Green, Marc Guggenheim and Michael Goldenberg
    Directed by Martin Campbell
    Runtime 114 min.
    3.5 out of 5

    When dying alien and Green Lantern Abin Sur is discovered by brash and cocky fighter pilot Hal Jordan (Ryan Reynolds), Hal’s life is suddenly changed when the mysterious alien gives him a green power ring and matching lantern with vague instructions to “speak the oath.”

    After finally unlocking the lantern, Hal is taken to the planet Oa where he learns he has become Abin Sur’s successor in the Green Lantern Corps and is also the first human to ever bear the powerful mantle of a Green Lantern.

    As part of his training, Hal is taken under the wing of a powerful Lantern named Sinestro (Mark Strong) whose view of right and wrong is sheer black and white, and who has no trouble enforcing the law with lethal force. Turns out Sinestro wasn’t the first to feel this way as long ago one of the creators of the lantern rings—one of the Guardians of Oa—disagreed with the Oan Council and set off on his own, discovering a new power, this one the yellow power of Fear. Now the superpowered being Parallax, this former Guardian wishes to take revenge on those who banished him.

    As Hal learns what it means to set aside his own pride and ego and live by the sacred Green Lantern oath—In brightest day, in blackest night . . . —he must come to grips with his newfound power and expel Parallax’s presence from the universe once and for all.

    After the crazy success of Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, Warner Brothers and DC Comics were in big need of another hit after Superman Returns failed to deliver at the box office, and so they went to another DC hero: Green Lantern. Good choice. He’s a kind of Superman/Batman hybrid in that Hal Jordan is human and has the qualities and struggles thereof like Bruce Wayne, and yet by wielding his power ring, his superpowers get up there right alongside the Last Son of Krypton in many ways. Whether this was Warners’ reasoning or not, I don’t know—probably not—but GL was certainly a good character to try and take to the big screen, especially since it had never been done before.

    In a nutshell, the movie wasn’t bad. I liked it. It didn’t change my life, but it’s not the piece of garbage many folks make it out to be. It covered Hal Jordan’s transformation into Green Lantern, delivered awesome effects, created a sense of atmosphere both about the Green Lantern Corps and Oa, and came through on telling a simple story that got Hal Jordan from Point A to B in a reasonable amount of time.

    People complained there wasn’t enough action or not enough stuff on Oa—but those kinds of things aren’t—and weren’t—supposed to be the focus of this movie. It was about getting the ring into Hal’s hands and teaching him the ol’ Uncle Ben motto of “With great power comes great responsibility.”

    I like how it took time to get Hal used to using the ring and it wasn’t a case of him putting it on and suddenly becoming an expert on creating green light constructs. And once he figured it out, I enjoyed how his constructs were simple—the racetrack, machine guns, etc.—as opposed to something crazy or way too technical. Why? Put yourself in his shoes. You’d probably construct something you’re more comfortable with than trying to create some big complicated airship stocked with robot soldiers with a zillion weapons and stuff.

    The love story between Hal and Carol Ferris (Blake Lively) seemed forced though it did provide a nice bridge between the realm of Oa and Earth. Clearly this relationship was introduced for sequel purposes because those who know the comics know Carol Ferris becomes the supervillain Star Sapphire down the line.

    I think in the end, Green Lantern did its job. Could it have been better? Sure. Could it have been worse? Yup.

    Regardless, I like popping this movie into the player from time to time, and if you’re a superhero fan, you should, too.


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  • Canister X Movie Review #33: The Green Hornet (2011)

    Posted on by A.P. Fuchs

    The Green Hornet (2011)

    Green Hornet
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    The Green Hornet (2011)
    Written by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg
    Directed by Michel Gondry
    Runtime 119 min.
    2.5 out of 5

    Irresponsible and party-it-up guy Britt Reid (Seth Rogen) is living the life as the son of the well-to-do publisher of The Daily Sentinel, but when his father is found dead after a fatal bee sting, Britt’s life is changed. Since he never liked his father, he goes to the cemetery and, meaning to sabotage his dad’s memorial, he and his dad’s mechanic, Kato (Jay Chou), end up saving a couple people from being mugged. Later, Britt convinces Kato that the two of them should pose as criminals so they could get close to real criminals and bust them.

    Kato agrees and Britt adopts the identity of the Green Hornet. His target is Benjamin Chudnofsky, a Russian mob boss who is trying to unite the crime families in Los Angeles. Soon the Green Hornet and Kato find themselves neck-deep in the city’s underworld.

    Sometimes it takes a criminal—or one posing as one—to catch a criminal.

    I don’t know, man. I was super jazzed when I found out they were making this movie because I’m a big fan of the 1960s TV show starring Van Williams and Bruce Lee as the Green Hornet and Kato. I thought, hey, imagine doing an updated version where it could be a mob story with all sorts of intense drama, action and be a kind of Sin City, you know, with Green Hornet being an antihero and all?

    Instead, I got a goofball comedy out of what was supposed to be a serious idea. I blame Seth Rogen, who I usually don’t mind. He was one of the writers on this movie so obviously wrote to his strengths versus what the character was really about.

    The costumes were cool, the action was fantastic, Chou’s martial arts was aces—but they got the Green Hornet wrong and took the gist of him and then did their own thing. Too bad. This really could have been a hit had they done the original series justice and then tweaked it for a modern audience.

    Maybe sometime down the line they’ll do another one and do it right. In the meantime, if a straight-up, not bad superhero movie is your thing, check it out, otherwise there are other lesser-known-superhero movies I enjoyed more like The Phantom and The Rocketeer.


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  • Canister X Movie Review #32: Ghost Rider (2007)

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    Ghost Rider (2007)

    Ghost Rider
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    Ghost Rider (2007)
    Written by Mark Steven Johnson
    Directed by Mark Steven Johnson
    Runtime 114 min.
    3 out of 5

    After having made a deal with the devil to save the life of his father when he was young, Johnny Blaze (Nicolas Cage) is a cursed man. When the devil’s son, Blackheart (Wes Bentley), comes to Earth in search of a contract that would bring Hell to the planet, the devil makes Johnny the new Ghost Rider and tasks him with killing Blackheart. If Johnny succeeds, he can have his soul back.

    Supernatural excitement and thrills ensue in this paranormal tale about a haunted man facing his own demons—both internally and externally—and what it takes to be the Ghost Rider.

    There’re lots of ways of looking at this movie, everything from was it faithful to the comic to simple eye candy to story to themes to—well, you get the idea. For me, it was all right. I like Nic Cage because, well, he’s Nic Cage and usually just plays himself, it seems. Sometimes he steps outside that, but in Ghost Rider, he was Nic Cage. Ghost Rider did look amazing in this, looked real. That first transformation sequence was insane! It’s hard to sell the image of a walking, burning skeleton in leather, but they pulled it off here.

    The motorcycle—trippin’. Can you imagine owning a hog like that? Know how many heads you’d turn? And if you could ride up a building like he did? Yeah, thought so.

    The story’s pretty good and carries its own mythology and purpose. The elemental demons that Ghost Rider has to go up against were pretty cool and tough to beat, and the effects needed to portray them looked real. It’s amazing what Hollywood can do these days.

    This movie got a lot of mixed reactions from fans. For me, it was okay. Wasn’t one of those superhero movies I could watch over and over again. At the same time, it did do its job in getting me interested in the sequel, which is on my to-check-out list, so that definitely has to count for something.


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  • Canister X Movie Review #31: Fantastic Four (2005)

    Posted on by A.P. Fuchs

    Fantastic Four (2005)

    Fantastic Four
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    Fantastic Four (2005)
    Written by Michael France and Mark Frost
    Directed by Tim Story
    Runtime 106 min.
    3.5 out of 5

    Five people are endowed with superpowers after an accident on a space station. Four become a force for good. One becomes a force for evil. That’s pretty much it.

    This is a fun movie and I liked it. It had a solid origin story, some good action, and pretty good SFX. Each character was clearly defined, even stereotypical, but that’s the Fantastic Four for you.

    A lot of people griped on this movie. It was not bad. Wasn’t as “cosmic” or over-the-top as I would’ve liked, but it wasn’t a bad flick by any means. It was a great translation of comic book to screen and carried that vibe with it from beginning to end.

    The invisibility effects of the Invisible Woman (Jessica Alba) were awesome, a sweet combination of complete I-can’t-see-you-at-all invisibility with the glass-like, transparent humanoid figure so we can see her enough to know what she’s doing.

    The Human Torch (Chris Evans) looked like a man on fire, which he is, but animated enough so we can make out his actions, his costume, facial expressions and anything else we needed to in a given scene.

    Mr. Fantastic (Ioan Gruffudd): at some points he looked like a real-life stretchy dude, at others the CGI was very clear (i.e. that scene when he stretches his hand under the door to unlock it from the outside).

    The Thing (Michael Chiklis), arguably the hardest costume because you didn’t want to run the risk of making him look like a cartoon character by going all CGI (as good as the Hulk looks even in The Avengers, there’s still an animated quality to it), but you also didn’t want bad prosthetics either. The Thing in this movie looked amazing and looked real. Well done.

    Dr. Doom (Julian McMahon) was fine as is, his costume something like an elaborate cosplay. I would’ve liked more detail in the cloak, some sort of pattern, but the whole how-he-got-his-armor thing was pretty cool.

    What worked especially well was the dynamic of family and all the love, bickering and craziness that goes along with having one. There was real chemistry between all the main players and it added a dynamic to the team that made the whole scenario believable.

    What also makes the Fantastic Four different is they’re public superheroes without secret identities, that is, though they have codenames, everyone knows who they are. While Iron Man did this, too, having a whole family who everyone knows who they are changes the game. It’s also different because, unlike Iron Man, they didn’t decide, “Hey, let’s be superheroes,” but instead it’s something that kind of happens and they discover how important it is they use their powers to help people.

    For me, Fantastic Four was a good movie that I like popping into the DVD player now and then.


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  • Canister X Movie Review #30: Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007)

    Posted on by A.P. Fuchs

    Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007)

    Fantastic Four Rise of the Silver Surfer
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    Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007)
    Written by Don Payne and Mark Frost
    Directed by Tim Story
    Runtime 92 min.
    4 out of 5

    Galactus, a giant planet-eating alien, is heading for Earth and he sends the Silver Surfer to scout things out. When the Fantastic Four meet this herald of destruction, all bets are off and it’s a race to save the planet before Galactus can consume it.

    What a great follow up to 2005’s Fantastic Four. I remember when news hit that the Silver Surfer would be involved and that Galactus would be the bad guy I was beside myself with fanboy joy. And that trailer? Man, sweet stuff and totally got me stoked. Did this movie live up to the hype? Not completely, but that’s not to say it was a terrible movie. It was every bit as good as its predecessor, but more exciting thanks to the Silver Surfer zipping around on his board and the Fantastic Four trying to track him down. That scene where the Human Torch meets the Surfer and the two quickly have it out? Yeah, sweet stuff.

    This flick played up all the stuff that made the first one good, which was the family dynamic of the Fantastic Four, the bitter evilness of Dr. Doom, and then upped the ante by bringing in Galactus. Unfortunately, Galactus—while just fine as a concept—failed to deliver in terms of execution as comic book fans were really hoping for the giant space man with the purple helmet instead of the big haze of cloud we got. Some would argue that a big man that’s larger than planet Earth wouldn’t translate to film and a space cloud works better, but I disagree because Galactus is an all-powerful alien, can change size and could work as is if written well.

    I totally dug Laurence Fishburne as the voice of the Silver Surfer. The guy can say anything and it’ll sound cool (i.e. see his dialogue as Morpheus in The Matrix and its sequels; the words themselves are ridiculous but he makes them sound awesome).

    The story arc as suggested at in this flick would’ve better been the stuff of a trilogy, starting off with the Silver Surfer’s origin, how he got involved with Galactus, even a demo of him going ahead of his master to a planet other than Earth, the destruction of that planet then going to Earth, meeting the FF, and the whole planet getting ready to fend off this literally giant threat. So I feel we got the Reader’s Digest version of such a story in this movie. It still works, but it could’ve been expanded upon.

    As always, the SFX were great and they tidied up Mr. Fantastic’s stretching abilities so they weren’t as cartoony as in the first movie.

    I totally would’ve been up for them to make a third movie, but with Marvel’s Phase One plan no doubt in the works at the time this flick was released, we’re basically going to get a Fantastic Four reboot at some point in the future, probably sooner rather than later.

    I’ll be there because I liked these movies and am eager to see how things will progress from here and if it’ll be an all-out reboot complete with origin story, or if they’ll sort of unofficially acknowledge these movies that came before.


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  • Canister X Movie Review #29: Elektra (2005)

    Posted on by A.P. Fuchs

    Elektra (2005)

    Elektra
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    Elektra (2005)
    Written by Zak Penn, Stuart Zicherman and Raven Metzner
    Directed by Rob Bowman
    Runtime 97 min.
    2.5 out of 5

    After coming back from the dead and trained in the deadly art of Kimagure, Elektra Natchios is a killer-for-hire. Upon receiving her new contract, she goes up against a band of ninja assassins known as The Hand, who are also after the same target: a young martial arts prodigy with a potential for greatness. Elektra’s past meets her present as she seeks to protect this young prodigy while also facing demons of her own.

    I was in the minority of people who liked Daredevil, in which Jennifer Garner also played Elektra. When I heard she was getting her own spin-off movie, I was really excited because, while I’m not an expert on the Elektra character, I know enough to know that a film version would be awesome. We didn’t quite get that with this flick, but that’s not to say it was utterly terrible. However, what audiences expected and what they got were different things.

    Let’s see . . . I was happy that Elektra sported her famous red costume in this as opposed to the black one in Daredevil. Though technically totally impractical in real life, having her very-similar-to-comic-book-costume on screen was cool for fanboys and fangirls alike and, no, not for the reason you’d think. Just something about seeing a comic book character “as they are” on screen brings a thrill.

    The fighting sequences were not bad and Hollywood’s version/perception of the martial arts is always interesting as they tend to add all sorts of legend and mystique to them as opposed to their reality.

    They got the gist of the character but didn’t get hardcore into it, and it was clear this was just a way to cash in on the Daredevil movie that came out a couple years before. A solid story of Elektra’s assassin exploits—even if you want her to fight mercenaries with a similar agenda—would’ve been a great help, but this flick seemed more introspective and slower paced versus something that should’ve been geared toward the action-and-suspense genre (i.e. a high profile target, like a president or something, then have that person tie into Elektra’s mythology. Set her on the run while also giving her history and what it’s like to be someone who was supposed to be dead, some in-costume Daredevil universe cameos, and you’d have a solid story). Just ideas.

    In the end, if they ever went back and rebooted the character, I’d definitely check it out as the potential is there, but wasn’t fully exploited with this outing.


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  • Canister X Movie Review #28: Defendor (2009)

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    Defendor (2009)

    Defendor
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    Defendor (2009)
    Written by Peter Stebbings
    Directed by Peter Stebbings
    Runtime 101 min.
    4.5 out of 5

    Arthur Poppington (Woody Harrelson) has a secret: when night rises upon the city, he takes to the streets as Defendor, a lone avenger on the hunt for the ever-elusive Captain Industry. Unfortunately for Arthur, he’s mildly retarded and the line between right and wrong sometimes blurs. Though he means well, sometimes he gets in over his head, especially when his search for Captain Industry takes him into the city’s underworld of drugs, guns and prostitution.

    After saving the life of prostitute and drug-addict Kat Debrofkowitz (Kat Dennings), Arthur takes her in and, though at first exploited by her for money, the two eventually bond and he accomplishes one of his first objectives he had since donning the Defendor uniform: helping those who need it most.

    Being a lifelong superhero fan, there are a few things, to me, that define a good superhero movie and Defendor had more than one of those things. It touched me on that very human level of seeing a sincere human being trying to make a difference regardless of what other people thought of him. Fear of man is one of the things I think holds people back from doing the right thing in real life. To at least see that attribute on the screen means a lot to me because it proves that people are still thinking about it even if it’s just in a movie.

    The trailer for this flick makes it come across as more of a superhero spoof than a serious movie, and this was most definitely a serious movie. Sure, there were some funny moments, but this movie wasn’t about that, but instead was about a man who saw something wrong and did the best he could with what he knew how to do.

    And he did. He showed us who Captain Industry really was: the villain that all of us have in each of our cities, the one comprised of drugs, guns and illegal sex that has ruined countless lives yet for some reason authorities refuse to do something about.

    This movie makes me think of the real life superheroes that are out there, those real men and women who don guises of other personas and do what they can to help us. Lots of people mock them. Lots of people mocked Defendor, but when all is said and done, they, like Defendor, do the right thing and try to right a world full of wrongs, bring hope to those who need it, and set an example that we should all follow.

    Defendor is a fantastic movie and I’m really glad Peter Stebbings went ahead and made this flick.

    Fight back.

    Recommended.


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  • Canister X Movie Review #27: The Dark Knight Rises (2012)

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    The Dark Knight Rises (2012)

    Dark Knight Rises
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    The Dark Knight Rises (2012)
    Written by Christopher Nolan and Jonathan Nolan
    Directed by Christopher Nolan
    Runtime 165 min.
    5 out of 5

    It has been eight years since the Batman took the wrap for the murder of District Attorney Harvey Dent. Eight years since the last time the Dark Knight was spotted in Gotham. The streets are safe, the police are receiving praise for doing a good job—except Commissioner James Gordon knows it’s all based on a lie. About to come clean of what really happened that fateful night, Gotham is suddenly thrown into chaos at the hands of a mastermind, muscle-loaded criminal named Bane. With the city about to fall, the Batman must return to restore order to his beloved city otherwise it will fall into the hands of a sadistic genius bent on its destruction.

    To complicate matters, a mysterious female cat burglar is working out an agenda of her own and her endgame is tied into the legacy of Bruce Wayne.

    Will Batman rise from the shadows to defeat evil once more, or has he had his day and should stay in the dark?

    Saw the midnight screening of this gem before it hit theatres all over the world. This movie is epic on a scale that is hard to fit into a simple review, especially since I don’t want to give away any key plot points and/or spoilers.

    The Dark Knight Rises picks up immediately after The Dark Knight storyline-wise, and eight years later in movie-time. Running throughout the whole flick are threads from Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, plotlines that reach their ultimate climax in what I have to say is one of the best endings to a trilogy I’ve ever seen. It’s on par with, third-movie-wise, Return of the Jedi and Return of the King. All comes to a head as we’re led down a deep tunnel into who Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) truly is and what being Batman has done to him. Glimpses of his scarred psyche were hinted at in the previous two movies, but really get hit home in an emotional and powerful way throughout this final installment.

    Batman himself also shines as he gets to show off his physical skill against a villain that can truly stand toe-to-toe with him, something we never saw in the previous two films. The battle with Bane (Tom Hardy) is realistic, strongly-delivered, and one where this reviewer felt the punches thrown as if they were happening to him. Yeah, it was that good of a fight.

    The other Bat-flicks struggled with having two villains in the same movie. To be honest, I never thought I’d see the day where a modern superhero movie would have more than one villain and be just as good as if it had just one. Anne Hathaway’s Catwoman is the best rendition of the character I’ve seen on screen, both in movies and on TV. She had to play multiple roles given her identity as a thief and work her deception in such a way that a lot of the time we weren’t sure who’s side she was on. I’m an Anne Hathaway fan, but this movie easily contains her best career performance to date.

    Bane was a crazy good villain, a kind of cross between Joker—intelligence-wise—and Ra’s Al Ghul—combat-wise—of the previous two movies. Especially since most of his face was covered with a mask throughout the whole flick, Tom Hardy had to act with his eyes in such a way as to deliver a performance as if he wasn’t wearing a mask at all. It was something he did in spades. Bane was one of those on-screen villains that you were afraid of because he’s that smart and that powerful and that sadistic.

    Gary Oldman did an amazing job, as usual, as Jim Gordon, and Sir Michael Caine nailed it once again as Alfred. In fact, I’d be shocked if Sir Michael doesn’t get an Oscar nomination for his emotional portrayal of a hard-headed vigilante’s butler.

    It’d be so easy to give away several key plot points in this review, but I’m keeping it vague on purpose because you simply need to see this movie for yourself. You might think you have it figured out, but you’d be wrong, my friend.

    All dangling story threads from the previous two movies are resolved, the SFX did its job but the movie didn’t rely on it, and The Dark Knight Rises had one of the best movie endings in history, to me, one equal to the incredibly-satisfying ending of The Shawshank Redemption.

    Hats off to director Christopher Nolan and crew for the amazing stories and respect they delivered to Bat-fans everywhere throughout the entire Dark Knight Trilogy.

    Go watch this Bat-flick. You must return to Gotham. You must.

    Recommended.


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  • Canister X Movie Review #26: The Dark Knight (2008)

    Posted on by A.P. Fuchs

    The Dark Knight (2008)

    Dark Knight
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    The Dark Knight (2008)
    Written by Christopher Nolan and Jonathan Nolan
    Directed by Christopher Nolan
    Runtime 152 min.
    5 out of 5

    Where do we begin?

    Three years ago, movie-goers wouldn’t dare touch a Batman movie. I mean, what happened? Did you get your act together and deliver us one of the best Bat-flicks ever?

    Seems so.

    And now you’ve done it again . . . times ten!

    Batman has made a difference in Gotham. Criminals are running scared. Underworld organizations are toppling. He has indeed become the symbol he set out to be.

    Now a psychotic clown-faced criminal is tearing his way through the Gotham City underworld, quickly establishing himself as the Clown Prince of Crime. His method: death, and lots of it. His motive: madness. But is he crazy? As he would say, “I’m not. No, I’m not.” And he’s right. He’s not crazy. This man—this “Joker”—is brilliant, and if he gets his way, Gotham will fall into his hands.

    Unless Batman can stop him.

    The Joker’s reign of terror starts in the underworld but reaches deep into Gotham’s social structure, various men strategically placed throughout the police, mayoral offices, everywhere. And they listen to him. Except for Gotham’s White Knight, Harvey Dent, the do-gooding district attorney who’s dedicated himself to cleaning up Gotham and taking down the crime syndicates that have oppressed it for so long.

    Death reigns supreme in this movie. People die, and Batman is faced with the hard choice of becoming that which he hates . . . or risk losing Gotham and those he loves to this madman.

    I cannot say enough good things about this movie. Going into this thing back in 2008, and despite the crazy good trailers for The Dark Knight, I wasn’t sure if Batman Begins could be beat or even tied. Batman Begins was what put serious superhero flicks back on the map in a big, big way. It was what restored the faith of us fans in DC Comics and gave us hope that they started the journey to taking down their number one competitor at the box office, Marvel. And with Superman Returns being just plain poopy, I hoped against hope they’d at least get Batman right a second time.

    And they did. They so did and me and everyone in that theatre were gushing with joy that not only was The Dark Knight as good as Batman Begins, it was even better.

    Christian Bale delivered another solid performance as Bruce Wayne/Batman. The new suit rocked hard. Loved the detail. Though he was less buff than the previous film—why? who knows? You’d think a crime fighter would maintain a fitness regimen—he did a great job differentiating between the boring and dull playboy Bruce Wayne and the rage-filled-justice-driven Batman. My only issue was the voice. In Batman Begins, it was gruff, cool and tough. In this one, he sounded like he was growling the whole time and he had to force the words out to make them all gravelly. (And, FYI, WB, Batman’s voice doesn’t have to be like he’s talking through pebbles and sand; Kevin Conroy proved that.)

    Heath Ledger’s Joker was utterly amazing. Creepy. Gothic. Funny, but not comical (like Jack Nicholson’s was). Eerie, disturbed, crazy—delicious. What I loved the most was two things: 1) the clown makeup was just that: makeup. At first I didn’t like this idea and wanted the Joker to have been a victim of an acid bath ala his comic book backstory, but after watching the movie, I see why they went this route. Bringing us to 2) Joker was a genius. It was his brilliant criminal mind that enabled him to quickly establish himself as a powerful evil force in Gotham and the makeup was his edge in doing that both in a scary-because-I’m-crazy way, but also it made others think he was merely a lunatic in turn making them drop their guard so he could move in.

    Once more, I really dug Gary Oldman’s James Gordon and seeing him officially become commissioner in this was cool.

    Likewise Aaron Eckhart as Harvey Dent and, eventually, Two-Face—hey, he did a good job on both sides of the, um, coin. My only thing with Two-Face in this flick was that I wasn’t expecting him to show up. I thought this movie would establish the Harvey Dent character in turn setting him up to become Two-Face in the next one. So, yeah, that part was a bit rushed but them’s the breaks.

    I enjoyed Maggie Gyllenhaal as Rachel Dawes better than Katie Holmes. Maggie’s kind and cute, but can be rough and tough when she needs to. Worked well for Bruce’s childhood friend/love interest, especially when that twist came that changed Rachel’s future forever.

    My only other little quibble was the whole bat-sonar thing. That was venturing into Batman Forever territory and we all know how that one turned out, but the positives of this movie more than made up for the couple of minor issues I had with it.

    This movie is just tremendously good. Good fighting. Good story. Good stuff.

    Very recommended.


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