Batman Batmobile Hotwheels Shorts and Reels No. 10
Here ya go! Another three batmobiles for your enjoyment. I do plan on doing some more batmobile shorts compilation videos. It just takes time. See, I have a tech issue that I have to use as a work-around for every video I create. Due to the age of my computer, it does not, for some reason, fully accept the driver off my smartphone when it comes time to transfering the video files from the phone to the computer. Bizarrely, I can transfer everything but videos. When I transfer a video, the thing copies over in full but only the audio is available. I don’t know why, so I have to format the videos on my phone prior to transferring them to the computer. Didn’t have to do this with my old phone, but tech moves forward and this old desktop work horse remains the same.
Anyway, give me some time and we’ll do up some more compilation videos for my hotwheels collection.
In the meantime, I offer you the following:
Hotwheels Batman and Catwoman 2-pack – Buy at Amazon
Please subscribe to my YouTube channel for regular videos and shorts! Pop Culture, superheroes and monsters, and collectibles galore (plus many other cool features like podcasts).
Thanks.
And, of course, if you have any collector video ideas or suggestions, you can contact me here.
Did you know I have a dedicated Twitter/X feed solely for showcasing hotwheels? Check it out here and follow along. You get a new hotwheels video every hour on the hour 7 days a week between 6AM and 6PM CST, including batmobile hotwheels videos!
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.
Catwoman (2004) Written by John Brancato, Michael Ferris and John Rogers Directed by Pitof Comar Runtime 104 min. 2 out of 5
Patience Phillips overhears news of the terrible side effects of a skin cream that is being manufactured by the company she works for, Hedare Beauty, and is quickly silenced—fatally—for her eavesdropping. However, she comes back from the dead thanks to an Egyptian Mau cat and discovers she has cat-like abilities. Disguising herself as Catwoman, Patience seeks to learn the truth behind her own death.
Do you have any idea how excited I was when I heard they were making a Catwoman movie? I mean, it could be the greatest cat-burglar movie of all time loaded with super slick espionage, martial arts, sneaking around, Batman mythos references and/or cameos, strong-female-led action, cool costume(s) and more.
And then they made the movie they did.
Almost wish I could make this whole review two words—“no comment”—but that’d be cheating you guys.
This movie was not a Catwoman movie. I just don’t understand what they were trying to do here. Had this been a fan film and some attempted new take on the character, okay, fine, whatever, put it online and let people decide, but this was supposed to be the real deal. She wasn’t even called Selina Kyle in this. Instead, she was “Patience Phillips.” They tried to jazz up what is supposed to be a very down-to-earth origin and give it a mythology of its own. Okay, points for trying something new and superhero or supervillain origins are often tweaked or changed for the big screen. What makes Catwoman as a character awesome is the fact that she’s human, like Batman, and is basically his opposite. Not so in this one. She’s got cat-powers and while it was visually cool to watch her jump around and scale buildings and stuff, it’s just not who she is.
Halle Berry playing Catwoman is just fine. She’s sleek, sexy and pulls off the part. The problem is the story is not very good, the costume is terrible—how slinky and impractical can you get?—and there’s really nothing in this that ties it into the Batman universe. This is supposed to be a spin-off, but even spin-offs have a connection to the main source. i.e. the Elektra spin-off movie from Daredevil. Regardless of how you feel about that one, it’s still a spin-off and is known as such.
This was definitely a comic book movie in that they went for “comic booky” as the feel of it. Felt more direct-to-video to me, seemed rushed and just fell flat.
Catwoman is an awesome character and was resurrected in The Dark Knight Rises in a much more real world way. I hope that someday—hopefully sooner rather than later—another Catwoman flick is made and they really try to get it right. It has huge potential. Sadly, it was missed with this version here.
Batman Returns (1992) Written by Daniel Waters Directed by Tim Burton Runtime 126 min. 3.5 out of 5
A mysterious “penguin man” surfaces and takes the city by storm, so much so that evil business tycoon Max Shreck, played by Christopher Walken, thinks he can turn Penguin into the city’s new mayor. But Penguin is not all what he seems and he secretly controls the Red Triangle Gang, who are wreaking havoc across the city.
Adding to the mix is one Selina Kyle, Shreck’s lowly assistant, er, secretary, who, after a bad night with her boss, becomes Catwoman.
The Bat Signal shines and the Dark Knight returns to once again rid Gotham of chaos and restore order.
Michael Keaton is back as Gotham’s Guardian and brings to the role all the mystery and edge that made the ’89 movie so popular. What’s even better is that this movie actually has Batman in it and the vigilante appears, clad in black armor, more than just four times like in the previous flick.
Danny DeVito as the Penguin does a great job given what he had to work with. Though the Penguin in this film is not the same as the one in the comics, DeVito still did well portraying a man who was born . . . a little different.
Michelle Pfeiffer pulls off the dual role of Selina Kyle/Catwoman nicely. In fact, she plays four distinct roles in this film, all in one character: nerdy Selina, hip Selina, crazy Selina and Catwoman.
This film is filled with action, darkness and fun, all set in Tim Burton’s eerie Gotham City, which was a character on its own in this film and its predecessor.
It’s the hokey plot that’s earning this film a lower rating than the previous one. Had the story been better, this movie had the potential to be one of the best superhero flicks ever.
Batman (1966) Written by Lorenzo Semple Jr. Directed by Leslie H. Martinson Runtime 105 min. 4 out of 5
Atomic batteries to power. Turbines to speed!
The dynamic duo, Batman and Robin, hit the big screen in this 1960s action/adventure camp-stravaganza!
When the caped crusaders’s most dangerous foes—Joker, Riddler, Catwoman, Penquin—team up and plot to dehydrate the United Nations Security Council, Batman and Robin find themselves in over their heads and must pull out all the stops to put an end to the evil villains’ dastardly plans in this big screen adaptation of the hit TV series.
This movie rocks! And here’s why:
It’s fast-paced, exciting, and is the definition of superhero fun. What? You mean superheroes can be fun? Of course! Remember dressing up as a kid and flying around the house as Superman or climbing the stairs as Spider-Man or swinging from room to room as Batman? Remember laying waste to all those imaginary villains while also saving the damsel in distress and trying to ignore your parents when they called you for dinner? That was superhero fun. Easy-going, super adventure.
This film is the same thing . . . but with grownups. Of course, it’s also a giant Batman TV episode complete with such goodies as the animated THOKs and POWs bursting across the screen, crazy bat-gadgets for every occasion (i.e. the [in]famous bat-shark repellent), a host of bat-vehicles, and goofy special effects that work well in the context of the movie.
What’s brilliant about this Batman movie are the jokes. First, it’s meant to be silly and funny, but the humor is both overt and subtle, whether it’s the dialogue, facial expressions or even actions in some cases. It’s also amazing that despite it being purposely campy, Adam West and Burt Ward—Batman and Robin, respectively—played their characters straight. What I mean is, they played these guys seriously in the crazy, colorful world they inhabited—the characters matching the story, the environment and those they interacted with—and not once did it seem like actors goofing around and simply scoring a paycheck. That’s a feat on its own, in my books.
Nowadays, superhero filmmakers have a hard time trying to do more than one villain in their movies. Why they don’t go back and look at this flick for help, I don’t know. Granted, the four villains in here all had their TV history backing them up, but they still were able to each stand on their own and each share the spotlight and fulfill their roles. No one is second stringer to anyone else.
If there is a movie out there that represents superhero fantasy, this flick is it. Everything is so over-the-top that it actually works and you feel like you’re watching an old school comic book come to life. Joel Schumacher tried to recreate this with Batman Forever and Batman & Robin and wasn’t able to pull it off. The big reason, in my mind, is because he tried to merge the old with the new and that’s like mixing black and white—you get a bunch of gray and no one knows what’s what.
Anyway, I love this movie. My kids love this movie and I let them watch it because compared to the ultra dark Bat-flicks of today, I need to know they’ll have fun watching a Bat-movie, will have at least a general sense of what’s going on, and won’t get nightmares after. (I mean, Heath Ledger’s Joker creeps me out and I’m an adult.)
Batman (1966) is one of my all-time favorite movies. It’s lighthearted, it’s funny, it’s exciting, and is a showcase of everything that made the TV series such a hit, even now, nearly fifty years later.
