The Dark Knight

i wasnt fortunate enough to see the new batman movie as soon as it came out, so my expectations grew along with my anticipation as i listened to the general public rant and rave about the new batman movie. two nites before i went to watch, i was at a bar near my place here in SF, and i overheard a guy and gal talk about the movie. the woman hadnt seen the movie but was complaining about how she's was so disappointed in how the production company was using heath ledger's death to promote its own movie, with his Joker face plastered everywhere. she felt that the movie was only doing well because of that publicity. what about the fact that MAYBE heath ledger's Joker was the best performance of his career, and probably the best Joker ever? (this was before i saw the movie) the previews i had seen all gave the notion that this was going to be a great movie in every way. the next night, the bartender at the bar said she saw it and she loved it. i was skeptical, but she assured me about her love of comic books and Frank Miller's Batman. i was sold.

the plot of The Dark Knight starts with batman, lt. gordon, and new D.A. harvey dent (aaron eckhart) all working to put the mafias out of business in gotham city. the joker shows up, new on the scene, and proceeds to wreak havoc upon gotham without any particular reason but to fuck shit up. he's dark, creepy, and completely sadistic, the way batman readers love him. this movie was so good, i really dont want to ruin it for any readers that havent watched it yet (what are you waiting for??? GO SEE THIS MOVIE, DUMMY). all i have to say is that its pretty good throughout because it mainly progresses through such a wonderful joker. but beware, the movie is 2.5 hours long. ull think its over, but it wont be. at least everytime that happens... something or someone is about to have a bad day.

the acting in this movie is superb and makes the decent plot so much better. all the hubbub about heath ledger's joker? its true and so much more. non-comic readers are especially creeped out by this joker because theyre so used to the dancing, smiling, mirthful nicholson joker. ledger does the joker some real justice. the way he looks, the way he speaks, the way he licks his lips nervously... all sum up to one of the best performances i have ever seen by any actor in any movie. he definitely deserves the oscar for best actor in a movie, but he will most likely not win it because superhero movies probably aren't on oscar voters' minds. but maybe its time that people take summer blockbusters more seriously, not just for the excitement but for actual compelling stories and performances. there's really no need to go further into the other actors in the movie, but they are all very good. ledger simply just steals the movie, and its really a shame that he's no longer with us. one thing, christian bale needs to stop making that stupid fake gruff batman voice. oh, and i think maggie gyllenhaal is so very hot in a not very hot way... she's definitely a better choice than katie holmes was, looks and acting ability. aaron eckhart gets a thumbs up.

visually, the movie is great. its not neon, thank god. its not bright, just the way it should be. gotham city is a dark city in need of a dark knight, and nolan's gotham amazingly depicts that with its chicago-style buildings that block out the sun in the daytime and its cold and grimy streets during the night. i read somewhere that the scenes where batman overlooks the city and glides through it were filmed using IMAX cameras, they looked like it.

aurally... lets not talk about music, its really not that important in the scheme of things. one note tho, some people really found certain sound(s) annoying, such as this ear aching one whenever the joker would do something suspenseful. it was annoying, but if one steps back and thinks about it, its really sort of the joker's theme. there's no melody or tune when dealing with this complete psycho, its just... a painful noise anticipating more pain.

the dark knight is especially good for fans of frank miller's batman stories, The Dark Knight Returns and Batman: First Year. miller brought batman out of the silver age of comics, he was no longer the adam west sort of batman, but a whole different animal... tougher, grittier, cruel-er. miller not only created the best batman stories to date, but influenced the majority of batman stories to come. gotham city's villains became some of the most demented figures in comics and their depraved lunacy festered and grew within arkham, occasionally escaping and destroying a life in batman's world. nolan's movie captures this realism and is what makes it so incredible to see on the big screen. i really would have never thought that people who made superhero movies would stay true to their source material, and i am glad we are at a point where a movie does not need to pander to the general public in order to attract moviegoers. WARNING: its a superhero movie, but don't bring your kids. the movie is pg-13, so please don't bring a child under that age. unless you think your child should be allowed to watch scenes of torture, the psychological carnage caused by the joker could be far worse than any blood and gore.

in conclusion... this is the BEST MOVIE OF THE YEAR, thus far. its not only the best superhero movie ever made, but also a movie filled with several solid performances. go for all that, but if its not enough, go because you will never see an actor more perfect in his role as heath ledger was.


great: heath ledger
good: everyone else in the movie
bad: bale's batman voice

Hellboy II: The Golden Army

it's always grueling for a comic book reader/fan like myself to try and watch a superhero movie. the characters and their stories are never completely transferred over when a big movie production movie decides to take that intellectual property and create something they think would appeal to a mass audience in order to recoup costs and to profit immensely. one tragedy, albeit a great movie, is Wanted. i downloaded the original mark millar comic series the other nite and spent some time getting through the 8 issues or so. whereas 300 was 99% like Frank Miller's original comic, Wanted is 99% not like Mark Millar's creation. (according to algie, he was paid handsomely to let them). there are a few things in Wanted that are similar but the comic is a whole different animal about the same guy who becomes a supervillain and there's no curving of bullets, he's just a natural born killer.

back to Hellboy II: The Golden Army, the plot revolves around Hellboy (for an explanation on who he is and where he comes from click here) who likes beer and pancakes, oh, and he works for the B.P.R.D., a secret government agency that deals with all things paranormal. he's big, red, gruff, and has a huge right fist for punching paranormal baddies. in this second movie, we delve deeper into the world beneath the one that humans only know and find a whole kingdom of other beings. Prince Nuada had exiled himself after the long-forgotten truce between the humans and elves... he's back and ready to lead the non-humans in a war to reclaim the world. To do that, he seeks the power to control the Golden Army which, built by goblin smiths and indestructible, were golems that laid waste to human race until the truce made by the compassionate elven king, Nuada's father. big secret, he eventually activates the golden army. part of the movie also centers on hellboy's dreams of exposing the truth to mass society and trying to co-exist and maybe be a hero to all the people that don't know theyre being protected everyday by him. the movie does a decent job depicting the prejudices big red encounters when his dreams are finally realized.

the plot of the movie kind of sucks. ill be the first to say it because the stories written by Mike Mignola in the comics were already so good. after a few scenes in the beginning, it was clear what was going to happen at the end of the movie. penning a whole new script for the sake of attracting a new movie-going audience is not necessary. im a big traditionalist when it comes to comic book movie adaptations (ex. hate any and all batmans between 2 and begins). dont get me started with the love between red and liz sherman(Selma Blair), thats just for the movie-goers, there is no such thing in the comics. hellboy fails me with its plot, but what it does best is capturing who the characters really are. Ron Perlman plays big red magnificently, he's hard and gruff but there is a part of him underneath that cares for others and is important because he's prophecized to be the hellbringer, an internal struggle the character constantly has to deal with.
abraham sapien is my favorite character in the movie. he's intelligent and well-meaning and is much more fleshed out as a main character in this sequel. the best scene in the entire movie involves a drunken karaoke with abe and red. on the other hand, selma blair is not good. her acting consisted of three things, angry, pouty, and some kind of sweet lovingness. usually, thats not bad, but she never makes the character stand out on its own, liz sherman is always reacting to some outside stimuli.

the visuals are where its at with hellboy2. director guillermo del toro is of Pan's Labyrinth fame, which won oscars for best art direction, cinematography, and makeup. he is a master of creating dark fantasy worlds with hosts of indescribable that inhabit them. i cannot wait to see his work on the upcoming tolkien Hobbit movies, pan's labyrinth was a visual masterpiece. in this, del toro's fantasy world and people are just as good as they ever were. the troll market was like entering mos eisley for the first time and stepping into someone's vivid and untapped imagination.

i had a real problem with the soundtrack and score for this movie. outside of the singing scene with red and abe (amazing), everything else really annoyed me. the rock songs that segued/transitioned between changes of scenery were too loud and always started a little late and too abruptly. too much attention was paid to how the movie looked and not how it sounded.

overall, this is a decent summer movie. its not a comic book movie masterpiece, but its not really that bad if you're not expecting the greatest experience ever (save that for the new batman!). if you're torn between Hancock and Hellboy this summer, i'd say give hellboy a shot, hancock has will smith but hellboy is at least based on a proven comic book character and looks great.

good: visuals, hellboy, abraham sapien
bad: selma blair, predictable cookie-cutter plot