Review: The Dark Knight

The popular narrative set for The Dark Knight has been that the hype surrounding Christopher Nolan's follow up to the masterful Batman Begins is a result of the untimely death of Heath Ledger. There is no doubt, that this is at leat in part true. However, to embrace this narrative as the only explanation of the hype surrounding the film, is to sell Batman Begins short. At the time, many critics and fans alike considered Batman Begins to be the best comic book adaptation ever made. Christopher Nolan, had taken a franchise that was left in tatters after Joel Schummacher had left his mark on it, and successfully rebooted it for the 21st century. He did so in a way that appeased fans, but also recruited legions of new ones. Batman Begins challenged its viewers, it showed that even as Batman, Bruce Wayne was still human, and he had very real limits. He risked not only his own well being, but also those that loved him most. It is so prevalent in movies of our time, to glorify revenge and vigilantism. Batman Begins demonstrated the futility of a reactionary mindset. Individuals, even those that do bad things, are very often products of their environment. The societal decay rampant in Gotham had plunged the city into poverty and chaos. Batman Begins showed that a few corrupt and self-interested individuals could profit from that chaos.

The Dark Knight has lived up to and exceeded expectations. Heath Ledger's performance as the Joker easily suprasses Jack Nicholson's take in Batman, and that is no small feat. Ledger exhibits the utter insanity and mindless agression that embody the Joker with ease and style. As the rising force in Gotham's criminal underworld, the Joker kills with glee and at other times, total indifference. Gotham is the Joker's playground, and its people are his toys. Batman knows that he alone cannot bring down the Joker, and the criminal infrastucture that, at times, unwillingly supports him. He enlists the help of Lt. Jim Gordon (Gary Oldman) and newly elected districty attorney Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart). Eckhart is dazzling as Dent, he effectively juggles Dent's natural charm and instinctive brutality. While the marketing of The Dark Knight focused almost exclusively on the Joker, with the occasional mention of the Batman, this film is really about Harvey Dent's tragic fall and eventual rebirth as Two Face. As always, Rachel Dawes (Maggie Gyllenhaal) is in the middle of this all as Harvey Dent's current flame, and Bruce Wayne's moral compass. Gyllenhaal, is a huge improvement over Katie Holmes, as she brings an element of depth to the character of Rachel Dawes, that Holmes could not possibly imitate. Unfortunately, Morgan Freeman and Michael Caine are not given as much material to work with in this film, as they were in the first.

Christopher and Jonathan Nolan's script contains top notch dialouge. Most of the best lines go to Ledger, but Bale, Gyllenhaal, and Eckhart get their fair share as well. Perhaps the only criticism I can level at The Dark Knight is its length and some curious deviations from the comics (Harvey Dent's disfigurement?). However, the Nolan brothers constructed a plot that keeps the audience interested and at the edge of their seats for the nearly 3 hour running time.

The Dark Knight, ranks as one of the best movies I have ever seen, in any genre. It comes as no surprise to me that it had the biggest opening weekend in movie history, taking in $155 million over Friday, Saturday and Sunday. I saw a midnight showing of the film on the 18th in Austin, Texas and the theater had sold out all 8 midnight showings. Christian Bale has advocated profusely for a third film to complete the trilogy, and the ending of The Dark Knight definately leaves room for more. I've got my fingers crossed and I've been praying to every known diety that Bale's efforts pay off!

Rating: ****

* Uwe Boll/Michael Bay bad ** Keeanu Reevesih *** Great **** Excellent

Review: The Incredible Hulk

Few comic fans, and avid movie goers can ever forget the fiasco that was Ang Lee's take on the Hulk. For many fans of the Hulk, the movie was epic in its failure. We were encouraged when we heard that Ang Lee, an accomplished director of near legendary status, was tapped to helm the project. It was also encouraging to hear that a top notch cast including Eric Bana, Jennifer Connelly, Nick Nolte, and Sam Elliot had been assembled. Despite the failure of Hulk, there is no denying that Lee's vision for the film was bold. He sought to highlight the emotional complexities that went along with being the Hulk, including the painful childhood of the protagonist, and the Hulk's alter-ego, Bruce Banner. Unfortunately, Lee's vision just did not suit an origin story. It would've been a great film had it been perhaps the third, or even fourth film in a series of Hulk projects.

Anyways, enough about that. Marvel Studios, with its second feature film (the first being the wildly successful, and genuinely great, Iron Man) decided to reboot the Hulk franchise with The Incredible Hulk. This time Marvel annointed French director Louis Leterrier, best known for the Transporter films starring Jason Statham, as the director. They once again have assembled an A-List cast with Edward Norton (Bruce Banner), the beautiful Liv Tyler (Betty Ross), William Hurt (General Thunderbolt Ross), Tim Blake Nelson (Samuel Sterns), and Tim Roth (Emil Blonsky). The flick begins with Bruce Banner (Norton) living in the projects of a Brazilian city (the name of which escapes me) attempting to control his emotions in order to prevent an "incident" (i.e. becoming the Hulk!). Eventually, a series of events culminates in Banner's return to the US, where he reunites with his long lost love Betty Ross (Tyler). General Ross, Betty's dad, see's this as an oppurtunity for him to capture Banner and harness his power in order to use it as a weapon. Injected into this is the underutilized Tim Roth as Emil Blonsky, a Russian-born Royal Marine on loan to government and he seeks, with the aid of Samuel Sterns (Nelson) to become a super soldier, in a similar grain to the Hulk.

Overall, this film is an improvement over Ang Lee's take on the not so jolly green giant. Bruce Banner actually spends more than 15 minutes as the Hulk. The action scenes are exciting enough, if not groundbreaking. Unfortunately, for some inexplicable reason they had Hulk try and talk, which I'm sure confirmed many stereotypes and induced many a snicker for those non-fans in the audience. Aside from Tim Blake Nelson's performance as Samuel Sterns, most of the actors meet expectations, but certainly don't exceed them. I have to admit that I expected more from Norton, a gifted actor, especially considering his proclaimed love for the subject matter. That being said, the movie managed to keep me entertained and the audience seemed to enjoy it as well. While not as good as Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk will be, with good reason, seen as another success for Marvel Studios. Way to go guys! Your'e 2 for 2!

Rating: **1/2

*Uwe Boll/Michael Bay bad **Keeanu Reevesish ***Great ****Excellent

Review: Redbelt

I really didn't know a lot about this movie other than it starred Chiwetel Ejiofor, whom I think is awesome (if you don't believe me see Children of Men, Inside Man, and American Gangster), so I decided to go check it out. I'm not going to go much into the plot of Redbelt like I usually do with most movies because the plot is so unique and twisty that I would more than likely reveal too much. Redbelt is unlike any film I've ever seen before, the plot and dialouge were constructed in a unique fashion that was new to me. It took me a few minutes to get used to it, but after that I began to really enjoy it. I was surprised to see Tim Allen in this movie, in a serious role at that, and he's was actually quite good. Emily Mortimer, whom endeared herself to me in Lars and the Real Girl, is poignant in her role as an attorney traumatized by a rape. The moviegoing experience for me wasn't the best, because without sounding to condescending or self-righteous, there were a number of people in the theater that couldn't grasp what David Mament, the director and screenwriter, was trying to accomplish with Redbelt. The movie displays the consequences of excess, both for those that indulge and those that refrain. As a result, the film itself, has little excess. The dialouge and plot drive the film therefore this movie while it may appear like it's a martial arts film, it isn't in the slightest. Perhaps, better marketing could've cleared this up for the audience. Nevertheless, David Mamet, has crafted a truly unique and thoughtprovoking film about the conflict between principle and survival.

Rating: ***1/2

*Uwe Boll/Michael Bay Bad **Keeanu Reevesish ***Great ***Excellent

Review: Iron Man

Last Friday night I checked out Iron Man. Turns out that it's the second best superhero movie I've ever seen behind the brilliant Batman Begins (yeah alliteration!). So far, the movie's been getting rave reviews and it pulled in $200+ million at the box office last weekend. Needless to say, I didn't need much convinicing to reach the determination that the flick was awesome.

The film begins in Afghanistan (updated from Vietnam in the comics) where billionaire weapons manufacturer Tony Stark (played excellently by Robert Downey Jr.) is en route to Bagram Air Force base after demonstrating a new weapons system, Jericho, to the American military brass. The convoy is subsequently attacked by a local warlord and Tony Stark is captured. I should also mention that Stark is grievously injured in the attack and he is saved by a fellow prisoner. The prisoner hooks up a car battery to Stark's chest which keeps the shrapnel from entering his heart. Stark's captors order him to build a Jericho for them. With the help of his fellow prisoner, Stark builds a prototype weapons suit instead and escapes from the warlord's grasps. Stark eventually makes his way back to Malibu, CA and to Stark Industries where he is met by his assitant Pepper Potts (endearingly portrayed by Gwyneth Paltrow),his business partner Obadiah Stone (Jeff Bridges, oh and by the way, he is, as usual, ingenious in this role) and his best friend Maj. Jim Rhodes (Terrance Howard). At a press conference, Stark announces that he will no longer manufacture weapons, much to the chagrin of Stone and the plot takes off from there. If I were delve into it any further I would spoil a great movie for you, that you really need to see.

Iron Man was simply very well done. Jon Favreau has assembled a top-notch cast and crafted a superb film. Downey Jr., Paltrow, Bridges, and Howard all are at the top of their game in Iron Man. Favreau deserves major props for his visionary casting of Downey Jr. as Tony Stark. Downey Jr. approaches the role with visible understanding and humor. Iron Man, resembles Batman Begins, in the sense that both films did not let character development and dialouge take a back seat to action. That being said, the special effects and fight sequences are very good, culminating in a great face off between Iron Man and Iron Monger. Iron Man is a can't miss film that will be enjoyed by comic lovers and non-geeks alike. Also, fans of Marvel comics should make sure to stick around after the credits for a, needless to say, provocative final scene.

Rating: ***1/2

*Uwe Boll/Michael Bay Bad **Keeanu Reevesish ***Great ****Excellent

Review: Be Kind Rewind

Now, there are movies that you walk away from thinking, "wow, that was good," and then, on rare occassions there are those movies that you leave feeling better about the world around you and life in general. Be Kind Rewind is such a movie. This movie had been receiving a lot of buzz before its release and it has lived up to that buzz, at least in my humble opinion. The movie revolves around a video store owned and operated by Mr. Fletcher (Danny Glover). When Mr. Flecther has to go away for a few days he leaves his clerk Mike (Mos Def) in charge of the store. After an attempted sabotage of the local power plant goes wrong, Mike's friend Jerry (Jack Black) becomes magnatized. When Jerry comes to visit Mike at the store, his magnatized body erases all the tapes. All this is happening while Mr. Fletcher is out of town and the store is in danger of closing. In order to save the business Mike and Jerry must remake all the movies, or at least the ones that customers wish to rent. Needless to say, hilarity ensues. Mike and Jerry, with the help of Alma (Melonie Diaz) attempt to do justice to such classics as Ghostbusters, Driving Miss Daisy, and Robocop among numerous others.

After seeing him in three different movies (The Italian Job, 16 Blocks, and now Be Kind Rewind) I am convinced that Mos Def is a very capable actor. He is clearly the brains of the Mike and Jerry Duo. Jack Black has never been funnier. The banter and bickering between in Mos Def and Jack Black is extremely funny. Melonie Diaz is an actress to watch. I was very impressed with her take on Alma, as she was, in my opinion, the most likeable character in the film. It was great to see Danny Glover (I miss the Angels in the Outfield days) and Mia Farrow back in action again.

Overall, Be Kind Rewind was a great film. I highly recommend you check it out!

Rating: ***1/2

*=Uwe Boll/Michael Bay bad **=Keeanu Reevesish ***=Great ****=Fantastic