Dark Knight

Synopsis: Joker kills people, lots of things are destroyed, there’s actually TWO villains in this movie.

Ninjas. Who could possibly dislike ninjas? These mythical killers from Eastern culture are ingrained in the skulls of most males as the apogee of awesome. Already at their peak physical and mental level, there is only one way to improve a ninja: give them cool toys. Stick said ninja in Gotham City, and you have Batman.

Writing this review a bit after the movie came out has given me a chance to see critic’s reactions. They make me wonder if they somehow get throwbacks from the studio. Dark Knight is a fantastic movie but it is not The Untouchables or The Godfather as many reviews seem to christen it. It is a ninja in a bat-suit. It’s Batman. Please never make it anything else. I see comic book movies because I like comic book movies, not because I am secretly hoping to see Al Capone in makeup and Eliot Ness dressed as some armored rodent (with wrist blades!).

Heath Ledger is indeed fantastic. I would argue he is one of the best batman villains so far (although it is rather unfair to compare Batman movies, Burton had a very different direction than Nolan). But again, he is what he is, a comic book villain. This isn’t some existential movie about how we “turn on our heroes” or even that heavy laden with morality issues (yes he does have to make some decisions). His joker is a psychopath with a death wish. He doesn’t have any deep motivations. He says he’s like a dog chasing cars: he wouldn’t know what to do with one if he caught it. I do think it would be fair to put Ledger up for a best supporting actor, and perhaps all the hype around Dark Knight will help its being taken seriously when such awards are presented.

Dark Knight is sleek. Its huge budget obviously helps. The pacing is very nice, you spend a lot of time on the edge of your seat but are allowed to relax at the right times and the humorous bits are quite funny. It did well to stay PG-13 as it allowed one to watch in somewhat “safety,” knowing none of the alluded grossness would actually be shown on screen. I would have appreciated more of the choreographed fight scenes from the previous movie: it seems this relied more on glass shattering and people flying around, making his fighting style feel more like a Tasmanian devil or the Hulk than a ninja. This is probably more from my love of old Kung Fu movies however.

So if you like action movies or Batman or Christian Bale or want to see Heath Ledger at his best, Dark Knight is a must see. But if you want Eliot Ness, seek him elsewhere.

It's Happened

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_dark_knight/comments.php?reviewid=1741155

The first bad review. Read on for free entertainment.

Wall-E

Synopsis: Wall-E enjoys cockroaches, Hello Dolly, long walks in a post apocalyptic cityscape.

Pixar. It’s pure gold. Attempting to give a Pixar movie a bad rating would be similar to arguing with Mother Theresa: no one cares if you are right and you probably aren’t. Or perhaps it is more like giving the upcoming Dark Knight a bad review. I mean, someone died. What are you, some kind of soulless animal? (DK is currently at 100% on Rotten Tomatoes. I’m waiting for someone to give it a bad review. There will be blood.).

We should first discuss the obligatory topic of its technical prowess. Yes, it is indeed amazing. This of course is nothing new from Pixar, but Wall-E does really stand out from its predecessors for its CG-ifying. There are several moments during the film were Wall-E is almost tangible. It does help that it is dealing with robots (his girlfriend is sort of a MacBook crossed with a Terminatrix). The humans look as rubbery as ever, but it is arguable that they are supposed to considering the plot.

Some of the characters were stronger than others. Wall-E and Eve were incredibly well done. The humans were a bit less interesting. I really enjoyed the faithful pet cockroach and would have liked to see more of him. This is probably my greatest gripe with the movie. Unlike previous flicks like Toy Story or Monsters Inc which had a very large cast but still managed to develop each character and provide them with satisfactory screen time, Wall-E felt more like a two robot show and it wasn’t from lack of characters. If the entire movie took place on earth and involved only Wall-E, Eve, and his cockroach, I would be fine with that, but there are various humans we meet and even sort of a token antagonist. This is far from a glaring issue, however, and is spurred mostly by the movie being so good that I wish there had been more.

So go for the visuals. Oh and ah over Ben Burt’s mastery of robot sounds. Go for the main characters. Be impressed by the shear immensity of quality this movie exudes.

Unashamedly smacking a “Must see” on this one.

Wanted

Synopsis: James McAvoy suppresses his accent, tells off his Office Spacian boss, becomes a bullet-curving uber assassin.

Oh John Woo and your double-fisted bullet ballets, how your progeny multiply. Firm is your grip on Robert Rodriguez and the Wachowski brothers. Your adrenaline washed bullet-time soaks the action genre from video games to blockbusters. Your reach is far, enough to lure Russian director, Timur Bekmambetov, away (briefly) from his vampire flicks.

And we are grateful.

You can argue its closer kinship to The Matrix rather than Hard Boiled, but Wanted has a very familiar feel despite whatever copulation of films spawned it. McAvoy is certainly not a new character: a slight and pasty cubicle worker who discovers he is actually a god who can make projectiles curve, hop, spin, and perform dance selections from Cats. He’s picked up by a skinny priestess of death with a weird name and informed of his awesomeness. Grueling training ensues, oddly named heroine kinda likes him, and somebody is a traitor.

It’s a sound formula.

So what makes it different? Besides the cast of new comer McAvoy, old comer Jolie (I was surprised to find out she’s still in her thirties), and ancient comer Freeman, the film tosses in a heavier than usual dose of humor. Little messages appear in slow motion moments, rats explode from P.B. ‘n E’s (peanut butter and explosives), and there’s a strange obsession with energy drinks. Combined with the now pretty standard hyper-action, fast cars in intercity chases, and smatterings of clever dialog it paces the film nicely.

There’s even a little bit of a twist.

I would rate Wanted as “in theater.” It is worth the price of admission, probably best viewed on the big screen, and solid fare for John Woo’s table.