Sunday, July 20, 2008

Movie Review: The Dark Knight



About this Movie: (Beware: spoilers are included in this review)


This movie starts off very dark and becomes extremely dark. It is not a kid’s movie by any means. It is an intense psychological look at our heroes and villains and pushes them past their limits. When you think you hit the top of the intensity and the twisted perspective, it bumps up to another level. It is an unreal rush.


Batman and Lt. Gordon have been cleaning up the streets. They are putting the screws to organized crime in Gotham City. New District Attorney Harvey Dent joins in to help the fight. Organized crime begins to use one of their Hong Kong Counterparts to laundry their money. Batman retrieves him from his compound in Hong Kong. This allows the Joker, a minor player in Gotham until till now, to swoop in and start his reign of terror.


I will not give away any more of the plot.

What I liked about this Movie:


This is the pentacle of the character of the Joker. I loved Jack as the Joker in Batman (1989) but Heath Ledger takes to the extreme. This demonstrates why the Joker is Batman's greatest enemy. His crimes are not about logic or greed but his twisted mind. The Joker was 4 steps ahead of everyone for the entire movie. The entertainment buzz about Ledger being nominated for an Oscar is not an exaggeration. This will be the first comicbook movie to win an Oscar for acting.

Christian Bale portrayed both Bruce Wayne and Batman perfectly. He was able to show the complexity of both characters and what was driving both of them. He demonstrated the shell that both Bruce and Batman have to keep. I loved the relationship with previous love interest Rachel Dawes.

Aaron Eckhart captures the character of Harvey Dent. This is great acting. He will be overshadowed by Ledger's performance but do not miss it. This is the real Harvey/Two Face character (sorry Tommy Lee Jones but Aaron was 100 times better).

I really liked Gary Oldman as James Gordon in Batman Begins. He did a great job as a young Gordon. In this movie, he solidifies his role. He becomes the James Gordon that we love in the comics.

This movie reminded me of the best Joker stories I have ever read including Death in the Family and the Killing Joke. The plot and writing is fabulous. The filming of this movie was wonderful. The special effects were really good but they are not the main focus of this movie.


What I did not Like:

Nothing! Plain and simple, there was not a thing that I did not like about this movie.


My Review:
Best movie of the year and one of the best I have ever seen. This movie is what a Batman movie was meant to be. This movie is not just for Comicbook fans. It is a must see.

My Grade: A+


Here is what other reviews have to say:

IMDB User Rating: 9.7 out of 10
Rotten Tomatoes Critics:94% Fresh
Rolling Stones: 31/2 Stars out of 4
E Online: A
Roger Ebert: 4 Stars


Saturday, May 31, 2008

Indiana Jones IV Review

After a twenty year absence, Indiana Jones hit the big screen last week. I went with a group of friends to take in the adventure. Here is my review.

About this Movie: (Beware: spoilers are included in this review)
Indy is now twenty years older in the late 1950's. McCarthyism is at an all time high. The cold war is raging against the Soviets. Instead of the Nazi's trying to steal relics for power, the Soviets have bought into this game. They are after the crystal skull. This skull is not the typical religious symbol but rather something out of this world. In the process of chasing the skull, Indy joins up with a young protégé and a familiar face from the past.

What I liked about this Movie:
Indy is back. Indiana Jones is one of the greatest action series of all time. It is great to have another movie in this saga. It is nice to see the Fedora and whip back in action.

There were some great action sequences in this movie that are very typical for an Indy movie. The motorcycle chase scene is a lot of fun especially in the library. There is the car chase and skull exchange in the jungle that reminds me of the truck chase scene in Raiders. There is plenty of action in this movie.

Indy movies are known for their various creatures. There are snakes in Raiders, Spiders and bugs in Temple, and rats in Last Crusade. This movie has mammoth killer ants that know how to swarm. It is very cool.

I liked Shia LaBeouf as Mutt Williams in this movie. I loved how he arrived on a motorcycle dressed as Marlon Brando from the Wild One. It was no secret that he was Indy and Marion's love child but it played very well in the movie. They left it where he could take over for Indy on adventures in the future. In the end, Indy even calls him Junior when is a nice tribute back to Last Crusade.

Overall the affects in this movie are very good. The CGI is flawless in certain scenes. Effects have come a long ways over the last 20 years.

There are other fun geeky things in this movie. There is the return of one of Indy's previous love interests. There is the glimpse of the Ark of the Covenant in the Warehouse. Indy says the famous line from Star Wars (not "May the Force Be with You") that Harrison stated 30 years ago "I've got a bad feeling about this". I did applaud when this line slipped out of his mouth.

What I did not Like:
Some of the scenes were very similar to other movies of this genre such as the Mummy series and National Treasure. The ants were cool but reminded me of the scarabs from the Mummy. It appeared that they had trouble finding things that were real fresh for this movie.

This movie had a different feel than the other three. I think part of it is the setting in the late 50's. I did not like the Soviets as villains nearly as much as Nazis. I understand that Harrison is 20 years older so you have to make Indy older and this worked for the time frame but it just felt weird.

The CGI for the Prairie Dogs was bad. They reminded me of the gopher from Caddy Shack. They seemed completely pointless and out of place in this movie.

The atomic explosion scene seemed like filler to me. The fake people in a fake town was kind of fun but was not relevant. Indy jumping into a lead lined refrigerator right before the explosion and is blown clear of the site was completely unbelievable.

What bothered me most about this movie were the aliens. In the first 10 minutes we are introduced to aliens being the center of the story. I was confused if I was watching an Indy movie or the new X-Files movie. After the Inter-dimensional spaceship left, I half expected Indy to call Marion "Scully".

My Review:
I wanted to love this movie but I did not. But I did really like this movie. It was a fun popcorn movie. It was great to have Indy back. It had a similar feel to Star Wars Episode I for me. It is great to have a fabulous franchise back but the movie did not live up to the original trilogy. That being said, I enjoyed myself and found it worth the price of admission.

My Grade: B-


Here is what other reviews have to say:

IMDB User Rating: 7.3 out of 10
Rotten Tomatoes Fans
: 64% Fresh
Rotten Tomatoes Critics: 78% Fresh
Rolling Stones: 2.5 Stars out of 4
E Online: A
Roger Ebert: 3.5 Stars out of 4

Sunday, May 04, 2008

I am Iron Man

The summer blockbuster movie season has started. As usual, the month of May dishes out the fun and money making movies that will get no nod at the Oscars for acting. But as a fanboy, the summer movie season is a blast. Iron Man is the first to rocket onto the big screen for this summer.

About this Movie:
This movie sticks fairly close to the comicbook series. Tony Stark, ( Robert Downey Jr.), is the rich and famous owner of Stark Industries, which is a big weapon's manufacturer. He is taken by terrorists and forced to create a weapon. Instead he built his first Iron Man suit, powered by a device to keep him alive. His armor continues to evolve and change during the movie with some very humorous moments in the process. In the end, he fights against another version of his armor which is worn by one of the bad guys.


What I liked about this Movie:

It was complete gambit of a popcorn summer movie. It had a lot of action and appropriately placed humorous moments. It was very visually appealing with great special affects. It had a great story that stuck very close to the comicbook.

This was a great comicbook adoption. In the last 10 years, the comic industry has developed a lot of good to great adoptions of comicbook characters and stories, which I have enjoyed. But they have also had as just as many misses like the Punisher, Daredevil, and Hulk. Iron Man is the first group and it is one of the best. It is up there with Spiderman 1 and X-Men 1.

The cast is wonderful. The acting was really good for a popcorn movie. Downey pulled off the drunken rich guy (not a stretch for Downey) with no issues. Gwyneth Paltrow was a great Pepper Potts. The other actors are perfect fits for their roles.


What I did not Like:
In this movie, Jarvis is not the attentive butler but rather a computer system that runs Stark's home and the Iron Man armor. I also felt that his big "reveal" at the end of the movie should have waited for a sequel. Those minor details are the only things I could really complain about in this movie.


My Review:
This is a "super" movie that I fully recommend. It is fun and full of action and great special affects. The crowd laughed and cheered often during this movie.

It is rated PG13. It did seem appropriate for some children under the age of 13. I would recommend parents viewing it before letting their children go. It is much tamer than other PG 13 movies like Cloverfield.

Look for the great Stan Lee in this movie as a Hugh Hefner like character. (Not as funny as his role in FF2 but still very funny)

By the way, stay through the credits. Comic fans will love the implications of the post credit special appearance.

My Grade: A-


Here is what other reviews have to say:

Rotten Tomatoes Fans: 94% Fresh
Rotten Tomatoes Critics: 91% Fresh
Rolling Stones: 3.5 out 4 Stars
E Online: B+

Also check out: Strange Culture: 5 Reasons you will enjoy Iron Man

Sunday, January 20, 2008

Cloverfield Review

I finally was able to watch the highly anticipated Cloverfield this afternoon. I have been salivating at the previews and online hype. I love most everything that J.J. Abrams and Bad Robot Productions touches.


About this Movie:

Cloverfield is a thrill ride extreme. As with any roller coaster, if you have high blood pressure, are pregnant, have back or neck problems, get motion sick or a queasy stomach, then you will want to pass on this movie. Ok, you may not have to pass if you are pregnant or back problems but you will feel like you spent 3 hours on roller coaster and the movie is only an hour and a half long.

It is filmed from the perspective of a group of friends in New York's Manhattan when a monster attacks the city and all Hades breaks loose. One of the friends has a video camera because he was taping the goodbye party. It is similar to the Blair Witch Project with the whole movie from a hand held camera. One of the guys that viewed this movie with me has to leave an hour in because of the camera motion.

Cloverfield is a monster movie on steroids. I can not even describe the creature because it is so bizarre. You have to see it to fully understand this terrifying monster. It also has spawn that are as bad as the main monster. Together they terrorize New York far beyond what Godzilla and children ever could.

What I liked about this Movie:

This is not your stereotypical monster movie. It develops characters and plot. You unfortunately become attached to some of characters along the way. This is a benefit of shooting the movie from the innocent bystander's point of view. My friend Bryan pointed out how shocking it is that this method of story telling for a monster movie has not been used previously.

The special effects were very special. Even as twisted and bizarre that the creature is, it looked like it belonged. There was realism to the monster and the way it acted and moved.

When the creature first attacks the city and destroys a skyscraper, there is a dust storm that hits the streets. It was just like happened on 9-11-01 when the towers went down. They attempted to keep a level of realism all the way through this movie and were fairly successful.

This movie had a similar feel to the movie Alien. The movie Alien was the first to successfully mix the Sci-Fi and Horror genre. Cloverfield mixes the Monster Movie genre with Horror with success. There are moments that reminded me of Alien but in a limited way.

There were some very funny moments in this movie. Hud, the friend that is video taping, has some great lines. Hud is very socially inept and insecure. He talks when he should just be quiet. The conversation in the subway tunnel was great. I know guys just like Hud.

This movie was very different than anything I have ever seen.

What I did not Like:
The camera motion at times was too much. I had to hold my head during some of the scenes when they are running down the street. Anyone with any motion sickness issues will have problems with the some of the scenes.

My Review:
This movie was excellent. I was a bit numb after it was over because it was so intense. The crowd was totally silent as the movie ended. No one was talking or clapping or booing. Most people just sat there through as the credits began. It appeared to have the same affect on all of us. We were mesmerized and in shock.

This movie produced everything I was hoping from this movie. It is truly the monster movie of the ages.

By the way, stay through the credits.

My Grade: A

Here is what other reviews have to say:
IMDB User Rating: 8.1/10
Rotten Tomatoes: 76% Fresh
Roger Ebert: 3 Stars
Rolling Stones: 2 1/2 stars out of 4
E Online: B+