“What doesn’t kill you, makes you stranger!” quips the Joker in this latest action packed incarnation of Bob Kane’s comic book superhero Batman!
I’m sure at this moment you’ve bought your tickets or are hoping to get tickets to this big budget follow up to “Batman Begins”. All the hype is worth it as this movie is legend before it even hit the screen. The buzzword is the late Heath Ledger who portrays the Joker, Batman’s #1 archnemesis and his performance. Awesome would be appropriate. He presents along with the script, a horrifying antagonist who is always three steps ahead of the good guys. Cruel, sadistic, maniacal when cheeful, the Joker owns this movie. Perhaps he owns too much.
In short, this episode in the revived movie franchise has Bruce Wayne and his global financial interests in trouble with mobsters. He and the police must put an end to the mob’s money and crusading prosecutor Harvey Dent is doing a better job than the Batman at it. The conflict between Bruce and Harvey for the love of Rachel Dawes. Add to all this the rise of the Joker who is in it only for the fun, you have a somewhat unpredictible drama, not high flying superheroics, but combination police drama/monster movie. It doesn’t get gory but it gets ugly, real ugly. This movie was like having a fist fight in a burned out back alley warehouse.
The fans and critics alike will rave about Heath Ledger’s performance and due just, however, Aaron Eckhart stands out so much as Harvey Dent that at times I was more interested in him than Batman! All the major characters were performed magnificently and that’s something I’ve been saying for years and that’s these superhero and comic book based movies are going to be the top platform for acting superiority. It’s because the source material is so solid especially when you have characters that are as old as the Batman franchise is. Mind you, Batman is 70 years old this year. It’s ALWAYS made money at the box office, tv, books, etc. Heck, even I did a small story in Batman Annual #13 and my pal Doug Moench has written the regular Batman comic book and graphic novels for the past 18 years I figure. Doug also wrote the intro to my comic book series “THE MONSTER POSSE” which is up for a new film option as I type. Batman is such a part of the global mythos now that any movie with him in it is going to be guaranteed success. This year and this decade has shown again, just like the 1990’s that the public loves it’s quality made superhero movies.
The boxoffice take for Batman is going to be outstanding. I wouldn’t be surprised if it made $3oo million at it’s second weekend easy. It may well be a $1 billion global movie easy as moviegoers will return again and again for the fun.
The plot holes are small and overshadowed by the action and performances. The mayhem level is on high and there’s lots of hurting, deeeeep hurting. It’s not a movie for anyone under 12 years of age in my opinion because of the violence. It’s a film that focuses on the technology of terrorism and shows how and why we’re so vulnerable to it. That terrorism is always present, like an unseen ghost, and the only thing that can stop it is to have no rules. It’s a comment on the times as well as ourselves.
Normally after watching a Batman movie you want to be Batman and go out and fight evil doers. In this movie however, you’ll want to be the Joker.
You’ve been warned.
Posted under Comic Book Artist
This post was written by evolbaby on July 19, 2008
