Comic Book Movies Reach Another Level
July 20, 2008 by brian
Image details: World Premiere Of "The Dark Knight" Presented by Belstaff – Inside Arrivals served by picapp.com
No less of a critical luminary than Roger Ebert has noted there’s something special going on with the comic book movie. Beginning with Spider-Man 2 and culminating (at least so far) with Dark Knight, Hollywood is being turned upside down by this movement.
It’s not a coincidence that every book anyone’s ever heard of (Captain America, Flash) is at some level of production as well as a few books most folks haven’t heard of (Caliber, Afterburn). One thing that hasn’t changed: most of these movies will probably suck. But the bar for how good they can be has gone through the stratosphere.
There really isn’t a good excuse for the likes of Elektra anymore. Remember how far the Bat franchise had fallen? Even George Clooney thought he and Joel Schumacher had killed it. To be honest, they did put it on life support.
But those bad works have been forgotten, if not undone. I’m torn. I want a Bat sequel because the first two Nolan films have been incredible. But I don’t know how Nolan can top himself. There aren’t enough superlatives to heap on The Dark Knight. I was a little sad as I left the theater. I was sure before going in nothing this summer would top Dark Knight. I left the movie wondering if anything I see this year will top it.
You and me both Brian…Nolan & Bale have saved the bman franchise…They’ve made it a more gritty, visceral crime saga that makes the causes of what created bman more accepted to us. Then presents us this debate thru his story: how one man can change the dynamics of that struggle b/t good & evil by bring justice 2 the streets from outside the rule of law while @ the same time causing the level of violence & criminals to be raised/escalated. Nevermind the fact, that bman is still human & has no superpowers.
The Dark Knight is well worth the cost 2 watch in the theatre. It’s a bit long (2.5hrs), but otherwise a grade “A” film. Then again, I may be partial because I’ve always been a die-hard batman comic fan. Although, that’s what makes this film better because you don’t have to be a comic fan to enjoy this film–it truly stands on it’s own. Heath Ledger’s Joker is right-on. It’s a different take on the Joker than Nicholson’s. So, you can’t really compare the 2. That was the pit I kept falling into before I saw it last night.
Oh, and how many guest stars can you spot not given billing? We named 4, but I know there’s more.
–Godspeed–
That’s right The Joker killed Mike Tyson/ Spawn. he truly is the baddest man on the planet.
Is Michael Jai White going to come back as a Hellspawn in the sequel?
don’t forget he also put a beatdown on Holtz from “Angel”
It’s a good thing ‘Joker’ was ready to die & had those grenades cuz there’s no way he would have beat a guy who was formerly Tyson, then Spawn.
–Godspeed–