It is so refreshing to see the legend of Batman being given the respect it deserves because The Dark Knight has surpassed and transcended simply being called a ’superhero’ film. There’s a whole lot more on offer here than just plain ole super-heroics. What we have here is a stellar cast delivering real and poignant acting roles that make each and every unbelievable character - believable.
Heath Ledger pulls in a stunning performance - turning the Joker into a maniacal, psychopathic, anarchist - tinged with ‘Clockwork Orange’ inspired merciless, senseless brutality and schism. You simply cannot take your eyes of him as he possesses the screen and steals each and every scene he is in. There are some genuinely frightful moments accompanied by Hitchcock-like music soundscapes as the Joker proceeds to tell the story of his ’scars’ to his victims. This is evil incarnate. Pure evil. Ledger flinches and stutters as if a sadistic lost, insane soul has completely taken him over, spitting out his lines with venom, satirical, sarcastic jest. What a final curtain call for this talented young man. Take a bow Mr. Ledger.
The Joker appears in the film with a stunning opening bank robbery that is ingenious in its execution and methodology. There is no back-story for the Joker. There is no origin. The Joker exists as the other side of the Batman coin. Where the caped-crusader is a symbol of justice the Joker represents chaos in its purest form.
But there are always three sides to every story. Enter Harvey Dent. Gotham City’s ‘white knight’ District Attorney who finds himself in the middle of the Batman V Joker struggle. Comic book fans will know all about Harvey Dent and his role in the Batman universe, so I won’t spoil it here for others.
The Dark Knight is one of the most amazing movie-going experiences I have seen in a long, long time and already - I want to see this one again. The bar has been raised…
Empire Magazine has sunk it’s claws into the first image from the forthcoming Wolverine movie, and its a real ripper!
From the Empire website: So, it seems someone was busy with their scanner over the weekend and made a, rather dark, copy of the new image of Wolverine that is printed in the latest issue of Empire, which has since been circulating the interwebs. Below you can see the image as it’s supposed to be seen, with actual lighting and colours and stuff. Click the image for a larger version. Please note, despite some reports this is not a poster for the film.
Everytime we look at this photo we feel compelled to put down the cake and start lifting heavy stuff. Fortunately, we’ve found that it soon passes if you stay very still.
Continue reading ‘Empire’s Wolverine Exclusive’
I’ve got my tickets to this already, and frankly, I can’t wait! To whet everyone’s appetite some more, here’s a great read from the latest ish of Entertainment Weekly.
Heath Ledger isn’t here. It’s July 2007, in downtown Chicago, and the actor was originally scheduled to be shooting a scene in which he uses a pencil as a lethal weapon. But the sequence has been postponed, and Ledger has the day off. Instead, we’re watching the cameras roll on a somewhat less riveting moment in The Dark Knight: Billionaire Bruce Wayne, exhausted from his late-night crime-fighting escapades, slumps into a chair and falls asleep in the middle of a business meeting. That’s right, we’re watching Batman take a nap.
(more)
From the viral marketing campaign at Why So Serious comes what appears to be a new poster design for The Dark Knight. At this point we are not sure whether this is just for show or if it will actually be printed and used as a theatrical poster - but man, this looks freaking awesome!
Larger size after the jump…
Continue reading ‘New Dark Knight Poster’
Ok so I wasn’t too impressed with the first Incredible Hulk trailer that was released several weeks ago but now, there’s another one. And you know what? This one seems to really hit the mark.
Check it out.
Its been a pretty hit and miss affair for Marvel Studios when it comes to superhero movies. They scored big with the Spiderman and X-Men franchises but also delivered dross like Daredevil, The Hulk (who is undergoing a reboot with Ed Norton in the lead-role as we speak) and the godawful utter crap that was the two Fantastic Four movies.
So where does Iron Man slot in? Well, its definitely in the hit department I can assure you! I was lucky enough to score a couple of tickets to the Melbourne Premiere and was very much looking forward to seeing this flick. I’ve always had a soft spot for Robert Downey Jnr. and have followed with interest director John Favreau’s fanboy passion on creating this movie.
Alongside Downey Jnr comes a stellar cast featuring Terence Howard, Jeff Bridges and Gwyneth Paltrow but it is really Robert’s movie. Full of charm and wit and a downright rascally attitude that steals nearly every scene within and without the amazing Iron Man suit, this is a welcome return to form to one of Hollywood’s fallen stars and he nails the Tony Stark character perfectly.
It will be interesting to see if future Iron Man movies (trust me, there’s gonna be at least another couple more going on the strength of this one alone) will tackle Tony Stark’s vulnerability and ultimate demise into acute alcoholism and other personal difficulties.
But for now and as expected, this movie deals with Iron Man’s origin which has been updated to tie in with Bush’s ‘War On Terror’. (ahem!) It’s based in Afghanistan where Stark is critically injured and captured by terrorists. In the comic books Iron Man’s origins have been re-written several times. In the original 1963 story it was Vietnam. In the 90’s it was the Gulf War and now in the movie, Afghanistan.
There’s plenty of action and some wicked gadgets to get every geek, nerd and fanboy salivating at the bit. This is a true blockbuster in every sense of the word and a highly entertaining romp into superhero geekdom! I loved every single minute of it!
Oh, and word to the wise… don’t leave till the credits finish ok?
Continue reading ‘Iron Man’
Yahoo.com has posted several new posters on the forthcoming Dark Knight movie. Check ‘em all out after the jump…
Continue reading ‘The Dark Knight International Posters’
Another Dark Knight viral website has sprung forth. Could a new trailer be released soon? One would hope so! In the meantime, have a fiddle with the link above and you too might stumble upon the new Dark Knight poster in all it’s 300dpi/50MB high-res glory!
In the meantime…
Continue reading ‘A World Without Rules - The Dark Knight’
Heath Ledger was told to seek professional help for his personal problems while filming The Dark Knight, according to reports.
The late Australian actor - who tragically died from an accidental prescription drugs overdose in January - was reportedly warned he had become too obsessed with his portrayal of iconic Batman villain The Joker in the upcoming blockbuster.
A source told FOX News: “Heath refused to talk to anyone out of character.
If you tried to communicate with him normally instead of The Joker, he would just ignore you.
“He would often come to the set to hang out even on his days off, freaking everyone out. Towards the end of filming, he was warned by people that he had gone too far, but it was almost like he couldn’t connect with those who cared for him anymore.”
Ledger reportedly locked himself in an apartment for an entire month before playing The Joker, who he described as a “psychotic, mass-murdering clown”.
Ledger also admitted he had such trouble sleeping while shooting the film he resorted to taking the prescription drug Ambien.
Sources on the set of The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus’- the movie Ledger was filming when he died - also claimed the actor could not “snap out” of character and seemed to have “lost sense” of who he was.
I dunno. I think I’m getting old. Superhero movies just don’t do it to me like they once did. It wasn’t too long ago that the mere thought of my fave spandex-clad droog hitting the big-screen would have me literally counting down the days. Now, I just don’t really care that much.
There is a proliferation of superhero flicks about to hit hard though throughout 2008… Batman: The Dark Knight, Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk.
Batman should be great. The last one was! Iron Man looks real interesting… brilliant casting of Rob Downey Jnr. but what I have seen of Hulk so far has me feeling a little ho-hum! Sure, Ed Norton is in it… and that’s a plus, but I’m not feeling that positive about it all.
Anyways… here’s the poster. Now that does look real cool huh?
Continue reading ‘The Incredible Hulk Poster’
Rotten Tomatoes has a veritable feast of Hulk goodies - including the new trailer and a slab of photos. Basically this version re-starts the story of the Hulk five years after Ang Lee tried his hand at the mean, green superhero with Eric Bana in the lead. In director Louis Leterrier’s (The Transporter) new version, Ed Norton is Bruce Banner, the physicist whose exposure to gamma rays has burdened him with fantastic and terrible new powers.
Yeah. Ho hum. The first movie with Eric Bana suffered ‘cos the Hulk looked wayyyy too much like a CGI character… as far as the trailer goes, this one looks even worse. Just make the whole darn thing as an animation and be done with it…
Check it all out for yourself here…
