Archives for the Month of July 2008 on media addict
The Dark Knight
The Dark Knight is a blast. Great acting, amazing effects, and a much better plot make this a big improvement over Batman Begins. While not perfect, it comes about as close as a comic book movie can.
Much like its predecessor, The Dark Knight is a rather talky movie. For the most part however, this is not a hindrance to the film's pace. Batman Begins takes a fairly philosophic stance at times and some of the soliloquies can be overwrought. The Dark Knight does a much better job of reigning in the dialog and when the characters, especially The Joker, do start filibustering it is more often fascinating than boring.
Speaking of The Joker, he is easily one of the best characters in movie history. Creepy, funny, and sinister, you can't take your eyes off him whenever he's on the screen. Heath Ledger's performance is perfect and combined with excellent writing makes for a fantastic experience. The rest of the cast holds their own as well in spite of having to work in Ledger's shadow.
If I have one criticism of The Dark Knight it is that it could have been tightened up a little bit. At around 2 hours & 30 minutes the plot is very broad and seems to go on and on at times. I think things could have been simplified a little bit, or perhaps some of the minutiae removed to allow for a bit more depth. This is a minor criticism, but I felt that the movie lost steam toward the end. In The Dark Knight's defense however, the first two-thirds are so strong that it really has nowhere to go but down.
Overall I thoroughly enjoyed The Dark Knight. I am a big Christoper Nolan fan and his extensive use of in-camera effects and excellent cinematography create fantastic atmosphere. Easily one of the top three comic book movies I have seen. Can't wait to see it again. 4.5/5
Hellboy II: The Golden Army
I liked the first Hellboy for its mix of interesting characters, solid action and occasional humor. Hellboy II: The Golden Army isn't quite as good as the first film, but it is decent nonetheless.
I have two primary criticisms of Hellboy II: the weak villain and the simplification of the characters. The first Hellboy relied on character interplay and some interesting situations to create a bond between the characters. Its story was cheesy; but at the same time it had fun with itself and contained an interesting message. Hellboy II on the other hand just lays out the plot points and fills in the gaps with jokey moments that don't fit as well as the humor of the first film. The weak villain doesn't help matters and the resulting absence of peril eliminates much of the suspense of the original film.
Hellboy II isn't as good as Guillermo Del Toro's other work such as Pan's Labyrinth, but it is entertaining in spite of its weaknesses. 3.5/5