Tag Archives: Christian Bale
Wolverine, and other movies coming soon.
This past Friday I saw the movie that claims to start the summer, X-men Origins: Wolverine. For years the back story of Wolverine has been incredibly confusing. However this all changed a few years ago with a min-series entitled, “Origins”. This finally put the beginnings of one of the Marvel universes most celebrated characters. The movie holds close to this part of the story. However when it comes to other bits of Marvel history it is far less faithful. There will be a few “spoilers” but lets face it, no one who goes to see this movie was expecting The Usual Suspects.
Wolvie is treated fairly well, but the same cannot be said for his costars. So many different mutants are put on screen that it is sometimes hard to keep track of them. I think that the only reason I was able to track some of them was due to the years that I’ve spent reading comics. To summarize a few of my fanboy problems I’ll provide a small list. Someone who is not a comics fan would likely find no problem with any of these changes, and would merely enjoy all the fun explosions. However I wouldn’t be a true geek if I didn’t nit pick.
- What the hell did they do to Deadpool? He was the best part of the film’s first 20 minutes then they “kill” him offscreen. I’ve read some stuff online that points to possible spin-offs with his character, and I can only hope they come true.
- While Gambit’s character is introduced in the Big Easy he doesn’t sound like a Cajun. While it’s nice to not see an actor try to Costner their way through an accent I’m sure that they could have found someone to teach him. The accent was a huge part of the characters cool factor from the old cartoon, and was missed on screen.
- Emma Frost is NOT Silverfox’s sister. That was a silly plot point that added nothing to the story and was put in just to irk fanboys. Job well done.
- While I’m on Ms Frost, the diamond form was NOT her primary mutation. She was a telepath only eclipsed by Professor X, and Jean Grey, and a few others. It looked cool onscreen, so that one gets a bit of a pass.
- Liev Screiber is one of my favorite actor’s working today, and he did as much as he could with his role as Sabertooth, definitely more than Tyler Mane did in X-men. However there just wasn’t that much for him to work with. He kicks the hell out of Logan, then Wolvie gets cutlery for claws and is unstoppable? Yeah that didn’t make much sense to me either.
- He was called Logan by several characters, but they never explained why. It’s a small thing but an example of the lazy approach they took to the story.
- And most important of all, What the hell did they do with Deadpool.
As I said non comic fans will probably enjoy the generic summer actionness of the movie. Comic fans will find plenty of room to gripe, but its a slow comic summer so we’ll let that go.
7/10
Other movies coming up, and quick thoughts on them.
Star Trek: It’s gonna be great, we all can’t wait to enjoy the geekgasm that will erupt this Friday.
Angels and Demons: Dan Brown’s book is superior to the more lauded Da Vinci Code, my hope is that the movie will follow. Also Christians, and Catholics need to relax. Really all you’re doing is providing free advertisement.
Terminator Salvation: I’m not sure if the world was really crying out for another Terminator movie, but this one looks like it should deliver on the action front. Christian Bale hasn’t made many bad movies so I’ve got high hopes. It’ll probably be the only Terminator we get cause the TV show is on the chopping block.
Transformers 2: Should be good action. ‘Nuff said.
UP: It’s Pixar, it’s gonna be great.
Public Enemies: Johnny Depp stars as real life bank robber John Dillinger. It’s directed by Michael Mann, who I’m a huge fan of, so you know it’ll be good. If there was ever a better time to root for the guy who’s ripping off the banks I don’t know when.
Harry Potter 6: Will also be great, but really we’re just waiting for 7 at this point. All this one will be is filler.
Inglorious Basterds: Tarrintino’s look at WWII. It stars the man of both mine, and my wife’s list Brad Pitt. Should be fun and ultra violent
Julie & Julia: The bio-pic of famed chef, and professional alcoholic, Julia Child will be what my wife goes to while I’m reliving my childhood in G.I. Joe. Then I’m sure I’ll see it a few weeks later, cause lets face it I’m fan of both Meryl Streep and Amy Adams.
G.I. Joe: The one I’m most excited for after Star Trek, and also the one that no one is really talking about. I know it doesn’t come out till August, but I’m really looking forward to this one. Any chance to see Christopher “Doctor Who” Eccelston chew up the screen is a rare treat.
Did I miss anything?
Really?
The next Catwoman?
From the Batman III, aka The Caped Crusader, casting rumors department: According to Telegraph.co.uk, Angelina Jolie may not be Christopher Nolan’s first choice to play Catwoman in the next installment of the Batman franchise. His first choice is none other than Cher. What? Really? Was Bea Arthur not available? Somebody is obviously very, very high.
A studio executive said: “Cher is Nolan’s first choice to play Catwoman. He wants to her to portray her like a vamp in her twilight years.”
I have no idea how the 62 year old drag queen idol is on the short list for this part. Catwoman personifies sexuality and athleticism. Apparently Angelina Jolie falls short in these categories when compared to Cher. Obviously Nolan is living in 1972 when Cher had mass commercial appeal. And wasn’t 62 years old. Oh right, they’re going for a “twilight years” effect.
“The new Catwoman will be the absolute opposite of Michelle Pfeiffer and Halle Berry’s purring creations.”
Well, I guess if that’s what they’re going for, Cher certainly fits the bill. When I think of Michelle Pfeiffer’s opposite, I suppose that Cher would come to mind. Honestly though, I try really hard to not think of Michelle Pfeiffer’s opposite because cave trolls and midgets tend to fill my imagination.
Seriously though, can you imagine Christian Bale’s Bruce Wayne hooking up with Cher in a Catwoman outfit? Maybe in Bizarro World but this is Gotham, not Metropolis. Crap like that just doesn’t happen. Wouldn’t she be at high risk for breaking a hip or something? Imagine Catwoman jumping from rooftop to rooftop at 3.5 miles per hour in a Jazzy. Instead of a whip, she can use the tubes from her oxygen tanks.
I’m going on the record now and saying that this had better be a joke. Yes. This is all a cruel joke worthy of the Joker. Let’s pretend that these “talks” haven’t happened and that Kate Beckinsale will be donning the Catwoman outfit. That way we can all sleep at night.
The Dark Knight Reviewed
Ever since I saw the ending of Batman Begins where we are shown a playing card with a joker on it, I have been highly anticipating this sequel in the Batman franchise. I am a huge fan of the Batman comics and have always thought that the Joker was one of the best villains. Now we have a movie that pits the madness of the Joker against the madness of the Batman. What’s not to get excited about? (Yes, I know that Tim Burton did the Batman vs. Joker thing back in 1989. I was excited for it back then too.)
The Dark Knight is probably the best movie based on a comic book that I have ever seen. There was so much that was good about it that what was bad is inconsequential. Here are a few of my thoughts on the movie. Warning! Minor spoilers ahead!
- The thing that I love about Batman is that he’s just a regular guy. He doesn’t have any super powers; just a bunch of money and an affinity for technology. Plus, he’s an extremely adept detective. He’s not indestructible or infallible. He can be broken just like the next guy. He’s good at avoiding such occurrences though. I like that. He’s also got to have some serious mental illnesses to do what he does. That adds to his mystique in my mind. He’s not perfect, he’s just trying to do a job.
- I’m not a Heath Ledger fan. I have to say though that he did an amazing job as the Joker. When I first saw him in an early trailer, his performance scared the crap out of me. It’s mentioned in the movie that some people just want to see the world burn. Ledger’s Joker was one of those people. He was extremely disturbing yet very fascinating at the same time. This is how I want my Joker in the comics. This Joker made the Joker from The Killing Joke look like an pansy. I loved it!
- Aaron Eckhardt was amazing as Harvey Dent. I’m not familiar with any of his previous roles but he sure nailed this one. I thought that he was great as the crusading DA trying to clean up Gotham. I also thought it was completely tragic how the most evil man in Gotham turned one of the best men in Gotham into the evil Two-Face.
- Speaking of Two-Face, he looked awesome; just exactly as I would expect him to look if I met him on the street. He looked much more realistic than Tommy Lee Jones did in Batman Forever. This is the best Two-Face to ever be captured on film.
- I love Christian Bale as Batman. He is actually one of the few men to wear the suit that can fill it out. He is also a convincing Bruce Wayne. In past Batman movies, I have either liked the lead actor as one character or the other but never as both. Bale does a great job as both Batman and Bruce Wayne.
- Gary Oldman as Jim Gordon was brilliant casting in Batman Begins and it was brilliant casting in The Dark Knight. He is good in every role I’ve ever seen him in. I can’t wait to see how they treat his character in the inevitable third installment.
- What’s with casting Maggie Gyllenhaal as Rachel Dawes? Is it just me or does she look like Droopy? I guess she’s better than stroke victim lookalike Katie Holmes from Batman Begins but I would have cast a different actress. However, I was pleased to see what they did with the character.
Well, there are a few of my thoughts. My wife, didn’t like it as much as I did because it was a very dark, very disturbing movie. I felt that it was a great portrayal of Gotham’s denizens and would like to see the comics follow this direction for a few years. In fact, I have no doubt that they will.
This is an all-around great movie that you should go see. Even if you don’t like “comic book movies” you should go see this. Well, what are you doing? Go see it!
