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Batman
Begins
Revenge of The Sith
Cert: 12A
Starring: Christian
Bale, Michael Caine, Cillian Murphy, Katie
Holmes, Liam Neeson, Morgan Freeman, Gary Oldman
Director: Christopher
Nolan
Running Time: 140
minutes
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Finally,
it’s here. It’s been 16 long years since we were last
treated to a decent Batman flick (the last few offerings were barely
worthy of a mention), and during this time, pretty much every single
mainstream comic book hero has experienced a Hollywood-style makeover.
But now it’s the original Dark Knight who’s back in
the limelight, and boy, has it been worth the wait…
After discovering that Memento Christopher ‘Memento’ Nolan
had been selected to direct, my initial expectations were high,
although nothing could have quite prepared me for what was in store
here. He succeeds admirably in replicating the dark, gritty and
morbidly mean Gotham City that seems to have been absent altogether
in the last few films, perfectly setting up an atmosphere for the
Dark Knight to sinisterly stalk through. Casual movie-goers, beware:
this is one seriously dark film.
The film opens on the rain-soaked streets of Gotham, where a young
Bruce Wayne witnesses the brutal slaying of his parents at the
hands of a deranged criminal. Torn apart by grief, he turns his
back on his family’s business and fortune and heads off to
Tibet, where he falls in with the League Of Shadows, a mysterious
group of vigilante ninjas, headed by Ducard (Liam Neeson) And Ra’s
al Ghul (Ken Watanabe).
After suitably developing his combat skills, Batman heads back
to the corrupt Gotham City, which is firmly under the control of
crime lord Carmine Falcon (Tom Wilkinson). Falcon’s twisted
head henchman, the sinister Scarecrow, likes to squirt out a gas
on unsuspecting victims, resulting in them experiencing a complete
mental breakdown. Nice.
Batman’s aide in restoring Gotham City to its former status
is commissioner Gordon (Gary Oldman) and old pal Rachel (Katie
Holmes), not to mention the usual array of hi-tech gadgetry. His
new Batmobile, as impressive as ever, is supplied by Lucius Fox
(the ever-cool Morgan Freeman).
However, it’s the new Batman himself, Christian bale, who
steals the show, oozing a sense of dark and menacing coolness,
dishing out his own brand of justice to the ne’er-do-wells
of Gotham City. His butler, Alfred (played brilliantly by Michael
Caine) also lights up the screen whenever he’s present, letting
rip with a number of classic one-liners.
Overall, it’s quite simply astonishing; not only is it the
darkest adaptation of a comic book yet, it’s also the most
faithful to its original source material. Based loosely on Frank
(Sin City creator) Miller’s Batman: Year One mini-series,
this adaptation will keep even the most die-hard of Batman comic
book fans happy. It’s brilliantly shot, expertly written,
and astonishingly well acted – go grab a piece of the Batman
now! |
13
Conversations About One Thing
Cert: PG
Starring: Matthew
McConaughey, Alan Arkin, Clea Duvall, Amy Irving,
John Turturro
Director: Adam
Shankman
Running Time: 95
minutes
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After a
string of ultra-violent, fast-paced (and generally brain-dead)
action flicks, Vin Diesel has decided to flex his acting muscles
(emphasis on the muscles) within another genre entirely – comedy.
However, after sitting through this lump of a film, it’s
difficult to see why he even bothered.
To set the scene of the action man turned babysitter (of a family
of kids whose scientist father has been assassinated), the film
opens with some of Diesel’s meat-headed antics as a Navy
SEAL, surrounded by crashing powerboats and a rather extensive
array of heavy artillery.
Unfortunately for Diesel, however, this is where his grasp on
the movie’s context starts and finishes. As the film progresses,
it becomes embarrassingly obvious that he lacks the subtle sense
of self-awareness required to spoof his own machismo. Which,
for the record, Arnie did so delightfully in Kindergarten Cop.
A frightfully feeble script dictates that the alleged threat
to the children only becomes apparent towards the movie’s
end, by which point you’ll have quite honestly gone beyond
caring. And to add insult to injury, the much-hyped action sequences
are just plain dull.
Avoid. |
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