The Dark Knight and the New Era of Superhero Film

Who knew? I mean, sure, we all knew The Dark Knight was going to do huge blockbuster business. But who knew that that many people would love the film that much. And not just your average comic book fan boy or your WoW nerd, but normal average people who normally think of comic book films as big loud, action films and nothing more.

Could it be because of Heath Ledger? Sure. He was a great and well respected actor. His death was very sudden and sad. On top of that, his performance in Dark Knight is one for the ages. Even people who don't like the film (and there are a few,) think he gives the performance of a lifetime in that film. I myself hope he gets nominated, mostly for the scene in the hospital with Aaron Eckhart.

Could it also be because the film is just that good? Absolutely. At the moment the film is now #3 on the IMDB's top 250 films of all time. The two films ahead of it are The Shawshank Redemption and The Godfather, respectively. A normal film aimed squarely at the the comic book crowd would not be this popular with every moviegoer.

Personally, I think one of the big reasons the film, like the comic book itself, works so well is that it touches upon many themes in our society today. Fear, death, terrorism, definition of one's self. Many of these themes you will find touches people's lives on a daily basis. That is why they are still around after all these years. Longtime readers see these themes that even though they are rooted in fantasy about superheros and villains, they reflect many of the themes in real life.

In Dark Knight, we see Bruce Wayne struggle with his identity. He doesn't want to be Batman anymore and he pins his hopes on the new Gotham D.A. Harvey Dent. If Dent succeeds, then Batman is no more. Wayne can retire for good. But through a series of events, with the Joker reeking havoc on Gotham City and with the injuries that happen to Dent late in the film, he realizes that he is going to be Batman for the rest of his life.

These are deep issues to deal with. Comic books deal with this every year. It is just now that the films have started to catch up. A talented filmmaker like Christopher Nolan is able to tap into these themes. It took someone like him and Sam Raimi (Spider-Man) and Jon Favreau (Iron Man) to dig deep and realize what comic books had to offer.

Don't get me wrong. Comic book films still have great action scenes. That is what you sell the films on. But with the Dark Knight and with the upcoming Watchmen, Filmmakers have now discovered what makes comic books and their characters tick. And moviegoers are better off for it.

Random Notes

Here is some random notes about movies and life in general from the last month or so....

• I'm betting that box-office wise, The Dark Knight will either beat Spider-Man 3's weekend box-office record or it will come really, really, close. I mean, when you are adding 3 am and 6 am screenings because the midnight screenings are selling out, you probably have a mega-hit on your hands.
• Heath Ledger is getting nominated for an Oscar at the end of the year, bet on it.
• M. Night Shamlaylan on the other hand, might win a Razzie award this year for worst director. Seriously, The Happening is that bad of a film. It might have made it's money back at the box office, but besides Stephen King, I don't know anyone who didn't hate that film.
• Speaking of flops, I knew Mike Myers's The Love Guru would tank. It just never had the buzz and the type of comedy that he does is just not people's cup of tea anymore. Plus with all the rumors of his on set flip outs over the years, I wouldn't be surprised if people were rooting for him to bomb. He'll comeback, but it'll be awhile.
• Other than The Dark Knight, the only other film we have to look forward to I think is Pineapple Express. Seth Rogen and Judd Apatow are on a roll and this film looks like it will continue that roll.
• Quentin Tarantino has just annouced that Inglorious Bastards is finally going to get made. I think it's about time. He's been working on that forever and from the way it sounds from those that read the script, it's going to be amazing. Quentin could sure use a hit after Grindhouse dissappointed big time.
• If the casting rumors are true, I go with Brad Pitt over Leo DiCaprio for the Captain America film. They both have the all american look, but Pitt has the acting chops, and Dicaprio is just a little too scrawny for the part.
• Don't look now, but Indiana Jones is about to pass Iron Man for the biggest moneymaking hit of the year. After the rough time, he had with Munich, you know Spielberg has to be grinning from ear to ear over this.

I'll put up a review of The Dark Knight next weekend sometime. Until then, Travel well and stay safe.

Summer films so far...

It's June, so now the first part of the summer movie season has ended. Overall, May was a very good month. We had two mega hits, (Indiana Jones and Iron Man.) A few solid hits, (Sex and the City and Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian,) and one huge bomb, (Speed Racer.) Some minor points that I have noticed so far with these films and some comments on what's to come.


1) Speed Racer bombing does not come as a huge surprise to me. The Wachowskis are good filmmakers but the material just wasn't there this time. Visuallly it was fun though. I think they had too much faith in the fact that they thought everyone liked Speed Racer that much to go see the film. I like the cartoon but not that much. Plus it doesn't help when the previous film from the last weekend (Iron Man) was just that good.

2) Speaking of which, I think one thing that can be said about Iron Man was that everyone including me was stunned that it was that good. I thought it was going to be a fun film, but now that Marvel Studios has control over their films now, it seems that the material is much better now. Marvel it seemed in the past has had problems with having to please the comic book fans and the corporate heads at the studios. Look at Daredevil, Elektra, and even Spider Man 3 and Blade Trinity. Those films just looked like they were made by a corporate machine. I'm sensing that good things are going to be coming from Marvel Studios in the near future.

3) Other than for the part with the monkeys, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull was very good. It wasn't perfect, but considering the expectations Spielberg had to deal with, it still worked very well.

4) Harrison Ford still rocks. Now he just needs to find a great dramatic role and he can continue on to a good acting career late in his life i.e. Clint Eastwood.

5) The Incredible Hulk is looking better by the week. When this was first announced, even with Ed Norton, I just wasn't to sure about it. It seemed a little desperate on the studios part to be making it, since the last film bombed with the fans really bad. But now this one is shaping up to be very fun at least.

6) The Happening is not looking good if you ask me. One thing I keep noticing in the commercials for it is how much they are over emphasizing the R-Rating. Like on the commercials and the poster, the R-Rating is in big bold letters. What worries me about that is that they are trying to sell us on the fact that "hey, our film sucks, but at least it's R-Rated, with R-Rated stuff!!" I just don't have a lot of faith in this one. What the heck is "happening" to M. Night Shyamalan?

Now let's see if the month of June can bring us any great surprises like lasy year's Knocked Up did......

Welcome!

All right, I caved in and decided to join the blog world. I am never going to post anything personal on here. This is simply to vent on all matters related to film, literature, music, or pop culture. If you have any other ideas, just let me know. Otherwise, enjoy the site.