The Dark Knight (2008)

The Dark Knight

Continuing the trend of comic book films, The Dark Knight, second in the new incarnation of Batman films, is far superior to Batman Begins. No origin stories, no screwing up the mythos, no weak portrayals of classic villains (I am referring to Ra's Al Ghul here, not Scarecrow. Scarecrow was awesome.). This film was grand I must admit. I went in skeptical and especially not wanting to like Heath Ledger as the Joker. But alas, Ledger was a fantastic Joker, much more Arkham Asylum and The Dark Knight Returns than previous incarnations. Caesar Romero was perfect for his time. Jack Nicholson was perfect for his time. Ledger is perfect for the comic fans who came of age in the late 80's and early 90's. Great movie. See it. See it again. This is what a Batman movie should be like. I will spoil nothing for you on this one, 2 and 1/2 hours well spent.

Comic Book Films where the sequel was better than the original:

The Dark Knight
X2
Spider-Man 2
Superman II

The Signal (2007)

The Signal

The Good:
Though the concept wasn't completely original, (take Night of the Living Dead and/or Invasion of the Body Snatchers and mix it with TV's Threshold) the idea was well executed.
You couldn't help but laugh at a lot of the middle of the movie. It was like it switched seemlessly from horror to dark comedy. Seriously, I chuckled to myself, I smiled a good bit and laughed aloud a couple of times.
The direction was very cool and the changes in perspective were a very nice addition.
The "exposition" was well-done.
I loved the character of Clark.

The Bad:
You question some of the decision made in the film, but I think perhaps you are meant to do so.
Some people were just juggernauts in relation to pain and injury.

Overall: I went into this movie not expecting to enjoy it, but honestly, I thought it was pretty great. Especially good when you consider it was a low budget horror. I am going to call this one a must-see for fans of the genre.

Batman: Gotham Knight (2008)

Do you like dark anime? Do you like Batman? Then this DVD is for you! It is a very slick take on Batman from multiple perspective and using a number of different anime styles. I was impressed with the range of emotion and depth in this DVD, which is actually a number of shorts. Some of the shorts deal with Batman directly and some of them do not, in those he is a catalyst character around which the events center. It has that nice gritty mood that most Dark Knight fans crave and if you don't care for one of the shorts, just wait a few minutes and another is on the way. This is a great watch for a nice afternoon DVD (or any time for that matter), plus it gets you a fix to hold you over until the new film comes out. Look for this video release on July 8th.

Directors:

Yasuhiro Aoki		(segment "In Darkness Dwells")
Futoshi Higashide		(segment "Crossfire")
Toshiyuki Kubooka		(segment "Working Through Pain")
Hiroshi Morioka		(segment "Field Test")
Shoujirou Nishimi		(segment "Have I Got a Story For You")

Screenwriters:

(in alphabetical order)
Brian Azzarello		screenplay (segment "Working Through Pain")
Alan Burnett		screenplay (segment "Deadshot")
Jordan Goldberg		story and screenplay (segment "Field Test")
David S. Goyer		screenplay (segment "In Darkness Dwells")
Josh Olson		screenplay (segment "Have I Got a Story For You")
Greg Rucka		screenplay (segment "Crossfire")

The Incredible Hulk (2008)

The Incredible Hulk

The Good:
So many nods to fans of the comic and the tv series it'll make your head spin!
The film really picked up on the feel of the television series and added many comic elements to it.
Norton was a great Banner.
Hurt was a decent General Thunderbolt Ross.
It was cool to see a gamma-irradiated brawl played out.
Tim Roth was pretty good as Blonsky.
The special effects were good... but...

The Bad:
The Hulk still looked CG to me.
I didn't like the propotions of the Hulk.
The continuity of at least one scene (early chase scene) was AWFUL, I mean Ed Wood style awful. Night then day then night... ugh.
The film seemed somewhat anti-climatic.
Liv Tyler.

Overall: This is no Iron Man by any stretch. Is it better than Hulk from 2003? Well, yes and no. The movie was a more traditional tribute to the character's history, but the editing wasn't nearly as good. In 2003 you had the wonderful Jennifer Connelly, in 2008 you get sub-par Liv Tyler. The storylines in both leave something to be desired. Both Hurt and Elliot were good General Ross-es. Norton was better than Bana (though I didn't hate Bana). I think it all comes down to in 2003 you had a terrible version of Absorbing Man and in 2008 you get the Abomination - 2008 is a better film just because of that. I liked it, but I would rent it.