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akaihyoI realized that the last three movies I have seen in theatres have been sequels . . .
The Dark Knight, superior to Batman Begins which was a solid movie. Considering it clocks in at two and a half hours, the pacing is amazing and it does not feel that long. Bale is still a solid Bruce Wayne and a decent Batman (though his "Batman growl" is terrible, distracting and less than intimidating in my opinion as it is so hard to understand). Ledger does do an amazing Joker, not the Joker I would have written, but fascinating all the same. Crazy and vicious and dangerous. The plot keeps looping back on itself, weaving several plot lines into a single epic one, which is quite a neat trick (and what I think Noland tried, unsuccessfully, to do with Batman Begins in retrospect). Not convinced with Nolan take on heroism and the symbolism of a hero, but better to have flawed philosophical debate than no philosophical debate. The special effects are good, the city feels real, and the soundtrack works (though Danny Elfman would have done it better). My Grade: B+/A-
The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, sadly the weakest of the three Mummy movies. While Jet Li is great, he hardly gets to act at all once he returns to life in the modern era. Frasier and John Hannah are still great, thought the writing does not give them enough to do. Maria Bello is pretty but has no flair as Evelyn and almost no chemistry with Frasier. Luke Ford plays Alex O'Connell as a young Brendan Fraiser would, except that he lacks both the talent and charm. The Chinese side of the cast are all excellent however. But with the film clocking in at only 112 minutes, none of the actors really get a chance to shine. The special effects are good and the army of undead against the terra cotta warriors was pretty darned cool. My Grade: C-/C
The Dark Knight, superior to Batman Begins which was a solid movie. Considering it clocks in at two and a half hours, the pacing is amazing and it does not feel that long. Bale is still a solid Bruce Wayne and a decent Batman (though his "Batman growl" is terrible, distracting and less than intimidating in my opinion as it is so hard to understand). Ledger does do an amazing Joker, not the Joker I would have written, but fascinating all the same. Crazy and vicious and dangerous. The plot keeps looping back on itself, weaving several plot lines into a single epic one, which is quite a neat trick (and what I think Noland tried, unsuccessfully, to do with Batman Begins in retrospect). Not convinced with Nolan take on heroism and the symbolism of a hero, but better to have flawed philosophical debate than no philosophical debate. The special effects are good, the city feels real, and the soundtrack works (though Danny Elfman would have done it better). My Grade: B+/A-
The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, sadly the weakest of the three Mummy movies. While Jet Li is great, he hardly gets to act at all once he returns to life in the modern era. Frasier and John Hannah are still great, thought the writing does not give them enough to do. Maria Bello is pretty but has no flair as Evelyn and almost no chemistry with Frasier. Luke Ford plays Alex O'Connell as a young Brendan Fraiser would, except that he lacks both the talent and charm. The Chinese side of the cast are all excellent however. But with the film clocking in at only 112 minutes, none of the actors really get a chance to shine. The special effects are good and the army of undead against the terra cotta warriors was pretty darned cool. My Grade: C-/C