The Dark Knight Trilogy

This past weekend I finally went to go see The Dark Knight Rises. I held off going to see it for such a long time because I was never that impressed with The Dark Knight. And if TDKR was going to be more of the same, well, there was really no rush to see it.

But I had some free time and I felt like a treat so I decided to go. And what a good decision that turned out to be.

I loved Batman Begins. I still do. I love the look of it. I love Christian Bale as Batman and Liam Neeson as Ducard/Ra’s Al Ghul. But mainly I love the story. Origin stories are always my favorite because we get to see the man (or woman) become something greater than themselves. To struggle and overcome. To become good. Not perfect certainly, but good nonetheless. And that is what we get in Batman Begins. Bruce Wayne stops being the spoiled angry boy he was and takes his desire for vengeance and turns it into a lifelong need for justice.

The Dark Knight does not really have that struggle in it. Too often it falls into a stereotypical superhero movie where the villain is introduced, causes chaos and mayhem and is eventually defeated by the hero. We already know Batman here. And while nobody can deny the excellence of Heath Ledger’s Joker, there is no real character growth. I’m not trying to say that The Dark Knight isn’t a good movie but I’ve never felt that it deserved the praise it received.

So after the mild disappointment of The Dark Knight, The Dark Knight Rises wasn’t high on my priorities. But I thought it was amazing, probably because it has more in common as a movie with Batman Begins than it does with The Dark Knight. The story here deals with the consequences of The Dark Knight but more so from Batman Begins. We get to see Batman become even stronger and push himself, physically and emotionally, more than he ever has before.

One thing that they finally get right in TDKR is the women. Katie Holmes was terrible, Maggie Gyllenhaal was alright, but Marion Cotillard is perfect. Even Anne Hathaway, who I usually don’t like more than I do, is great as Selina Kyle.

The only problem I had with the movie was the speaking. For the most part Christian Bale hit the happy medium of growling that was understandable, yet was appropriately indistinguishable as Bruce Wayne’s. Bane, however, played by the wonderful Tom Hardy, sounded a bit like a jolly English professor. That is, when I could understand him. Because most of the time I couldn’t and I’m afraid I missed a lot of the story because there were no subtitles to help me decipher his noises. He looked great though.

So those are just some thoughts about the movies. The end of TDKR was pretty exciting; it’s a shame Nolan has said that this will be the last movie. It would be especially cool to see where Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s character would go.

Eight Things I’ve Learned from Superhero Movies

I love watching superhero movies. I’m not a comic book reader and I don’t really have a preference between DC or Marvel (although I must say Marvel has done quite well for themselves recently). But I love how superhero movies are so epic and, when done well, really make you wish you could be a superhero yourself. But from the numerous movies that I’ve seen with superheroes, there are eight things I’ve picked up.

1) Don’t live in big cities. Oh sure, it may be a point of pride that you live in such a big cool place that everybody wants to destroy but is it really worth the skyrocketing insurance rates? And there is always the possibility you’ll end up as one of the hostages when some bad guy decides to push your resident superhero to his limit.

Sure it looks cool, but imagine trying to get to work through the mess of a city that’s left when these guys are done. And it’d probably be a Monday too.

2) Don’t make people angry. Really. Don’t. Because that guy you just cut off changing lanes? Well guess what. He’s a super scientist. And you cutting him off means he’s going to miss his job interview this morning which will tip him over the edge and turn you into his Enemy #1. And he will do everything in his power to make you pay.

All Bruce Wayne did was give Dr. Edward Nygma a polite “no” and Nygma just goes crazy! Next thing you know, Joker’s running wild through Gotham.

3) Science will be involved. Kinda. It won’t make much sense probably, even if you know science stuff. I don’t, but I think it’s funny that Captain America’s shield is made from Vibranium. Spiderman gets his superpowers from a spider bite that changes his DNA. And Tony Stark creates a new element by connecting some tubes and directing a laser. If I had known science could be this easy and fun with such awesome results maybe I would have tried to like it more in school!

Seriously, how does this work?

4) It’s best if you don’t have parents. Hate to be a downer here but if you’re looking into the superhero route, best to let your parents/beloved guardian(s) know beforehand. At least give them the chance to hide or break all ties with you. Or maybe they will be happy to know that their untimely death is what pushes you to save the world.

Sad Batman.

5) If you’re going to be bad, have fun with it. If superhero movies have taught me anything it’s that bad guys always lose. So if you have to be the bad guy enjoy it while it lasts. Make up a silly evil name like Dr. Doom or Red Skull (if you’re not very clever, using a name that simply describes a physical characteristic is totally appropriate). And please, let’s see a cool costume.

He might not have the coolest name but do you really want to make a leather wearing Nazi who has no skin on his face mad?

6) Your secret base/lair will never be as secret/impenetrable as you think. I don’t care what kind of fancy bells and whistles you put in or around your living premises, somebody’s going to find it. And they’re going to know exactly what it’s going to take to destroy it.

Sometimes the best way to hide something is put it in plain sight. Not that that stopped Stryker and Co. from breaking and entering.

7) Heels and tight clothes are apparently much more comfortable than I’ve been led to believe. If you’re a woman and you want to be a superhero you have to have a skintight costume. And heels. I don’t know why because skintight makes it hard to move and heels hurt your feet. But you make the fanboys happy!

She’s in heels. Running. And that suit doesn’t look very stretchy to me, but that must not be important when you’re kicking butt.

A strong contender for worst superhero costume ever.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

8) Be prepared. Superheroes never know what’s going to happen or when it’s going to happen. That’s why smart heroes are always at the ready. Whether it’s Clark Kent tearing off his shirt in phone booths (ohmygoodness how does he change now?) or Tony Stark and his numerous suits, a good hero plans for every circumstance.

Wearing spandex all the time must be awful on the skin. But Clark Kent’s a true superhero and he knows how to live the life.

 

So that’s what I’ve learned. I’d love to hear what other people have picked up!

Fantastical Places: Part 2

The last post was about New Zealand exclusively. This post will mention a few more places.

The Soca River in Slovenia provided a fairytale-like beauty for Prince Caspian.

Besides New Zealand, The Chronicles of Narnia also did some filming in Bovec, Slovenia. It was here that the bridge was built by Telmarines and subsequently destroyed by the Narnian forces.

Many of the London scenes were actually filmed in Prague and most of the forest scenes from The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe were filmed nearby in the Adrspach National Park.

Lucy Pevensie may have just entered Narnia, but Georgie Henley is most likely in the Czech Republic.

Another favorite place for fantasy/sci-fi locations is British Columbia. Not only do they have some great incentives for film makers, they also have really gorgeous surroundings!

All kinds of movies and TV shows have been filmed (or are being filmed) in the Vancouver and British Columbia area. The X-Men trilogy as well as the Origins: Wolverine movie were filmed in British Columbia. Rise of the Planet of the Apes was filmed nearby. Two of my favorite TV shows also call(ed) the area home: Dark Angel and Once Upon a Time.

Hatley Castle in British Columbia- also known as Professor X's School for the Gifted in the X-Men movies.

And finally, a little bit closer to my home, Atlanta! Atlanta has really been growing as a location for shooting movies and TV shows because we have begun offering some really great incentives as well. Zombieland filmed here a few years ago and the TV show The Walking Dead films here as well. An Atlanta company called Giant Studios was instrumental in the technology behind the motion capture system used for Gollum.

Bill Murray's house in Zombieland. It's also a private residence in the Atlanta area.

This is only a small sampling or films and locations, obviously. Chicago and New York both played host to Batman and Spiderman, respectively. Ireland and Malta were among some of the gorgeous locations used in the Game of Thrones series. And, according to Troll Hunter, Norway is overrun with trolls.

Location finders must have really amazing jobs!