the BIG Picture; "BATMAN; the Dark Knight"

Director; Christopher Nolan

Writers; Christopher Nolan

Jonathan Nolan

David Goyer

Rated; PG-13

Running Time; 152 minutes

HOLY DISAPPOINTMENTS BATMAN!

That's my first impression after seeing the much hyped, and heavily anticipated follow up to director Christopher Nolan's "Batman Begins" (2005), I am of course referring to the recently released "Batman; the Dark Knight".

After waiting a week for it and the crowds to cool down a bit from it's history making opening weekend me and a friend decided to brave the everyday dangers of city life and go see what all the talk was about.

I went and saw "Batman Begins" when it was released in 2005, and was very impressed with it and consider it and Tim Burton's "Batman Returns"(1992) the best film versions of the caped crusader to date and I must add "Dark Knight" with them as well....but with some reservation.

The film is technically stunning with it's creative yet realistic camera angles and carefully thought out action sequences and downright attractive cinematography- all can add up to an enjoyable evening at the cinema-but the main problem I had with the film was it's length; at a butt numbing 2 hours and 45 minute running time I could actually feel myself getting older as I watched this film-to put it plainly...it's just TOO DAMN LONG!

The cast and performances are top notch as they were in the preceding film, everybody reprising their roles with the notable exception of the beautiful Ms. Katie Holmes(Mrs. Tom Cruise) in the role of Bruce Wayne's (Christian Bale) love interest Rachel Dawes, the character is now played by actress Maggie Gyllenhall. Gary Oldman(Capt. Gordon), Michael Caine(Alfred Pennyworth), and Morgan Freeman(Lucius Fox) all return for another romp in Gotham, even Cillian Murphy( Scarecrow) from "Batman Begins" makes a brief cameo in the first ten minutes of the film. But it's the performances of the two villains profiled and the talented actors that played them that makes my highlight reel and the film ,despite it's near telethon length ,worth the watch.

Aaron Eckhart("Thank You for Smoking"/"Erin Brockovitch") turns in an impressive performance as Gotham's newly appointed DA Harvey Dent determined to clean up Gotham by putting the local crime lords out of business...for good! His fate is a tragic one though with his violent and disturbing transformation into "Two Face", a feat greatly accomplished on film with the help of some amazing FX work.

The other actor you have no doubt heard of, especially after his tragic unexpected passing earlier this year after an accidental drug overdose. Heath Ledger("Brokeback Mountain"/"A Knight's Tale") hands in a stunning performance as the maniacal, anarchy driven "Joker", one of the most complex and multi layered antagonists ever put on paper or on screen. Ledger's performance is noteworthy in his translation of the character itself, portraying Joker as some kind of seemingly harmless mental/emotionally crippled creep who just isn't taken seriously until he acts out his intentions...violently and effectively.

He has no ulterior motive no secret agenda he just simply wants to destroy Gotham and everyone in it and if the world is included in that equation...all the better.

As stated before the film is quite long but the true crime of it was it PLAYED long, now in my opinion if your film is going to be lengthy it should have a good flow to it, make the viewer experience it but without actually realizing the fact that they have spent over two hours of their lives in front of a large screen, some fine examples of this would be David Lean's "Lawrence of Arabia"(1962), and James Cameron's "the Abyss"(1989). This film played out more like Ang Lee's "HULK"(2004), both attractive films, fine performances but slow pacing which is not good for a film, especially one based on a comics franchise.

The story although slow to start was pretty good once all the pieces of the puzzle were in place but their were, at times near the middle of the film, that were a bit confusing-even to me.

I consider myself a "BATFAN" albeit a bit more subdued, and I didn't hate this film, I just didn't like it as much as "Batman Begins", and in the end doesn't deserve the much overblown hype and reviews that it has received. I am almost reluctant to say this but the massive success of this film thus far can be traced not to performances, no matter how great, not to storytelling/direction, no matter how effective-but to the shocking demise of a young promising talent that was Heath Ledger (1979-2008).

Goin to the Movies; "Hellboy 2: the Golden Army"

Just returned from the local overpriced movie house to see the latest from director extraordinaire; Guillermo Del Toro(Blade 2, Pan's Labyrinth, Chronos) I am of course referring to the sequel to his 2004 surprise hit "Hellboy", a big budget cinematic adaptation to creator/artist Mike Mignola's hit comic series of the same name.

This follow up picture is more about the BPRD(Bureau of Paranormal Research & Defense), the secret government organization that employs Hellboy to do battle with all sorts of supernatural nasties that may spell doom for us humanfolk here on Earth. The story begins much like the first film, with a flashback of sorts, with a much younger Professor Broome(John Hurt) telling a "fairy" tale to a young Hellboy, a tale which turns out as most fantastic scenarios do in this genre as true. The main tale as it were concerns a rebellion waged against the blight that has become mankind by the creatures of the mythical realm led by a renegade Prince(Luke Goss) who has access to an ancient and devastating army of destroyer machines(the Golden Army), he only lacks the control mechanism to activate the slumbering juggernaut-once awakened the army will lay waste to the entire Human Race and return the Earth back to the creatures of the fantastic.

Hellboy with the help of the BPRD must stop Prince Nuada before he completes his mission.

All of the pricipal cast has returned including the main man, uh demon Hellboy ( Ron Perlman), his aquatic sidekick Abe Sapien(Doug Jones) ,Hellboy's main squeeze, firestarter Liz Sherman(Selma Blair), and bureau chief Tom Manning(Jeffrey Tambor), we find out early in the film that agent John Myers(Rupert Evans) from the first film has been inexplicably reassigned to a post in Antarctica.

Unlike the first film which was basically a set up picture re-telling Hellboy's origin, this picture is a different adventure all it's own, specially written for the screen by creator Mike Mignola and director Del Toro this film is much more action packed and is presented in a much bigger scale than the first film involving mutiple plot lines, side stories and a colorful multitude of unforgettable, at least visually, characters I haven't seen since the famous cantina scene in Star Wars .

The movie is visually beautiful, Del Toro and his artisans have once again made a film for artists by artists set in a fairy tale setting much like his award winning "Pan's Labyrinth",a picture I highly reccommend!

Compared to the first film this one has much more action involved especially in fight sequences, and despite a couple of slow scenes the film is fluid in it's action- the big surprise for me is that this film is as much about Hellboy's buddy Abe Sapien(Doug Jones) as it is about Hellboy himself, in fact he's involved with a little romance with a princess in the story. One of the more interesting characters in the film is the introduction of Dr. Johann Krauss(Seth McFarlane), brought in by BPRD chief Manning to help control Hellboy's fiery nature.Krauss was once a coporeal human until an unforseen tragedy reduced him to a living vaporous entity confined to an atmospheric suit.

One of the most humorous and unforgettable sequences in the film is when the good Doctor picks a fight with Hellboy to prove a point.

The film is filled with extraordinary creatures ,settings, and scenarios and if you liked the first film you'll like this follow up. Guillermo Del Toro is an artist himself and it shows on screen and I highly reccomend checking his films out, he has just signed up to direct the big budget adaptation of J.R.R.Tolkien's "the Hobbit" for producer Peter Jackson and his company, and he is a big fan of Hellboy and his creator Mike Mignola and has stated that he would love to do another chapter in this story.

So if you want to go see what a comic book film adaptation "should" look like check out "Hellboy; and the Golden Army"...enjoy the show.