Ultimate 2000s Blogathon: The Dark Knight (2008) by MovieRob

Movie review monster MovieRob joins the Ultimate 2000s Blogathon. He reviews the film responsible for the Academy Awards increasing their best picture category from 5 entries to 10: The Dark Knight. Go check it out now!

Tranquil Dreams

Next up is one of the most avid and frequent movie reviews in our blogging community, MovieRob. If you haven’t been to his blog, he just reached his 5000th review milestone. His reviews are straight and to the point, features a cool quote, some trivia. Its a blast to join in and see everything he watches and reviews. If you haven’t been there before, you should definitely head there and check it out.  This time he takes us to a great film in the 2000s, no doubt a lot of people’s favorite, The Dark Knight, the second film in Christopher Nolan’s Batman Trilogy. Do I really need to introduce it more?

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“I just did what I do best. I took your little plan and I turned it on itself. Look what I did to this city with a few drums of gas and a couple of bullets. Hmmm?…

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My Fave Five Movie Cars

Have you ever watched a film, seen a car, and think “I wish I could drive that?” I can’t count the number of times that thought has crossed my mind over the years. There are so many cool vehicles in cinema that picking some of my favorites is a difficult undertaking. However, I was inspired by Turo to at least try. Turo is a car rental company that allows you to either rent a car or allow others to rent your car. Think Airbnb but for your car instead of your home. Going on a trip? Check Turo for a car to use, maybe even something like the fan-favorite Aviato. Find your car just sitting around? List your car on Turo and make some money on the side. If you are interested in finding a car to rent, check out Turo’s rentals page to find cars in your area. Now, if I could, here are my fave five movie cars I would like to drive.

5) Pussy Wagon – Kill Bill Vol. 1 & Vol. 2

The Kill Bill duology is full of memorable moments and characters. One such character is Sidewinder’s truck, the Pussy Mobile.  It stands out from most vehicles on the road because of its bright yellow body with red flames, not to mention “Pussy Wagon” in a groovy 1960’s font across the back.  I would mostly want to drive it around to see people turn and look as I drive by with a derogatory word plastered on it.  I mean really, who in their right mind would put “wagon” on their truck? What is this, National Lampoon’s Vacation?

4) Mach 5 – Speed Racer

How fast do I want to get from point A to point B? Really fast.  That’s where the Mach 5 comes in. Built for speed, I could get anywhere I needed to go in record time. Plus, it has all sorts of gadgets built into it that I could navigate almost any type of terrain, with its cutter blades or tire crampon gripes, or handle any trouble that comes my way with the jump jacks or tire shields and bullet-proof polymer deflector. Yes, the Mach 5 can handle just about anything, except for pesky little brothers and monkeys stowing away in the trunk.

3) Ecto-1 – Ghostbusters 1 & 2

If there’s something strange in your neighborhood, who you gonna call? DREW! Wait… I mean… GHOSTBUSTERS! Traveling through town in the Ecto-1 with the sirens blaring would be the dream. Hopefully with the Ecto-1 comes Peter, Egon, Ray, and Winston. Imagine, going around and catching apparitions with the OG Ghostbusters. Now that would be the dream.

2) DeLorean DMC-12 – Back to the Future trilogy

I think you already know the reason why I would love to drive a Delorean that runs on uranium and is fitted with a flux compositor.  There are a thousand things I would do if I had a time machine.  Of course, it wouldn’t be as fun without Doc Brown and Marty joining in on the adventures.  Although, some of my uses for the time machine are for personal gain, so maybe it’s not the best idea to have the Doc along. At least most of the time anyway.

1) Batmobile – The Dark Knight trilogy

Cruising down the road in the Tumbler, nothing would get in my way. Sure, there are traffic laws, but do I really need to obey them when I am essentially driving a tank? Plus, the recreational off-roading capabilities are endless. Then when I don’t feel like taking up the entire road or want to feel the breeze in my hair, I could always take the Batpod for a spin. The Batmobile is the ultimate cinematic vehicle.

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I would like to thank Turo for reaching out to me for this project. Again, if you want to find a rental car in your area, visit their rentals page to see what is available near you.

What are some of your favorite vehicles from cinema you would like to drive?

Until next time, cheers!

Movie Quote of the Week – 4/15/16

Answer to MWL 4/13/16: Alfred (Michael Caine) – The Dark Knight

Bruce Wayne: Targeting me won’t get them their money. I knew the Mob wouldn’t go down without a fight but this is different. They’ve crossed a line.
Alfred: You crossed the line first, sir. You squeezed them, you hammered them to the point of desperation. And in their desperation, they turned to a man they didn’t fully understand.
Bruce: Criminals aren’t complicated, Alfred. We just need to figure out what he’s after.
Alfred: With respect, Master Wayne, perhaps this is a man you don’t fully understand either. A long time ago, I was in Burma and my friends and I were working for the local government. They were trying to buy the loyalty of tribal leaders by bribing them with precious stones but their caravans were being raided in a forest north of Rangoon by a bandit. So we went looking for the stones. But in six months, we never met anyone who traded with him. One day, I saw a child playing with a ruby the size of a tangerine. The bandit had been throwing them away.
Bruce: So why steal them?
Alfred: Well, because he thought it was good sport. Because some men aren’t looking for anything logical, like money. They can’t be bought, bullied, reasoned or negotiated with. Some men just want to watch the world burn.

Thanks for everyone’s submissions and a ruby the size of a tangerine to the following people for answering correctly:

Marta (Ramblings of a Cinefile)
P6 (Prime Six Blogs)
Cindy (Cindy Bruchman)
Jabrody (Jabrody’s Movielog)

Movie Quote of the Week – 8/29/14

Answer to 8/27/14 MWL: The Joker – The Dark Knight

Chenchen: “What do you propose?”
Joker: “It’s simple. We, uh, kill the Batman.”
Maroni: “If it’s so simple, why haven’t you done it already?”
Joker: “If you’re good at something, never do it for free.”

The Dark Knight Rises Review

Synopsis
After taking the fall for the death of Harvey Dent eight years ago, Batman disappeared and Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) went into seclusion inside Wayne manner. But when Bane (Tom Hardy) takes Gotham City hostage, Batman will need to appear again to save the city. But this time, he has the help of the skilled cat burglar Selina Kyle (Ann Hathaway) and police officer John Black (Joseph Gordon-Levitt).

Review
Christopher Nolan crafted some character defining stories in Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, and looks to do the same with The Dark Knight Rises. It’s almost impossible to do better than The Dark Knight, but The Dark Knight Rises is able to continue the momentum of awesomeness that began in Batman Begins and offers a satisfying conclusion to Nolan’s Batman epic.

This film is influenced by the 90s story arc “Knightfall,” which introduced Bane. Bane is a villain who able to match Batman both physically and mentally. The version of Bane in this movie was very faithful to his comic counterpart. Not only does he develop the plan to take over Gotham City, but he also takes Batman head on (and wins!). The only thing missing is Bane’s signature Venom serum to give him his super strength. Instead, this was replaced with the mask you see in the film.

The purpose of Bane’s mask isn’t explained real clearly. His mask was described to help ease pain he continually feels from a previous injury. But when it gets damage, Bane’s punches take huge chunks out of a stone pillar. So it appears his mask seemingly holds his strength back. I think they should have done something more along the lines of the Venom serum that augments his strength, maybe as something he inhales through the mask.

Another character they took an interesting interpretation of was Catwoman. She was never once called ‘Catwoman.’ The closest thing to Catwoman was ‘Cat Burglar.’ And she wasn’t dressed like a cat. Instead, her super cool burglar glasses create cat ears in her silhouette when they were not in use. I liked it because it was like “Hey, it’s Catwoman!” but they never said, “Hey, it’s Catwoman!”

The League of Shadows played an integral role in Batman Begins, and they play a strong role in this film, bring the trilogy full circle. It’s pretty cool that they were able to bring back such an important group from Batman’s beginning for his finale. And and the center of the League is Ra’s al Ghul. In the comics, for those unfamiliar with the character, al Ghul is immortal. Now immortality in the traditional sense does not fit into the more realistic settings of The Dark Knight trilogy, but there are other ways to live forever, which this film plays with. It is a nice nod to the source material, while still staying within the trilogy’s continuity and realism.

As I have pointed out in my reviews for the previous films in the trilogy, Hans Zimmer’s score is one of my favorite parts of the movie, and it has only improved in each film. A lot of the music is recycled from Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, but there is new music for Bane’s Theme and a few others. Once again, the music is well balanced with the dialog. There are moments that the score is silent, making these moments even more emotional. Not everything moment needs a strong score behind it; sometimes the lack of sound is just as powerful.

The Dark Knight Rises offers a satisfying conclusions to Nolan’s Batman epic. Finally, Bane has a big screen appearance that properly portrays his genius and strength in the comics onto the silver screen. The Dark Knight trilogy finishes just as strong as it began.

Rating
4.5/5

For the rest of The Dark Knight trilogy, check out my reviews for Batman Begins and The Dark Knight.

The Dark Knight Review

Synopsis
One year after Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) started fighting Gotham City’s criminal underworld as Batman, a new menace has surfaced. The Joker (Heath Ledger) is bent on spreading chaos throughout the city. Working with Lieutenant Jim Gordon (Gary Oldman) and the new district attorney, Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart), Batman must bring down the Joker before he brings all of Gotham to its knees.

Review
Batman Begins gave us a strong Batman origin story. The casting was spot-on, the story was great, and the characters were well fleshed out. All of these aspects carry over into The Dark Knight and add some new cast members that are just as on-point as the returning cast. The Dark Knight is darker and grittier than its predecessor, and triumphs not just as a great superhero film, but as a cinematic masterpiece.

Heath Ledger received a ton of flack when he was announced as the Joker in The Dark Knight. Now it’s hard to envision anyone else in the role. Ledger completely embodied the Joker, from his voice to the character’s mannerisms, including freaky body twitches and lip licking. It looks like the Joker is barely on the edge of maintaining his sanity, and it’s all feels real. This is without a doubt my favorite portrayal of the character.

One noticeable difference is Rachael Dawes is played by Maggie Gyllenhaal this time around, instead of Katie Holmes. Holmes turned down the role due to scheduling conflicts with Mad Money. As I said in my Batman Begins review, Holmes wasn’t awful, her performance just wasn’t as strong as the cast around her. Gyllenhaal, on the other hand, has no problem standing toe-to-toe with the likes of Bale, Ledger, and Michael Cane. She also does well bring across the emotion necessary for some of her more dramatic moments. As much as I don’t like to see cast changes in the middle of franchises, this one was probably for the better.

We didn’t get to see much of the detective part of the “World’s Greatest Detective” in Batman Begins, but we do this outing. Wayne uses his skills and resources to find the Joker’s hideout. It was only a few, short sequences, but it was nice they acknowledged that side of Batman since often it’s neglected in favor of action.

The Dark Knight has a long running time, but it doesn’t feel like it at all. Part of the long running time is due to the focus on two villains. Unlike most movies that try to focus on more than one antagonist, this film does not feel claustrophobic. It does extremely well balancing both Joker and Two-Face, who comes in about halfway through the movie. Although it is two and a half hours, it moves along at a quick pace, while still developing the character of Bruce Wayne and the supporting cast.

Not only is The Dark Knight one of my favorite comic book movies, but it is one of my favorites of all time. With superb casting, great balance of characters and character development, not to mention great action, it is hard not to love this movie.

Rating
5/5

For the rest of The Dark Knight trilogy, check out my reviews for Batman Begins and The Dark Knight Rises.