Did you see The Dark Knight? – Spoilers!

[Phil]

Oops, guess Ben didn’t break the “Spoilers!” trend after all! Better luck next time…YOU CLOD.

Anyway, I saw this last night. For unintentional comparison’s sake we came home after the movie and happened to catch Tim Burton’s first Batman film on television.

Have to admit that Nicholson’s Joker did and still does do more for me than Ledger’s. Ledger’s interpretation was damn good and it fit the overall film very well, but with the two versions played so differently I’m bound to have a favorite, and it wasn’t Ledger.

The Dark Knight’s Harvey Dent, however, was fucking phenomenal. I loved him. He was the real heart of the movie, if you ask me. I loved him; he could have carried the whole thing and I wouldn’t have complained.

The only real criticisms are that the movie felt like two or three movies mashed together…there were a few too many climactic peaks for my liking. The movie kept feeling like it was ending…it wasn’t a sense of a small obstacle being overcome, it was a sense of the film being wrapped up entirely. And then it continued anyway. Several times.

Also, toward the end of the film when Batman encounters Two Face, you realize how similar their “alternate personality” voice is. Basically they both just growl and grumble at each other in a really similar way that might mean something thematically (underline “might”) but really just kind of made you realize that these are two actors grumbling instead of talking. One of them should have adjusted his voice slightly, or at least not adopted the exact same attitude as the other, so that it wouldn’t be distracting (kind of like what Jim Henson would do whenever Kermit and Ernie had to share a scene…alter one of the voices or moods slightly so that they don’t resemble each other so much, but still feel natural for the character).

Personally, if I were Batman, I’d affect an Australian accent or something. That way I could talk without hurting my throat, and everybody would go looking for an Australian guy.

Topic

[pfm]

Lol, I agree about the whole growl thing that Bale does as Batman. It’s OK when he doesn’t say much but at the end here in the scene with Gordon it’s close to being a parody, you’re expecting Gordon to go ‘alright, you can drop the stupid voice already!’

The Dark Knight itself…well, I don’t think there’s any doubt that it’s the best Batman film ever – if you want proper Batman, that is. Some people just want to watch the world burn, i.e. they prefer the cheesy Batman Forever style or the ’60s TV series and don’t want anything dark, and god TDK is DARK. Darker than I expected it to be, even after all the reviews harped on about that fact. It must have only just scraped a 12A/PG-13. Cleverly, there’s zero blood and language, that’s probably how they got away with it. But Dent’s face is right on the borderline of horror. How Nolan got that past WB I don’t know.

Sadly though it’s not a perfect film, not the second coming, not by a long way. The first 90min maybe is, everything up to Rachel’s death and Harvey’s change. Maybe it should have ended right there. I would have accepted that, as long as we were gonna get Ledger again in the next one. ’cause after this point it’s like something else entirely, and then the end feels rushed. The stuff with the guys on the ferry is bloody tedious. I was on The Joker’s side at that point, I wanted them all to blow themselves up! What that says about me I don’t know… did I tell you how I got these scars…?

Speaking of The Joker, he is what MAKES this film. Heath Ledger single-handedly owns anyone who ever thought they could do this role justice. It’s so insanely sad that he couldn’t go on to give more brilliant performances equal to or better than this. It’s the best thing I’ve seen since Daniel Day-Lewis in There Will Be Blood (think what you like about that film you can’t deny his greatness). And how TDK ends he almost certainly would have appeared in Nolan’s third Batman. He doesn’t get a proper ending scene. I also reckon Two-Face will be back, despite it seeming like he’s dead. I think Gordon (Gary Oldman, so good) has covered it up so Gotham can look up to Harvey as someone whiter than white – the White Knight – while Batman has to take the fall.

One thing, does anyone else think the Riddler was setup with that guy at Wayne Enterprises who found out that Bruce is Batman? Otherwise that whole scene was pointless. Fox (Morgan Freeman, excellent) said he couldn’t blackmail Wayne because, well, because if he really WAS Batman he would beat him up! But in the third film Batman will have to stay locked away, so that guy could set out to bring Bruce down without fear. Hmmm….

[Jonathan Capps]

I agree with a great deal of what you both said, but I’d go as far to say that I didn’t have any of the problems you did with the last portion of the film. I loved how we saw all these different events in the film without any real, big on going scheme, and the boat scene was a suitable big way to end The Joker’s spree. The detonation idea is classic Joker twistedness and I loved watching how they portrayed the squirming of the two boats, before giving us a nice glimpse of hope at the end. And, to be honest, we needed that as that city is seriously fucking fucked.

Oh, and what they did with Batman at the end is the bravest thing anyone has done with the character on the screen (small or large). It was such a wonderful ending.

I almost don’t feel the need to talk about the performances, because they’re all so obviously and objectively brilliant they speak for themselves. I mean, who on Earth could imagine Heath doing THAT back when we was cast?

I’m still bristling from it all, frankly. I know for a fact it’s the best Superhero film ever, and I’m having a REALLY hard time stopping myself from blurting out that it could well be my favourite movie ever. That’s a tad hasty, though.

[Phil]

>Dent?s face is right on the borderline of horror.

Are there any sites or discussions about how this was actually done? It looked phenomenal and was genuinely chilling.

[Mr Flibble]

Different music for the sad scenes next movie please. Bored of these ones now.

OTOH – IMAX – Fucking awesome.

[Zombie Jim Undead]

Saw it last night. Best Batman film, best comic book film and best film of the year.

That is all.

[Seb Patrick]

>Best Batman film

Yes.

>best comic book film

No. Superman is still better. And Spider-Man 2 is a better “comic book film”, even though it’s not quite as good a film in general, because TDK isn’t really a comic book film at all.

>and best film of the year.

No. WALL-E.

[Zombie Jim Undead]

I meant “best film based on a comic book”. I really didn’t like Spidey 2. Seemed to be an endless stream of overly portentous and protracted relationship discussions between Peter and MJ, smug jokes and action sequences.

Original Superman better? Nah. I love it…but don’t think it’s anywhere near TDK.

Really want to see Wall-E as I thought it looked great…though my friends who’ve seen it say it’s a bit preachy about the ills of consumerism, which is a bit rich coming from Disney.

[Jonathan Capps]

I may not be in as good a position, comics book wise, than Seb, but if you take into account Long Halloween and Dark Victory then I’d say The Dark Knight is a fucking excellent comic book film, as it invokes those books a hell of a lot.

[Phil]

Why’d they get rid of the nipples on the Batsuit?

[Jo]

Ian and I went to see this last night, and despite the group of annoying twats sat behind us who proceeded to chatter all the way through the film (why do people do that?) I utterly loved it.

Heath Ledger was brilliant – I just feel sad that that character will never be back. Heath portrayed the Joker in a wonderful dark comic way – just perfect. The scene when he walked away from the exploding hospital in the nurses outfit was just brilliant, it really made me laugh.
I don’t think it’s fair to compare him to Jack Nicholson’s Joker. Yes they are the same character – but I think that this film is just so far away from the original series of films that it’s not a like for like comparison.

Aaron Eckhart (sp?) was great as Harvey Dent he really did the warped bitter Two Face justice. The effects on his face were perfect too, I really couldn’t tell where make up ended and CGI started. I’m hoping that we haven’t seen the last of him, we’ve only seen a tribute – not an actual funeral…
The fact that the city needs the illusion of Dent as the White Knight, a symbol of hope, means that if Two Face did survive they wouldn’t want him back in the public eye.
I assume that the plan would have been to bring The Joker back in future films, sadly as that is no longer possible I would like to see Two Face back :o)

The thing on the boats that everyone seems to have such a problem with, I think was genius! It was a perfect Joker trick, he loves chaos and that certainly caused chaos! The thing was, that just because The Joker said that they had the
remote to blow up the other boat, how could they prove it? The remote could just as easily be for their own boat and given The Joker’s love for chaos and confusion that would have been the perfect finish each boat blowing themselves up. But in the end the people of Gotham, ‘good’ and ‘bad’ showed that they were better than The Joker had given them credit for. It was much needed after the darkness of the film, a little ray of light.

The ending was fab too and will make for a brilliant next film – Batman as the outcast, despite it being his own doing, it’s exactly what the Joker warned him about.

[Zombie Jim Undead]

Didn’t have a problem with the boat bit at all, though I was expecting each boat to blow itself up – as you say.

It’s such a shame that they can’t bring the Joker back as the end of the film suggests that he is an integral part of the Batman universe and will cause many a problem in the future. Could they recast in a few years? Johnny Depp maybe?

The only thing I loved less than the rest was actually Two Face’s scarring. Felt a little bit over the top and took away some of the realism that was so carefully created elsewhere.

Really want to see it again. Ledger really was something else. I’m trying really hard to separate how much is his performance and how much is added creepiness due to his untimely demise….but man, what a character. The ‘magic trick’…the hospital bit…the bit where he’s walking around asking people ‘Where’s Dent? Hmm? You know where he is?” …his stories about how he got his scars…

He’s insane, hilarious, otherworldly, terrifying, tragic… fucking phenomenal.

There was a big round of applause / cheering in the cinema at the end…which is very unusual. Especially in Finchley.

[Seb Patrick]

>The remote could just as easily be for their own boat and given The Joker?s love for chaos and confusion that would have been the perfect finish each boat blowing themselves up.

I did think that initially, until the moment the detonator got thrown away. It then hit me that the Joker really isn’t the kind of guy to play the same gag twice – and he’d already done the old switcheroo with Batman. His reaction later on suggests that he genuinely thought the citizens would blow up the criminals, and that’s what he was trying to bring about.

[Jonathan Capps]

> Could they recast in a few years? Johnny Depp maybe?

I think having The Joker in the shadows of his Arkam cell dishing out info to Batman, Lecter style, could work well in the next movie, as it’ll be easier for someone to do a vocal impression of Ledger. But I don’t see why, after that, that they couldn’t recast. Especially with the current comic run having The Joker reinvent himself with a whole new personality.

[Ridley]

I liked it. As good as the first one and I’m not a Batfan. The comics (and DC in general) always feel a bit beyond the realms of believability for me which these movies counter.

Thought the continuity from the end of the first film was bit shaky (half of Arkham escaping and the Joker card) and the look of the city for what was supposed to be a year on. Qui-Gon would be so proud. ;)

Never thought Two Face was dead, didn’t consider it even, if anything Gordon’s already faked a death once. A fake death I did actually fall for knowing Oldman’s attitude toward sequels. Believed Dent was being positioned to lead the hunt for Batman.

Are there any good villains left apart from Riddler that could handle being made more… uhh… human? Hopefully Joker simply breaks his own neck between Knight and a third installment rather than someone trying to replicate the Ledger portrayal.

[Smeg4Brains]

I’m loving the new darker take on these Batman films, but especially the new Two-face and Joker.
How out of place would Robin look in these films?

[Seb Patrick]

Actually, I know there’s all this stuff about “Bale won’t do another one if they bring in Robin”, but I honestly don’t think introducing him would be that bad an idea. Why? Because it might actually put some focus back on Batman and his life. If TDK has a major flaw, it’s that it’s not really a Batman movie at all – he’s the character you care about the least, to the extent that it’s kind of irritating when he shows up to interrupt Harvey and the Joker!

(more on this in my review for CD, which I’ve just posted : http://www.alternatecover.com/ )

[Phil]

>he?s the character you care about the least,

You know what, you bastard? That’s going to end up in my review on NTS, simply because it’s absolutely right and now you went ahead and stuck it in my brain. Curses!

[Smeg4Brains]

>he?s the character you care about the least

i was thinking the same while watching it. Maybe if Batman/Wayne was fleshed out a bit more and given more story for himself instead of just being the dude who stops the bad guys then people would care a bit when Rachel got bbq’ed.

[Jonathan Capps]

I can imagine a third film bring Batman BACK with a vengeance, which should hopefully shoe his marginalisation in TDK in a bit better context. I didn’t mind him not being in it much, and I REALLY don’t get why it’s annoying when he turns up. He’s still fantastic.

[Danny Stephenson]

I need to stop reading this thread. The Spoilers are spoiling it for me…

[Phil]

>I REALLY don?t get why it?s annoying when he turns up.

Yeah, that bit I didn’t particularly agree with, but Seb’s right otherwise. In mine eyes.

[pfm]

Watching it a second time I liked the last half hour a lot more. I felt a bit pissed off after I first saw it because there was so much more potential with both The Joker and Two-Face and yet they were both gone in the blink of an eye. Dent in particular, goes bad, kills a few people then dies all within the space of 30 minutes or so. But now I think it makes a lot of sense for him to still be alive.

Dent’s story isn’t over, what we saw here in The Dark Knight was just the first half. It’s obvious that the only way Batman can be redeemed in the eyes of the public is if they understand what Harvey Dent has become. The Joker or Scarecrow or maybe even The Riddler will break Dent out of Arkham (if that indeed is where he is). I want them to include The Joker somehow, they can’t just leave him hanging. There was supposedly ‘insider information’ that at least one scene was shot with Ledger IN Arkham.

The Riddler I think WILL end up blackmailing Bruce and it’ll be through him that Dent finds out Bruce is Batman. I was expecting him to take the mask off at the end in front of Dent to try and get through to him. I think they’re saving that for the third one now.

[Ridley]

?Tibetan ninja? snooze-fest

Boo urns

[Jo]

Had a thought today… You know the bit when he gets the new body armour and he asks “Will it stop a dog?” Lucius says “it’ll stop a cat”

A hint that maybe we’ll be getting Catwoman in the next film?
I know it could have just been a joke, just wondered if it could have been a little clue.

[Jo]

>The Riddler I think WILL end up blackmailing Bruce and it?ll be through him that Dent finds out Bruce is Batman.

I still don’t think that Reese is The Riddler – they’re going to want a name for the big characters and even if they went for a relative unknown, to be fair I didn’t think the bloke who played him was anything special, I don’t think he could carry off such a big part.

[pfm]

> they?re going to want a name for the big characters

Aaron Eckhart wasn’t that well known and he ended up with the huge part of Harvey Dent! Despite having some big names in Nolan’s cast they are only there due to talent and how suitable they are for their roles. The Riddler might not be that extensive a role anyway if Nolan does include him.

IMO they really need a large female part in the third film (preferably a fanny…). Talia al Ghul, Vicki Vale, Selina Kyle, whoever. With Rachel spoilers dead they most certainly should do it. If I were Nolan I might consider having someone playing a brand new character who turns out to be Talia al Ghul in a twist.

[Jo]

Ok, perhaps I should have said “In my opinion” before that, but I did say that even if they went for a relative unknown there is no way he could carry such a big character. It would take someone with something special and he was really a bit of a nonentity – he didn’t do much other than looking nervous.

Besides my opinion on his acting, it doesn’t make sense. So Reese knows Batman’s real identity, he also knows that Bruce Wayne saved his life. Why would he now turn round and throw that in his face? It just doesn’t make sense to me.
Someone at work today said the same as you “Ah Mister Reese… MYSTERIES… The Riddler! get it?!?!” I still don’t buy it. Seems like a red herring to me.

With regards to Aaron Eckhart, I’d heard of him. Have you never seen ‘Thank You For Smoking’ or ‘Erin Brokovich’? He’s an award winning film actor, hardly an unknown talent.

I’m sticking with my theory about Catwoman being in the next film, they’re going to need a new female character now that Rachel is toast.

[Andrew]

> Aaron Eckhart wasn?t that well known and he ended up with the huge part of Harvey Dent!

Maybe to you! Some of us had already seen him as the lead in Thank Your For Not Smoking (and No Reservations), and as a supporting lead in The Black Dahlia. (While Joshua Harto’s previous role was as “CAOC Analyst #2” in Iron Man.)

Edit: Yeah, like Jo just said.

Also, The Riddler’s origin as a Wayne staff-member who learns of Bruce’s identity comes mainly from Schumacher’s Batman Forever – and I don’t see old ground being raked over.

Oh, And Harvey’s dead.

[Andrew]

> One thing, does anyone else think the Riddler was setup with that guy at Wayne Enterprises who found out that Bruce is Batman? Otherwise that whole scene was pointless.

Actually, to come back to this – the scene wasn’t pointless, it was a three-act sub-plot that concluded with Bats saving the guy’s life despite it arguably being better, selfishly speaking, to let the guy be assassinated. Just part of the film’s multi-layered storyteling.

[Tarka Dal]

Back when the trailer first came out (How long ago does that feel now?) and we saw the Bat-Bike I was a little worried that what I loved so much about Batman Begins was going to be missing from this film.

By that I mean the way Begins was so thoroughly grounded in our world. Every trick, every idea and every piece of equipment being introduced in a way that was convincing enough to think it could be a reality and not just something that looked good in a comic book.

TDK managed to totally justify those concerns. Sonar Mobile Phone…WTF? The Bat-Bike emerging from the wreckage of the Bat-Mobile!!!

Superbly it didn’t matter. Best piece of cinema this year – Yes. True Bale had less of a part in this story, but it was an ensemble movie really. So many stories and character arcs orbiting each other at the same time. It was just an engrossing tapestry of switcheroo. No one’s really mentioned how great Gary Oldman has been in Nolan’s Bat-world. We had all the whole pitch about the people believing in Batman, then Dent both of whom become larger than life characters. Whereas Gordon is the effective the face of the ordinary man fighting for justice and I think Oldman’s been great at playing it very understated and helping to ground the whole thing in as realistic a tone as is possible.

I’m not really sure what I want from number 3. I don’t feel we need to see The Riddler, The Penguin, Catwoman or Robin. As Cappsy said it was such a wonderful ending that we’ve got such a potential intriguing situation and put’s the focus back on Batman so why would we really need anyone big to steal the spotlight away?

[pfm]

That’s why I reckon it would be a good idea if both The Scarecrow/Crane and Talia al Ghul (if Nolan wants to include her in the universe) had substantial roles in the third film. It would bring things back full circle. They both want revenge on Batman and no doubt Talia, like her father, would want to rip Gotham apart.

Neither Penguin or Catwoman should appear because I think their Batman Returns incarnations are, maybe not definitive, but adequate enough for it to be almost pointless in using them here. I honestly don’t think Nolan could deal with Catwoman in a way that would fit in with his world. It was well worth bringing back The Joker and Two-Face because a)they are pretty much the definitive Batman villains, b)Nicholson’s Joker is just Nicholson and not true enough to any version of the character, Tommy Lee Jones as Two-Face was fucking ridiculous with Jim Carrey easily stealing the movie out from under him as the much better, if still ridiculous Riddler.

They could perhaps do a version of Bane, or at least someone who almost kills Batman and puts him out of action.

> Maybe to you! Some of us had already seen him as the lead in Thank Your For Not Smoking (and No Reservations), and as a supporting lead in The Black Dahlia.

So had I, and also in The Core. But as far as a lot of people are concerned he’s still fairly unknown (I find that people don’t know his name but then go ‘oh yeah…’ when they see him). Everyone else in the main cast is more well-known. Even the first Commissioner, played by the guy who used to be in The Fast Show and did the Red Bull adverts voiceover among countless other things, is more recognizable than Eckhart. Also Eric Roberts playing Maroni and Nestor Carbonell as the Gotham Mayor (I find it amazing how Nolan managed to put such a great cast together for this and Batman Begins. When the Begins cast was announced I was rubbing my eyes for days checking whether I was actually reading it right)

[Andrew]

> I honestly don?t think Nolan could deal with Catwoman in a way that would fit in with his world.

Three words: Batman Year One. :-)

> But as far as a lot of people are concerned he?s still fairly unknown

Just as, I suppose Cillian Murphy and Tom Wilkinson would be.

But they’re on a high tier compared to a great many – and have huge ‘credits, kudos and awards’ CVs that put them far above Harto – and certainly Colin McFarlane – when it comes to profile. When were they last up for a Golden Globe? Or, for that matter, when did they last take the lead in a movie?

The point being that while not A-list, Nolan’s picking his cast from a current acting elite. Nominees, winners, eye-catchers and ‘prestige’ names – none of which Harto brings. (I mean, until Begins came out ‘Not Many People’ COULD have been said to have heard of Bale either – low-budget genre flicks and indies? – but he wasn’t an unknown by any stretch.)

[Tarka Dal]

One of the reasons I love Bale as Batman is actually seeing him as Bruce Wayne. The moment he pulls on a sharp suit I’m taken back to the first time I saw him in a film… American Psycho.

Also if they are going to lead onto the Riddler could it perhaps be Anthony Michael Hall? A bit of a stretch perhaps, but he played Mike Engel the host of Gotham Tonight who was interviewing Reese so it’s possible the information before the transmission.

This is kind of cool. Supposedly there are potential Riddler hints in TDK

New hints of The Riddler in Nolan’s Bat-world?

Although red and herring in that first line might be trying to tell us something ;-)

[Nakrophile]

Great film. Best super-hero one far by a mile. Can’t be arsed to go into any detail whatsoever, or even copy and paste what I said somewhere else, but eh. Very good.

[Mr Flibble]

The moment he pulls on a sharp suit I?m taken back to the first time I saw him in a film? American Psycho.

There was one scene that was very Patrick Bateman…

[pfm]

D’you like Phil Collins? I’ve been a big fan of Genesis ever since the release of their 1980 albun – Duke…Sabrina, don’t just stare at it, eat it!

[Tarka Dal]

After seeing this a second time, I’ve had a change of heart. Two-Face is coming back. The story is only half finished. I can’t see how they could have Batman’s public redemption without Two-Face. I don’t think we’ll get The Riddler either.

What we will need is a leading lady and it would make some kind of sense as person PerformingMonkey suggested for Talia al Ghul to show up wouldn’t it?

[Jo]

I’ve read rumours that Johnny Depp is being lined up to play The Riddler…

[Ian Symes]

Can’t be – Tim Burton doesn’t do Batman any more.

[Danny Stephenson]

I?ve read rumours that Johnny Depp is being lined up to play The Riddler?

That means Helena Bonham-Carter HAS TO BE Catwoman :)

[Jonathan Capps]

> That means Helena Bonham-Carter HAS TO BE Catwoman :)

I would certainly like to bon HER ham.

[Danny Stephenson]

“what’s a bonner?”

[Jonathan Capps]

Excellent quoting, Dan!

[Danny Stephenson]

Oh I’m off to see The Dark Knight tomorrow now! I was meant to be seeing it on Sunday but that fell through, So I’m off to a midday showing. Looking forward to it!

[Danny Stephenson]

I wanted to wait a day or two before I posted this, because I’m fickle and I love everything I see for the first time at the cinema. LIke when I went to see Men In Black II, I loved it and then i got it out on DVD and it’s just awful isn’t it? Anyways onto the main attraction:

When I heard that Heath Ledger is going to play the Joker in The Dark Knight, I was really really worried. The last film I saw Ledger in was ‘A Knight’s Tale’, and although it’s one of my favorite films, I still wondered how Heath could pull it off. I then saw the image of the Joker on the front cover of Empire Magazine in full costume and his make up, and that’s when I got excited. I started to hear more and more about the film and i was getting really hyped for this film, I was expecting a ride.

Fuck me, did I get one.

Things grab my attention very quickly but it doesn’t take me long to lose interest, however this film had me and my friend on the edge of our seats from beginning to end. Ledger was a joy and I was laughing so much at just how sadistic and mental his character was, the hospital scene was awesome.

I did notice that in the Burton incarnations, the Joker’s origins were explored, whereas Harvey Dent’s wasn’t mentioned as much, but in Nolan’s vision that was reversed, Good move! Showing the Joker right off the bat was a joy to watch. Harvey Dent’s change into Two-Face was quite short lived in my eyes, it ended too soon. I feel they could have done more with him.

One thing did annoy me a little bit however was Bale’s BatVoice? which got quite irritating after a while. I actually found myself watching his lips so that I got a bit more clarity on what he was saying.

Other than that. Awesome film! So glad I saw THAT ONE at the cinema!

Here ends one of the longest posts I’ve EVER written for G&T…

[Andrew]

> I did notice that in the Burton incarnations, the Joker?s origins were explored, whereas Harvey Dent?s wasn?t mentioned as much, but in Nolan?s vision that was reversed, Good move!

Seb could do you five hours on why this is absolutely appropriate. (And the first four would actually be very interesting.)

[Seb Patrick]

Simple answer, really, is that the Joker’s origins – particularly this Joker – don’t matter. Alan Moore knew that when he did The Killing Joke – that’s why, even though he gave a potential (and very tragic) origin, he gave it the caveat of being the product of an unreliable memory (and certainly didn’t go so far as to give the character a name). Burton’s film, in my view, made a pretty major mistake in humanising – and naming – the character. He was never really the Joker – he was always Jack Napier/Nicholson with a white face.

Ledger’s Joker is, to use a phrase that’s been slightly overused in reviews but which is still highly appropriate, a force of nature. It doesn’t matter where he came from, because background is only really important when you consider motivations. And the Joker has none. Dent, meanwhile, has a complex, layered and interesting history – and as Nolan has finally shown, it’s what he does before becoming Two-Face, and the contrast that throws up, that makes it all the more interesting when he does become him. The likes of Schumacher have tended to ignore this, just putting him as a random district attorney before his “accident”.

[Zombie Jim Undead]

Saw Hellboy 2 at a preview screening night before last.

It’s lots of fun – much better than the first one. And it’s a stunningly beautiful and imaginative film.

[Jonathan Capps]

> It?s lots of fun – much better than the first one. And it?s a stunningly beautiful and imaginative film.

It is that, but… well, I found the rest to be a massively garbled hotch potch load of meh. It really, REALLY wasn’t as funny as it thought it was, either.

But, yeah, the fact it was one big del Torro creature display saved it somewhat.

Interesting fact: Kraus (probably the best thing in the whole film) is voiced by Family Guy’s Seth MacFarlane.

[Zombie Jim Undead]

Ha, yeah – I noticed that in the credits!

I thought it all hung together very well. A nice big fantasy film…Alice in Wonderland style adventure.

It had its amusing moments…I probably could have done without Abe’s lovesick blues, but it raised a smile.

[Author]

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