The Dark Knight: Review

Batman

Today, I watched The Dark Knight. A movie that exceeded the expectations of all critics and took the world by storm. As always, I checked it out on IMDb. An average rating of 9.5/10 by over 100 thousand users has already taken the movie to the top of the TOP 250 list. But before we go further into stats, lets first remember Heath Ledger, whose role as The Joker is said to be awaiting a posthumous Oscar.

The Joker

Okay. About the movie. As you might have heard before, it is simply amazing. Brilliant writing and direction by the Nolan brothers. The story is about how Batman continues to fight crime in Gotham city, accompanied by Lt. Gordon and Harvey Dent, the new District Attorney. The Joker enters, a psychotic madman with a scar that makes his face look like its smiling. He starts playing a game with the three mentioned above, putting the whole of Gotham city into chaos. The story makes you believe that humanity is worth dying for, that just a figure in a mask is enough to keep hopes alive.

Each and every actor in this movie is at their best, foremost of them being Heath Ledger, whose acting of The Joker is extremely disturbing, and makes you writhe inside with fear. Christian Bale, for his portrayal of Batman as the determined crime fighter under the face of the millionaire playboy who is too tired to keep awake in the office. Aaron Eckhart’s role as Harvey Dent is well done, and his short part as Two-Face was even better, his burnt half shown as extremely scary. Maggie Gyllenhaal is even better than Katie Holmes as Rachel Dawes. Nothing needs to be said about Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman, the most experienced actors on the lineup.

In all, the movie also deals with the relation of Batman with the citizens of Gotham city. It also shows the spirit of human beings, and their willingness to sacrifice themselves for others in the most tense of moments. And the action simply blows you away. The sequences till the first half of the movie leave you wondering, what more action can you get?

Another thing that is simply awesome, is Batman’s gear. First of all is the Batcycle. The way it appears in the movie, is what makes you jump out of that seat. Then is his new suit, which gives him more flexibility, and in which Lucius Fox (Freeman) packs more punches. Also is Batsonar, which enables him to watch everything going around him, even through concrete.

The Batcycle

There are some scenes that tend to get a little boring, but the ending of this movie makes you forget it all. The movie ends in a sad note, yet is satisfactory, and leaves you wanting for more.

Another Day in the Life of the Movie Maniac

Want some excitement in your life? Take a lesson from the guy above…

Movie Mania and Me…

Come May and come the Summer Holidays. One year passes at Delhi University and you find yourself gaping at totally empty days without holiday homework(which, for the first time, you miss), which you spend doing… nothing. You crawl over the internet faster than the Google spiders and, hopefully, discover something that gets you hooked. I discovered imdb.com. And hooked is an understatement.

The Internet Movie Database is a vast database(duh) of movies around the world. You can find something about each movie months before it gets released into the entertainment hungry public, who then rip it apart and review it, again on imdb. You can find detailed profiles of actors around the world which also lists all the movies that they have ever done. I found out that the guy who acted as Harry’s dark godfather in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban and movies following it was the same guy who acted as the good, honest cop Lt. Gordon in Batman Begins. His name, by the way, is Gary Oldman(This guy? I have read about him somewhere…). I also found out that James McAvoy, who played the charming Mr Tumnus, the Faun in The Chronicles of Narnia also played Dr Garrigan, Idi Amin’s doctor in The Last King of Scotland. Forest Whitaker, who played the dictator Idi Amin, won an Oscar for this movie. McAvoy is also opposite Angelina Jolie in the new action flick, Wanted. mmm….

Linking the dots. I liked playing this game of connect, who did that, also did this. And imdb.com became a hobby. Whenever I am about to watch a movie, I first look up who acted in it, what is the storyline. And the film’s rating that thousands of imdb users have given it, little gold stars counting to a maximum of 10, on top of the screen can also help a bit.

imdb only helped my liking for movies turn into a mania. Top ten lists recommended by other movie enthusiasts had to be watched, movies of your favorite actor that you didn’t know about had to be crossed off in the checklist. In all, in a period of under 50 days I must have watched around 100 movies, from The City Of God (wow) to No Country For Old Men (yuck). From Donnie Darko to The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy. From Black Hawk Down to August Rush. And I loved every second of it.

Do you want more connections? More trivia? I shall be connecting some names in a story from now on…

Cocky, but not quite there : Hancock

Will Smith as Hancock

My sole incentive to go and watch Hancock was Will Smith, specially after i found out that the character he plays is that of a booze-guzzling, dirt-streaked super hero, who causes the State more damage than what a successful bank robbery might manage to. Interesting, you’d think. And rightly so. Only, beyond the conceptualisation and characterisation, something goes off the mark. Something that may have to do with two other extremely important aspects of film-making : Cinematography and Direction.

The movie is about a badass superhero, who goes from being lonely, vindictive and publicity-phobic, to finding love, a purpose to his life and the truth about his past. And all this is made possible by Ray Embrey, a PR executive out to save the world, and his wife Mary, who turns out to be a closet superhero herself. Embroiled in some enigmatic history, and fantastical theories of existence, the trio, and little Erin fight great odds in order to maintain his status as a ‘likeable’ superhero.

And now, the bad news first. It may seem like cinematographer Tobias A Schliessler was attempting to give us a feel of the real, but the end product was disappointingly…shaken. it makes you want to yell- stop moving the camera so much man! The pace of the movie is unnecessarily hurried-feels like there are parts which need more elaboration, but Peter Berg just couldn’t be bothered. And then, the story-line : it is so disappointingly Bollywood-ish. The melodramatic end-sweet and soppy, literally, with the ‘all heart’ sign painted on the moon, and the scenes right before that, when every heart wrenching effort that Hancock makes brings Mary back to life, heartbeat by heartbeat, make the audience groan collectively.

But then, Will Smith manages to pull it off. He stinks, vandalises, doesn’t give a shit, and yet, he charms the birds out of their cushioned seats. He brings to the movie what Charlize Theron was supposed, but didn’t quite manage, with exposure that was restricted to extreme close-ups of furtive glances at Hancock. There’s another waste of talent. Jason Bateman does a good job too, but the limitations of his character, then again, do not fully utilise his talent.

That way, the movie essentially belongs to Smith, from the time he threatens South Asian criminals of having their heads going upcertain other parts of other people’s anatomies, to when he saves a policewoman in trouble, but not before telling her that she’s doing a good job and that if he’s gonna touch her, it is not ’sexual’. The comedy is good, the only thing really worth the effort, but at times is stretched to a point of no-return from vulgar-land.
All in all, its worth a watch. But don’t let the slapstick humour escape you. It’s what defines the crux of the movie, and the character, Hancock.

Bollywood: What Is Wrong With It?

The Hindi Film industry of India has the highest viewership in the whole world. Yet the total amount of money that Bollywood makes in a year is just half of what one studio of Hollywood, Warner Bros, makes in a year.

What is wrong with Indian cinema?

Imagine this typical Bollywood movie scene. The hero rescues the heroine from a bunch of ugly goons, showing his superhuman fighting skills. In the process, the heroine falls into his arms and their eyes meet. They suddenly find themselves in Switzerland, singing and dancing to the tune of their love song. Such musical love stories are the most popular genre of the Hindi films. These films have given an impression of Indian cinema being loud and melodramatic to international audiences.

Most Indian films, even from other languages, are ‘inspired’ from foreign cinema. The biggest culprits include Sanjay Leela Bhansali, whose award winning Black is a word-to-word rip off from the movie, The Miracle Worker. Most of Sanjay Gupta’s films, including Kaante, Zinda, Musafir, and Dus Kahaaniyan have been copied from English movies not just in terms of script, but also costumes, location and scenery. Sony Pictures planned to sue the makers of the film Partner for plagiarizing it from the Will Smith starrer Hitch in 2007.

Another major reason for the low quality of Indian cinema is funding. Indian films are made from a budget that is a thirtieth of an average Hollywood film. The cost of marketing makes the margin even greater. And hence, even though Indian cinema is watched by an audience that is a third greater than that of Hollywood, it accounts for just 15 percent of the world revenues, while Hollywood rakes in 75 percent.

The reason for this is the absence of the corporate studio system as in the USA. Bollywood was granted the status of an industry by the government as recently as in 1998. Till then, funding was provided by a few private distributors, studios and also by the Mumbai underworld. In 2001, the police seized copies of the film Chori Chori Chupke Chupke after it discovered that the film had been funded by illegitimate sources.

Despite the hype surrounding Bollywood’s increasing influence in World cinema, it still has a long way to go before being a threat to Hollywood’s existence. Lack of original storylines, low class direction, special effects, cinematography, and worse of all, low reserves of acting talent make 9 out of 10 Bollywood movies fail at the box office. This shows that the Indian moviegoer is aware, and wants more.

Sources: www.textonthebeach.com, www.mutiny.wordpress.com, Wikipedia, The Times of India