The Dark Knight Review

I wrote this back in July just after the Dark Knight was released. As of today this movie is still $72,000,000 short of being the top domestic money maker despite it's' success at the box office.

Let me start by clarifying that this is less of a review and more of a request for help to break a record. For years I have followed movie revenue statistics (I know, get a life) and have been baffled that Titanic is still the top domestic money making movie of all time. Everyone loved it when it came out but almost everyone rips on it now. It was a strange deal because it started slow and picked up steam. It didn't set any opening week records, but after it had been out for a month or two word of mouth and repeat viewers fueled it to take off for the next couple months. This is the same rare occurrence that happened with My Big Fat Greek Wedding although it was not nearly as successful. Titanic ended up making $600,779.00 in the U.S. before it was released to video. The next closest money maker is the Original Star Wars at 460,998.00 and that was even after Lucas cheated and re-released it a second time 20 years later. How can this be possible?

I have always watched and wished any movie would come along and replace Titanic as the top money maker of all time but nothing has ever come close. I have hoped in vain over the years as Lord of the Rings, The Star Wars prequels, and even Indiana Jones could not pull it off. After seeing the Dark Knight's numbers from the opening weekend I again have hope that this will finally be the movie to dethrone Titanic. I give this movie a solid 9 out of 10 stars and and I am very frugal when it comes to giving out stars. I am the Simon Cowell of movie reviews so even though the audience will boo me for saying this I have to admit if I would have liked to see a few minor details changed. I know it is a comic book movie and not real, but a couple small items distracted me. Especially considering how well everything was done. (Warning spoilers)

1) When Batman kidnaps the Chinese dude I would have preferred to see him strap the cable to a harness for them instead of just hold onto the bad guy and the cable and get ripped away by a speeding plane.
2) The make up for Dent/Two Face was a little extreme. No swelling the day after half your face is burnt off? I could have gone for a little less skeleton open eye socket and a little more swollen, charred look.
3) When he dives out the window of his skyscraper for Rachel he falls with her onto a car. That would kill anyone even if you were holding onto Batman. At least they could have shown a parachute or his wings open up to better show that their fall was slowed down.
4) Two Face and Batman had nearly the same raspy deep voice. It was like dueling banjos of who had the scratchiest voice. I was waiting to see Rod Stewart come out to challenge them to a voice duel.
5) I'd also cut out 15 minutes somewhere. I think the whole cell phone tracking/ sonar deal could have been eliminated and was only included to show how his sonar bat eyes worked. This felt like 2 or 3 movies in one. It was long but didn't drag on like Return of the King where they should have ended the movie about 6 scenes sooner than they did. I got my moneys worth in the first half hour so I'm not complaining.

There are a lot of reasons you should see this movie if you haven't yet. (Those of you who might be in a coma or prison). First of all if you divide the cost of admission by how many minutes the film is you are in for a bargain. The cost per minute is quite competitive at 2 and 1/2 hours. Compare that to an animated Pixar/Disney movie that lasts 90 minutes and you can see the value. The cast is top notch and there is great acting by many well known actors including Heath Ledger's last performance. It has amazing special effects, action, and drama accompanied by an intense James Horner music score.I really enjoyed this movie and encourage everyone to go see it. (with the exception of young kids). I give it 8.5 Stars.

Some people look at this as entertainment but I am looking at it as something far more important. I feel kind of like Jerry Lewis during one of his telethons. I will keep pleading with the public for their support and help over the next several weeks no matter how tired I get. This is the only movie that has a chance to sink Titanic. Together we can make history and do this. If we accomplish this goal I will throw a party at my house and I will invite Christian Bale, Morgan Freeman, and Michael Caine. I'll let you know if something comes up and they are unable to make it.

Terminator Salvation

I had been trying to see this movie for about a month, but three weeks ago, Terminator Salvation completely disappeared from the theaters. I know that is a common occurrence right before a movie goes to the dollar theater or comes out on video, but 3 weeks? Anyway, it finally made it to the dollar theater so I am able to give you my review.

I liked the dark serious style to this movie. It kind of reminded me of the bleak feel that The Dark Knight had, but this movie was not nearly as good. I was impressed with the special effects and the battle scenes with the giant machines. I'll admit that a movie can be really crappy but if there are enough cool visual and sound effects I can sometimes still be entertained. At times I was distracted during the movie because I kept wondering "Was this the scene when Christian Bale flipped out during filming?"

I liked the movie overall and I liked Sam Wothington in his role, but towards the end, things just got too hard to take. Overriding a terminator bullet bike with a zip drive, the ease with which he infiltrated Skynet, John Connor being impaled through the chest with a metal pole and surviving, the bad cliches, etc.


Despite the fake parts (most of the movie), I still enjoyed the style, the action, the score, the tribute to Arnold and the special effects. I also give it points for giving me another movie to add to my futuristic time line. I was just looking to relax after a stressful week and didn't have very high expectations so that's probably why I'm not as critical of the movie as others have been. I give Terminator Salvation 7.3 Stars. Seeing all those mean machines ripping the crap out of everything made me want to check Transformers out next week.