TDK Special : Top 5 Rachel Dawes

Most critics locally, internationally and across the internet have given rave reviews and standing ovations to probably one of the most celebrated comic book movie adaptation of the year. There is however, a tiny flaw in the whole masterpiece. Rachel Dawes. As we all know the role of Rachel could not be played by Katie Holmes because of “scheduling conflicts” or in other words “I’m married to a strange man who wants to send me to outerspace”. Maggie Gyllenhaal gave a fairly decent performance but her own persona brought very little to the girl both Bruce Wayne and Harvey Dent long to be with. So since there aren’t any movies worth watching right now and just like all those old “What If’s….?” comic books, have a look at my Top 5 Rachel Dawes.

5. Kate Bosworth

This is probably quite a far off possibility but I think she would have done a fairly decent job as Rachel Dawes. She would bring confidence to the character and make her scenes with Harvey Dent more believable. She’s also a bit of a fighter which means she wouldn’t have been scared of the Joker’s threats on her own life. The only downside would be that she’s a bit thin and probably looks more like Poison Ivy than Rachel.


4. Kristin Kreuk

Smallville fans would definitely support me with this. What is there that we don’t like about Lana Lane? She’s smart, beautiful and can handle herself in a fight. She also has the look that a billionaire like Bruce Wayne would want to be with and would suit the glitz and glamour of being a billionaire’s love interest.

3. Natalie Portman

Brains, elegant and fairly witty, Natalie would have definitely been in contention to play Rachel. She would have brought much needed guile and fearlessness as she battles against the underworld of Gotham. The same way she brought leadership qualities to Queen Amidala, her character would be able to compete with Harvey Dent as a no nonsense district attorney.

2. Jessica Alba

She was going to be the number 1 choice till I figured that she’s just too beautiful to play that part. If anything it would probably be her downfall. Smart, outgoing, fun, cute, beautiful, Jessica Alba would be the most sort-after woman in Gotham. It would make it very believable to why both Bruce and Harvey seem so intent in making her theirs. She’s even been in a few action films so she’s not actually a pushover. It would have been more believable if she was in Batman Begins and continued the role in The Dark Knight. But to come and just replace Katie Holmes would have been a major shock for most fans as she is much better looking compared to Katie.

1. Rachel McAdams

It was rumoured that Rachel McAdams was to replace Katie Holmes for the part of Rachel Dawes before it was subsequently offered to Maggie Gyllenhaal. Not much is known about the character of Rachel except that she and Bruce were almost childhood sweethearts before the unfortunate death of his parents. If anything the character of Rachel Dawes would have a girl-next-door kind of look. Not disregarding the fact that both have the same first name, Rachel McAdams would have fit the bill perfectly. Oozing with confidence, intelligence, personality and good looks, she would have been the perfect partner to Bruce Wayne. This has to be someone that isn’t a supermodel or amazingly beautiful, but has the trustworthy look that Bruce seems to be craving for. Moviegoers would be able to relate to the chemistry between the two and thus find it heartbreaking that both she and Bruce can never be together as long as he is still Batman.

The X-Files: I Want to Believe

Venue: GSC One-Utama
Time: 915 pm

Another week, another new movie. This week, it's "The X-Files: I Want to Believe". Catchy title huh? Well, for all of you who doesn't know by now - this is the 2nd X-Files movie based on the hit 90's TV series of the same name that's been released on the silver screen. The first movie - The X-Files: Fight the Future, was released 10 years ago (1998) at the peak of the series' lifespan. After the series ended in 2002 with 9 seasons glorifying our TV screens - a new X-Files movie is back - but does it promise to be as great as the TV series? or is it another ploy to please it's die hard fans?

I have always been a die-hard fan of The X-Files - that I have to say. Since the first show started airing in 1993 (I think it only came about in Malaysia in '95) til it ended in 2002 - I practically grew up watching the X-Files. For as long as I can remember, I have not missed a single episode of the X-Files since it started showing in Malaysia (yes, I know I'm a geek). Because of that, I am fairly thrilled about this new movie.

David Duchovny reprising his role as Fox Mulder

So why did they decide to do another X-Files movie one might ask? Didn't they explain everything about aliens and government conspiracies and tied up all the loose ends on the final season? Well yeah they did, but that's the thing - this movie isn't about the aliens and E.T mumbo-jumbo.

Remember when you watched X-Files there were 2 types of storyline in the episodes? One involves the 'mythology' of the series - in which there are aliens, conspiracies and a certain Cigarette-smoking-man. The other: the 'monster-of-the-week' type of episodes where Mulder and Scully investigates cases of the 'supernatural' - dealing with monsters, vampires, weird creatures and other things that go 'bump' in the night.

While the first movie revolves around the whole 'alien mythology' arc, this one - as you might have guessed - deals with the 'monster-of-the-week' scenario. So, no aliens in this one.

"There's something bout tonight that's giving me the shivers..."

X-Files: I Want to Believe takes place roughly 5-6 years after the events of the series finale, where Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) have realized the truth that Earth is going to be attacked by aliens in the near future. Both of them, no longer working for the FBI, has been on the run and been keeping it low ever since. An unexpected event involving a missing FBI agent and a psychic by the name of Father Joe - has led Scully and Mulder out of hiatus - and so - a new case of the X-Files has begun...

Sad to say, this movie is quite disappointing. If you're not a fan, then probably you won't even like it a single bit. As far as I'm concerned, I'm quite thrilled just watching Mulder and Scully pairing up together for one last time. It's really great too see them together on the big screen again!
Chemistry just oozes from both of them, they look really natural on screen with each other - I guess being in a TV show for almost a decade certainly helps.

Back together once again.

If you have followed X-Files then you would probably understand a lot of the dialogues in the movie - a lot of them relates to what have happened in the series, so it's kinda cool that they touch abit on those issues (eg: Mulder's missing sister, Scully's skepticism, their relationship etc.)
Also, the re-appearance of a fan-favourite is a nice touch to spice up the show.

However, that's mostly all that's good about the movie. The story could have been much better - I totally dislike the whole hunting for a serial killer using a psychic theme. The only thing supernatural about the plot is the psychic. Lame. Chris Carter (the director) could and should have come out with a better script/plot than this! But I guess the major theme in the movie is very much rooted in the title of the movie - "I want to believe". This movie explores more on the characters' motivation and beliefs, questioning their faith and how they should go on with their lives when all seems lost.

Intimacy is always the best policy for these guys.

So yeah, to sum it up... if you're familiar with the whole X-Files universe, you definitely have to watch this. But if you're not - I honestly think you can skip this or just wait for the DVD to come out. As for me, 'I want to believe' that there's gonna be another X-Files movie to wrap everything up. But until then, the truth is out there. :D

Stars:
For believers = 3/5
For non-believers = 2/5

One for the fans: Wait 'til after the end credits and you can see Mulder and Scully (in a bikini) on a boat.. waving back to us. Sweet.

Journey to the Center of the Earth

Location – Pavilion

Food – Popcorn Sweet n Lite

The last time anybody heard of a 3D! film, people were running for their lives in the classic JAWS 3D! Now, a decade on, the same formula is repeated in JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH 3D! I have to admit that I ended up watching the film in a typical oldskool 2D technology, but would it have been better watching it in 3D!?

Boys night out was doomed after the inclusion of a third member

Movie revolves around Trevor Anderson (Brendan Fraser) who is a scientist in the science department of a university. Trevor is haunted by the lost of his brother Max, in a expedition to study seismic volcanic movement of plates 10 years ago. He then finds himself babysitter to his nephew of whom he hasn’t met for quite sometime. Coinciding with the arrival of his nephew, new and active movement of plates in Iceland suddenly trigger and forces Trevor to go there for a closer look. He then discovers that his brother Max was on the same trail which ultimately led to his disappearance. Thus begins the adventure of the JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE EARTH 3D!

Women were always treated as equals

As you can probably guess I had ultimately fallen asleep writing the synopsis of the movie up there. Having said that the movie plot is quite decent. It makes numerous references to Jules Verne’s Journey to the Center of the Earth which inevitably became a movie. So in a way it is a movie within a movie, or as you could also say, a book within a book. The movie was obviously made to fully maximise its 3D! capability and watching it in 2D might not bring the same desired effect. In a way you can’t really think of it as a movie, but more like a ride with a story behind it. As long as you expect to be entertained that way, then you might actually end up having a good time.

So look out for 3D! camera angles, fast paced 3D! scenes and eye popping 3D! effects to satisfy your 3D! lust you naughty little monkey.

Ratings – 2/5

The Dark Knight

Location: IMAX KL
Time: 9 pm July 17

Believe the hype boys and girls, THE most anticipated movie event of the year is finally here - and it's majestic. Premiered in public cinemas last Wednesday here in KL and all over the world on July 17 - this was the movie to watch! I have to admit, I have been waiting for this movie to hit cinemas for nearly a year now.. thankfully, it was well worth the wait. The hype for this movie was huge, I've never seen a movie so heavily talked about even BEFORE the actual movie was released. And the fact that Heath Ledger (God bless his soul) died before the movie was out, made The Dark Knight even more engrossing to the public. So how would Heath Ledger leave his screen legacy by portraying the villain Joker? Would he leave a significant mark to the people? Would his last performance be worthy of an Oscar nod?

"Ladies and Gentlemen, we are tonight's entertainment!"

You have to watch it to believe it. This movie is far from being disappointing - all the hype in the world could not stop this movie from being an instant classic. If ever there was a need to choose a single movie for our generation, this would definitely be it. It is history in the making folks, it is THAT good.

I'm pretty sure by the time i finish writing my review for this movie, 99% of you out there would have already watch it. So, even if I try to keep this Spoiler free, I hope you wouldn't mind me discussing the details on some of the scenes - just because it'd be so uncool not to talk about it. So lets not be too serious, ok? :D

"And here we...go!"

The Dark Knight starts off where the last movie (Batman Begins) left us. Gotham City now is getting better thanks to Batman (Christian Bale) and also particularly because of the rise of Gotham's new District Attorney - Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart). With the help of Liutenant Gordon (Gary Oldman), Batman and Harvey Dent tries to get rid of the mob that controls the crime syndicate of Gotham. Until suddenly, the emergence of a new force only known as 'The Joker' (Heath Ledger) sets into play. Mayhem ensues.

So what's so damn good about this movie? Simply put - everything. This movie kicks ass from start to finish. With it's 2 and a half hour running time, the movie zips through without you even noticing it has already been nearly 3 hours in the theaters. A lot of material is crammed through the movie -new characters are being introduced, several key plot points, notable action sequences and also some tragic moments. But the beauty of it is, it does not convolute - it never feels as though too many things are happening at once (point in case = Spiderman 3) and so it leaves the viewers feeling satisfied sitting through a considerably long amount of time in the show.

Some men just want to watch the world burn.

The main attraction for this movie is none other than The Joker. Played to perfection by the late Heath Ledger, his personification of The Joker is as amazing as any classic screen characters to date. He is demented, crazy, creepy and funny all at the same time. I've never seen a villain so brutal and deranged having so much fun doing what he does. Almost all of his lines and dialogue in the movie is memorable - when he's not on the screen, you kinda miss him and can't wait for him to come back. And the pencil dissapearing trick? SICK! hahaha

"Want to know how I got my scar?"

However, the director smartly brings back its focus on Batman/Bruce Wayne. It is a Batman movie after all. I like how Christopher Nolan manages the weight of the three integral characters in the movie. All three of them have equal screen time, and brings much relevance and grit to the whole story arc of the movie. The character development of all these important figures in the movie makes the story so much more interesting - especially about the rise and fall of Harvey Dent. The transformation to Two-Face is nothing less than tragic.

"Let's leave it to chance, shall we?"

There are a lot more things to talk about about this movie. The action scenes are superb and well choreographed. Seriously there's more than 5 scenes that can make you go "whoahh" and "oooh" in the movie. My favourite scene, is the one where (spoiler alert) Batman gives chase to save Harvey Dent from the Joker. That scene was so excellently crafted, by the time you get to see the Batpod, you'll be like "how the hell did that come about!?" Awesome! But yeah, even the other minor action scenes are fantastic. You really have to see it to believe it :)

Batpod 2.0

Christopher Nolan has created a masterpiece. Just like Michael Mann did for Heat, and Scorsese did for The Departed, Nolan has created a crime saga based in the world of comic book mythology in epic proportions. Never have I seen a superhero movie this dark, this deranged, this massive, this deep, while keeping it realistically grounded AND super-entertaining at the same time. The only problem I have now after watching this movie is - how the hell are they gonna top this one? Well I guess that's a problem I can't wait to see. But for now, I'm gonna catch the movie again. Anyone for seconds?

Stars: 5/5 - The best movie of the year for me. Period. It can't get any better than this.

Look out for: Cameos by Cillian Murphy and Mr. Hong Kong bad boy - Edison Chen :P

Hancock

Venue – KLCC

Food – I don’t actually remember

More comic book adaptation fun for the month of July and up next is the anti-hero homeless guy they call Hancock Though presumably tired of watching more superhero movies, the theme for this summer blockbusters seem to be “anything you can do I can do better”. But does Hancock really make you feel that way?

Most Hobos preferred Nike to Addidas

The movie focuses on Hancock (Will Smith) of whom is a superhero living in Los Angeles. But unlike most superhero’s who have cool mansions and adored by the public, Hancock is quite the opposite. No home, no money and badly in need of a shower, Hancock goes about his business fighting crime and saving people in the most unconventional of ways (mostly because he’s drunk half the time). He then comes across Ray (Jason Bateman of Arrested Development) whom he saves from almost certain death-by-train-accident. Feeling in debt to Hancock, Ray decides to help Hancock improve his public persona by tutoring him in the art of Public Relations. Giving it shot, Hancock then decides to let himself be locked up in prison which would then increase crime rate in LA as he is not around to help. Brilliant eh?

B.U.M Equipment

Apart from some pretty supernatural fighting scenes, Hancock just drags on and on. Hancock seems to be able to do pretty much anything, though never really specifying what his actual powers are. Although it might be refreshing to see a superhero that doesn’t really know what he’s doing half the time fight crime, the commodity does ware-off after a while. Most people would end up watching this movie by default as the choices would be either Hancock or Made of Honor (unless you’re a girl). There’s even Charlize Theron in this one and she even looked too good to be in this film. Being a Will Smith movie, at least you’ll know that fun and laughs are up for grabs. Sadly in terms of superhero hall of fame, Hancock would be sitting on the bench outside the hall. The movie is a fun filled rollercoaster to nowhere and you would probably watch it then sneak into Made of Honor in cinema hall 2.

Rating – 3.2/5

It kinda made me – wanna watch more Charlize Theron movies. Meooww.

Top 5 Let-Down Comic Adaptation Movies

5. Daredevil

I think most people would disagree with me putting this on my list but in the end, it was a letdown. I have to admit that I’m not such a follower of The Daredevil comics but the movie hardly moved a pulse in my body. It was roughly around this period that the comic book phenomena was really booming and you could tell that Movie Studios were trying to cash in as much as they could. In the end, moviegoers were treated to senseless action of a blind superhero (who can see more than others because of his radioactive eyesight) defeating oddly named villains such as Eightball and Kingpin. Again casting was a let down with Ben Affleck in the main role. Somehow I just don’t feel like the Daredevil brand was strong enough to keep most movie fans excited until the end of the movie.

4. X-Men 3

How oh how did they manage to mess up this movie? If you decide to change the original director with a subsequent less popular and less talented director, the outcome would be the very unmemorable X-Men 3. After the success of X-Men 2, there was a lot of hype surrounding the third and final instalment. The trilogy then started plummeting from a team of mutant warriors to a one-man show. The Wolverine character was over-used and was depicted as if he was the saviour of all mutantkind when in truth his character was nothing more than an anti-hero. Add on to the fact that Superman was actually a fairly decent movie, the X-Men trilogy would have never known what a good ending it might have had.

3. Spiderman 3

All good things come in 3? Another example of no matter how good the first two movies were, nobody will end up buying the boxset because of the third movie. In this one, Peter Parker not only has to deal with 2 new villains in The Sandman and Venom, but even the recurring problem of the Green Goblin. Sounds like one big supervillain party right? The movie was too jam packed of this sudden obsession to fit all of Spiderman’s enemies into one single movie. Venom was wrongly casted as every moment with Topher Grace felt like a scene where they share a smoke in the basement in That 70’s Show. Spiderman 3 gave and gave and gave and didn’t stop giving. Whether or not there will be another Spiderman movie remains to be seen considering they’ve used up Spiderman’s arch Nemesis in this one.


2. Ghost Rider

Just thinking about this movie is like reliving the time your parents used to hit you for something you didn’t do. This movie narrowly misses out on the top spot and I cringe just thinking about it again. From start to finish there were endless corny moments and offered no signs that this was a movie aged 18 and above. The Ghost Rider brand was extremely tainted after this movie adaptation as it not only showed Nicholas Cage’s awkwardness at playing the Devil’s servant, but also some bizarre country music as the Ghost Rider rides off into the night.

And now, the number 1 let-down comic book adaptation movie is……


1. Hulk

It has to be this one. I’ve yet to come across a normal sound thinking human being that actually enjoyed and cherished this movie. Ang Lee not only destroyed the Hulk, he also turned him into a gay cowboy. The movie offered no memorable moments and sent movie viewers on a wild ride to absolutely nowhere. When Eric Bana eventually changes into the Hulk, he was fighting with a pack of wild mutated dogs. It was as if this was all that we had paid for and we needed to top up an extra RM10 just to see a better baddie. If you weren’t trying to kill yourself slowly with the straw from your coke drink, you were probably trying to swallow as much popcorn as you can which you will then choke to death. The only shame from this is that they would discover your body in the cinema watching the Hulk.

Wanted

Venue - KLCC on the weekends

Food - Popcorn in a bucket

Oddly enough there was a lot of hype for this movie in Hollywood. There’s Angie, there’s action, there’s Morgan and his merry killing men. Surely this is enough for any moviegoer to start ogling over the prospects of slow motion shooting scenes?

Training was always poorly financed at The Fraternity

The story revolves around Wesley Gibson (James McAvoy) who leads a mundane life in a random financial firm. Like most of us, he has an extreme dislike to his job and starts to wonder if there was more to life than this. Things change drastically when Wesley discovers that he isn’t just a boring person, but indeed the son to the most lethal assassin that ever lived. His father, who had left him as a child, was recently assassinated by an equally as good assassin named Cross and is now coming after Wesley. Enter Fox (Angelina Jolie), who is a trained assassin and persuades Wesley to join The Fraternity (a special organisation of assassins) to bring balance to the world and avenge his father’s death.

Last time anybody stereotyped a lady driver

The movie has a fantastic opening scene where Fox is there to save Wesley from being killed by Cross. What follows is a full action car chase scene which is inclusive of hard hitting assassin type of skills as well as some moaning from Angelina (bet you think I’m making this up). You get the sense of how it might feel like to be a hitman from the training that Wesley gets and just at that moment you might actually start to think that this wasn’t such a bad movie to pay for. It is a known fact that most action movies put very little effort into plots and story development. Wanted had none of the above.

Wesley was never a desk person

At no point whatsoever does the movie give any space to reasoning and the natural laws of physics. Terms such as the curve bullet and flying out of buildings onto other buildings should be clearly left in science fiction movies or the next Harry Potter film. Our hero was clearly build up to be Luke Skywalker with ability in this film, but nowhere are we even convinced that he seems to have any muscle bound talent. Wesley might probably have been played by the wrong actor who hardly looks like an action hero and more like an awkward school teacher. Wanted is a complete mess and even the bonus of seeing the bare back of Angelina Jolie isn’t enough to cover the shame of watching a crappy action flick.

It should be noted that Wanted was actually based on a comic book. That would explain most of the action scenes and some of the death defying moments our hero encounters.

Ratings – 2/5

Is Nothing Like – The Bourne Trilogy.