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.

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.