Now that the story of Trickshot Films is done and dusted here are some brain-thinkings about other cinematic offerings what people with more money and dedicated time to make them have done.
The Dark Knight - In a nutshell:- The Batman fan's Batman film. I'm a long time Batman fan. I first started reading Batman comics around 16 years with a story called The Killing Joke (in which the Joker shoots and cripples Commissioner Gordon's daughter) and then with an ongoing title called Legends Of The Dark Knight - both of which cemented Batman's world for me as one of gritty crime drama and insane psychopaths (cheery stuff, eh, kids?). So when a Batman film comes along that's a gritty crime drama featuring insane psychopaths, you can imagine just how much this right up my alley. Obviously, there has been a ridiculous amount of hype due to this being Heath Ledger's last full role*. He does put in a great performance but I'd have to say it's been hyped a little out of control. For me, this is more Aaron Eckhart's film as Harvey Dent/Two-Face. After the shambles that was Tommy Lee Jones shouting a bit, it's good to see the character being made into something substantial. The film zipped along for me - I didn't notice it was a two and a half hour film. A couple of little niggles aside (I'm still not quite sure Gordon faking his death made much sense), it was brilliant. Go see it.
Hellboy 2: The Golden Arny - In a nutshell:- Fairies, fish-man love and Barry Manilow - what more could you ask for? I liked the first film a lot - mainly for Ron Perlman's performance as the titular character (a part he seemed to be born to play) but, as is the norm with comic book based movies in this day and age when the franchise is king, it was more of a set-up film than anything else. This time out, it feels like they're using the opportunity to play with the world they've created a little bit more, plus there are some nice touches of humour this time out (I defy you not to raise a smile at the sight of a drunk demon and fish man singing along to Barry Manilow - that's not a sentence you type every day either). My only real criticism would be that the ending somehow felt slightly anti-climactic given the apocalyptic build-up that the Golden Army but it's a minor niggle. Another enjoyable comic book film (these days, when they get comic book right, they really do get it right).
Beowulf - In a nutshell:- Surprisingly more enjoyable and grimmer than expected. I just expected this to be a fairly bland CGI-fest and was surprised at just how grim it is. I must admit, I'm not particularly au fait with the original legend - I think I remember reading an abridged version of it at school but that was along time ago. It is let down at times but some overly Cockney shouting on Ray Winstone's part and some of the CGI still fails to convince in places but, on the whole, I enjoyed it.
Wanted - In a nutshell:- Extremely stupid but in a fun way. Ah, the near non-stop rollercoaster of comic to film adaptations continues with this one. In the comic, the main character discovers he's the son of the world's most notorious supervillain and that villains have been running the world for many years now. The film alters that to a secret society of assassins and quite rightly too. It's an extremely over-the-top film but in such a knowing way that it pretty much gets away with it. On a personal note, it's disappointing to see Angelina Jolie looking so gaunt. I mean, I still wouldn't kick her out of bed if she farted but it wouldn't hurt for her to maybe tuck into an occasional pie or two every now and then.
Well, I think I'll leave it for now on a classy note like that. Tune in next time, same Bald-time, same Bald-channel...
* Not his last role completely as Terry Gilliam's next effort, completed using other actors, will be his last role.
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