However, I made up my mind that I would do a special post once I've watched "The Dark Knight".
Why?
"The Dark Knight" wasn't just another superhero/comic book movie. It was something much more. It was a milestone.
How can a movie about a man dressed up as a bat be a milestone in anyone's life?
Let's turn the clocks back, say, 20 years. 19 years exactly if you want to be precise.
It was 1989. It was the year that changed my life. Before that time, I was never one who was "into" movies. The movie that changed all that was Tim Burton's "Batman".
That's the reason why, I'm not a Star Wars nut like some of the other people my age are. The first of the "Star Wars" movies came out in the late 1970s. The movie that really made an impact, was "Batman".
It was "Batman" that made fall in love with the movies.
I remember going to the cinema (an actual cinema, not the multi-screen cineplexes we have today) with Darren, UNSUPERVISED. I think that was probably the first time we went out without adult supervision. I can't remember if it was Sentosa or Paramount Cinema.
It was unlike any movie I've ever seen. The new all-black Batsuit. The Danny Elfman theme and music. And the Batmobile was just about the coolest car I had ever seen.
I went crazy about all things Batman. I remember this white kid at school who brought a comic book to school. And the drawings were so good, they looked exactly like Michael Keaton, Jack Nicholson, Kim Basinger and the rest of them.
I asked him where he got it, and he told it was from the Pantai Hospital giftshop/newsagent.
I don't know what I told mum, or how I convinced her but she actually drove me all the way there to look for this particular comic. What a spoilt brat I was!
No luck, I didn't find any comics there. It was some time later when mum told me about a comic shop she found in Damansara Utama (now known as Damansara Uptown). One day, I decided to check it out and it was like I was transported to another world. I've never seen a comic shop like that before. It was The Mind Shop.
And as luck would have it, I managed to find the movie adaptation of "Batman", which I still have to this day.
It was "Batman" that made fall in love with the movies.
I remember going to the cinema (an actual cinema, not the multi-screen cineplexes we have today) with Darren, UNSUPERVISED. I think that was probably the first time we went out without adult supervision. I can't remember if it was Sentosa or Paramount Cinema.
It was unlike any movie I've ever seen. The new all-black Batsuit. The Danny Elfman theme and music. And the Batmobile was just about the coolest car I had ever seen.
I went crazy about all things Batman. I remember this white kid at school who brought a comic book to school. And the drawings were so good, they looked exactly like Michael Keaton, Jack Nicholson, Kim Basinger and the rest of them.
I asked him where he got it, and he told it was from the Pantai Hospital giftshop/newsagent.
I don't know what I told mum, or how I convinced her but she actually drove me all the way there to look for this particular comic. What a spoilt brat I was!
No luck, I didn't find any comics there. It was some time later when mum told me about a comic shop she found in Damansara Utama (now known as Damansara Uptown). One day, I decided to check it out and it was like I was transported to another world. I've never seen a comic shop like that before. It was The Mind Shop.
And as luck would have it, I managed to find the movie adaptation of "Batman", which I still have to this day.
As time went by, I started collecting comics on and off. I even got myself a little Batmobile model kit which cost me RM 89.90 from The Mind Shop.
I remember building it, then placing it into the display case in the living room. I think mum must've thought it was a regular toy. She took it out and let one of her students play with it. And that was the last time I ever saw it in one piece.
Then, more Batman movies. With each new movie, there was an evolution in the suit, the car and the gear.
a) Batman (1989)
The main villain was of course, The Joker (Jack Nicholson).
b) Batman Returns (1992)
Cat, Bat and Penguin
1992 Batsuit
1992 Batmobile - it was the same car in "Batman Returns"
c) Batman Forever (1995)
1995 Batsuit - the introduction of the Bat-nipples
1995 Batmobile
d) Batman & Robin (1997)
1997 Batsuit - Nipples Forever
1997 Batmobile
Everything sort of went downhill from there. The car was ugly. There were 2 ugly suits. Batman used a Bat-credit card.
There were still 2 villains - Mr. Freeze (Arnold Schwarzenneger) and Poison Ivy (Uma Thurman). They also brought introduced a new member to the Bat-family, Batgirl (Alicia Silverstone).
And a little bit of trivia, George Clooney was the only actor in the franchise who didn't use a different voice as Batman. Both the Batman voice and Bruce Wayne voice were the same! What's up with that?
After "Batman & Robin", people thought the life for Batman on the big screen was over. Many thought it was a disaster.
Then along came Christopher Nolan and "Batman Begins".
The movie was of course, a critical hit. Financially, it wasn't as big as some of the other older movies. Still, critics loved it, and Batman was given a second life.
2005 Batsuit
2005 - Tumbler
Things have come full circle. The main villain in "The Dark Knight" is The Joker, just like it was in "Batman", 19 years ago.
But that's where the similarities end. The Tim Burton version was dark, but it was like a fantasy. Christopher Nolan's world is dark and realistic.
2008 Batsuit
2008 - Tumbler
2008 - New ride, Batpod
I remember building it, then placing it into the display case in the living room. I think mum must've thought it was a regular toy. She took it out and let one of her students play with it. And that was the last time I ever saw it in one piece.
Then, more Batman movies. With each new movie, there was an evolution in the suit, the car and the gear.
a) Batman (1989)
1989 Batsuit
1989 Batmobile
1989 Batmobile
The main villain was of course, The Joker (Jack Nicholson).
b) Batman Returns (1992)
Cat, Bat and Penguin
1992 Batsuit
1992 Batmobile - it was the same car in "Batman Returns"
It was with "Batman Returns" where they started to introduce two villains - Catwoman (Michelle Pfeiffer) and The Penguin (Danny DeVito).
It would appear that every movie after, Batman had to deal with more than 1 adversary.
It would appear that every movie after, Batman had to deal with more than 1 adversary.
1995 Batsuit - the introduction of the Bat-nipples
1995 Batmobile
I think up till "Batman Forever" things were still pretty ok. As a fan, there were gadgets, the Batmobile still looked pretty cool. The suits were still ok, nipples or not.
Keeping with tradtion, 2 villains appeared: The Riddler (Jim Carrey) and Two-Face (Tommy Lee Jones). That could be the reason why they included Robin (Chris O'Donnell) in the picture.
And then, there was.....
Keeping with tradtion, 2 villains appeared: The Riddler (Jim Carrey) and Two-Face (Tommy Lee Jones). That could be the reason why they included Robin (Chris O'Donnell) in the picture.
And then, there was.....
1997 Batsuit - Nipples Forever
1997 Batmobile
Everything sort of went downhill from there. The car was ugly. There were 2 ugly suits. Batman used a Bat-credit card.
There were still 2 villains - Mr. Freeze (Arnold Schwarzenneger) and Poison Ivy (Uma Thurman). They also brought introduced a new member to the Bat-family, Batgirl (Alicia Silverstone).
And a little bit of trivia, George Clooney was the only actor in the franchise who didn't use a different voice as Batman. Both the Batman voice and Bruce Wayne voice were the same! What's up with that?
After "Batman & Robin", people thought the life for Batman on the big screen was over. Many thought it was a disaster.
Then along came Christopher Nolan and "Batman Begins".
The movie was of course, a critical hit. Financially, it wasn't as big as some of the other older movies. Still, critics loved it, and Batman was given a second life.
2005 Batsuit
2005 - Tumbler
Things have come full circle. The main villain in "The Dark Knight" is The Joker, just like it was in "Batman", 19 years ago.
But that's where the similarities end. The Tim Burton version was dark, but it was like a fantasy. Christopher Nolan's world is dark and realistic.
2008 Batsuit
2008 - Tumbler
2008 - New ride, Batpod
As much as I loved "Batman" way back in 1989, it cannot compare to "The Dark Knight". And as for The Joker, Heath Ledger wins hands down. There's no question that he's the better Joker.
The 1989 Joker had only 1 expression - a permanent grin on his face.
Jack Nicholson - Joker 1989
The Many Faces Of Joker 2008 (Heath Ledger)
The Face-off (2008)
The Batman does inflict pain and bodily harm on his enemies, but we've never seen this kind of rage present in "The Dark Knight" before. Heath's Joker wasn't the same as Jack's Joker. He pushes the right buttons and pisses Batman off. You can see in one of the scenes where Batman struggles with himself as he wants to kill The Joker, but he couldn't.
And in the Nolan movies, Christian Bale's Batman is a beast. He's mentioned before in interviews that he plays him more with animal-like nature.
There's alot of content in "The Dark Knight" and I'll probably need more than one viewing to digest everything. I'll be anticipating the DVD or Blu-Ray (if I get a player or PS3 by then). That's not surprising considering I've seen "Batman Begins" at least 10 times in total.
20 years of memories, 20 years of movie magic.
As much as I loved "Batman" way back in 1989, I stuck through and watched the rest of it being the big Batman fan that I was. When things got bad to worse from "Batman Forever" and "Batman & Robin", I still watched the movies. Today, I rank "Batman Begins" and "The Dark Knight" as the best Batman movies ever.
To quote a line of Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart) from the "The Dark Knight" -
Things have to get worse, before they get better.
Here's to waiting for the next installment of Batman and the large buckets of caramel popcorn to go along with it!
The 1989 Joker had only 1 expression - a permanent grin on his face.
Jack Nicholson - Joker 1989
The Many Faces Of Joker 2008 (Heath Ledger)
The Face-off (1989)
The Face-off (2008)
The Batman does inflict pain and bodily harm on his enemies, but we've never seen this kind of rage present in "The Dark Knight" before. Heath's Joker wasn't the same as Jack's Joker. He pushes the right buttons and pisses Batman off. You can see in one of the scenes where Batman struggles with himself as he wants to kill The Joker, but he couldn't.
And in the Nolan movies, Christian Bale's Batman is a beast. He's mentioned before in interviews that he plays him more with animal-like nature.
There's alot of content in "The Dark Knight" and I'll probably need more than one viewing to digest everything. I'll be anticipating the DVD or Blu-Ray (if I get a player or PS3 by then). That's not surprising considering I've seen "Batman Begins" at least 10 times in total.
20 years of memories, 20 years of movie magic.
As much as I loved "Batman" way back in 1989, I stuck through and watched the rest of it being the big Batman fan that I was. When things got bad to worse from "Batman Forever" and "Batman & Robin", I still watched the movies. Today, I rank "Batman Begins" and "The Dark Knight" as the best Batman movies ever.
To quote a line of Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart) from the "The Dark Knight" -
The night is darkest before the dawn, I promise you, the dawn is coming
Things have to get worse, before they get better.
Here's to waiting for the next installment of Batman and the large buckets of caramel popcorn to go along with it!
No comments:
Post a Comment