Kirsten Bell as Harley Quinn?

Of course, with the huge success that is The Dark Knight, questions surely be aroused on who is our favorite cape crusader's villain in the next sequel. A too much time talented fan has created his own rendition on who would be the next villain of the Dark Knight. In this picture, Kristen Bell portrayed as Harley Quinn. While I've always seen Kristen Bell as someone to adore rather than someone to hate, the dude did a pretty good job. Other than that, the dude also imagined Marion Cotillard as Catwoman. Head to his gallery page for more.

The Dark Knight (2008)

Disclaimer: This review is undoubtedly, understandably biased. Those who look for a fair-and-square review might want to head elsewhere instead. That being said, The Dark Knight is definitely on top of my list of 2008, heck, it's the Best film of all time if you asked me, Heath Ledger deserves an Oscar or I'm going to steal it for him, and.. oh yeah, Christopher Nolan is God!

Years ago, as I returned from the theater after the premiere of Batman Begins, I told my room-mate that its sequel is going to be a blast for we see Batman flips a Joker card hinting his next opponent in the sequel. I said to him excitedly, "Dude, we've never seen a Joker in any Batman films before!" Puzzled, he said, "Really?! I thought we've seen him already" Confident and cocky, I assured him that no, we've never seen a Joker before and of course, being a proud and a self-proclaimed Batman's no.1 fan I had refused to admit that I was wrong but the truth is loud and clear and there's no escaping it. We did saw a Joker back then in the 80's when Michael Keaton donned the masked vigilante for the first time.

I've seen the film of course, but somehow the Joker's presence in that film really slips from my mind. I totally forgot about him. In fact, the only other thing than Batman himself, I only remembered Vicky Vale from that particular film. Now, after I've seen The Dark Knight, I think I know why Jack Nicholson's portrayal of Joker slips from my mind.

Jack Nicholson is a great actor, no doubt about it but there's always a certain line that shouldn't be crossed even if you're a great actor. Ripping Joker, one of the most distinguishable villain in the comic history, out of his root is one such line and really, had you asked me, what Jack did to Joker is what i'd like to call a murder of a character. His portrayal of Joker is literally begged and screamed to be forgotten. Heath Ledger (and Nolan) despite the fan's initial reluctance to accept him as the Joker (a reluctance that slowly turns into an eager anticipation, if i may add) has more than manages to brought Joker back to its root, a sickening super smart villain with a cold ice running in his veins. This is, after all, the Batman's ultimate, numero uno, nemesis we're talking about here.

In a sense, the Dark Knight is actually more about Joker and Harvey Dent than it is about Batman. Nolan introduces us to two of the most important character in Batman. Harvey Dent, superbly played by Aaron Eckhard whom also deserves some award - aw, who am I kidding? Give every single person in this film an award and I won't even uttered a single breadth of complaint - is, was Batman's closest ally next to Jim Gordon (the venerable Gary Oldman) in the effort of cleaning the street of Gotham from injustice and crime. Enter Joker whose needs of crime and terror leverages into more of a passion than a mere money or fame. It takes little from him to prove that he is indeed the only villain of Gotham that could stand up against Batman. Arguably, he even stands taller as in the end, in my opinion, he had won the fight against Batman and that's why the Joker is Batman's nemesis. Jerry Robinson would be proud of his creation.

Arguably the most sophisticated and adult superhero film ever to come out of the pages of a comic book, The Dark Knight won't appeal to children. Parents who thought that Batman is the same Batman as they used to know, expecting their children to had a good time would in for a surprise. I could almost put the almost three-hours of The Dark Knight into a drama and in my opinion, you had to love drama before you could appreciate what The Dark Knight has to offer.

Acting wise, surprisingly, Christian Bale was outshone by almost everybody (except Maggie Gyllenhaal perhaps). His persona as Bruce Wayne, the millionaire, still the best that this franchise had to offer and I think, he is better as Bruce than he is as Batman. Gary Oldman is as good as ever. He is a spitting image of Jim Gordon from the comic anyway. Hence, no complaint from the comic fan, no complaint from general viewer, everybody wins. Aaron Eckhart, Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine had their share of shining moment. But really, the star of this film is of course, Heath Ledger who hardly recognizable under that Joker make-up. He was lingering like a memorable dream (pleasant or un-pleasant, your call) during the first half and when he was more palpable during the second half, it's like to see that dream had come to life and more than ready to bite you or embrace you, your call. He steals every single scene he's in right after his first banter with Batman. My favorite Joker moment: (Mouthed the word) "Six" Everyone who has doubtful that Heath would pull the ultimate Joker should dig themselves a hole and buried themselves in shame. Unfortunately, we won't ever going to see Heath returns as Joker anymore and whoever succeeded him had a gargantuan mountain to climb.

With The Dark Knight undeniable success (already taking the spot of biggest box-office opening of all time from Spider-Man 3), it is easy to see that a comic book adaptation film is not how it's used to be decades ago. Just like its paper and inks counterpart, the comic book adaptation is laden with deep and complex characters. No more silly and five-year-old comic-stuffs galore (point finger to Joel Schumacher who painted the supposedly dark and gloomy Gotham City with bright purplish colors). The comic books nowadays are filled with philosophical thoughts and subtle messages. No doubt this trend has been transferred to the silver screen as well. Plus, more and more world-class actors and actresses willing to play superheroes only after their unending passion and deep research on the hero themselves. I think it is safe to say that after Robert Downey Jr. and Christian Bale, the power-that-be, the men and women behind the decision to green light another hundreds-of-million dollars budget of a superhero film would think twice and maybe more when they put a name to shoulder the leading role and this at least half-way guaranteed that another superhero film, be it from Marvel or DC line of superheroes, would worth the wait. Oh, how I love comic.

My rating: ***** / **** - Don't expect me to give a fair judgement, if fairness was accounted for, I would give it a four star rating, anyway.

Yours Truly, Best/Worst Batman

While Christopher Nolan's take on the Batman franchise without a doubt outshone both Tim Burton's and especially Joel Schumacher's stinker duds, I was on a close opinion to chose Michael Keaton as the best Batman with Christian Bale a close second (the order of it MIGHT change after i saw The Dark Knight, though), but I've had no doubt whatsoever to name Christian Bale as the best Bruce Wayne. The worst Batman/Bruce Wayne? I should say that all Batman fans must unanimously name George Clooney as the worst Batman/Bruce Wayne. No. Frickin'. Doubt.

Can't. Wait. Any. Longer.

Okay, i'm now officially restless. James Berardinelli at ReelViews.com, one of the few film critics i'd like to hear from (probably due to his educational background in Electrical Engineering which in my opinion, doesn't stray that much away from Computer Science) has given this film a solid four stars, the first i've seen from him in a long time. Damn! And the word is, that this film arrived at our local theater on July 18th. Shoot 'n Crap, i'd say! But, no matter, July 18th or July 16th, you can count on me being the first in line for The Dark Knight.

Mustn't. Punch. the. Wall. for. Impatience.

Building the Hype. The Dark Knight

As if the film needs more hype than it already has. This film's hype is crazy. Probably the craziest hype ever in the history of film. I mean, even if Batman Begins doesn't really has that power to bring down the box-office much like Spider-Man film which of course, had you asked me, a clearly understatement, the duo Chris Nolan and Christian Bale still heralded by many as ones who responsible to revive the legacy of the second greatest detective in the fiction history (second only to Sherlock Holmes) and we, self-acclaimed Batman fans were ready to eat anything they had to offer as a sequel. Added to that, Warner Bros. has been throwing us gimmicks regarding the film more than we could chew. Added to that, again, the death of Heath Ledger the dude who plays the main villain, the glorious villain that many has come to accustomed with as probably the ultimate villain Batman ever had, surely upped the ante of the anticipation level.

Anyways, news has it that Indonesia is among the first country who has the privilege to see The Dark Knight earlier than most along with Australia (the home country of Heath Ledger) and Philippines. I sincerely hope that it would be the case for if it is true, i would skip work on July 16th. Now, if i could find an old Joker costume and could muster enough courage to don it on the screening day, that would be a blast.

Batman: Gotham Knight (V) (2008)

Batman: Gotham Knight (DVD). Just like Animatrix series of Japanese-style animes that linked Matrix (1999) and its subsequent two-part sequels (Reloaded and Revolution), Batman: Gotham Knight is a series of animation episodes that (apparently) linked Batman Begins (2005) and the upcoming The Dark Knight (2008).

Batman: The Gotham Knight is a collection of six titles: Gotham Knight, Cross Fire, Field Test, In Darkness Dwells, Working Through Pain, and Deadshot. Each recounted the tale of Batman from various perspective after the events in Batman Begins which arguably turns Batman from a novice crimefighter into the Dark Knight. From a bunch of kids recounting their tales of Batman encounters, each with their own version of spice to fantasize their tales thus rendered the Batman into more than just a simple human being, from the squad of Gotham Police Department, Batman's battle against Scarecrow and Killer Croc, his encounter with Cassandra (not Cassandra Cain, though) in what i'm guessing India, his and Lucious Fox's research to have another addition into his arsenal of gadgetry, and finally his fight against Deadshot.

If you asked me, Batman: Gotham Knight is a more of a gimmick than an essential link that bridged the two Batman films. Long time fans of Batman, and especially Batman Animated series would know most of the stories already. Added to that, here, Batman was voiced by Kevin Conroy, its original voice actor from Batman Animated series. As far as The Dark Knight film which was going to hit the theaters next week concerned, unless my ears deceiving me, not a brief mention of Joker, Harvey Dent, or even Rachel Dawes ever came up which made the episodes depicted in this film act more like filler episodes. Therefore, unless you're Batman fans, really hyped up toward The Dark Knight film, or a film buffs with a lot of time to waste, or all three, it's okay to skip this film entirely and anticipate for the release of The Dark Knight film sometime next week instead.

Poster: The Dark Knight

'The Dark Knight' Teaser Poster

Batman. The Dark Knight. Teaser Poster. Oh, you see it coming. You definitely see it coming. I've been fascinated with Batman even when Adam West donned the grey cape. And with The Dark Knight coming closer and closer, thanks to relentless marketing campaign from Warner Bros., the tension only mounted ever higher. However, the teaser poster, though clearly shown what we'd expect next - Um, it's Joker? *rolls eyes* Of course it is, it's hardly a secret, ever since Batman Begins three years ago -, it was rather too ordinary to my taste. Oh, but still, The Dark Knight was clearly one of the most anticipated film in 2008. In my case, i wouldn't give anything to forestall the first hand experience should the film hit the local theater.

Further, to ante up my incredulous apprehension to the man in black - minus the nipple-suit - i decided to put up a tag, niftily named Batman in this blog (as if anyone would care. um, well...).

Gotta Love Batman

You gotta love Batman and Warner Bros. for pulling yet another magnificent marketing stint regarding the next Batman films, The Dark Knight. There's already a website for The Gotham Times and the supposedly Batman's next super-villain, everyone's favorite, Joker was at it again with his own version of The Ha Ha Ha Times. If anything, this marketing stint makes me even curious about wether Heath Ledger would be able to shoulder the responsibility of being everyone's favorite villain, Joker. Because really, if we see these marketing stints Warner Bros. has been put us through, it's natural to expect that the Joker would be some kind of mind-fuck freak. A Joker that doesn't hesitate to kill, and laughing while doing so. Brrr... can't wait. Really.