Why Batman Won’t Die in “The Dark Knight Rises”
There’s been a ton of media speculation regarding The Dark Knight Rises. Those involved with the film seem to have done everything they can to stir up the rumors of Batman’s demise.
Let me state my take on this very clearly.
Bruce Wayne will be alive at the end of the film.
Here’s why:
Taken in a Barnes & Nobel of all places
Merchandising! Merchandising, where the real money from the movie is made. Batman-the T-shirt, Batman-the Coloring Book, Batman-the Lunch box, Batman-the Breakfast Cereal, Batman-the Flame Thrower! And last but not least, Batman the doll… “SWEAR TO ME!”
Dark as this movie may be, kids want to see it, and parents want to take their kids to see it. The folks at Warner Brothers & DC Comics don’t want tales of childhood trama surrounding this movie.
May the schwartz be with you!
Lady Gaga is a Batman Villain
I’m not sure how we missed it… Lady Gaga is a Batman villain.
It’s been staring us in the face for two years; garish costumes, henchmen, and occasional bouts of insanity.
Lady Gaga Kidnaps Commissioner Gordon, The Onion
Simple Desktop Backgrounds
The desktop on my computers is a functional space; whatever I’m currently focused on lives there. As a consequence I don’t like having complicated background images. However that doesn’t mean I want something boring.
Simple Desktops has a vast selection of minimal yet attractive vector art wallpapers. They’re interesting without being distracting, and frequently very geeky. Give them a look.
Simple Desktops
Batman Arkham City Gameplay Trailer
A new trailer for Batman Arkham City, the sequel to 2009′s Arkham Asylum has hit the interweb and it looks amazing.
Arkham City is scheduled for release on October 3, 2011.
Reaction to “The Cape”
NBC ran Heroes into the ground, and are out in search of a new superhero tale to fill the time-slot.
The Plot
The last honest cop in town discovers that a local bazillionaire is the supervillain, Chess. Cop is subsequently framed and presumed dead in an explosion.
Cop is discovered, and trained to be a Batman-like superhero by what amounts to a roving band of carny thieves.
He can’t go back to see his family, so he chooses to fight the forces of evil in the hope that he will one day clear his name.
The Good
The plot is pretty thin and cliche, but it works. It’s basically The Punisher, except the good cop’s family isn’t dead, so he stays on the rails and doesn’t become a villain murdering psychopath.
The show seems like it’s going to follow the Buffy the Vampire Slayer model:
- Each season has an overarching threat
- Each episode has a new big bad guy to defeat
- Weave in character development in between the action
- Repeat until the actors leave, the writers tie up the story, or the show jumps the shark
The Buffy model works, so long as there is quality writing.
Summer Glau plays a sexy and mysterious blogger/ hacker Orwell, and ultimately partners with our hero. She is basically Oracle without the wheelchair, and it works. Glau is great at playing unusual characters, and her presence helped lift the show’s script.
Keith David plays Max Malini, the hero’s mentor, and his performance was standout. His character is completely ridiculous, but he sells it 100%.
The Not-So-Good
Vinnie “I’m the Juggernaut bitch!” Jones reprised his role as a super-powered version of himself. I’m tired of it.
As I mentioned before, this show is jam-packed with cliches. It’s not a deal-breaker, but the writers need to be mindful of it. They are treading into territory that has been covered over and over again.
The Ugly
I don’t know why the hell it took our hero nearly two episodes to put on a damn mask. His face is all over the news, and he’s marching around in a hoodie like it’s a disguise. This completely took me out of the narrative on a number of occasions, and drove me positively batty.
The Bottom-line
There is potential here, but this show is far from a “must watch.” It’s more of a guilty pleasure, and there’s nothing wrong with that.
I’ll be back for more next week.
The Onion – Kim Jong Il Next Batman
This isn’t all that implausible.
Mass Effect 3, Uncharted 3, Batman & Mortal Kombat
The 2010 Video Game Awards were held on Saturday night. Award shows of any kind don’t really mean much to me. However a number of trailers for upcoming games were revealed during the show, and thats interesting.
Each of these videos depicts cinematics for games that will be released in 2011, and will almost certainly dominate sales the sales charts.
Mass Effect 3
Mass Effect 2 rocked. It was an enormous adventure that left me wanting more. I can’t wait to see what the final installment in the trilogy brings to the Mass Effect universe.
Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception
Uncharted 2 played like a classic Indiana Jones movie (not that Crystal Skull piece of crap). It was funny, thrilling, and action packed. If publisher Naughty Dog remains consistent, all of these impressive cinematics are “in-game.”
Batman Arkham City
Batman Arkham Asylum was the best super hero game in many years. The sequel looks even better.
FYI – Dr. Hugo Strange is rumored as the villain in the next Batman movie
MORTAL KOMBAT
The new MORTAL KOMBAT is a return to the series’ roots. It’s a brutal 2D fighter that promises to serve up decapitations and buckets of blood. The big reveal at the VGAs is that Kratos, the anti-hero from the God of War series will be a playable character on the PS3 version of the game.
It begs the question, “who is the Xbox 360 exclusive character?”
My money is on Marcus Fenix from Gears of War.
I image Fenix could have an interesting fatality involving that chainsaw.
