The Dark Knight

The sequel to Batman Begins with Christian Bale reprising his role as Batman. There’s no Katie Holmes this time round to play Rachel Dawes but that’s pretty irrelevant. While some say this is better than the prequel, and most of the praises were given to the now deceased Heath Ledger who plays the Joker in this movie, I still liked the prequel better. Without a doubt, Heath Ledger did very well in his role, and he was very much different from the other joker. This is one Joker I find way too sinister and evil. He isn’t funny at all and frankly, I can’t even say if he’s even joking at all.

If you ask me what is the gist of the story, then it would be Joker’s ‘bet’ with Batman that good or morality is an easy thing to say and do when one’s life or loved one is not threatened. i.e. it is not difficult to even turn a good man, even the best among us, to become a bad one if the ‘right switch is flicked’.

In a way Joker’s view is right. I can’t explain that in detail here, as that would become spoilers even though I believe most people have already watched it. But still, it’s best for you to watch it on your own to get your own feel and understanding of this movie.

Personally speaking, I preferred the prequel with the dark and Gothic look to Gotham City. The Gotham in this movie no longer have that feel. Above which, the movie was really too long and almost 3/4 way through I could feel the level rising in the bladder.

Even so, this is the best movie I have watched for the month of July / August. And if there’s one movie you shouldn’t miss, this has to be it.

Addendum 25.08.08: I was clearing my hard disk today and I suddenly come across a screen shot of something a while back when someone said “It is impossible to understand the minds of certain people because that would be like trying to understand the mind of the Joker in Batman.”

It would have been true on the surface, but on deeper thoughts, the above statement shows just how shallow the mind of such a person. There was only one thing in the mind of the Joker, and that is to prove that everyone can break their own principles. i.e. even the best among the good can be turned to do evil. This was at the end of the movie in the conversation between Batman and the Police Commissioner. Apparently someone has left in brains in the freezer when he was watching the movie.

The Mummy III

My personal opinion after watching this movie? Make this the last. The joke one of my friend made about it was, in the next Mummy movie they will be fighting mummies of the legendary Wind [聂风] and Cloud [步惊云] from the HK Kungfu comics.

And there are a few things I didn’t like. First, Rachel Weisz is no longer reprising her role as Evelyn O’Connell. Second, Brendan Fraser looks are still too youthful to play the role of a father. And third, I think Michelle Yeoh’s Mandarin still sucks as bad as it was in Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon. To round it up, to imagine Qin Shihuang – the first Emperor of China – as a mummy is really pushing the limit of my tolerance. But in the book, it was some other fictional character known as Er shihuangdi, though I am quite sure Qin Shihuang and his unification of China inspired this character.

The story begins with how the Dragon Emperor (Jet Li) turned into a Mummy after being cursed by the sorceress Zi Yuan (Michelle Yeoh). It then fast forward 2000 odd years to show Alex O’Connell – son of Richard O’Connell (Brendan Fraser) – discovering the resting place and how General Yang (Anthony Wong) and his cronies ‘resurrected’ the Emperor or free him from the curse. Then of course, it goes on to the usual attempts to kill / destroy the Mummy.

I won’t dwell too much on the storyline. But suffice to say this movie is completely uninspiring, especially the part where you see an army fighting with iron age weapons with mid-20th Century soldiers. Simply put, I completely regretted watching it. I should have saved that $7.50 and convert it into another HK$35 to buy food for my stomach in Hong Kong.

Journey to the Centre of the Earth

The movie was a little too short for my taste and appears to be rushing through the parts. As to what the story is about is summarized by these few words – a simple investigation turning into a major adventure.

Trevor Anderson (Brendan Fraser) is head of the Center of Volcanic Activity in a university. His brother Max went missing 10 years ago leaving behind a widow and his nephew Sean. Max’ widow decided to leave Sean with Trevor for 10 days as she leaves for Canada to prepare for their eventual migration and Sean made Trevor take him along to Iceland to investigate seismic sensor readings that matches those during Max’ disappearance. When they arrived in Iceland they hired guide Hannah (Anita Briem) to take them up the volcano where the sensor is. The rest is ‘history’.

Though another Brendan Fraser movie, at the very least this one was much more interesting than Mummy 3, though at one point of time I was wondering if I wasn’t watching Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. The eye candy, Anita Briem, was better than Mummy 3 of course.

There’s also quite a bit of computer animation put into this movie in the form of dinosaurs, prehistoric piranhas, relatives of the Loch Ness monster etc, and not just mummies, and more mummies. However, you are not missing much if you don’t watch it but if you absolutely ‘heart’ Brendan Fraser than I would suggest getting the cheap VCD version when it is released.