THE DARK KNIGHT

Written and Directed by Christopher Nolan

Starring Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Aaron Eckhart, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Michael Caine, Gary Oldman, Morgan Freeman

A Masterpiece. Instant Classic. Modern work of Cinematic Greatness. Need I go on?

For two and a half hours I sat enthralled in this Gothic tale of morality and mayhem. And loved every second of it. It's so much more then just a Batman movie. The actors, the cinematography, and especially the script, hell, every aspect of the film is executed to near perfection. Writer/Director Christopher Nolan takes the Batman story into the ultra-real world that the Batman comics entered more than 15 years ago, losing the cartoony villains and corny gadgets. The result is less a super hero film, but a straight crime drama.

PLOT RECAP! The trio of Batman, last good cop Jim Gordan and golden boy DA Harvey Dent agree to take down all organized crime in Gotham City. Batman sees Dent as the future of the city, the "white knight" that can inspire the people in ways he cannot. Meanwhile the Joker offers his services to the mob to take down Batman and Gotham's leaders, but his motives are actually to seize control of the criminal underworld and spread corruption and fear among the people of Gotham.

So here's my Heath Ledger take. I don't care that he's pushing daisies. His performance is legendary. Rarely does an actor so disappear into a role (Marion Cotillard in "Le Vie en Rose" last year comes to mind). He exudes psychotic. He is truly frightening, not only when he's being violent, but he's even scarier when crossing the street. Anthony Hopkins as Hannibal Lector is the only comparison that comes close. Ledger owns every scene he's in. As for the Joker character, gone is the clown prince of crime. I love the fact that we get no orgin. We don't know his motivations, and he's more frightening because of it. A killer with no motive except the spread of anarchy.

But besides the Joker and Batman, the other residents of Gotham really get to shine. Is there a more prestigious supporting cast then Gary Oldman, Michael Caine, and Morgan Freeman. Everyone (including the general population of Gotham!) is put into a situation where they must make a film altering decision that tests their character's morals. I especially love Oldman depicting the evolution of Jim Gordon, from Sargent to Lieutenant to Police Commissioner. Aaron Eckhardt turns in a good performance as the Angel of Gotham , DA Harvey Dent and his fall from grace as the disfigured Two-Face. His performance is filled with pain you empathise with and his descent to madness is believable. Then there's Maggie Gyllenhaal, an actress I love, taking over the Rachel Dawes character from Katie Holmes, an upgrade in talent if not hotness. Dare I say she turns in an explosive performance.

WTF!?! It seems I haven't even mentioned Christian Bale. One of the top actors working today (see American Psycho, The Prestige and 3:10 to Yuma). The perfect Bruce Wayne and a damn good Batman. He tends to growl more as Batman, i mean REALLY growl, and it almost started to bother me. But he wouldn't want his buddies to recognize him, would he? The pantheon of Batman actors will always be compared to each other, and Bale rates as a better Bruce Wayne then Michael Keaton and a better Batman then Val Kilmer.

This is what happens when iconic characters are put into the hands of visionary directors. Tim Burton's Batman (1989) was obstensively the birth of the blockbuster comic book film, but Christopher Nolan has now transcended the genre. Only a few times have I felt this way about a film as I walked out of the theater, and those were The Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Matrix, Saving Private Ryan, and Pulp Fiction. Not only is the Dark Knight the best "Super Hero" film EVER, it will rank as one of the greatest FILMS ever. Click here if you don't believe me!

The Sneaky Cheetah's Grade: A+

Bonus Bat Cycle picture below!

WALL-E

directed by Andrew Stanton

Starring Fred Willard, Cliff Claven, and some other people.

It had to happen eventually. The streak is over. I'm going to go against virtually every critic out there and say Pixar has finally stumbled. WALL-E is a dud.

Dud may be too harsh. And maybe my expectations were too high. But after months of hearing that cute WaaaAAAlleeeeeeeee sound all over the place, I was ready to be wowed. And it starts off promising. Just like last years "last man on earth" film I Am Legend, the first third of Wall-e (I now refuse to use all caps) is very good. Wall-e's utter aloneness (except for an indestructible pet cockroach) is intriguing and fascinating. When a sleek new robot named EVE arrives from parts unknown, the movie starts to take a dive. Wall-e's obsessive behavior and unflinching devotion to EVE seems kind of out of character for the unique independent worker, and kind of creepy coming from a robot. Wall-e's journey to the space cruiser where all the humans have been chillin' for 700 years has the film plummeting to mediocrity. You are pummeled with the message of the film, that humans will destroy the earth with pollution and garbage, then become slothful zombies who's every needs are served by robots. What could have been a slap sticky "fish out of water" romp through the cruiser is not very creative and rarely funny. Also missing is a big climactic final action scene as our heroes Wall-e and Eve are almost forgotten so the human captain can, wait for it...., stand up and turn off the auto pilot! WOW! uhh, stupid.

The animation does not disappoint, and you truly forget this is an animated film until you see the big squishy humans. There's also a curious decision to include some live action scenes of Fred Willard that seemed jarring at first, but makes more sense now that I think about it, separating the humans of old from the tons o' fun humans of the future.

This seems like it would have been a fantastic short film. I don't have a problem with the almost silent quality of the film, but kids may not be held in thrall by visuals alone. My review may sound harsh, but Wall-E is not horrible when compared with most of the animated trash released recently, but it's easily the worst of the 9 Pixar films.

The Sneaky Cheetah's Grade: C