(4.5/5) action – thriller – sci-fi

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Reviews: Roger Ebert (2 of 4) | IMDb External Reviews | Rotten Tomatoes 34% | Metacritic 51%

I loved it! Having listened to Ben Mankiewicz’s review I was expecting it to be terrible. Fortunately I had not read Roger Ebert’s rather ill-informed review. I hold his opinion in such high regard that I may not have seen it at the cinema. And, this kind of movie is best viewed on a big screen.

Let’s be clear, I am not a die-hard Terminator fan. But, I did faithfully watch and enjoyed the now cancelled Terminator: Sarah Connor Chronicles TV series. I suspect that that was a factor in my enjoying the movie as much as I did.

Ebert’s biggest criticism is that there is no story. To someone that is not a fan, that is a valid criticism. The movie makes no effort to fill the viewer in on the back story. It assumes you know it. Both Ebert and Makiewicz contrast Terminator to the recent Star Trek and how it was approachable by regular movie goers. There is validity in that argument.  

But anyone who is a fan of the Terminator franchise or the TV show will enjoy how Terminator Salvation fits into the overall story arch. It shows how John Connor becomes the leader of the resistance and, ultimately, the beginnings of why the machines spent so much time in the earlier Terminator movies going back in time to try to kill him. That is the main story. There is an important side story involving Sam Worthington that I also found interesting. Indeed, the side-story’s plot is the basis for the use of ‘Salvation’ in the movie’s name. To explain why would be to provide a spoiler. 

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  (5/5)

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Reviews: Roger Ebert | IMDb External Reviews | Rotten Tomatoes 95% | Metacritic 82%

Wow! The Dark Knight was so good I would have wanted to give it 5.5 Dale-heads out of 5. But, its whopping 2.5 hour length, and the fact that I don’t have a graphic for 5.5 Dale-heads, pulls it back to a meagre perfect 5 out of 5.

I quite enjoyed Batman Begins (2005). The Dark Knight was even better. In this instalment, Christian Bale’s Batman, Lieutenant Jim Gordon (Gary Oldman ) and District Attorney Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart) had been making significant strides in reducing the crime-ridden Gotham City we encountered in Batman Begins until a new arch-villain, The Joker (Heath Ledger), rose up to challenge them. And challenge-them he does.

Heath Ledger as the Joker was spectacular and is a shoe-in for Best Supporting Actor. He steels the show from Christian Bale, though Bale’s performance was very good too. Ledger’s creepy, nuanced performance of a sociopath is acting at its best.

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  (4.5/5) action, super-hero, thriller

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Reviews: Roger Ebert | IMDb External Reviews | Rotten Tomatoes (84%) | Metacritic (70)

This is a very good movie.

I watched Batman Begins (2005) for the second time both to prepare for The Dark Night (2008), and to test HD Internet movie downloads through my Apple TV (review coming soon). I was impressed when I saw it in the theatre back in 2005 and was impressed once again. 

As a child Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) witnessed the murder of his parents. We discover him years later in an Asian jail as part of his ‘exploration of the criminal fraternity’.  Ducard (Liam Neeson) urges Wayne to follow his master, Ra’s Al Ghul (a cameo role played by Ken Watanabe), to become more than just a vigilante. Ducard promises, that as a member of the ‘League of Shadows”, Wayne will learn to combat his fears, combat evil – and become a legend. That’s how Batman begins!

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