Iron Man 2

There is only one hero who got two movies before the Avengers movie, but after the overwhelming success of the first Iron Man, who's complaining? Iron Man 2 came out in 2010, was directed by Jon Favreau again, and saw the return of Robert Downey Jr. and Gwyneth Paltrow to the rolls of Tony Stark and Pepper Potts. This movie picked right up from where the first one left off, gave Iron Man another fun adventure, and very strongly started steering everything toward an Avenger movie.

Once again, the producers of this movie worked around the lack of good Iron Man villains by combining several characters. The result was Ivan Vanko, who I absolutely loved. He was dirty, mean, ruthless, and brilliant — a true test for Iron Man. I also loved the Russian soundtrack during the beginning of the film. I just have a weakness for Russian stuff, and this movie exploited that. One point added.

The score will rise to a 7 with Tony's entrance to the Stark Expo. Pepper didn't kiss and toss his helmet like in the previews, but he still did jump out of a plane, fly around fireworks, and take off his armor to show he'd been wearing a tuxedo underneath the whole time. This was fun, but more importantly, it showed that Tony Stark was still going to be fun. I was a little worried that he'd be boring and responsible, but this scene put those fears to rest.

Sadly, I have to take a point off for the new Rhodey. It wasn't anybody's fault, it's just that Don Cheadle was not nearly as entertaining as Terrence Howard. This wouldn't have been so bad if Rhodey didn't have such a large role in this movie and became War Machine.

If you thought that was unfair for me to take a point for that, then I'll add one for the race car scene, which will probably go down as one of the best scenes in superhero movie history. Vanko was sublime, slowly walking on the track, destroying cars left and right. I also liked how Stark tried to fight him until Happy and Pepper brought him the portable Iron Man suit, which in itself was innovative. Just a really, really cool scene.

In the late '70s, Iron Man became an important comic book character when he discovered he was an alcoholic, so it was really nice to see a little bit of that here. Of course, Tony was mostly pretending, so he could get Rhodey to put the suit on and take care of things after he died, but I liked that aspect, too. The score is now an 8.

I'll add one final point for the set up for the Avengers movie. We got a lot of Nick Fury, Agent Coulson, and were introduced to Black Widow (who actually kind of annoyed me, but oh well). We also had some secretive clues about something happening in New Mexico ... hmmm ...

I can't add another point because the final battle was just a little anti-climatic. I loved Vanko until he put on the giant suit, which was a little too reminiscent of Obadiah Stane. And then once he got the suit on, he was beaten in like two seconds. Couldn't he have fought them for a little bit longer? And also, in the end, I couldn't give this movie the same score as Iron Man because it's just not as good as the first one. It's a great movie, just not a 10.

Final score: 9 out of 10.

P.O.V.

Continuing our trek through the early, not-so-good Batman episodes brings us to "P.O.V.", or Point of View, the seventh produced episode and 13th aired on Sept. 18, 1992.

Harvey Bullock is one of my favorite characters in Batman: The Animated Series, and this episode features him prominently. We see that he is a slob and a liar, but really a good cop at the end of the day. And even though he's kind of chubby, he is pretty buff and can take down bad guys with the best of them. Any episode that shows Bullock fighting this much definitely deserves a point.

The score will go to a 7 for the rookie cop's story. This was his first encounter with Batman, and in the dark, he couldn't really see what he was doing. This was a good way to bring back that wonder and amazement that normal people should have whenever Batman is doing his thing. As the audience, we sometimes get used to Batman's heroics, so it's good to be reminded that he is extraordinary and almost a little supernatural.

While this episode did have a few nice things going for it, it was pretty sloppy in some parts, especially during Montoya's story. The bad guys pull a bag of $2 million out of a safe, Montoya tells them to freeze, and they throw the bag of money at her. It does knock her down, but that was the whole reason they went in there. Then one of the guys decides to attack her with a drill. Why don't these crappy mobsters have guns? I have to take a point off for that.

I'll bring the score back to the starting 5 for the ambiguous bad guy. He doesn't have a name, we never see his face, and we never see him again. There are tons of bad guys and mobsters in the DC Universe, pick one of them! Also, he captured Batman at the beginning of the episode, tied him up and left him hanging for probably a couple of hours. The only thing they really did to Batman was take off his utility belt and try to open it. What kind of a sad excuse for bad guys are these people?

This was a kind of cheesy episode, but it was nice to have Batman mostly in the background with supporting characters like Bullock and Montoya taking the lead. For being in the not-so-good era, this one wasn't half bad.

Final score: 5 out of 10.

The Underdwellers

When Batman: The Animated Series first began, they made sure they had a couple of really good episodes to kickstart the show. Powerful episodes with Man-Bat, Joker, Scarecrow and Poison Ivy accomplished this. But then those great episodes ran out and the show went into a "finding itself" period, which produced some not-so-great stuff. "The Underdwellers" is the beginning of that era. It was the sixth episode made and 27th aired on Oct. 21, 1992.

I'll start with the good. There were some really nice scenes with Batman in the shadows in the sewer. The animation wasn't always perfect in this era, but when it was on, it was on. We also got to see a really angry Batman who almost lost his cool a couple of times, which was pretty sweet. He also got to fight some alligators, which I enjoyed a bit. I will add one point to the episode.

Now for the bad. For some reason, Batman decided to take a lost boy to Wayne Manor, hoping that the child doesn't put two and two together and discover his secret identity. He then puts the kid in Alfred's care, who complains, "But I know nothing of children!" forgetting that he practically raised Bruce and Dick himself. And then they never give the kid any new clothes or anything! This might have been cool had this kid been Jason Todd and would eventually become the second Robin, but no such things materialized. The score is back to an average 5.

I'll take another point off for the conflicting nature of this episode. They wanted to start putting kid-friendly morals in the show, which I'm not opposed to, but they kind of failed in this episode by having these morals put in a rather dark and mature episode. Telling kids not to play on moving trains or with guns is good, but doing it in an episode that has a guy kidnapping and dehumanizing children just doesn't work.

The score will finally fall to a 3 for the sheer cheesiness of it, mostly the main kid. I didn't like him pestering Alfred and I really didn't like him swinging around on ropes to save his friends. Again, it would have been fine had this boy been named Jason Todd, but he wasn't, so he shouldn't have been doing all that stuff. And then there's his only spoken line: "The light — the light!" Lame.

Final score: 3 out of 10.

The Incredible Hulk

The next entry in my Avengers build up is 2008's The Incredible Hulk starring Edward Norton, Liv Tyler and Tim Roth. There was a movie in 2003 simply called Hulk, which I haven't seen all the way through, but assume it was only loosely based on the comic book character. Regardless, it was a terrible film and this one (mercifully) pretended it didn't happen, like we all do.

While this movie did make some adaptations to the Hulk mythos (which is always necessary), I think they worked for the better. I really liked the idea of Bruce Banner running as far away as possible to hide, work on a cure for himself, and also work on managing his anger to contain the Hulk. This was the first time I've seen Bruce Banner meditate and work on his breathing, and I thought it was an excellent idea that deserves a point.

I'll add another point for the humor in this movie. I loved the line "You won't like me when I'm hungry" and the Stan Lee cameo was one of his best ever. These small moments really helped move the film along.

The score will rise to an 8 with the first appearance of the Hulk. They did a great job of showing that he was big, indestructible, and scary. Getting the Hulk to look just right was essential for this movie to work, and they nailed it. I like that he wasn't bright green, but had some grey in him. He really was just a lot of fun to watch.

I'll also add a point for Dr. Samuel Sterns, or Mr. Blue, played by Tim Blake Nelson. He was just a really fun character. Smart, excitable, but unstable. I thoroughly enjoyed every scene he was in. I also liked the setup to turn him into the Leader, but I don't know if they'll follow through on that. Hopefully.

This film really had an excellent climax. One of the difficulties with the Hulk is finding somebody for him to fight. Here, they found a worthy adversary in Tim Roth becoming Abomination. Then, they set up the fight in a pretty awesome way with Bruce Banner falling out of a helicopter and turning into the Hulk. Such a great scene definitely deserves a point.

Now, I have to penalize the film for the ever-annoying Liv Tyler. I really just don't like her. For the most part, she was OK as Betty Ross, but she eventually wore me down. And then at the end, when Abomination smashed her helicopter, several soldiers wearing full battle armor were killed, while little Betty emerged dramatically with only a little bit of blood on her forehead. It's the whole slight cut on the cheek and dropping a book all over again. I must take away a point for that.

The main reason I reviewed this film is for its part in the Avengers series. This did a good job of alluding to super soldier serums and showing things made by Stark Industries, and then there was the after-the-credits scene with Tony Stark himself. It was nice to see him, but I think it would have been better had Nick Fury been there like in all the other movies. I won't add a point for this because it actually is rather confusing if you think about it too much like I tend to do. Why is Tony Stark telling General Ross about the Avengers? Stark isn't an Avenger yet, as we find out in Iron Man 2. Does he was Ross to join the team or help them find the Hulk? Ross hates the Hulk and doesn't even know where he is. I think this would have been better had they shown Fury and Ross talking about finding the Hulk and getting him to work for them. Oh well, it wasn't bad enough to take a point away, so it's all good.

This was really a good movie, but I think it still was hurt by the first Hulk movie. It really is hard to get something that bad out of people's minds. But this movie set things up for a nice new Hulk series tied in with the Avengers. Sadly, we won't get Edward Norton in the Avengers movie because he's apparently difficult to work with, which is a real shame because I quite enjoyed him here. Hopefully his replacement will be good enough to give this movie a direct sequel.

Final score: 9 out of 10.

Pretty Poison

As you can probably guess, "Pretty Poison" is the first appearance of Poison Ivy, another classic Batman villain. This was the fifth episode produced and ninth aired on Sept. 14, 1992.

I'll add a point for a pretty fun scene at the beginning where Harvey Dent is talking to date, Pamela Isley, about Bruce. He says things like, "Bruce runs with a high crowd," and "He gets his kicks," which are accompanied with scenes of Batman running on rooftops and kicking bad guys. I guess it's kind of cheesy, but I liked it.

The score will go to a 7 for the dynamic between Bruce and Harvey. We did see a teeny bit of Dent in the first episode, but now we get to see him as a real person and a good friend of Bruce Wayne's. This will make his transformation to Two-Face even more upsetting for Batman.

I'll also add a point for Poison Ivy. I really like this version of the character — she's crazy, deadly, has pet monster plants, and still is just a human (for the most part). I always hate it in the comics where she is more plant than human and has huge vines of ivy for her hair. That's too abstract for me. But this show did a really good job of keeping things grounded and realistic, which, in my opinion, makes for better Batman stories.

I know this is a short review, but these are only 22-minute episodes, and sometimes there just isn't much to say about them, which isn't necessarily a bad thing.

Final score: 8 out of 10.

The Last Laugh

Up next for Batman is another adventure with the Joker. Luckily, this one is a little bit better than the first one. "The Last Laugh" was the fourth episode made and 15th aired on Sept. 22, 1992.

This episode is notable for being the first appearance of Efrem Zimbalist Jr. as the voice of Alfred, who maintained that role all the way through Justice League. His predecessor, Clive Revill, wasn't a bad Alfred in the three episodes he did, but Zimbalist just added so much life to the character. Right from the get-go he establishes himself as an awesome Alfred with the line, "I drew you a bath, sir." His performance earns a point.

I will also add a point for the plot here. It makes perfect sense to have the Joker use April Fool's Day to spread laughing gas through the city. Not only did this allow him to easily steal a lot of money in broad daylight, but it collapsed the stock market, probably killed at least a few people, and would have caused permanent insanity had Batman not stopped him from replenishing his laughing gas. That's a pretty intense plan.

The score will go up to an 8 for putting Batman in actual danger. The Joker shoved Batman in a trash can, shoved a dagger through it multiple times (trying to poke a hole in Batman as well), and then pushed him into the river. While Batman did have a nice fight with Man-Bat and Scarecrow already, I think this is the most his life has been threatened to this point. We also got to see the Batboat for the first time, which was pretty nice.

I have to add another point for one of the Joker's greatest lines: "You killed Captain Clown ... YOU KILLED CAPTAIN CLOWN!" Excellent delivery by Mark Hamill. It makes you laugh and terrified at the same time.

But probably the creepiest Joker moment here is when he's riding the cubed Captain Clown down the conveyer belt. He just sits motionless with a frightening grin on his face. The shadows and colors really helped this scene a lot. It was also nice to see that the Joker actually had a plan for when Batman came chasing after him. He knew the shaft was leading to a huge incinerator, and Batman almost didn't stop in time. But even when he did, the Joker had a couple of razor-edged playing cards to throw at Batman, which I simply just love. That whole final chase scene also deserves a point.

This episode has everything you could ever want in a Joker episode. Sadly, it was his second appearance, when it should have been his first.

Final score: 10 out of 10.

Nothing to Fear

The next installment in my quest through Batman: The Animated Series is "Nothing to Fear," the third episode produced and tenth aired, making its debut on Sept. 15, 1992.

This is the first appearance of the Scarecrow, and as a whole, he did a really good job. However, I have to take a point off for his terrible design in this episode. He looked more goofy than scary with his long feet and balloon-ish head. Luckily, this is the only time we see him this way.

When Batman first encounters Scarecrow, he comes in prepared, wearing a gas mask. But the Scarecrow is also prepared, shooting Batman with a fear toxin dart gun. I really like a villain with a backup plan. I also really enjoyed how Scarecrow was fascinated with seeing what his fear toxin did to people. There were a couple of times where he almost didn't make his getaway because he was busy trying to see what Batman and other people were afraid of. So I'll give back that point I took off.

This episode is also important in that it shows the first mention of Batman's parents and what Batman is really afraid of. This series never really does an exact retelling of Batman's origin, choosing instead to allude to it occasionally and show the effects it is still having on Batman. Here, Batman is struggling with living the double life he has created for himself. To convince others he's not Batman, he has to act as un-Batman-like as possible when he's Bruce Wayne. But by doing so, he sometimes puts the Wayne family name in a bad light. He probably also has to think that his parents never really wanted him to become a vigilante, but just be a good guy running the company. So it was really nice to see that Scarecrow's toxin caused Batman to see his father expressing disappointment in him. Nowadays in the comics, whenever Batman meets Scarecrow, all he sees is Jason Todd dying, so this was a nice change of pace for me. The score is now a 6.

I will add another point for the powerful moment when Batman finally fought off the toxin by delivering the immortal line: "I am vengeance! I am the night! I AM BATMAN!" I think that is the line that truly made Kevin Conroy THE voice for Batman. Later, this line became kind of a signature for this show, being used in many commercials and other forms of media.

I will add a final point for the last scene of Batman placing roses on his parents' tombstone. Like I said, this was the first time they dealt with the loss of Batman's parents, and this touching scene was a nice way of reiterating that point. The death of his parents was his main inspiration, and he (and the viewers) need to be reminded of that from time to time.

Final score: 8 out of 10.

Iron Man

A certain ad during the Super Bowl inspired me to begin reviewing the films leading up to the Avengers. First on the list is Iron Man, which came out in 2008, was directed by Jon Favreau and stars Robert Downey Jr., Terrence Howard and Jeff Bridges.

I really didn't want to see this movie at first because I just didn't think Iron Man was an interesting enough character to have his whole movie. But Robert Downey Jr. proved me otherwise. He is completely perfect as Tony Stark. He's a huge jerk, but is still incredibly likable. He completely owned the role and made the movie, and definitely deserves a point in my book.

I will add another point for turning Jarvis into a computer. In the comics, Jarvis was originally Tony Stark's butler and a near clone of Bruce Wayne's Alfred. Stark and Wayne already share too much in common, so it was a really good idea for them to try to separate the two a little more in the movie. Now, Jarvis is a pretty cool omnipresent computer, attached to some really cool computers and technology Stark has in his house.

The score will rise to an 8 for Pepper Potts. She seems like a meek and lowly assistant, but quickly shows her underlying strength with the "taking out the trash" line to the skanky reporter. Potts also has great chemistry with Stark, and it was a delight whenever the two of them were together on screen.

I love how they took their time with Tony in the cave. It was really cool to see him build his suit in secret and really show just how smart he is. We also got to see him slowly grow up, and while he still is quite pompous, he now is more responsible and concerned with what's going on in the world. It was also pretty neat when he first put that suit on and blasted the bad guys with his flame throwers. That's when we knew we had a serious movie on our hands. The score is now 9.

The most important thing in this movie was the suit. It had to look realistic and super cool. They succeeded on both counts. And, like in the cave, they took their time showing Tony put the suit together. It was a really fun process, and it had a great payoff when it finally came together.

I will have to take a point off for the skanky journalist. I didn't mind her first appearance, but for her to return at a high-scale party with very good, very classified pictures was just too much for me. How'd she get those pictures? And why did she get all dressed up to show them to people at the party? The movie already showed that she's not a very good journalist because she slept with her source, but now she's supposed to be this hard-hitting investigator? Give me a break. Having studied journalism at college, I am perhaps a little overly sensitive to how they are portrayed in movies, but I think most reasonable people were annoyed by this character.

I can't help but add another point for when Tony takes the real suit out in action. He was picking up guys and throwing them around like nothing, using special targeting guns to take out the bad guys with hostages, ripping through walls to grab guys, and blowing up tanks. It was a lot of fun to watch. I also liked the element of realism with the Air Force getting involved. You really wouldn't be able to just fly into the middle of a war zone without repercussions.

One of my biggest worries with this movie was who the villain would be. Let's face it, Iron Man doesn't have very many good villains. But Obadiah Stane was a really good choice here. He was someone on the inside, someone you don't suspect at first. And he is incredibly calm, collected and in control for most of the film. He does show a couple of hints of explosiveness, which was good, but then he kind of went completely insane too quickly. He had been working up this master scheme perfectly for so long and then suddenly he's in the suit, throwing cars around, not caring who he kills or who sees him. I know he was about to be arrested, but it would have been good if they could have taken a little more time to show his world collapsing around him, giving him a little more justification to snap.

The very end of the movie was a legitimate surprise, and a refreshing one at that, when Tony simply said, "I am Iron Man." It doesn't make sense for his character to pretend like Iron Man is his body guard, but it makes complete sense for him to confidently boast about the awesome machine he invented. It really does make for a nice change of pace to have a superhero unconcerned with his secret identity.

I could also add another point for the inclusion of SHIELD and Nick Fury at the end of the credits. This movie was not only trying to be a good movie on its own and save Marvel after the X-Men and Spider-Man shot themselves in the foot, but Iron Man was hoping to set up a new Marvel continuity where various films would be connected and have cross-overs. Now, that plan is finally coming to fruition, thanks to the success of this film.

Iron Man not only breathed life in the Marvel movie business, but it shot the character Iron Man up to the top of Marvel comics. Suddenly he became their version of Batman, appearing in every major adventure (and sometimes too many for my taste). But that's what happens when you make a really cool and realistic film. In time, I believe this film will be as historically significant as the first Superman and Batman movies. Technically, it gets a 12, but I won't go over 100%.

Final score: 10 out of 10.

Christmas with the Joker

"Christmas with the Joker" was the second produced episode of Batman: The Animated Series, but it was the 38th aired, not being shown until Nov. 13, 1992, which was just in time for Christmas. Unfortunately, since this was the second episode made, the animation was a bit sloppier and many of the voices hadn't quite "found their way" yet (Alfred was voiced by a completely different actor). So kids who had watched the previous 37 episodes in a row would probably be wondering why this one was so shoddy. Of course, it wasn't all that bad.

This is the first time Mark Hamill performed the voice of the Joker, which was simply sublime. His signature laugh, wide range of emotions, and the ability to sound goofy and menacing at the same time made Hamill the definitive voice of the animated Joker for nearly 20 years. Just like there will never be a voice for Batman as good as Kevin Conroy, there will never be a cartoon Joker that sounds just as good as Hamill did. For being the first appearance of this classic character and iconic voice, I will add a point.

I'll add another point for the first appearance of Robin. He is a very important character in the DC universe, and I really liked what they did with him here. He's a little older, which is a little more realistic, and he's off at college now, which allows him to come and go when needed. I think Batman does work best alone, but it is necessary to occasionally contrast him with someone more cheerful, and nobody does that better than Robin.

Now, this is a pretty goofy episode, and probably shouldn't be taken seriously, but I have to take my Batman episodes seriously. With the Joker, I'm willing to let a few things slide, like rocket Christmas trees, but some things are just too strange, like using candy canes to gag his hostages. How did they stay in their mouths? Why couldn't they spit them out? Maybe it wouldn't have been so bad if they were just stuck in their mouths the whole time, but the Joker repeatedly pulled them out and put them back in, accompanied with a strange velcro-like sound effect. The score is now a 6.

I'll take another point off for the sloppy animation. Of course, this is the second episode made, and they obviously spent more time with "On Leather Wings," but for this Christmas special that wouldn't run until after 37 episodes had been aired, the animation should have been better. The animators could never figure out quite how long to make the Joker's face or how skinny to make him. In some scenes he looked kind of fat, but then he was fine in the next scene. They also had a hard time deciding how big certain things should be, like the Joker planes that Batman fights off with a very rubbery bat and Robin catches in a trash can without moving. The planes initially looked quite small, like normal-sized remote control toy planes, but then one of the heads pops off and it's huge — almost as big as Robin's head!

This leads me to my next point deduction for the crappy action scenes. Batman and Robin have a couple of challenges before they get to the Joker, and as such, each challenge should build up in intensity. Unfortunately, one of the challenges that had the most potential, stopping a moving train, was one of the first things they had to do. They should have saved that for last and made a bigger deal of it. Instead, the final challenge before the Joker was a rather boring fight in the toy factory complete with Batman's nonsensical instruction to Robin: "Operation Cause and Effect."

Kind of along those same lines, was how Batman defeated the Joker's henchmen. He pushed a giant teddy bear onto them. A bear so big and heavy that two full-grown thugs couldn't push it off themselves or crawl away from it. Why not momentarily knock them down under a whole bunch of toys and then have Robin tie them up while Batman chases the Joker? That's what Robin's there for! The impracticality of this massive teddy bear that says, "I wuv you very much" is enough to knock the score down to a 3.

But not all hope is lost! This is Christmas, after all! I will add a point for the genuinely funny moment when the Joker gives Batman a present that throws a cream pie in his face. That's all the Joker really wanted to do — just give Batman a Christmas present. He had a bit of outside help and went to a lot of work just to cause some chaos, throw a pie in Batman's face, and then go back to Arkham. He didn't want to kill Batman, not on Christmas. Just mess with him a little bit. And that is a Joker I can appreciate.

Final score: 4 out of 10.

On Leather Wings

"On Leather Wings" is the first produced episode of Batman: The Animated Series. I really kind of reviewed this episode on a whim, and though I'd love to eventually review all these episodes, I can't guarantee anything, because I'd still like to do Spider-Man, Superman, and all the other Marvel movies leading up to the Avengers. But in the meantime, let's enjoy the beginning of the greatest superhero cartoon ever made.

As I said, "On Leather Wings" was the first episode they made, but it wasn't the second one they aired. The pilot episode was the first appearance of Catwoman because they wanted to capitalize on Batman Returns. So "On Leather Wings" was pushed to number two, and made its debut on September 6, 1992. I was 5 years old when this show began, and was my first experience with Batman. Even today, I still find myself comparing other Batmans with the one portrayed in Batman: The Animated Series. This show not only set a lot of standards in the Batman universe, but it also launched many more superhero cartoons for DC and Marvel, as well. Now on to the show.

One of the things I love most about this series is the opening. It's unique, simple and powerful, driven mostly by a nice variation on the Danny Elfman score. It has no words and doesn't need any. It was quite a risky move for them to have a cartoon begin this way, but it completely paid off. The creators of this show really had a difficult task of making a cartoon that would be appropriate for kids and still appeal to adults. This opening sequence sets the tone that matches both those goals. I can only add a point for this once, and I will do it here, with the first episode.

The score jumps to a 7 with a beautiful touch of subtlety — the District Attorney Harvey Dent flipping a coin in the shadows. They don't even say his name, but hardcore fans knew exactly who he was and first-time fans will remember him when he comes back in later episodes. Little details like this are what set this show apart from others.

I'll add another point for the look and feel of the show as a whole and this episode specifically. Really, the animation isn't that great (it is almost 20 years old, after all), but it is still great to look at. All the characters are quite detailed and realistic-looking, and all the vehicles (blimps, Batmobile) are really cool. The Batcave is awesome, Gotham City is interesting and diverse, and I love how the show has such a timeless feel to it. These stories could be taking place in 1950 as easily as 1990.

The score will go up to a 9 because of the homage to Batman: Year One, which is the greatest origin story of Batman told in the comics. Just like with Batman Begins, any good Batman story needs to include some elements of this monumental book. Having the SWAT team that chased Batman look just like the SWAT team from the comic showed all the big comic book geeks out there that this show would be respectful to the original source material. In fact, until they recently made an animated feature of Year One, I'd say this episode was the closest adaptation of that story.

Which, unfortunately leads me to taking away a point for the loose continuity of this show. It makes sense that they didn't want each episode to be directly connected, just in case the kids missed an episode or two, but then they did a few two-parters, which kind of defeats that idea. My main complaint with this episode is that the police are treating Batman like a vigilante and are trying to arrest him (a nice idea) but then no other episode ever deals with that idea again. It would have been nice to have seen Batman do some more things other than taking down the Man-Bat to earn the trust of the police.

But, I will add a point back for another wonderful, but small detail. While in the Batcave, Batman is talking to Alfred in his Batman voice, and then he gets on the phone and talks in his Bruce voice. After he hangs up, he goes back to talking to Alfred like Batman. Kevin Conroy did a wonderful job as the voice of Bruce and Batman, and I think he was showing that the Batman voice is Bruce's real voice, and the Bruce voice is a part of his mask as a millionaire playboy. When Bruce is alone, he thinks of himself as and acts like Batman. It's only when he's in public when he becomes the likable Bruce Wayne. This is a wonderful aspect of Batman that adds a refreshing depth to a children's cartoon.

I will add one final point for the Man-Bat. I normally don't like it when Batman fights monsters or the supernatural, but this show pulled it off really well. There was a great mystery trying to figure out who and what it was, and it was legitimately scary when Langstrom transformed. The Man-Bat also looked and sounded really cool.

I don't think I would have chosen the Man-Bat as the first villain in this show, but they pulled it wonderfully. We had a good mystery, some great action (Batman even bled!), and it served as a perfect introduction to Batman, Bruce Wayne, Alfred, Commissioner Gordon, Harvey Bullock, Mayor Hill, and Harvey Dent. This is where it all began, and it couldn't have started any better.

Final score: 10 out of 10.

The Dark Knight

The time has finally come for me to review one of the greatest movies of all time. The Dark Knight was directed by Christopher Nolan, and stars Christian Bale, Heath Ledger and Aaron Eckhart. It came out on July 18, 2008, just two weeks before I came home from my mission.

As a missionary, I couldn't help but see some of the previews for this movie, and I was very excited to see it as soon as I came home. A lot of people warned me that I should wait a few weeks before seeing this dark film, but I couldn't wait more than a couple of days. I told myself that'd I'd close my eyes if it ever got too graphic, but I never had to, which is one of the great things about this movie. There's no sex, only a couple of swear words, and no overtly graphic and gory violence. It's also nice to see that many current superhero movies are also following this pattern. You don't need to be dirty to make a good movie. Now, on to the greatest Batman movie ever made (so far).

I love the beautiful opening scene of the Joker robbing the bank. In superhero stories, robbing banks has become quite basic and boring, but here it was exciting and interesting. The first time I saw this, I didn't know who was speaking because of the masks, which added to the ambiguity and surprise when the Joker finally revealed himself, which gives me chills every time. This was a wonderful way to set the tone for the movie.

It was nice to see the Scarecrow wasn't forgotten about, but it was kind of sad that he wasn't a major player. Of course, it kind of makes sense because he never really wanted to be a super villain in the first movie, and he's probably too crazy right now to really do anything bad.

I really like Batman's fighting style in this movie. It's slow, deliberate, powerful and unique. He also had a lot of really nice gadgets, as usual, including the upgraded Batsuit. It took almost 30 years for them to make a suit where Batman can turn his head, but I guess it was worth the wait.

When the gun was pulled on Harvey Dent in the courtroom, I was worried for a moment that he would turn into Two-Face right then and there. Luckily, he didn't, and we got to enjoy the charming and intense Harvey with his lucky coin for the majority of the movie.

It would be an understatement to say that Heath Ledger was perfect as the Joker. The first scene where he's openly the Joker with the mob bosses is simply masterful. Here we get the "magic trick" and the great exchange, "You think you can just come in here, take our money and leave?" "Yeah."

And then there's the Joker vs. Gambol scene! So creepy! So awesome! I think this when I realized that I was watching the best movie ever. And if you've been keeping track, the score is up to a 10 now, and it won't get any lower.

This movie really is just one powerful scene after another. Another great one is the dead fake Batman crashing into the window and the super creepy Joker home video right after. Yes, it was creepy, dark and scary, but never gory or grotesque. They really found just the right balance in this movie.

Heath Ledger's Joker is unique from all the other Jokers we've seen in the media, but he also channels a lot of important aspects from other Jokers in his role. One idea goes back to the first appearance of the Joker in 1940. In that story, the Joker repeatedly announces who he's going to kill and when. The police do everything they can to stop him, but they never can, which causes a great amount of panic. Another aspect I like is from the book The Killing Joke, where Joker said his origin story is multiple choice. He also had a firm belief in that book that anyone could go crazy like him if they had just one bad day. Combining these elements with Ledger's creepy performance truly makes the perfect Joker for this medium.

I loved the story about Alfred and the diamond thief in Burma. It shows that Alfred is more than just a butler and completely qualified to be Batman's advisor.

Batman using insane technology to find the fingerprint on the bullet was kind of cool, but mostly confusing. Even after repeated viewings of this movie. I guess it's just something we're not supposed to think about too hard.

It was a nice touch of realism to have somebody figure out that Batman was Bruce Wayne. I mean, he can't completely conceal everything. And of course, Lucius Fox's response to this threat was priceless.

This movie was so wild and unpredictable, that I was able to accept the fact that Gordon was killed. I didn't want him to die, but it looked like he did, and the first time I saw this, I believed it. That is a powerful movie that can attempt something that crazy and unthinkable in the comic world and have geeks like me ready to go along with it.

It was nice to see Dent start to turn into Two-Face before the accident happened. Just having your face blown up alone isn't enough to turn you into a super villain, but it can help bring out unstable elements already deep inside.

Just like with the shooting of Gordon, I was willing to accept Batman revealing his secret identity. I didn't want him to, but I wouldn't have been surprised if they actually did it.

The chase scene was simply wonderful. It had a little of everything: garbage trucks, semis, helicopters, a fire truck on fire, and a giggling Joker, who happily keeps upgrading his guns until he pulls out a rocket launcher. So much fun! I even liked the Batcycle.

The accident that turned Dent into Two-Face was incredible. Not only was it a fresh take on a classic tale in Batman lore, but it was a pretty sweet way to kill off Rachel. She wasn't that bad in this movie, but it still was kind of nice to see her die. And the silence afterward was so powerful. This movie really has a tremendous soundtrack, knowing when to build up tension, be big and loud, or just let the images tell the story. I'm actually kind of glad they didn't go with the original plan of using the Danny Elfman theme here, after they alluded to it in Batman Begins.

The first time we see Two-Face's face was just perfect. It was gross looking, but not unbearable to look at. It was so well-done that it made everyone say, "How'd they do that?" It was easily 1 million times better than Tommy Lee Jones' makeup in Batman Forever. It was kind of sad that he wasn't Two-Face for very long, but it is kind of realistic. Somebody with their face ripped open like that probably wouldn't be able to live very long anyway.

How wonderful was it to see Joker in a nurse's outfit? And when he took the time to grab some hand sanitizer before blowing up the hospital? Sublime! (I'm running out of positive adjectives.)

At the end of the movie, I do have a couple of small complaints. I didn't think Batman's voice was that bad, and I don't have any complaints about the ferry scene like some people (I actually thought it was a really important component of the movie). But it did kind of bug me how they showed the Joker right-side up, when he was upside down. It just seemed unnecessary and was a little distracting.

I also didn't like the kid who played Gordon's son. He did a good job of acting sad and scared when the gun was pointed at him, but he recovered way too soon from that traumatizing event to ask if Batman was alright. However, this little annoyance can in no way harm the reputation of this near-perfect film.

Like most good films, this one gets better after repeated viewings, especially in watching the corrupt cops' reactions to certain things. But there were some things that still are a bit confusing no matter how many times I watch this. When Batman interrogates the Joker, the Joker says he let five people die. Later, he asks a cop how many of his friends he killed, to which he says six. At the end of the movie, Gordon says (talking about Two-Face I assume) that five were dead, two of them cops. No matter how hard I try to figure out who these people are, I can't get the numbers to work. But again, it's not really that big of a deal.

I was worried about doing a new Joker in this movie, and I was also worried that having Two-Face in would have too many villains. But I trusted that the same team who did Batman Begins would be able to make a decent sequel. They not only did that, but they exceeded every expectation I could have had. Currently, The Dark Knight is the greatest superhero movie ever made. This summer, we'll see if that holds true.

Technically, this movie earns a score of 15 from me, but officially, I won't go over 10.

Final score: 10 out of 10.