The reeealy Dark Knight

(spoiler free)

Wow, where to start. I was unsure whether to believe the hype going into the latest Batman movie, The Dark Knight. But go ahead and believe it. The movie is great, Ledger's performance as the Joker is truly insane, and when a movie keeps you guessing as to what will happen, I rank it as wonderful.

I must say that this is a dark, violent movie and a PG-13 rating is just about right - I wouldn't take anyone under 14 to it I think.

I give it a full ticket price with the added review that I will probably see it again - perhaps at the IMAX.

(Note: The movie was filmed in the IMAX format and then shrunk to fit a normal screen)

Wall-zzzzzzzz

Ahhh, summer. The time for sitting by the pool, camping, and fondly awaiting the latest Pixar movie for some great entertainment. Gotta say that the family and I were eager to throw down our money to catch this years movie, "Wall-e". (Unfortunately we ended up in the front row.)

The lights dimmed, and we were treated to a fantastic short, "Presto", about a magician and his overworked, underfed bunny rabbit. So dang cute, and hilarious too!! So a big thumbs up for that.

Then the feature started and we were presented with a cute little robot who had been left behind by the humans to continue on and clean up this messy little planet. Seems that we humans had consumed more and more and left things in a huge mess. As a result, the earth can no longer support life. So Wall-e goes on smashing garbage down into little squares and builds them in to huge towers of crap. But he also has taken on a life of his own, collecting odds and ends and enjoying family musicals. (Hello Dolly) Soon enough, a probe robot appears and seems to be looking for signs of natural life. A cute love story ensues, and eventually both are whisked away to a luxury cruise liner that carries the remains of the human race. Well, as human as they can be. Humans have had their every whim catered to for so long that they are all insanely fat and are totally oblivious to their surroundings due to the video screen/phone mounted right in front of them. (Cell phone anyone?) Of course there is a happy ending.

So really, it wasn't a bad movie, social commentary was pretty much spot on, characters were cute, animation of course was fantastic. The story was just a little boring - my kids were a little bored and I didn't blink twice when Parker needed to go to the restroom. (I even considered sneaking into Iron Man which was playing across the way.) I think that the action of saving the last leafy plant in existence came too late and was such a minor note that it just didn't ever capture my attention and take me for a ride. This is, after all, a summer movie.

I give it a Matinee rating - mostly for the animation and the social commentary.