Movie Dog Barks Again
Movie rental dog this time around. I recently rented "Batman Begins" and "Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy." Not much to say about the latter. Mos Def as Ford Prefect does a very good job in an undemanding role. Zooey Deschanel as Trillian is just startlingly cute. I did some snooping around and I can't imagine who thought to cast her in the role. She is unexceptional in all the other images I managed to track down. But she adorable as Trillian. I hope she gets more work. Is there anyone in creation who isn't aware of what goes on in "Hitchhiker's?" So there's no need to go into the action. I will say this though, the scenes of planetary creation on the "factory floor" of Magrathea are incredibly gorgeous. All in all, worth renting if you haven't seen it in the teatro.
The Batman movie, on the other hand, is a must-rent. Even if you have seen it on the big screen. I'd like to congratulate the moviemakers for sweeping away the stench and the taste of ashes still lingering in the public's mouth from Joel Shumacher's crapfest "Batman and Robin." Christian Bale is a very pretty man (though Hugh Jackman is still the prettiest man in the world) but he makes a fine Batman. He gives the role the needed gravitas and soul-darkness. You understand in this movie why Bruce Wayne needs to become Batman. And they do a very good job of showing how he becomes Batman. Gary Oldman, who has played some very memorable movie villians, is surprisingly wimpy as Jim Gordon, seemingly the only good cop in Gotham City. But wimpy does not mean poorly played. On the other hand, Katie Holmes (no mention of her as the Bearer of the Seed of Scientology is really necessary, is it?) is the most remarkable waste of screen time since Debbie Reynolds in "Singin' In The Rain." I would have cast Linda Fiorentino though it's possible she might seem too old. Katie Holmes comes across as dandylion fluff - one puff and she's blown away. A district attorney character needs to impart at least some menace and the unbearably gorgeous Ms. Fiorentino can do that, in buckets.
This is, of course, a guy flick in a major way. And the gimcracks, dood-dads and gizmos don't disappoint. The new Batmobile is brilliant. I repeat: "Batman Begins" is a definite rental. It's not worth owning, but dashedly few movies are.