I'm a longtime comic book fan and Frank Miller's "The Dark Knight Returns" was an eye-opening example to me of what the comic book medium was capable of. In fact it is still considered by many to be one of the most groundbreaking and influential comic works of all time. Although it wasn't without some shortcomings in my opinion, I greatly enjoyed DC Animation Studios' adaptation of the first half of this story, "Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Part 1", and have since been waiting in anticipation for Part 2 to be released.

A few weeks ago, Batman: The Dark Knight Returns Part 1 was released on Blu-ray and DVD. If you're a serious comic book fan, you've probably already read or at least heard of the original graphic novel by Frank Miller. Along with Alan Moore's Watchmen, The Dark Knight Returns was one of the most influential comic books of the 80's, and gets much of the credit for the launch of the "gritty era" of comic books, which continued through much of the 90's and still leaves traces today. This animated movie attempts to adapt and condense the original story into a two-part movie series. The story takes place 10 years after Bruce Wayne has retired from being Batman. There are suggestions that his retirement has something to do with a tragedy that befell Robin. Wayne is now at least in his 50s, although he remains in great shape for his age and busies himself with dangerous hobbies, such as automobile racing. He is clearly unsettled and still haunted by the d...

Seems like everyone was "phoning-in" this movie, so I "phoned-in" my review! Rated R for sequences of strong violence throughout Final Score: Quality: 4.5/10 Relevance: 2.0/10  (Download or listen to my full review below.) Direct Download- http://www.spiritblade.net/downloads/SBU-Resident_Evil_Retribution_Phoned_In_Review.WAV

Review By Ken From Honolulu Dr. Horribles Sing along Blog made in 2008 Directed and written by Joss Whedon Staring Neil Patrick Harris as Dr. Horrible Nathan Fillion as Capt. Hammer Felicia Day as Penny Synopsis: An aspiring super-villain must balance his career and his pursuit of a beautiful do-gooder. Review: This is a movie written and directed by Joss Whedon. He has done Angel, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Firefly and many others. If you have never seen a Joss Whedon movie or TV show you might as well throw your scifi geek card away because you can’t be a scifi geek if you have never seen his stuff. This film, believe it our not, is a scifi musical. There is a lot of singing, some dancing. It all works to make the film good. Some of the tunes are catchy and fun to try to sing along with. This is a fun film. In the typical Joss Whedon style, it has a very unusual plot line. The plot line is basically Dr. Horrible is just a minor bad guy who has a sidekick ...

"The Dark Knight Rises" takes place eight years after "The Dark Knight". Gotham is doing much better than it was and Bruce Wayne has effectively retired from being Batman. But when a dangerous mercenary leader named Bane threatens the safety of Gotham, Bruce Wayne has to find the dormant strength to once again confront and stop evil. I have to warn you that this review may sound more negative than my final score reflects. The reason is that the numerous things The Dark Knight Rises does well were also done in the two previous Batman films, and so don't require as much comment here. The cast is wonderful and performances are great without exception. Returning actors bring the same humanity to their roles as they did in the past, and Michael Caine delivers his most sympathetic, heart-wrenching performance yet as the loving and loyal Alfred Pennyworth. Newcomers also bring great things to the table. Anne Hathaway surprised me by portraying a Catwoman t...

I'm a big DC comics nerd, and although the DC direct to video animated movies got off to a bumpy "hit or miss" start with me, they soon seemed to iron out quality control and began putting out great features almost every time. Almost without exception, they've earned a "buy then try" mentality from me. So it should come as no surprise that bought the BluRay version of "Justice League: Doom" this week and watched it as soon as possible. The script is loosely based on a Justice League comic book story written by Mark Waid and titled "Tower Of Babel". In it, a villain gains access to secret files detailing foolproof methods of defeating each member of the Justice League. One by one the world's most powerful and iconic heroes are taken out like the trash with brutal efficiency. The same premise is used in "Justice League:Doom", although the Justice League characters involved are different, as well as the methods used...

In 1986, DC published Frank Miller's "The Dark Knight Returns", which arguably re-established Batman as a grim and gritty character and influenced the way Batman stories were told forever after. One year later, DC hired Miller to retell Batman's origin in a story entitled "Batman: Year One". Unlike "The Dark Knight Returns", this story was part of official DC Universe continuity, and even further established the dark tone that this well-known character is defined by. "Year One" served as source material for a number of great comic book stories, and was drawn from heavily in Christopher Nolan's "Batman Begins" movie. Now, the DC animated studios have turned their attention to "Batman: Year One" and set out to create an animated version of this iconic story. I'm pleased to report they succeeded wonderfully. The character driven story is what really sells this movie so well. Surprisingly, for those who...

The much anticipated sequel to Batman Begins delivers a ton of story for your dollar, clocking in at 2 hours and 30 minutes and not wasting any time. A combination of great performances, realistic special effects and solid writing bring another Batman experience grounded in realism, but still able to deliver some exciting thrills. Director Chris Nolan brings his gritty sensibility to the film again, although a little inconsistently this time. While the Joker has to wear make-up in order to assume his iconic look, there are some technological gadgets that stretch the suspension of disbelief further than the first film did. For my taste, I prefer a joker whose skin is stained white across his entire body, and stays that way. In "The Dark Knight", the Joker's make-up and hair-dye would fade from wear and tear on the character, resulting in a few moments where he didn't quite look like the Joker as much as a weird guy who just got home at 6am from ...