Public Enemies (2009)

I have never been the biggest fan of gangster movies. Some are decent enough, I guess it's just that I'm not that interested in the criminal thug being the hero. Those movies that I do like, the gangsters are portrayed as people who are like anybody else, just killier. I thin a lot of them probably were horrible people, and I think a lot of the enforcement who chased them and fought them were probably just as bad. Goodfellas is a great example of a good gangster movie, because while you might like some of the badguys, they never try and make them seem like something they're not.
I don't know that much about John Dillinger or Melvin Purvis, but I do know that I like watching Johnny Depp and Christian Bale. And knowing these two and the look of the film, I'm guessing that it's based more than a little in the true events of these two men. But, it's still a bit time Hollywood movie. I suspect that while Dillinger was living it large in '33, that the city of Chicago was a lot grimier place than portrayed. I also suspect that the men involved on both sides were as well. This movie is far too clean and crisp. And while I expect and accept the stars of a movie to be attractive even if the person they're portraying isn't, I would be very surprised if everyone in the Chicago mob scene was as attractive as portrayed in this flick.
Ultimately it comes down to caring about the characters, and that was hard to do in this film. Even when the whole mess goes tits up for Dillinger, I found myself not caring. There are some scenes were Depp is on fire, but mostly he's just some guy who looks and sounds like Johnny Depp but is otherwise uninspiring. From this cast I expected a better film.

Public Enemies on IMDb

The Dark Knight Rises (2012)

One of the things I love about these movies is that nothing is wasted. If a line is said, you know it's important and the more times it is said, the more important it is. If you know this rule, then you know that not only is Batman going to save the city in the end, but you know how, even before you know what he is saving it from. That certainly doesn't lessen the entertainment value of this film - it didn't for the first two. You just know where you're going from the beginning. But, if you're paying attention to what these films are about - just listen to Alfred to hear what it's really all about - you know that Batman ends up killing Bruce or Bruce ends up killing Batman. There is no other possible outcome. So you just sit back and let the wonderful cast do their thing.
I didn't know too much about the Bane character and am still trying to clear the images of the previous incarnation from my brain. I knew that Bane was big and smart, and I knew that Bane broke Batman's back. Since that was all I knew, my hat's off to Christopher Nolan for being directly on track with carrying over the comic book to the movie. I love the way he was portrayed as the warrior-philosopher who was the ultimate true believer. The very first time that the League of Shadows and Ra's al Ghul are mentioned I began looking for al Ghul's daughter. I'm afraid I know even less about her than I do about Bane, and I think that knowledge is from the Batman animated series and not from the comic books at all. In the context of the movie, it wasn't hard to figure out who she was, since there are only two younger women in Bruce's life and one of them is Catwoman, of I should say Selina Kyle, since they never call her Catwoman.
Ah Selina Kyle. I'm not that familiar with her portrayal from the old Adam West incarnation of Batman, more than knowing that both Eartha Kitt and Lee Merriweather portrayed her. I am familiar with Michelle Pfeifer as Catwoman and also with Halle Berry's portrayal. Pfeifer opposite Keaton was good casting I thought, the two definitely had chemistry, but the portrayal was campy with a bit of the supernatural thrown in. Was that particular Batman film directed by Tim Burton? I kind of feel that it must have been since they kept going for the humor with the Catwoman character, and that's too bad, because I think that was a big part of what turned the franchise towards the campiness of the West days. I don't even know what to say about Berry's portrayal of Catwoman. That movie had nothing to do with the DC universe and the Catwoman that interacts with Batman. But, seeing Berry dressed like that I guess was enough to get the project greenlit. Anne Hathaway, under Christopher Nolan's direction takes Selina Kyle in a different direction. She's a more than capable woman forced through circumstances to do things that she doesn't want to do, but she still tries to be good, even if she doesn't always succeed, and incidentally, looks far hotter doing it than any of the previous incarnations of the character. Okay, I'll admit it, I'm crushing a little bit. Who knows, maybe when she's tired of hanging out with Christian Bale, Hugh Jackman and Johnny Depp she'll read this post and look me up.
I like the way the movie wraps, with a hint that there might be more films to come. I've been hearing that Batman will be in the upcoming Justice League of America movie. But, I've also heard that Joseph Gordon-Levitt won't be playing Batman. I didn't know why that was significant until tonight. After I heard the rumor, I did look and officially there is not one attached to the project yet. I'm hoping that since Christopher Nolan is rebooting Superman this upcoming Summer that he will be involved with JLA movie. At the very least, I hope they use his version of Batman and I'm going to go out on a limb and say that I will want them to use his version of Superman as well. What I really hope is that this means that there is a Wonder Woman movie in the works that will drop before the JLA movie. There is already a Green Lantern film and while it wasn't the greatest, it was as good as Thor, which Marvel seemed to like just fine as a precursor to the Avengers. What other movies do we need? None. I'm going there. We do not need a Flash movie. I always thought the character was only tolerable as part of a team. We do not need a Hawkman movie. I've always liked this character, and Hawkgirl/woman too, but, they've never been commercially viable for some reason, except as part of a combo. Plastic Man? Can't stand the character. The Martian Manhunter? That would be pretty sweet, but it's never going to happen before the JLA. Maybe afterwards if it's a big success and he's a character in the JLA movie. Aquaman? That could be an awesome movie or an awesomely sucky movie. IF they play him as the Prince or King of Atlantis who begrudgingly works with the surface worlders for a joint goal, that might work. Who will the JLA be up against? I never bought the notion that the individual super villains would band together to take over the world worked, past two or three working together and then only the correct two or three. Nearly all of the villains are megalomaniacs, who by definition don't play well with others. I think the best option is Darkseid and his ilk trying to conquer the world. That does seem a bit like the premise for the Avengers movie now that I write it, but hey, it worked for Marvel, it can work for DC. What cannot happen is the JLA going the "Super Friends" route else I will be taking the form of someone who isn't going to watch it.

The Dark Knight Rises on IMDb