Can Arkham Origins Be What Arkham City Was?

Arkham Origins hits the shelves
later this month.

It wasn't too long ago that comic book video games were...well awful. It wasn't until Rocksteady released Arkham Asylum (based off the Batman comic) and struck it rich. The result was a game that emerged players into the world of the Dark Knight and were given a mature themed game that perfectly captured Batman better than the recent Christopher Nolan movies did. Bringing back Mark Hamill and Kevin Conroy to play the Joker and Batman from the successful 90s animated series. The game was also filled with a side mission to solve riddles and pick up trophies hidden by the Riddler. For the sequel, Rocksteady "stepped their game up" by going BIGGER, DEEPER and BETTER. However, it's recent release Arkham Origins goes the prequel route and telling the story of the Dark Knights first days. Can they recapture the fire they put into gamers' hearts with Arkham City?

Arkham City gave you the feel of being Batman

First to Arkham City. This game has appeared on multiple platforms and succeeded in every possible way (best selling AND award winning game). To put it in perspective, Arkham City came out the same year as The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword and Skyrim: The Elder Scrolls. It's so addicting that many gamers played through it MULTIPLE TIMES and still can't get enough. The Arkham City map was immense and had plenty of nuances that weren't required by the developer. It not only reminded fans about the characters (as Arkham Asylum gave you bios on each character), but also caught you up with their stories. From the tales of Joker's demise and Black Mask's escape, to experiencing the Catwoman/Two-Face feud. The side missions weren't just Riddler trophies. They were Riddler deathtraps and it wasn't just the Riddler this time. From Random Acts of Violence to Deadshot, Bane, Hush and the MadHatter. The number of Easter Eggs in the game that only made the story deeper and better were so pleasing, you had to replay the game immediately. Every aspect of Arkham City brought you under Batman's cowl. It was perfect with very few blemishes. Once again, this beat out Skyward Sword as the Game of the Year by many critics. That's quite a complement.

Can Arkham Origins continue this breathtaking franchise?

Now with Arkham Origins due for release later this month, you really have to wonder if it can match the perfection of Arkham City. It also will not answer any questions left from the Arkham City game- like Hush's plan. That didn't work for Lost on TV- ya know NOT ANSWERING QUESTIONS. Instead, Rocksteady is going back to the Batman Begins Era, which is really not that compelling. Most superheroes have interesting origins, but Batman's story is more interesting where he's already established. You got to wonder if they have a segment where you get to figure out a stupid Bale-like Batman voice. Also Rocksteady must introduce these characters instead of simply creating a continuing story for them. It's sound less creative, but now they must shoehorn the stories together.

How Comic Book Movies Changed

Comic Book movies have
become more than hollow
action films

As many of you know, the godfather of all comic book movies was 1978's Superman: The Movie before the next big success was another DC adaptation 1989's Batman. Both were smash hits at the box office and both took vastly different approaches. In 1998, Blade was Marvel's first successful film after a slew of mediocre made-for-TV films (mostly sequels to The Incredible Hulk series) and Dolph Lundgren's Punisher before 2000's X-Men started the momentum that made Marvel Studios. At first comic book movies were cheesy, then slightly cheesy, then dark until taking themselves seriously. They've attracted big name producers, directors and actors to a lot of success. Heath Ledger broke through to win an Oscar for his performance of the Joker in 2008. Comic Book movies are changing "making it less comic-y" but let's take a look at the evolution in Comic Book movies.

"Comic Book Movies should not be origin stories because it's rare when someone picks up issue #1." -Joe Williams, author of the indy comic Kyaku

First, the Superman vs. Batman styles:

Superman: The Movie deal with a being
of unlimited power finding his limits. 

1978's Superman took the approach of the linear origin story. It starts with the demise of Krypton and the proceeding through the importance of Superman's childhood with the Kents. The death of Jonathan Kent is the most important part of his character development. When director Richard Donner told the story in this fashion, it worked and in spades. 1989's Batman ISN'T an origin story. Director Tim Burton does have a variation of the Joker's beginnings and a mere flashback to Bruce Wayne's parents death. Now, BOTH styles were perfect for their genre's. One story NEEDED to go into detail of the main character and the other could rely on simply telling the back story in seconds. (This style will be further explored in a moment.)

Marvel Employs the Same Tactics:

Did we need to see Blade grow up?
Nope. A simple monologue was
Blade'sorigin story.

Marvel had the same ideas employed by the DC movies in THREE of their films. First was Blade, that used his backstory with a perfect monologue by Kris Kristofferson. Second was a full backstory by Sam Rami in Spider-Man as audiences were shown Peter Parker's growth into his powers, trying to cash in and the MURDER of Uncle Ben. The third was used by Bryan Singer in X2 when he took less than 30 seconds to show Wolverine's Weapon X Experiment- still the most bone-chilling origin in comic films. Each film employed the origin the films needed and not more or less.

Sequels:

Spider-Man 2 is the perfect
character study of the hero

DC's Batman Returns and Superman II stand alone as really their only quality sequels (add Superman III if you're a fan), but Marvel's sequels have excelled greatly. Spider-Man 2 and X2 are among this blogs three best comic films and in spite of a weak Iron Man 2, Iron Man 3 and The Avengers were great. The main story line of each other the sequels remain the same: Is Being the Hero Easy? Some heroes go about their business (Batman Returns), some yearn to find answers (Wolverine), peace of mind (Tony Stark) while others question if they should be the hero (Spider-Man and Superman). At the time, villains ran the gauntlet. Start with the big villain and then go to the secondary villain, (Batman's Joker and Batman Returns' Catwoman and Penguin. Spider-Man's Green Goblin followed by Doctor Octopus) and all villains died until Batman Forever and X-Men. 

"There's three excuses to comic book movies: 
1) Because they're ninjas and ninjas are awesome 
2) Because it's comics so accept it 
3) Because it's Christopher Nolan and fanboys think he can't do wrong" - Scarlett

Christopher Nolan Enters:

Untold before, Batman Begins showed how the
Dark Knight came to be.

In, 2005, Memento director Christopher Nolan entered the fray. Armed with screenwriter David S. Goyer, they set out to reboot the comic movie franchise and likely didn't realize that they'd change comic films forever after that; focusing on making the story more character driven like the Marvel series. In Batman Begins, audiences were told about the origin of Batman and how he came to be the Dark Knight. Taken in by Ra's Al Ghul (pronounced differently from his appearance in the animated series and Arkham City video game) to be an assassin to take down Gotham, Bruce refused and left to become a symbol to unify Gotham. Focusing mainly on Batman and spending a little bit of time on secondary villains (Ghul and the Scarecrow), Nolan spent more time developing Bruce Wayne into Batman. In the process, he made the first film of the series without even a mention of the Joker until the film's closing seconds. Nolan also made the first successful "Dual Villain Film", which never worked out well in their history.

Batman's arch-nemesis wasn't even mentioned
until the closing seconds of Batman Begins 

In 2008, Nolan released The Dark Knight (the first of the series to not use the Batman name) and achieved critical success as well as box office records. As mentioned, Heath Ledger won Best Supporting Actor, but The Dark Knight was nominated for 8 Academy Awards. It prominently featured Batman's biggest villain (The Joker) and developed a second villain in the film (Two-Face). In 2012, Nolan finished his trilogy with the plot hole filled The Dark Knight Rises. Even though Batman is in the middle of nowhere with no money and no contact, he gets back to a quarantined Gotham with stealthful ease. Why? See rule #3. The third part to a comic series still has unperformed with Iron Man 3 (very) arguably being the best one and there's plenty of debate. Still what Nolan did was create a blueprint for the way comic book movies would be made. If you don't believe me...

Marvel Employs the Nolan Method:

Robert Downey Jr was perfect...PERIOD

Marvel released two notable Origin stories after Batman Begins. First was Iron Man, which is possibly the best origin story ever put to film, and recently was The Amazing Spider-Man. Now, the benefit of Iron Man was the lack of a central villain so every villain was secondary and the focus was solely on Tony and his changing role in the world. By the end of the movie, Robert Downey Jr's portrayal of Marvel's playboy was all people could talk about. It also employed a disconnected timeline (a la Nolan's style), but did not have a tone too dark for the very flip hero. 

Did we need to see a full origin story for Spider-Man AGAIN?

With 2012's The Amazing Spider-Man, Marvel returned to tell Spider-Man's origin story that was told ten years earlier with a slight variation for the Ultimate Spider-Man series. The darker tone was good, but not quite a perfect fit for Spider-Man, but director Mark Webb used The Lizard and spoke about the Oscorp CEO Norman Osbourne without showing him. Thus the focus was mainly on Peter and developed him... slightly differently from the original series. In the next film, Chris Cooper will play Osbourne, but it is unknown if the Green Goblin will appear. Director Webb released a picture of "Locker 14" where Peter finds the alien symbiote that eventually becomes Venom- perhaps another foreshadowing of a future villain. It'll be interesting what Amazing Spider-Man 2 reveals next year.

Another staple of the "Nolan Blueprint" is rebranding the franchise. Batman became The Dark Knight, (from Frank Miller's series), but as producer his method and rebranding are now out for Man of Steel- the new Superman film. Again, focus on the hero's origin and a secondary villain as Lex Luthor did not make an appearance. You could say this same style was used in the Sherlock Holmes series that didn't introduce Professor Moriarty until the second film, but mentioned him in the first.

Marvel Creates a Universe:

A second credits scene at the end of The Avengers was
missed by most audiences that left early.

Starting in X3: The Last Stand, Marvel began using scenes after the credits. It was a simple scene that let audiences know that Professor X somehow survived his encounter with the Phoenix. In 2008, Marvel used another scene after the end of Iron Man to introduce Nick Fury and The Avengers initiative. After that, Marvel used it's films and characters to interact in their films even when the films are distributed by different studios (as seen when Paramount's Tony Stark made a cameo in Universal's The Incredible Hulk). Within the next couple years, Marvel firmly planted the idea that ALL of it's film's are connected. Now Marvel has encountered trouble blending Spider-Man into The Avengers, but Wolverine made a cameo in X-Men: First Class, Howard Stark (Tony's Dad) was a key character in Captain America: The First Avenger, Hawkeye was introduced in Thor and Black Widow was a supporting role in Iron Man 2. Even in Marvel's other film like the lucrative Spider-Man series, Eddie Brock was mentioned in the first film and Marvel used a credit-cut scene in The Amazing Spider-Man to hint at another mysterious character (Michael Massee). The point? There's more to a Comic Book Movie than just "here's a character and HIS story"; they exist in a world and occasionally those worlds can intersect with other heros. It is important to remember that the character exist FOR their own films. One complaint about Iron Man 3 is the lack of presence BY the Avengers even though the events of the film are continually referenced. If the Avengers popped up out of nowhere, Iron Man 3 would have suffered.
DC employs the Marvel Methods:

DC used a "Credits Scene" to hint at a
Green Lantern sequel.

DC did not use any cut scenes or references to Metropolis in it's Dark Knight series, but LexCorp and Wayne Enterprise made very QUICK cameos in Man of Steel. With rumors of a Justice League movie in the works, DC could have used a little momentum with a credits scene at the end. They chose not to, but DC did successfully employ the credits scene setting up a sequel... but it was in it's biggest failure- The Green Lantern. In the credits, audiences are shown the Ring of Fear and see it's stolen by Sinestro (perfectly played by Mark Strong). Say what you will about the lackluster Green Lantren, but the idea of Strong's Sinestro in a sequel is appealing. (By the way, you can't tell a guy would turn bad with a name like Sinestro!) There are perils to making a Justice League movie that will be covered soon.
The New Type of Comic Book Film:

Jackman is Wolverine again. That's good news for audiences. 

There is one more HUGE comic film on the horizon this summer- Marvel's The Wolverine. Director James Mangold has films like Girl Interrupted on his resume and Darren Aronofsky was originally slated to direct the film, but took a smaller role in production. The idea of the film is to flush out the Wolverine character. Sure it's going to have it's action, but the film is being billed as a "new type of comic book film". Time will tell in late July.

Comic Book Movies have shown they're more than just fluff when the situations have called for them. They could be tales of the "tragic hero" like a Greek Myth or simply show that there's more to a hero than wearing a stupid costume and covering his face (or not in Superman's case). They've evolved from 1978 to tell better stories that continually improve. Sure, now we're going through the reboots, but varying the adventures of these titans isn't necessarily a bad thing... if they can pull it off. Still, it's not out of the question that one of these days a Superhero film can take home a Best Picture as the quality of these franchises continues to improve.

Console to Screen: Arkham Asylum/City

Arkham City won many awards
and the hearts of gamers in 2011.

Stop me if you've heard this before: an iconic comic book franchise is rebooted for a new series to tap into new stories and reach new audiences. If you don't believe me, look no further than this summer when audiences shelled out millions of dollars to see Mark Webb's reboot of The Amazing Spider-Man and the record-breaking conclusion of Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight saga. BOTH films were reboots of record breaking franchises, but now that Marvel pulled off The Avengers, DC will want to duplicate Marvel's business plan to make a Justice League movie. Now DC already has a reboot of Superman (the second try), Green Lantern's fate being mulled, a Flash script sold and a Wonder Woman movie in the works, only one question remains: What to do with Batman? Nolan and Christian Bale will not be involved so do they reboot this blockbuster franchise? 

If so, DC doesn't need to look further than the one platform they have a clear edge over Marvel- video games. Arkham Asylum/City has captivated gamers for the last four years and was a runaway success last year. Based off their popular comics and using voice acting from the 90's TV series, developer RockSteady came up two Games of the Year. If this was to translate to the big screen, how could they do it?

Story:

Every Batman villain is in Arkham City,
including Mr. Freeze.

The initial story of Arkham Asylum was the longest night in Batman's life. He brings the Joker back to Arkham, but the Joker surrendered too easily. At an opportune moment, the Joker springs himself loose and takes control of the Asylum where he sets free all of the Batman villains (Killer Croc, Scarecrow, Bane and Poison Ivy). As a result, Batman tries to quell the revolt while finding out that one of the doctors was in alliance with the Joker in an experiment called Titan. Titan was honing the Venom from Bane and would create more like him without the tubes regulating the Venom. The key point of the story happens at the end when the Joker injects himself with Titan and becomes a monster, but after Batman defeats him, complications arise that extend to Arkham City. In a secret room in the Warden's office, you see that the Warden has plans from Arkham City- an section of Gotham used to house the criminals.

Absent from Arkham Asylum, The
Penguin makes a huge imprint in
Arkham City.

In Arkham City, there's another villain to deal with: Hugo Strange. Strange creates Arkham City where Bruce Wayne is captured and Strange reveals that he knows Wayne is Batman. Wayne escapes from Strange's grasp and gets his Batman outfit sent to him. As he travels through Arkham City, Batman encounters all of his villains- and I mean all- as they fight for control of their territory in Arkham City. After hearing about Protocol 10 from Strange, Batman investigates, but is sidetracked by a dying Joker who injects Batman with some of his corrosive blood. Now Batman must solve the mystery of Protocol 10 as well as finding a cure for himself and the Joker. Batman encounters all the great villains this time around: Penguin (the grittiest version to date), Two-Face, Clayface, Ra's & Talia Al Guhl and Mr. Freeze. Batman ends up defeating Strange and learning of a conspiracy with another inmate and grabs the cure, but drops what's left of it when he is stabbed by the Joker. Without the remaining cure, the Joker surcomes to the disease and dies. There were also numerous other storylines in this game, but these were the key that drove the game.

Casting:

Who could play Batman now?

Well, who would you have play Batman now? Christian Bale was very good (not great with that stupid voice) and he was exactly what Batman should have been. Clooney and Kilmer had the look, but not the scripts and Keaton's performance cannot be overlooked. In the Arkham games, Kevin Conroy reprised the voice of Bruce Wayne from the 90's Batman: The Animated Series and finding a live version of the character painted here is essential. What current actor could play Batman/Bruce Wayne?

Hugo Strange is a villain that Batman
has not faced on the big screen.

Then there's another matter: with all of the villains in this game, you'd have to consolidate them. Is the public Joker-ed out? You had Heath Ledger win an Oscar, Jack Nicholson be iconic and Mark Hamill draw rave reviews winning character of the year at the Video Game awards. Hamill would be the one person I'd love to see play the Joker for real. It would make you wonder if there are any other Batman villains. If Arkham City is adapted, you could make a full movie solely about Hugo Strange's plans. It would be a welcomed addition to the Batman villains that have been unused in the series. However, find a Strange would be much harder. Think of a cleaner Peter Stormare of Lockout and The Big Lebowski.

What's Already in Place:

Other than a character everyone knows, great villains, a ton of action and several different stories that kept gamers playing for hours... well, there's also a completely different take on Batman that movie goers saw since 2005. This Batman is great as Bruce AND Batman. Wayne is also more involved with other helpers like Oracle (Barbara Gordon in a wheel chair) and Alfred as an even more vocal guiding force that Nolan presented. In fact, Bruce Wayne would never have fired Alfred. Sorry, that's a fact. It also shows Batman having more gadgets than the Nolan series, which featured a ton of them. Aside from the Bat-darts used in Dark Knight Rises, Nolan's gadgets were practical. The Arkham series used the gadgets for purposes and not just to use for a moment. The Remote Electrical Charge and the Distruptor were fantastic weapons that made fans by itself, but the Line Launcher and Explosive Gel were neat.
The music and atmosphere is handled very well. Arkham Asylum/City immersed the gamer in Batman's world by including every nick-nack like stories about the Ratcatcher and Maxi Zeus. Every villain carved out their territory including Killer Croc and every villain was trying to expand their territory with Hugo Strange planning something more devious. The game amazed everyone (including this Marvel-over-DC-fan), but can it be flushed out.

Who Could Pull This Off:
In 2002, did anyone this that Christopher Nolan was the right choice coming off Insomnia and Memento? I did, but who knew of him outside film buffs? There were some that weren't sure about Nolan after Batman Begins, but now the mere mention of his name on IMDb is to among the greatest movies ever made. (Overrated in my opinion, but I'm still a fan of his.) How do you reboot that franchise? Make it something different. Now I'm not saying go the Schumacher route, but find a presentation closer to Arkham City or the 90's animated series. Perhaps a capable action movie director like the Bourne Identity's Doug Lyman or Taken's Luc Besson would work.

Bottom Line:

Aren't we "Joker-ed Out", but how do you tell this story without him?

The major problem with BOTH these games is the prominent villains are the Joker and Ra's Al Guhl, who were thoroughly covered by the Nolan Batmans. It's incredibly difficult to adapt these games without them both, even with strong side stories featuring TwoFace, the Penguin, Victor Zsaz, the Madhatter and even Hush. You can't cut out the Joker's or Guhl's story and get it to work. It is possible to minimize them, but will that hurt the story? Hard to say, but if Warner Bros wants to release a Justice League, they'll have to reboot Batman some how. This could be a good base if handled correctly.

The Greatest Comic Book/Graphic Novel Movies of All Time

In honor of The Dark Knight Rises, this week's blog is about the Best Comic Book/Graphic Novel Films ever made. Of course if you look at IMDb, there's no need for this list since EVERY Christopher Nolan movie is in the top 250 of all time, but I hope you won't mind a healthy debate. Read on and argue with me at the end. Quick ground rules: one movie per series.

Blade kicked off Marvel's movie
superiority.

10) Blade (1998) – Marvel didn't have a good film track record until this late 90's Wesley Snipes movie surged through theaters. This film did well even when vampires weren't in every movie. The story of the half-human/half-vampire slayer was done justice by Snipes and Kris Kristopherson. It would spawn two more sequels that never reached their potential, but it was better than Twilight- then again... so are infomercials.

Watch out who you cross
in Sin City?

9) Sin City (2005) – Frank Miller's graphic novels were brought to life in Robert Rodriguez's film by following the framing used in the comic. The story's were done with a serious and slightly campy style that perfectly fit the film noir feel of Sin City. It had good performances by the all-star cast led by Bruce Willis, Jessica Alba, Rosario Dawson, Clive Owen and Alexis Bledel, but it was the opening story with Mickey Rouke and Elijah Wood that kept your blood pumping throughout the film.

Hanks, Law and Newman
delivered great work.

8) Road to Perdition (2002) – Sam Mendes' encore after American Beauty was a well-crafted, well-written and well acted piece that many didn't know was originally a graphic novel. Tom Hanks plays a hitman whose son witnessed a hit by Daniel Craig and as a result Craig has his family killed. Hanks escapes with his son and is on the run from the mob, including his boss Paul Newman in his final Oscar nominated performance. Jude Law turns in some of his best work as a hitman with a hobby of photographing the dead.

To ignore 1989's Batman is to be
completely ignorant. It was great.

7) Batman (1989)– Tim Burton's blockbuster hit with a surprise choice to play Batman (Michael Keaton) was considered the movie of the decade by critic Rex Reed. It took a very reserved Batman without a stupid voice (hint, hint Christian Bale) and homicidal maniac Joker (Jack Nicholson) to bring it to life. Like Blade, this was not an origin story for it's first segment and has a good debate with Dark Knight on the better Joker movie.

He was the first comic TV show and
the first comic movie.

6) Superman (1978)– Richard Donner's original comic book film from 1978 that didn't see an equal for some time. Christopher Reeve was the best choice for the Man of Steel as well as Gene Hackman's Lex Luthor. It gave us a full history of Superman from Krypton to Smallville and let audience's know, just because you have a ton of ability, doesn't make you a god.

The Best Origin story
ever and a sign of our times.

5) Iron Man (2008)– The Dark Knight Rises was said to mimic our current times, but Iron Man did it better. Weapons manufacturer Tony Stark sees soldiers getting killed by his own creations and decides to turn over a new leaf. Robert Downey Jr. has been sensational in every installment of this series, but this one showed the public at large just how talented he was. Jon Favereau did a great job making the Marvel hero come to life and there's more only to come.

How was it possible to blend so
many heros together? Joss Whedon
found a way.

4) The Avengers (2012)– What makes The Avengers an achievement is blending so many heroes to make one great film without favoring one too much. Joss Whedon took all six heroes and used them like a Long Island Iced Tea- great going down and packs a punch. The action was great and seemless for Hawkeye to Black Widow to Iron Man to Captain America. Go ahead, see this again and not want to clap when Bruce Banner tells Black Widow about his secret technique.

A sequel worthy of greatness.

3) X2 (2011)- Bryan Singer's follow-up to 2000's X-Men was bigger, better and more gripping than the first. The human villain Brian Cox exposed humans as a bigger threat than Magneto (but Ian McKellen quickly reminds audiences that he's the top of the food chain). Every X-Men actor was on point, even the scenes that had to be added for recent Oscar winner Halle Barry. If you don't have a chill down you spine when Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) walks into the lab that put the metal on his bones, you're made of stone.
Honorable mention: X-Men First Class (2011)

How many times did
you see The Dark Knight?

2) The Dark Knight (2008)– Lost in the hype over Heath Ledger's Joker was the fine performance by Aaron Eckhart as Gotham's fallen District Attorney Harvey Dent. Christopher Nolan added the best chapter of Batman in the first film that didn't feature Batman's name in the title. Ledger was terrifying as the sadistic Joker. Bale was strong as the conflicted billionaire that is trying to clean up the streets of his beloved city while people are being killed to force him to quit. It reveals the price of being the hero, but it isn't the best example on this list.

The winner and still champion had it
all. Action, Story, Great Performances and
a hero without a stupid voice.

1) Spider-Man 2 (2004)– No secret, this is the Greatest Of All Time! It isn't as dark as the Nolan Batman's, but it's message of “the price to be the hero” is presented better than any other comic book film. Peter Parker's life is hell as he tries to keep the promise to Uncle Ben by remembering “With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility”. His efforts to be friends with Mary Jane are threatened. His best friend hates him and blames him for his father's death. His aunt thinks he's dangerous. His grades slip. He can't make rent and is barely scraping by at the Daily Bugle, but he tries to soldier on as his powers begin to fade with his own personal resentment of his alter-ego. Eventually, Peter forgoes the life of Spider-Man in an effort to be Peter Parker, but the world needs Spider-Man one way or another and he must don the Spider-Man costume again despite the cost to his own life. When his identity is revealed, Peter thwarts Doctor Octopus, saves Mary Jane, but creates a new enemy from his best friend Harry Osbourne. Peter gives up Mary Jane again, but MJ choses to encounter the pitfalls of being Spider-Man's girlfriend with him as the sequel ends on a high note... then they made #3...

There you have the list. Feel free to debate. I know there's going to be a clamoring for 300, but figured Sin City was enough.

Will It Be Knight Fall?

contains comic storylines, which you could consider spoilers

The Dark Knight Rises
opens July 20th.

In 2008, Christopher Nolan followed up his 2005 film Batman Begins with the super-hyped The Dark Knight. It was the first movie in the long running series that used a title without the name “Batman”, but his nickname was didn't shun audiences as they shelled out over $1 billion dollars worldwide. On July 20^th, The Dark Knight Rises will hit the theaters and promises to be the conclusion to the Dark Knight Saga. Will it deliver the thrill that captivated audiences for the last seven years or fall short like so many other “part three” films have in the past? One more question lingers...how far is Nolan going to take this story?

Bane broke Batman's back
 in the Knightfall series.

This one features Bane, a genetically enhanced super-soldier that dwarfs Captain America with an intellect that rivals Stephen Hawking. Originally, MOVIE audiences got a watered down version of the super villain as a boneheaded one dimensional character in the forgettable Batman and Robin, but some aspects of Bane were true. Bane injects a poison called venom from a tank on his back to boost his strength and even makes him grow in height. Sentenced to serve his revolutionary father's term in a Caribbean prison called Pena Dura, he read as many books as he could get his hands on. His first murder came at the age of eight, growing the hard character's bloodlust. Eventually Bane became the “king of the prison”, which displeased the prisoner's controllers. He was given the experimental drug Venom that killed all the other test subjects and nearly did so to Bane. However, Bane survived and broke out of prison with his unbelievable strength. He sought Gotham because Gotham was ruled in fear, but it was fear of the Batman. In the "Knightfall" series, Bane broke out Arkham's deadliest criminals for Batman to round up. Exhausted from rounding up Gotham's filth, Batman retired back to the Batcave where Bane was waiting for him after concluding he was Bruce Wayne. The battle resulted with Bane breaking Batman's back becoming the man who "broke the bat."

Tom Hardy's Bane will be much better than the
one Joel Schumacher gave us in Batman and Robin.

Now to the films. At the end of The Dark Knight, Batman makes a decision that made him an outlaw in Gotham to preserve the image of Harvey Dent. As a result, Batman goes into hiding and The Dark Knight Rises begins with Bruce Wayne insisting he's retired. It's a time of peace and prosperity in Gotham and you know that won't last. Come on Godzilla eventually has to attack Tokyo, therefore a super-villain will always rise... no pun intended. Shooting Star (better than Rising) Tom Hardy takes on the role of Bane. Hardy has called Bane "meticulous and calculated" as opposed to the crazed and unpredictable Joker audiences loved in 2008. There is no jar of poison on Bane and he is a regular height, fitting how Nolan stayed away from the SUPERNATURAL characters in this series. It's Bane's intellect and ruthlessness that Nolan is showcasing. The trailers show a battle in the Batcave and it refers to this film as the CONCLUSION of the Dark Knight series, but exactly how far is this story going to go? Are they going to cripple the hero? It's hard to imagine ending the series like that, but it's possible. If so, that would be unprecedented! How many superhero movies have ended like that? One thing is certain, Nolan's third part of the series is hyped an incredible amount and is expected to not Spider-Man 3 audiences. 

Best Music in Gaming History

In the genesis of the video games, music wasn't needed to soothe the savage beast. Pong didn't have music, neither did Asteroids or Missle Commander. Hell, even Donkey Kong and many early Nintendo games didn't have music except a bit in the beginning. However, as games evolved into bigger experiences with better storytelling, a great score was needed. Some of these games have scores that blockbuster films would envy and set the mood brilliantly. Sometimes it wrenched your guts and sometimes it keeps you going to the next level. The music of these games inspired the constantly sold out show "Video Games Live", where fans get to hear the music of games they loved.

Let's take a look at ten: (will not include Mass Effect, Halo or Dead Space for lack of experience with them and all Star Wars games are out since their music comes straight from the movies.) 

Mega Man gave you a different
feel for every level.

Mega Man - The theme of different tones for different worlds and characters come up a lot and Mega Man was one of the first that used that tactic well. All of the worlds had a their own traits and their own music, but Dr. Wily's was always most ominous and frantic style. This would not be Capcom's only entry in this blog.

Ninja Gaiden's music was key for
the action as well as the cinema
scenes.

Ninja Gaiden (NES) - Probably the earliest game that used cinema cut scenes, but music drove the engine of Ninja Gaiden. Whether it was in the gameplay- where each stage had it's own identifiable music- or the cinema scenes that used the music to build the suspense during Ryu Hyabusa's search for his missing father. Throughout the game, Ryu encounters enemies, friends, counter-agents and even loss of those friends as they are captured or killed. The twists and turns of the story are all given extra juice by the score.

Arkham City put you in the
Dark Knight's skin.

Batman Arkham City - The Arkham games are the one place that DC Comics have conquered Marvel and it's music was a primary reason. Nick Arundel and Ron Fish create a score closer to the Danny-Elfman style, but it's used more like the Christopher Nolan movies that don't overpower the audience. During gameplay, the music stays in the background, but during fights or predator battles, the music leaps to the forefront as the panicking henchman desperately endure the Dark Knights tactics.

With a new techo-style, Metroid Prime
sparked gamer's adrenaline.

Metroid Prime - Metroid didn't use much music that would be memorable until it hit it's stride in Metroid Prime. With a more techno style by Kenjo Yamamoto, Metroid Prime created the style that made you listen to the game as well get your adrenaline pumping. Take the final fight of the first game against Metroid Prime or the battles with Dark Samus, you can't help but slide to the front of the couch as you attempt to destroy your nemesis. The series continued with great music in Metroid: The Other M and continues to reinvent itself all the time.

Resident Evil's score made you
live in a horror movie.

Resident Evil - The original installment relied on silence and mostly ominous tones, but hauntingly crept when the situation called for it. As the series progressed it used the music in the background effectively in a horror movie style. The music was appropriate; never overpowering and never letting you feel safe. Take the fights with Mr. X or Tyrant, where the music is absent and slowly builds to make you sweat. *Music by Akari Kaida, Makoto Tomozawa and Masami Ueda

The music in Street Fighter was
intricate for every stage.

Street Fighter II - The fighting game that spawned the craze. Sure Karate Champ was first, but this was separated from all others by it's music. Every character had their own home and their own theme highlighting the opponents personality. If you fought Zangief, the music would give you a more Russian flare. If you were in America, rock music would play and so on. Sure, some of these stories (PunchOut is also guilty of it) are comically racist, but that's not what we're talking about here. 

Final Fantasy VII was an epic experience
with an epic score.

Final Fantasy VII - Probably the best example of music enhancing the storytelling. From the into of the game to the end, the Final Fantasy series used music better than most other franchises. The composers didn't treat this like a video game- more like an opera. All the characters had their own music. You could have been blind folded and still known when Sephiroth comes on screen. You felt Cloud's decent into madness, when danger came to the group, or even when the members of the group had romantic feelings for one another (by the way, even Barrett could fall for Cloud). Perhaps on of the best moments in gaming history was the Aeis' death (FFVII), which was largely without music, but when inserted beautifully, made many gamers weep. The epic 60 hour experience was full of great music and few were better than it. *Music by Nobuo Uematsu

Who didn't hum the Mario Bros theme?

Super Mario Brothers - Possibly the most famous of all video game music, but it stuck in many gamers heads when they were done popping quarters in the arcade or when they turned off their NES consoles in 1986. The game had different music for the different worlds you'd visit, different tasks you accomplished (like warping: wa, wa, wa) and especially when you grabbed a star. That sounded like to composer took some cocaine and just went nuts. The only thing Mario didn't have was different music for Luigi...but at that time no one cared. This is the first mention of Koji Kondo on the list, but won't be  the last.

If Gear of War becomes a film,
it already has the perfect music.

Gears of War - Believe it or not, this series produced exceptional music throughout it's trilogy. Kevin Riepl's score made it feel like a blockbuster summer action movie. It made a fire fight with hordes of grubs engulfing and kept you fighting until it you heard that tone signaling the last locus had his head blown off. All that is good, but this series gave you fantastic music during it's cinematic scenes. Whether it was watching Kim get killed by General RAAM or the soul crushing scene of when Dom finds Maria in Gears of War 2, this series pulled you in with it's tone, heightening the peril, exciting you with the danger and even breaking your heart. The booming tones of the series echo in your brain hours after you shutdown the game. If you don't believe me, play the end of Gears of War 3 and try not to hum the theme in the end.

The Best of the Best when it comes to video game music.

The Legend of Zelda - The cream of the crop when it comes to video game music. Koji Kondo created the greatest of all video game themes and adjusted the music from game to game in a way that made every installment unique. In fact, the one time the music for the series was criticized was when they didn't include the famous Legend of Zelda theme in arguably their greatest game (Ocarina of Time). Still, every edition of this series has not just given fans good music- it's been great music. Every aspect of the music accentuated each main (and even most minor) characters, the story, the time of day, the mood and even broke you emotionally. Music has also been a weapon used by Link in every edition of this series. Whether it was saving Zelda, facing Ganon (or Ganondorf in later games) to surprise twists or that tone when you solved a mystery. Most people can tell you exactly what game it is from the first couple bars of the theme. It was so popular that Nintendo gave away a CD of the series popular themes. Most fans would agree that it was worth the extra money for the "special edition".

Can Spider-Man Still Amaze Us?

The Amazing Spider-Man
opens July 3rd.

In 2002, Spider-Man bursted in movie theaters with the single weekend record at the box office. Becoming the first movie to open with a $100 million dollar weekend, the Spider-Man franchise went on to destroy that record twice. As far as the films went, the first two were exceptional and the third...was a movie. Any way, the Amazing Spider-Man comes out in theaters on July 3rd with a new cast and new director. No more Tobey Maguire and Sam Raimi. Hello Andrew Garfield and (500) Days of Summer director Mark Webb. Will The Amazing Spider-Man do just that?

Spider-Man 2's train fight was iconic. Can The Amazing Spider-Man
deliver the same great action sequence?

Previously written in this blog in Advice the Dark Knight would give Spider-Man and Vice Versa, Spider-Man's original concept worked well as opposed to Batman's flawed and failed Batman Forever and Batman and Robin. That's why Batman could reboot a lot easier than Spider-Man. Unfortunately, most people have fresh memories of the great films in the franchise. Tobey Maguire's Peter Parker was outstanding and considered by many as one of the best heroes on screen. Raimi's vision for the francise had a very comic style without hindering storytelling. Spider-Man 2 was called the greatest comic book movie ever by Roger Ebert. The franchise has one of the most iconic action scenes in comic movie history with the train top fight between Doc Ock and Spidey, culminating with a runaway train and a mask-less Spider-Man human surfing the people he saved. The first two films were well written, well casted, well conceived and well performed. Again the third installment...was a movie too. How can they top that? By telling another origin story? Come on, gotta give us something this franchise hasn't seen at all. 

Andrew Garfield takes the reigns
as the nerdy web-slinger.

That's what Sony and Marvel is attempting. This Peter Parker will be snarkier than ever and will show case Parker's scientific side more than the previous series. Gone are Parker's organic web-shooters. Now, Peter has to make his own shooters. Of course, there's going to be the traditional trial-and-error period every superhero has, but this could be different from Maguire's flight into a wall in the original.  It will also introduce a new (...or original) love interest- Gwen Stacey (played by Emma Stone). It'll also be the second time a Spider-Man love interest goes from a natural redhead to a blonde as Bryce Dallas Howard did the same in Spider-Man 3. Odd, Kirsten Dunst was blonde that went red for the original three films. This film also has another new villian by introducing the Lizard. Now, the original story had Curt Connors as Peter's teacher. This one appears to go in a different direction. Connors worked at Oscorp with Peter's father. Will their teacher/mentor relationship translate to this new style? Spider-Man has always had one mystery that many fans never got to know: what happened to his parents. As seen in the first teaser trailer, this film wants Spidey fans to see that story. Trailers show great fight scenes with the Lizard and a huge antenna collapsing toward the streets of New York, so fans will get to see plenty of action, but will it top the originals?

Emma Stone's Gwen Stacey will develop much different
from Kirsten Dunst's MJ.

Tuesday audiences will get to view The Amazing Spider-Man for themselves. It has a lot to live up to, but also a bit to make audiences forget. What remains to be seen will be the plans Marvel has for the rest of the series and will they mess up the third part as bad as they did originally. If they do, it's no problem. The Spectacular Spider-Man is likely due out in 2023 if there's any hiccups. If it's successful, then this franchise can swing it's way to new heights.

The Lizard is unlike any previous Spidey villain. Can he
compete with the Green Goblin and Doc Ock?