Archive for the ‘The Dark Knight’ Category
Play: Welcome To Gotham City
Lego Batman is quirky and fun, complete with movie soundtracks and fantastic graphics. FAIZUL AZIM SAIFUL writes.
LEGO BATMAN (PS2)
IT is inevitable that there will be a game from the Lego franchise that pokes fun at the Caped Crusader, seeing how well the latest movie did at the box office.
Although Lego Batman does not follow the movie’s storyline, its apparent disassociation with it is what makes it so charming.
You begin with Batman and Boy Wonder Robin as you battle numerous criminals from the Dark Knight universe. You’ll fight The Riddler, Two-Face, Poison Ivy and Clayface at first.
As you proceed, more enemies from the comics appear, including the Penguin, Man-Bat and as expected, The Joker.
To reach these Arkham inmates, you’ll have to pound enemies with your fists or by throwing them around. Along the way, you’ll find different suits to help you complete your missions.
One puts Robin in a huge metallic costume that enables him to walk up metal walls. Another lets Batman glide so he can access ledges.
There are also switches to activate, puzzles to solve and hidden goodies to find, including blue bolts, special Lego pieces and other items.
The plays are in the same format as previous titles in the Lego series such as Star Wars and Indiana Jones.
You control two characters at the same time (or one, if you’re playing the co-op two-player mode), exploring levels as you build Legos and collect “studs” that help unlock extra features.
Once you have completed a level, you open up free play which allows you to switch to any characters whom you’ve unlocked to find hidden areas and secrets in the game that only they can reach with their unique powers.
Lego Batman excels over previous Lego games with its variety of missions. The missions include exciting vehicle segments (including a fun ride in the Batmobile) and different characters to control.
Villains also get their share of the spotlight. Not only do you control The Joker and the Penguin (among others), but they also get their own missions.
From stealing an ice cannon to facing off against an impatient Commissioner Gordon, these stages are just as much fun as the heroes’.
The level design is great and takes you all over Gotham City Lego-style. The story has a lot of the brand’s trademark humour, such as having the characters communicate entirely by mumbling (or meowing in the case of one villainess).
Developer Traveller’s Tales has done a great job with the presentation, complete with Batman soundtracks, along with a few original compositions.
The graphics are the best of any Lego game, whether you walk through the city streets or raid Mr Freeze’s icy warehouse. The camera angles do get hectic from time to time, leading to an occasional accidental fall off a ledge.
As with other Lego titles, just don’t take this game too seriously, and you may enjoy its quirky outlook on the movies it’s based on.
The game can be bought at WEGA Enterprise located in Sungei Wang Plaza, Kuala Lumpur. Call 03-2141-8688.
New Straits Times
Asian Superheros Come To Rescue Of Region’s Film Industry
BUSAN, South Korea: Asian filmmakers who have watched in envy as US superheroes have won billions at the international box office are determined not to let Hollywood have everything its own way.
At this week’s 13th Pusan International Film Festival (PIFF) a buzz has been building about a Korean production that looks set to take on Batman, Iron Man and Spider-Man at their own game.
On the sidelines of the festival, industry insiders have been rallying support for Asia’s own brand of superhero.
The US$12-million “Jeon Woo Chi” has been the talk of the festival with its producer Lee Eugene calling it the “most anticipated project in Korea”.
Featuring Korean superstars Gang Dong-won, Lim Soo-jung and Kim Yun-seok, it follows a time-travelling Taoist magician and his fight against a band of nasty goblins.
Lee hopes the film will take on Hollywood’s blockbusters when it is released next summer and its anticipated four-month shooting schedule is one of the longest in Korean film history.
“It’s going to be very different from a Hollywood clear-cut ‘good’ superhero,” Lee told reporters. “Jeon Woo Chi is a rascal and quite mischievous.”
The film is certainly up against the odds when it comes to box office figures, as Hollywood’s current trend of plundering America’s comic book back catalogue is reaping huge rewards.
The latest edition of the Batman franchise, “The Dark Knight,” earned more than US$460 million in foreign ticket sales alone, while “Iron Man” with US$253 million, and “Spider-Man 3″ with US$554 million, also enjoyed massive paydays from the international market.
To Asia’s embattled local film industries, hit hard both by poor box office returns and dwindling production numbers, these are figures beyond the wildest of dreams.
But that doesn’t mean Asian filmmakers are not going to put up a fight.
PIFF has this year included a Superheroes in Asia section featuring 11 regional films from the past half century, which have been enthusiastically received.
“In Japan we have had our own heroes such as Ultraman since the 1960s,” said Japanese film producer Ichiyama Shozo.
“The important factor is you have to make your heroes different from the United States’ ones. That’s why one of our Japanese heroes, Gekko Kamen (a masked Japanese avenger on a motorcycle) has a motto ‘Don’t kill him, forgive him’. It is different from the American mindset.”
In recent times, local box office heroes such as India’s time-travelling Krrish and Malaysia’s Cicakman, part man, part lizard, part legend - both featured in Busan - have managed to stand up to the Hollywood challenge.
Veteran Philippine film critic Edward Cabagnot says history has shown that smart Asian filmmakers have been able to look to the West and learn.
“We love our heroes in Asia,” he says.
“In the Philippines for example we have taken what America has given us and made it local.
“That’s why a character such as our Darna, who has been around since the 1950s, is basically Wonder Woman but with local characteristics. Like Philippine society itself, her stories are a mix of Catholic guilt with Hollywood glamour.”
Perhaps the only film region in the world to keep Hollywood’s heroes at bay has been India, where “Spider-Man 3″ failed to make the box office top 20, pulling in just US$380,000.
“The reasons for this are simple,” said critic Meenakshi Shedde.
“Indian cinema already has a sense of the fantastic so the audience is not impressed with Hollywood heroes.
“Just take a look at what your average Bollywood hero does during the course of a film - he can fight, sing, dance and basically do anything he wants. So nothing American cinema does really surprises or impresses us.”
Just why we seem to love superheroes so much was another matter up for debate in Busan.
Joo Youshin, who lectures in cinema theory at Yongsan University in Seoul, believes the success of the Hollywood heroes reflects universal human desires.
“They speak to us about the contradictions we feel in society everywhere,” she says. “And sometimes they reflect our psyche too.”
But Cabagnot has a simpler explanation.
“Sometimes we just like them because they are sexy,” he says. “In Asia of course we can copy this. It is how we can be successful. And no one has the copyright on sexy. Not even Hollywood.”
- AFP
Channel News Asia
Lisa S. Mahu Bersinar
Oleh JESSABELL SOO
jessabell@kosmo.com.my
BERBEKALKAN wajah Pan Asia dan bakat yang dimiliki, tidak hairanlah Lisa S. disunting menjadi anggota terbaru keluarga Channel [V]. Sudah lama menyimpan impian untuk menjadi salah seorang hos Channel [V], Lisa bukan sahaja diberi peranan dalam mengacarakan program Video[Scope] dan The [V] Countdown.
Anak kacukan Cina, Perancis dan Amerika ini juga memikul tanggungjawab sebagai pengacara untuk program baru saluran ini, The List yang pada setiap Khamis bermula 2 Oktober lalu, pukul 6 petang.
Mendapat tahu mengenai uji bakat Channel [V] menerusi kawannya, Lisa sendiri mempunyai latar belakang dalam bidang pengacaraan di Hong Kong. Pernah menjadi hos untuk program berbentuk gaya hidup, Lisa berasa seronok selepas hampir sebulan menghiasi Channel [V].
“Pengalamannya amat menyeronokkan. Setiap hari saya tidak sabar untuk menanti masa untuk bekerja.
Mengacara program Channel [V] membuatkan saya kurang tekanan dan lebih relaks,” kata Lisa pada satu temu bual menerusi e-mel kepada Kosmo!.
Dilahirkan di Monaco dan dibesarkan di New York, Lisa mula mencuri perhatian lensa ketika berusia 14 tahun semasa dia menyertai pertandingan menunggang kuda.
Dia kemudian mula menceriakan pentas peragaan di pusat fesyen termasuk London, Milan dan Paris.
Apabila dirinya mulai dikenali, dia kemudian melebarkan sayap ke Jepun, Selatan Afrika, Sepanyol dan Switzerland sebelum mengukuhkan namanya di Hong Kong sebagai salah seorang hos terken Asia.
Sungguhpun pernah bekerja dengan pelbagai produksi TV, Lisa memberitahu pengalamannya bekerja dengan Channel [V] membuka peluangnya untuk bertemu dengan ramai orang baru.
“Bertemu dengan orang baru adalah perkara yang paling mengujakan. Kami dapat bergaul dengan selesa.
“Maka berjumpa sebanyak tiga kali seminggu untuk tujuh jam sehari bukan satu masalah. Malah, saya rasa masa itu berlalu dengan pantas,” kata Lisa yang selalu melakukan penyelidikan setiap kali sebelum memasuki studio untuk rakaman.
SELAIN menjadi model batu permata, Lisa juga memiliki hobi membuat barang kemas.
Menetap di Hong Kong dan mempunyai sebuah rumah percutian di Selatan Afrika, Lisa juga pernah menceburi bidang lakonan.
Bermula dengan filem yang turut dibintangi oleh Datuk Michelle Yeoh, Silver Hawk pada tahun 2004, Lisa juga terlibat dalam filem Rob-B-Hood (2006) sebagai kekasih Louis Koo.
Namun buat masa ini, Lisa belum mendapat sebarang tawaran lakonan. Lagipun menurut Lisa, dia bukannya seorang pelakon profesional.
“Jika ada tawaran lakonan, saya pasti akan menerimanya.
Lakonan amat menyeronokkan. Cuma saya bukan pelakon sepenuh masa. Jadi mungkin satu hari nanti saya akan berlakon lagi,” katanya yang meminati filem The Usual Suspects, Clockwork Orange dan The Dark Knight.
Statusnya hari ini juga merupakan sebab Lisa dipilih sebagai duta kepada batu permata, De Beers. Dengan pemilihan itu, dia mewakili syarikat tersebut dalam mempromosikan kepentingan sosial dan ekonomi industri batu pertama di Afrika.
Disebabkan tanggungjawab itu, bekas pelajar Universiti New York ini memupuk hobi baru iaitu membuat barang kemas pada masa terluangnya.
“Selain membuat barang kemas, saya juga menjalankan kerja peragaan dan kempen pengiklanan produk seperti Olay. Maka selalunya saya jarang mempunyai masa lapang.
“Jika ada masa berlebihan, saya suka menghabiskan masa dengan anjing Chihuahua saya yang bernama Chiquita Bonita Banan dan menonton filem serta makan,” katanya yang mahir bercakap dalam bahasa Inggeris, Perancis, Itali dan sedikit bahasa Mandarin.
Kosmo