Christian Bale returns to the silver screens once again as Bruce Wayne / Batman, a billionaire who has dedicated himself to protecting Gotham City from the criminal underworld. Together with the help of Lieutenant Jim Gordon (Gary Oldman) and new District Attorney Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart), Batman worked with them to curb the organized crimes that plagued Gotham for good. However, as effective as this partnership may be, they are soon faced with another terrifying criminal mastermind known as the Joker, played by Academy Award nominee Heath Ledger. With the Joker in the scene; causing chaos and mass destruction all over Gotham, Batman is soon forced to maximize his abilities as his struggles to bring down the Joker plunged into a personal level.

My Review:

Having to watch the first show on 10.05PM [16 July] at Cathay Cineplex Kota Kinabalu has its advantages. You get a free Batman poster (while stocks lasts) like this one:

If you didn’t get yours, that means you are too late! Oh well, better luck on the next movie premiere!

“The Dark Knight” opens with a bang as we get to see the clever manipulative Joker first hand. The late Heath Ledger definitely plays the psychopathic, mass murdering, schizophrenic clown down pat. With his smudged and sloppily applied clown makeup, scarred lips, messy hair and manic laughter, he really makes one heck of a terrifying Joker. It is just a shame that we won’t be able see the same Joker performance again in future Batman movies (for those of you who still not know, Heath Ledger died of an accidental drug overdose earlier this year). Oh, do expect a lot of TNT type of bombings and gun scenes as you and i both know that it is what our favorite villain in Batman has a keen affinity for.

As for Batman, the Batsuit was redesigned. Not only that, the film also introduces a recreation of the Batcycle (or Batpod) designed by Nathan Crowley, who designed the Tumbler Batmobile for Batman Begins (2005) movie. This film also introduce a new twisted vigilante who was turned by the Joker and called himself‘Two Face’ after an unavoidable tragedy occurred. In spite of that, i couldn’t help but to think that both Batman and Two Face’s characters are overshadowed by Heath Ledger’s cinematic performance as the Joker! Watch it, then you’ll understand what i mean!

All in all, “The Dark Knight” is truly an entertaining movie for all ages -enjoy it for the plot, the story and most importantly - The Joker. For Heath Ledger has indeed delivered his best performance, EVER! Fans of the DC Comic might find the story has changed a little, but it’s still good! Then again, why so serious?

Let’s put a SMILE on that face!
(~’.')~♥~Marissa~♥~(’.'~)

From mangaka Yuki Amemiya and Yukino Ichihara comes this beautifully-drawn fantasy manga called 07 Ghost, which is currently serialized in monthly manga magazine called Monthly Comic Zero Sum (月刊コミックZERO-SUM / Gekkan Komikku Zero Samu). Other well-known mangas that are published in this magazine are Saiyuki Reload and Loveless.

07 Ghost is also recently been licensed by Go! Comi for release in North America at the recent Anime Expo 2008.

Set in a gothic fantasy world, 07 Ghost tells the story of Teito, an amnesiac former slave who is sent to attend the Barsbug Empire’s military academy. One thing lead to another, and Teito escaped from the academy and is pursued by the forces of the Barsburg Empire because of his exceptional ability to use a form of rare and highly prized magic called Zaiphon.

Teito escaping capture on a hawkzile (a kind of flying motorcycle)

After narrowly escaping and crashing his escape vehicle, he was saved by a perverted bishop and was brought to a church to recuperate. The church upholds the Law of ‘Santuary’ which states: Anyone who takes refuge in the church and ask for patronage, even if that person is a criminal, their protection is granted. Neither the army nor the government can lay a finger on them publicly. This means that Teito can stay in the church without fear of the Empire. Nevertheless, the antagonist of this story would never rest until he capture Teito, this leads to many clever manipulation and carefully planned plots in order to capture him.

A sister showing Teito the church

The clergymen of the church

Slowly but surely, Teito’s discovery of his true nature and his subsequent quest for revenge involve him in the affairs of the Gods themselves, as he finds himself at the center of the conflict between Verloren, the God of Death, and the mysterious “beings of light” sent by Heaven to oppose him: the Seven Ghosts. And what is this Eye of Mikhail, the powerful artifact of the ransacked Raggs Kingdom is everyone talking about?

In Japan, 07 Ghost is still on-going with 6 Volumes up-to-date.

I fell in love with 07 Ghost at first sight of the Chapter 1 cover art. As i dwell further into the pages of the manga, i found that the art is amazingly beautiful, clean, with intricate details when it comes to clothes and building architecture. However, i couldn’t find any information at all when i tried googling up the 2 mangaka of this title, Yuki Amemiya and Yukino Ichihara. I’m guessing that they are still relatively quite new to this. The storyline of this manga could be a little confusing if you don’t pay attention it, but it is overall very addictive as it makes you anticipates the next chapter. It is very intriguing to see how things will turn out as Teito started studying to enter priesthood to plot his revenge and pieces of his past slowly coming back to him.

Will this have a Code Geass-like plot? A prince of a fallen empire coming back to take revenge on his family’s death? I’m guessing that it’ll be more than just a Lelouch Rebellion, for i smell darker plots up ahead! Nevertheless, unlike Code Geass, 07 Ghost deals with magic & fantasy instead of mecha (pilot controlled machines) so that alone sets them both apart. How will Teito & the Seven Ghosts’ fate turn out in the end? Well, it looks like we’ll have to keep on reading to find out more!

Meanwhile, you can check out more 07 Ghost art by clicking on the banner below to be directed to a website by the two mangaka!

Until the next review~!
(~’.')~♥~Marissa~♥~(’.'~)