Teen Critic picks The Dark Knight as the year's best so far. (Universal)

By Vikram Bhoyrul

I could list hundreds of amazing adjectives or I could just say The Dark Knight. Wow. Where to begin? I guess if I had to stick with one adjective the only one that might do justice to the movie is flawless. From the moment the movie started to the credits at the end The Dark Knight (opening July 18 throughout San Diego) kept me on the edge of my seat, kept my heart pumping, and the sweat pouring. The entire audience was swayed and equally impressed as I was. After every movie I like to stick around for a minute or two and listen as people walk out and talk about the film just to get a general consensus of the film. As you can imagine only great comments. Some of which included "wow," "beautiful," "that was crazy!" or "I'm naming my kid Heath." Okay, so maybe that last one was me but still there is no arguing that this movie was in fact spectacular.

Before this movie was released Hollywood lost one its finest actors, Heath Ledger, at the age of 28. Ledger plays the Joker in The Dark Knight. To say that he finished his career well would be the greatest understatement of the last century. Every scene he was in, you could see he was totally immersed in the role and in doing so mesmerized the audience. He was such a convincing villain that for the first time victory for the good guys seemed improbable.

The Joker robs the mob while Heath Ledger steals the show in The Dark Knight (Warner Brothers)

There was a time when people thought it was crazy to try and have someone else take on the role of the Joker because no one could possibly fill Jack Nicholson's shoes. But after you see The Dark Knight (opening July 18 throughout San Diego and in IMAX at Edwards Mira Mesa Cinemas), you won't be able to think of anyone else besides Heath Ledger. Now Nicholson's Joker looks like a naughty clown while Ledger's Joker is downright nasty and disturbed (yet still oddly likable). Ledger's manically endearing performance as the unhinged psycho giving both cops and crooks nightmares is so riveting that it makes you sad for all the roles he'll never have a chance to tackle. Ledger died at the beginning of this year just after wrapping production on The Dark Knight. So this film offers his last completed performance.

The B.P.R.D. Team in Hellboy II: The Golden Army (Universal)

In the interest of full disclosure I should probably reveal that I have something of a Hellboy shrine in my office. I have one of the Comic-Con exclusive Hellboy action figures (the other Hellboy figures are at home), a poster from the first film, and a prop replica of Hellboy's Good Samaritan gun (this was kindly given to me by a colleague who had two of them after dressing up like Hellboy one Halloween - thanks John Munoa!). The only thing my shrine is missing are some candles but I deemed that too much of a fire hazard. I reveal this because I want to be upfront about going into the new sequel Hellboy II: The Golden Army (opening July 11 throughout San Diego) with high hopes. Hellboy II was the film I was most looking forward to this summer. (You can also listen to my KPBS Morning Edition Film Chat.)

Hellboy II: The Golden Army (opening July 11 throughout San Diego) is probably the film I have been most eagerly awaiting this summer. I am a diehard fan of Guillermo Del Toro's work but I have been especially excited about the Hellboy sequel ever since Del Toro appeared at Comic-Con and said that the script was so good that if you read it you would cry. (That was before Universal had given the greenlight to the sequel and Del Toro was still trying to convince people it was worth it.) In anticipation of Del Toro's new film I have been watching all of his old ones, and he just keeps getting better. Anyway, I thought I would share my enthusiasm by posting a video I cut together from the clips and interviews provided by Universal in their electronic press kit (highlighting the stuff I thought was cool like using trampolines for some of the fight scenes). Ron Perlman returns as Red along with Selma Blair as Liz, Doug Jones as Abe, and Jeffrey Tambor as Tom. I hope this whets your appetite like it did mine.

Adam West in Batman: The Movie (20th Century Fox) and Christian Bale in the upcoming The Dark Knight (Warner Brothers)

With the new Batman film, The Dark Knight, just around the corner, I wanted to highlight the new Fox Home Entertainment Blu-Ray release of the 1966 Batman: The Movie with Adam West and Burt Ward as the Dynamic Duo and a quartet of villains played by Cesar Romero, Burgess Meredith, Frank Gorshin and Lee Meriwether. Adam West is the Batman I grew up with and I remember having a Batman TV show pillow that I would snuggle up with to watch every episode. Same Bat time, same Bat channel, without fail. The movie, I later discovered, was actually conceived as the pilot for the TV series but ABC had trouble in their primetime lineup and debuted the TV series early. So the film came out between seasons one and two of the TV show. The vibrant new film transfer of Batman: The Movie boasts an explosion of eye-popping colors that scream 1960s pop art. The film, like the TV series, has a definite cheese factor but both are still wildly entertaining today. Watching the movie the other night made me feel like a kid again and reminded me how much fun Batman was.

For those who grew up with Tim Burton's Batman (1989) or the more recent Christopher Nolan-directed Batman Begins (2005), the old Adam West Batman may strike you as silly. But if you don't realize where Batman came from, you can't fully appreciate how far he's come. What was intriguing about the movie and TV show was the way it packaged conservative values - law and order - in a hip, pop package that made it seem cool. You also had Hollywood veterans like Cesar Romero and Burgess Meredith chewing up the scenery with absolute glee. Their audacious performances worked because Adam West gave them such a straight hero to play off of. In some of the bonus feature interviews, people compare West to William Shatner in the way both used low vocal tones and over enunciation to create an oddly stiff but earnest character. West is also compared to the dry Jack Webb of Dragnet. Meanwhile, Robin is described as a straight man to a straight man and miraculous for managing "astonished enthusiasm" at all times. And not to be outdone in the somber delivery of wacky lines, Neil Hamilton gets an award as Comissioner Gordon who gets to say such lines as "status report on known super villains at large" or "the sum of the angles of that rectangle are too monstrous to contemplate."

James McAvoy busts out of a dead end job in Wanted (Universal)

By Candace Kavanagh

Does your job royally suck? Do you get a headache every time your annoying boss begins to yell at you? Do you have the inability to stand up against those who have stabbed you in the back? Do you have the lowest self-esteem known to mankind? If all of these are true maybe you should try to hang out at the counter of your local super market, and maybe a beautiful tattooed angel of death might come and rescue you from your pitiful life and swoop you away in her extremely hot car. All to a life of an extremely hot assassin who has super powers that include swerving bullets. Well that's what worked for Wesley, played by James McAvoy, in the newest action flick Wanted (opening June 27 throughout San Diego).

At the beginning of the movie we meet Wesley as he leads us through his life, that includes a cheating girlfriend, a backstabbing best friend, and a horrible boss. We quickly realize this guy is just what he says he is. A loser. But he's a funny one, which makes him extremely lovable. And because this film is well directed, his extreme anxiety becomes the audience's, which gives you sympathy for him. His life begins to change when he meets  Angelina Jolie's character, Fox (the previously mentioned angel of death), and you find yourself cheering for him. Your fist will begin to rise for him as he begins to win for the first time in his life. Well if you exclude the constant ass kicking he receives during his training from Fox and members of an organization known as The Fraternity. As Wesley begins to become better -- as shown through the typical training montage -- we feel our hearts rise with his fashion sense. All the while we get to see beautifully choreographed car chases and truly unreal gunfights. With the audience laughing at Wesley's awesome geekiness.

Of course there are some glitches in this film. For instance there are some events that are about as predictable as a soap opera. Then the use of the word "fraternity" makes me lose respect for the association of assassins depicted in this film. This movie isn't without its corny moments. Oh and don't let the trailer trick you, there is no hot love scenes of James McAvoy and Angelina Jolie in this film. Yes, I know, I wanted to see them "bond" too.

As for all of you who complain about Wanted's unreal contents, let us go over some other unreal moments in cinema history. First off, getting bit by a spider does not give you super powers, just bumps. Secondly, cute little aliens who have lost their way home don't hide in little kids closets. And guess what? There are no such things as hobbits. So don't complain and  just enjoy the pure escapism of Wanted.

And it's all worth it to hear Morgan Freeman say the f-word. Twice. Sorry didn't mean to ruin the surprise.

Wanted is rated R for strong bloody violence throughout, pervasive language and some sexuality.

-- Candace Kavanagh just graduated from Mount Miguel High School. She spends her life absorbing celluloid images. She loves every type of film from so-called "chick flicks" such as My Fair Lady and Legally Blonde, to mind bending thrillers like Mulholland Drive and Hard Candy -- with every zombie movie, action flick, musical, and comedy in between.

Angelina Jolie is about to change James McAvoy's life in Wanted (Universal)

I have openly confessed to being an action junkie. I love movies that can serve up a kinetic rush, and I frequently cue up a DVD just to watch an awesome fight scene or killer car chase - little fixes to tide me over until a new action film comes out. So if a film can deliver some stunning action set pieces, I can leave the theater with a smile on my face. If they can also deliver a good story and interesting characters, then that's even better. The new summer actioner Wanted (opening June 27 throughout San Diego) takes its cue from Mark Millar's graphic novel and serves up a high octane cocktail that will leave you with a little buzz and maybe even something to think about.

Wesley and Fox in Mark Millar's graphic novel Wanted (Top Cow)... and Wesley (James McAvoy) and Fox (Angelina Jolie) in the film version of Wanted (Universal). I know a few guys who would have liked to see Jolie in that outfit the comic book Fox wore.

Adapting anything from one medium to another is difficult because there's always a comparison to be made. The book was better because it was more complex, the TV show was better because it had more time to develop a storyline, the play was better because there was more respect for the dialogue... well you get the idea. But graphic novels provide a particular challenge because they essentially look like elaborate storyboards for movies. So in one respect the task sems easy, yet in another fans of the source material have very vivid ideas about what the film should look like. But the vivid visuals of a graphic novel may also be one of the reasons why Hollywood has taken such a liking to adapting them to the screen -- executives don't have to imagine what the film will look like, it's all right there in front of them. So far, there have been some very successful film adaptations of graphic novels, most notably Daniel Cloves' Ghost World, Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis, and Frank Miller's Sin City and 300. But there have also been some duds -- Daredevil and The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, to name but two. The latest graphic novel to hit the big screen is Mark Millar's Wanted.

Wanted... on the page and on the screen (Top Cow/Universal)

So for any fans of Millar's very adult and totally kickass graphic novel, here's a brief comparison between the comic and the new film directed by Russia's Timur Bekmambetov. The main thing fans of Millar's book will notice is that the costuming is much more realistic. That might be because capes and tights are hard to pull off well on the big screen or because some of the characters in Millar's tale of super-villains taking out the world's super-heroes looked a bit too much like ones copyrighted by DC and Marvel.  But the gravity defying action remains pretty much intact. You can't put a copyright on that. I'll have my review tomorrow. In the mean time, here's Millar commenting on the film version of his graphic novel, including the famous scene of Wesley being asked to shoot the wings off of flies. Millar did not write the screenplay for the film but did stay close to the production. Michael Brandt, Derek Haas and Chris Morgan are the credited screenwriters for Wanted.

Hulk good, love story bad. The Incredible Hulk (Universal)

By Eric Wilson

I'm going to keep this review short and sweet, because it's hard to give The Incredible Hulk (opening June 13 throughout San Diego) justice with mere words. I have to admit, after seeing all I could bear of The Hulk movie released a few years ago, I was incredibly wary of this movie. I went in expecting another waste of time but came out in awe and wanting more. The action was great and the plot was good. My only complaint is about the love story. It stretched the movie out and caused unnecesary delays in getting to a "green" part. But all in all I've seen much worse thrown into movies.

The Incredible Hulk (rated PG-13 for sequences of intense action violence, some frightening sci-fi images, and brief suggestive content) was, simply put, amazing. I'd have to say that it's either my favorite movie this year or it's a close second to Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull. I highly recommend it but I can't help but wonder what might come from the ending...

-- Eric Wilson just graduated from Mount Miguel High. He's a big fan of fantasy and adventure, and spends a lot of his free time playing World of Warcraft and Dungeons and Dragons. He also enjoys spending time at Balboa Park, wandering the nature trails or messing around at the archery range. Although he has wanted to be an architect or engineer, he would love to be able to get paid to review movies and he hopes this experience might help him get his foot in the door.

The Incredible Hulk is pretty incredible says KPBS Teen Critic (Universal)

By Tony Galindo

Being a comic book kid, and surrounded by many a geek discussing Batman's greatest foe or the X-Men's greatest member it should come as no surprise to those who know me that I would be the first to sign up to review the new Marvel movie of The Incredible Hulk (opening June 13 throughout San Diego).

Being disappointed by the attempt to bring The Hulk to the big screen in 2003 by Ang Lee, I was a little skeptical about how close this movie would be to the true essence of the Hulk, how it would keep us in awe of the not so jolly green giant ripping apart cars and dealing with anger management issues. Let me tell you, walking into the theater there were nothing but Hulk fans. Of course there were promotional shirts and hats being passed out so maybe that could have had something to do with it. All I could think was why did they choose Edward Norton to play Bruce Banner? I could not picture him at all in the role even after watching trailers and looking at screen shots.

It opens with Bruce somewhere in Brazil, exiled from the world because of his mutated condition. He longs to control his anger as he looks for a cure to his gamma radiation. As the film progresses, the military finds him because of a mishap on Banner's part. The chase begins as we see our geeky Dr. Jekyll become the Mr. Hyde. That's what we all wanted to see -- Hulk kicking some serious butt in a bottling factory. Bruce then makes his way back to the states and reunites with his love the stunning Betty Ross (Liv Tyler). He continues to run from the military that's happily lead by Betty's dad General Ross (William Hurt).

I must say this movie was ten times better then the one made in 2003. It had more action and what I consider a better storyline, and one close to the comics. Sure there was still the love story you find in EVERY superhero movie to come to the big screen but it wasn't that bad and it wasn't the main point of the movie. Memorable scenes such as Banner becoming his alter ego in a glass hallway on a college campus and the fight between Hulk and the Abomination put this film on my "will actually pay for" list. Special effects were amazing. This Hulk definitely looked like my childhood hero and had the moves to back it up. I highly recommend this movie to geeks and anyone looking for a good story and sweet action. I'm looking forward to paying next time around and sitting there with my friends.

The Incredible Hulk (rated PG-13 for sequences of intense action violence, some frightening sci-fi images, and brief suggestive content) was great and from it we can expect even better movies to come. Not to give away the ending or possible movie spin-offs but at the very end of this movie we meet up with General Ross and the one and only Iron Man, Tony Stark (Robert Downet, Jr.). They talk about starting an organization that I and fellow geeks can only imagine being S.H.E.I.L.D., an anti terrorism/ law enforcement group. Not trying to get crazy on you with this idea but I must say I'm pretty excited. General Ross and Stark's meeting sets up a possible movie about one Captain America. If my knowledge is correct, Stark is a prominent executive member of S.H.E.I.L.D. Betty Ross (Banner's love) also becomes a member and is head of public relations. To top it off, Bruce Banner (Hulk) is part of a research team whose purpose is to recreate the very formula that created CAPTIAN AMERICA!!!!! I am very excited at where this could go and how it will play out. I can say one thing: Comic Con should be very interesting this year if they let us in on any of these little secrets.

-- Tony Galindo just graduated from Mount Miguel High. He was recently accepted at the Art Institute of San Diego where he wants to major in game art design and pursue a career in environmental design. Writing is a hobby of his as well as watching movies, so he thought it would be great to be able to share his opinions on film with people.