Tuesday, May 31, 2005

Movie review: Batman: Dead End

Minute for minute, this short movie is one of the best live-action Batman movies made so far. You can view it at Collora Studios or download it via filesharing clients such as Gnutella.

Clocking in at a mere eight minutes (six if you discount the opening and closing credits), this dark, gritty, action-packed movie shows Batman responding to word that The Joker has escaped from Arkham Asylum. But soon he discovers a new and much more challengening threat to deal with.

Review (Spoilers Follow!)

After a brief confrontation in a rain-soaked alley, Batman is preparing to cart his old nemesis back to the asylum when a dark, insectoid figure leaps down and drags the Joker up to the rooftop. Seconds later, a second screeching alien (yes, Ellen Ripley's old buddies) leaps onto Batman, knocking him to the pavement. Batman struggles to free himself from the alien's grip as its slimy jaws widen --

Blam! The alien's head explodes, and Batman rolls free, trying to shake off the acid eating through his flesh and costume. He looks up, and sees a predator alien sizing him up. The predator throws aside his gun, and jumps down to go mano-a-mano with the caped crusader.

This is a badass eight minutes, kids. Multiple aliens, multiple predators, a very respectable, crazed Joker, and a Batman who looks like the brawling vigilante we came to know and love in the Alex Ross comics. This is no high-tech, rubber-suited Batman with fake muscles -- this Batman has genuine brawn, and tapes his hands like a street boxer before he slips on his black leather gauntlets and simple gray shirt.

The writer/director, Sandy Collora, had a small budget (liveforever says it was $30K, which is tiny money in Hollywood) -- but he did have access to Stan Winston's prop department. So the aliens and predators you see here are the real deal -- Collora made this as a sort of portfolio piece to show his directorial chops. A movie this tasty simply must be seen by any Bat-fan.

Movie Info

Movie Debut: ComicCon 2003
Writer/Director: Sandy Collora
Producers: Simon Tams, Daren Hicks
Director of Photography: Vince Toto
Editor: Toby Divine
Batman: Clark Bartam
The Joker: Andrew Koenig
Lead Predator: Kurt Carley
Lead Alien: Jake McKinnon