BATMAN: THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS Part One/Part Two

Senior Batman vs eternally young Superman

BATMAN: THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS Part One/Part Two (/Video/2012 - 2013). Director: Jay Oliva.

Based on Frank Miller's graphic novel The Dark Knight Returns, this two-part animated feature looks at the dark side and older years of Batman/Bruce Wayne. Batman has not appeared in Gotham city for a decade, but the threat of a homicidal gang that calls itself the Mutants, and whose activities are becoming more and more violent, bring him out of retirement. Eventually this brings him into conflict with the Gotham police department, which gets a new female commissioner in part two, and then with Superman in the final sequences. Taking care of the Mutants with blunt brutality, something the police were not able to do, makes the now-senior Batman a hero in the eyes of some Gothamites, and a fascist in others, such as the Joker's nutty psychiatrist, who thinks Batman is the real sociopath and is responsible for villains like the Joker. This is all played out before a backdrop of social and political commentary. A new, very young female Robin named Carrie at first seems like a frivolous character, as she comes out of nowhere and seems to have had absolutely no training, but she grows on you after awhile. There's more than one suggestion that the Joker in this might be gay -- his final confrontation with Batman is in a Tunnel of Love! -- as well as other sexually ambiguous characters, but whether this is to give them added color or is mere LGBT exploitation is debatable. [One villainess has a butch haircut and swastikas painted on her naked, substantial breasts!] Peter Weller makes a fine Batman, with David Selby also notable as Commissioner Gordon, and other voice roles are well cast.The animation is fluid and Oliva's direction is fast-paced and cinematic. This is not your father's Batman.

Verdict: Sometimes thought-provoking, sometimes childish, but it holds the attention. ***.

THE INVADERS Book

THE INVADERS. James Rosin. Autumn Road; 2012.

This book takes a look back at the TV series The Invaders that ran for two seasons on ABC in the sixties. I was hoping for a detailed, in-depth look at the show and all of its episodes a la the book on the Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea TV series, but while comparisons may be odious, one can't help but feel cheated by this slender and insufficient volume. There are a lot of pictures, as well as brief quotes from star Roy Thinnes and other people involved in the production of the show, but also a lot of padding, with biographies of not only everyone connected to the show but every actor who ever appeared as a guest-star! If the book serves any purpose at all, it may be to whet your appetite for viewing or re-viewing this very interesting series, but although all he offers in his notes of individual episodes are synopses, the author still manages to give away important plot points throughout the book. 

Verdict: Watch the series and forget about this. **. 

RUN, HIDE, DIE

Potential victims

RUN, HIDE, DIE (akaThe Anniversary/2012). Director: Collin Joseph Neal. 

NOTE: This review contains spoilers. 

Addie (Alison Monda) lost her husband to an apparent murder a year ago. To help her get through the memories, a group of girlfriends take her to her former in-laws' cabin for some r and r. After what seems an interminable amount of gal-bonding and silly horseplay (yes, even ladies can make fart jokes), the tone abruptly shifts and the gals all wind up tied up in a bedroom, whimpering and moaning without stop as if they were all eight-years-old. What's strange about this is that their assailant is a middle-aged woman, who turns out to be Addie's former mother-in-law, Janet (Gail Harvey). Then her husband, Jim (Philip D. Clarke) gets in the act. 

star and scripter Alison Monda

Run, Hide, Die was scripted by its star, Alison Monda, who seems out to prove that even female screenwriters can write stories in which women are continuously debased, this time by another woman. There's a kernel of a good idea in this nominal slasher, which takes much too long to get going, and delivers more grossness than genuine horror. The acting is mostly okay, but the direction is pretty routine. One bizarre, almost comical aspect of the story is that Addie knows that her husband actually committed suicide, and doesn't want to tell anyone why. You keep wondering what this shocking revelation could be and it's simply -- get this -- that he's gay? Big whoop! Worse, she finds out that he's gay because he's HIV positive, as if heterosexuals never get HIV. What century is Ms. Monda living in? At least there are a couple of lesbian//bi characters among the young ladies.

But then Monda presents most of the women characters, except the one "final" gal who survives, as utterly helpless whiners who don't seem capable of doing a single thing to fight back against their much, much older attacker. In one tediously drawn-out sequence, none of the women even seem to get angry that they are being held captive. 

Verdict: Perfectly okay, if you've never seen a single other horror flick. *1/2.