Heist

Batman – Instant Freeze / Rats Like Cheese

/ / Television Reviews
  • Title: Batman – Instant Freeze / Rats Like Cheese
  • wiki: link
  • wiki: link

Batman - Rats Like Cheese

In honor of Batman‘s 75th Anniversary we continue to look back at the more memorable moments on the big and small screen. The seventh and eighth episodes of 1966 Batman TV-series starring Adam West as Batman and Burt Ward as Robin introduced Mr. Freeze (George Sanders) for the first time. Te show used the classic origin of the criminal scientist Mr. Zero (whose renaming here stuck in comics as well) as an evil scientist whose lab accident caused the cold-blooded scientist to need to wear a cryogenic suit in order to survive. In a twist, the show made Batman responsible for the accident (at least in Freeze’s mind). As with the Arnold Schwarzenegger version of the character in Batman & Robin, this version is also obsessed with stealing diamonds.

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Star Wars: Rebel Heist #3

/ / Comics

Star Wars: Rebel Heist #3Chewbacca takes center stage in the latest issue coming to the rescue of the Imperial officer Leia rescued last month whose codes the Rebellion desperately needs. Although initially not impressed with his Rebel contact, who he sees as little more than a dangerous trained dog, the Imperial officer soon gains grudging respect for the Wookiee who puts his life on the line to reach the destination where the code can be transported back to the Rebellion (and to Han Solo stuck in a cell awaiting its arrival).

Star Wars: Rebel Heist #3 continues the trend of the series of letting the newbie narrate the action from his/her perspective allowing Chewbacca to shine without attempting to translate what exactly is going on in Chewie’s mind at the time.

Next month adds Luke Skywalker to the mix and should also put Han Solo back in play as the final issue of the mini-series will hopefully put the various pieces together and reveal just what the Rebellion deems so necessary that they’ve sacrificed some of their very best to get the job done. Worth a look.

[Dark Horse, $3.50]

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The Art of the Steal

/ / Home Video
  • Title: The Art of the Steal
  • IMDB: link

The Art of the StealWritten and directed by Jonathan Sobol, The Art of the Steal is your basic heist flick centered around getaway driver Crunch Calhoun (Kurt Russell) who, after spending seven years inside a Polish prison thanks to his brother Nicky (Matt Dillon), gets the old gang (Kenneth Welsh, Chris Diamantopoulos), his new apprentice (Jay Baruchel), and Nicky together for one last score.

The movie also includes a B-story involving a buffoonish Interpol agent (Jason Jones, hamming it up like a SNL skit) and his criminal consultant (Terence Stamp) which play much more lighthearted than the rest of the film giving it an inconsistent tone that doesn’t quite pay off.

Despite the cast (Baruchel being the stand-out and Dillon something of a head-scratching miscast), and some pieces of the story that work well, The Art of the Steal isn’t as smart as it thinks it is or as smart as it needs to be to pull of the big twists it has in store (most of which you should see coming).

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Star Wars: Rebel Heist #2

/ / Comics

Star Wars: Rebel Heist #2After last month which saw Han Solo captured by Imperial agents, the four-issue mini-series continues on the pleasure planet of the planet pleasure of Feddasyr where Princess Leia has been dispatched to get her hands on an Imperial top-level security code needed by the Rebellion. Like the first issue, the events are presented from the view of a green Rebel recruit, this time a red-skinned Twi’lek exotic dancer named Sarin whose cover has been blown just in time to get Leia into a lot of trouble.

The template from the first issue works well again as this time we don’t get the view of a hero worshipper crushed into reality but the disappointment of a young woman realizing the Rebellion sent a princess rather than soldier to get the job done. Putting her life in danger to take Sarin’s place and get the code, which turns out to be harder to move than either expected, the princess grudgingly earns the respect and admiration of the recruit but still suffers the same fate of Han Solo in the end. Next month: Chewbacca. Worth a look.

[Dark Horse, $3.50]

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The Nut Job

/ / Home Video
  • Title: The Nut Job
  • IMDB: link

The Nut JobCentered around a selfish squirrel named Surly (Will Arnett) and his mute rat pal Buddy who are exiled from their home in Liberty Park after the squirrel’s latest act of selfishness costs the rest of the animals the much-need food for the winter, The Nut Job is a mess that tries to do far too much (most of it not all that well). There’s a nice message buried deep, deep, deep down, but I’m betting most will lose interest before discovering it.

Set against a human bank robbery, the exiled Surly works with a pair of squirrels, the honest Andie (Katherine Heigl) and the the ridiculous park “hero” Grayson (Brendan Fraser), to make the biggest score of his life by robbing a Nut Store at the same time. Complicating things are the fact that nobody, other than perhaps Andie, is at all likable in the film and the fact that the real villain isn’t the selfish Surly but the power-mad Raccoon (Liam Neeson) running the park who decides to thwart the plan realizing his control may falter if the animals are all happy and fed.

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