Burger King Dark Whopper

Hmmmmm, junk food, yummy! Doesn't it look appealing? Just like on the commercials! To, 'celebrate,' the release of Batman film The Dark Night, Burger King have introduced a new burger 'inspired' by the movie. The 'Dark Whopper' is made using black pepper ketchup, black pepper cheese and 'dark' grill sauce.

There is so much wrong with the very concept of burger/movie cross promotion I don't know where to begin and Burger King are already in my bad books for the horribly crass product placement in the Iron Man movie. But I found myself wishing I had been a fly on the wall when somone told The Dark Night's co-writer and director Christopher Nolan about this new product:

"Wow, you were inspired to great a whole new menu item by my movie? Well jeez, I guess that's kinda flattering but let me see now...this is a movie about power and corruption, about madness and redemption, fear and hope. It's full of violence and romance and drama. What on Earth kind of crazy burger did you come up with based on all that?"
"Errrrm, well, we kinda used more black pepper than usual." It's inspiring stuff isn't it? Those Burger King chefs really are artists in their own right. Next up I wanna see, The Dark Whopper Returns, the movie inspired by the burger inspired by The Dark Night. Surely it's the next logical step?

Film Review: The Dark Night

I think I was one of only about six people in the world who wasn't enamoured of Batman Begins, Christian Bale's first outing as Gotham City's famous anti-hero.
Sure, I liked that Bale and director Christopher Nolan were taking the character in a darker direction, scrapping away any camp and kitsch from Batman's previous cinematic outings. Plus the vehicles were really, really cool. But parts of the film dragged and I just couldn't warm to it.

It's a pleasure then, to be able to report that the follow up is everything we've been led to expect. A masterpiece of the superhero genre, mixing mythology, philosophy and explosions in nearly equal measure.
Most of the pre-release hype has understandably focused on Heath Ledger and the plaudits are fully deserved, he is absolutely mesmerising as The Joker but he's not the only one. The whole of the stellar cast are acting their socks off and Bale shines in the less showy central role.* The balance between nobility and savagery is expertly portrayed. When he drops Eric Robert's Mob Boss from several floors up and his ankles crumple with a sickening crack we're reminded that this is no true-Blue Superman-style hero figure.

I don't want to give too much away, suffice to say the plot is engaging and exciting and The Joker is just one of two gruesome super-villains that make an appearance. The action is suitably explosive and the score ramps up the tension to almost unbearable levels.

If I had to find fault with the film at all, I'm still slightly dubious about Lucious Fox and his drawers full of gadgets pushing Batman slightly too close to James Bond territory for my liking but that really is quibbling for quibbling's sake. Go and see it, go on, now!

*and how often to you get to describe a role involving a man in tights and a cape as, 'less showy'?