Unless you've been living in a cave near the back o' beyond for the past century, chances are that you've probably heard about Batman.

Definitely this year Batman has been pushed to the marketing forefront by Warner Bros & DC with the release of The Dark Knight.

So everyone will at least have a grasp of Bruce Wayne as a character and what drove him to become the Caped Crusader.

Back in 1939 when writer Bob Kane and artist Bill Finger had first created the character, they knew right away that he was to be Batman, a dark vigilante- the antithesis of Superman.

But what was to be his civilian identity?

Finger used an amalgamation of two historical freedom fighters to create Bruce Wayne- The first being, Robert the Bruce and the second being Mad Anthony Wayne, a general from the American revolutionary war.

And there is a few similarities between the two..

First off both are recognised as a sort of vigilante by their respective government authorities. Bruce was a warrior seeking justice for the Scots against the English and Batman deals out his own brand of justice against evil for the innocent people of Gotham City.

Both have a knack for guerilla warfare tactics. Robert the Bruce is considered by many as the greatest guerilla combatant of all time and Batman too has employed the use of guerilla tactics (War Games, No Man's Land, Infinite Crisis etc.)

They both share a deep devotion to their wars. Robert the Bruce was deeply devoted to the Scottish Wars of Indpendence and Batman to his war on crime.

Both deal with themes of duality. The two live lives of rich, noble men, but are merciless on the field of battle (except Batman never kills).

Bruce Wayne lived a life of culture

Toy Story, Toy Story 2, Monsters Inc, Finding Nemo, The Incredibles and Ratatouille are a few films that come to mind when Pixar are mentioned.

Wall-E is their latest endeavour and will be remembered as one of their best.

Set in the far future where earth is a desolate, polluted planet, to toxic for humans to inhabit, we find Wall-E (Waste Allocation Load Lifter Earth Class), our robot protagonist, cleaning up the world.

First thought up in 1995 as a kind of "R2D2 the movie", Wall-E, whilst a fun, family movie, does contain some more adult concepts.

The ideas of our planet being polluted beyond belief and society becoming so lazy that we rely on computers, for practically everything are both very real points in the modern world.

The first half hour of the movie is similar to the loneliness concepts of I Am Legend. Aldo during this time, there is little to no dialogue and this is pulled off very well.

The animation is intensively detailed- from the decaying rust on Wall-E to the shimmer of Eve, nothing is missed. Each of the non-human characters looks incredibly real and the backgrounds are also meticulously rendered.

Whilst the human characters are cartoon like, the film actually tries to explain the reasoning behind this- although hard to believe, it is a genuine attempt.

The themes of 'save the planet' and 'love conquers all' may seem difficult to fathom, but even the hardest, hearted cynic could be bubbling by the end of Wall-E.

Wall-E is out now in cinemas nationwide.

Hey there guys!

Hedwig dropped this off in my mail box this morning. Hope you like....and a full preview will follow later....

The Dark Knight is the best comic book movie ever made.

Set almost a year following the events of Batman Begins, we find Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) struggling between the mantle of Batman and his desire for a 'normal life', with Rachel Dawes (Maggie Gyllenhaal). And he's nearly there, but then a new homicidal maniac pops up by the name of the Joker (Heath Ledger). But that's not all to this very complex plot- there's the addition of Harvey Dent, Gotham's new District Attorney.

The new Gotham D.A., good cop Jim Gordon and the justice seeking Batman create for quite an interesting character relationship. What one does affects the other and in most instances, each choice each person makes fundamentally affects another.

The story is extremely well written- the Nolan brothers have done a great job of turning David S. Goyer's original story into a screenplay. Every character is played with, every relationship is messed with and every character's life is changed forever.

Chris Nolan has done an amazing job in directing the Dark Knight. Each scene is shot beautifully and each actor fits just fine with their character.

The IMAX scenes are breathtaking and tense. It's incredible that no movies have been shot like this before. The cinematography is also spot-on and Gotham is visually stunning.

You can have a huge budget, an all-star cast and a great story, but it's nothing without a dead right, resolute director. Mr. Nolan has not only created the best movie so far this year, he's created one of the greatest films of the past decade. An Oscar nod is an understatement of what he deserves with his work on The Dark Knight.

There is not one bad performance in this film, every actor plays their roles well. Bale is inspiring as a confused Batman, Eckhart portrays Harvey Dent's rise and fall very well and Gary Oldham puts in one of his finest performances yet as James Gordon. Maggie Gyllenhaal is a better Rachel Dawes than Katie Holmes ever was and Morgan Freeman and Michael Caine, both turn in their usual standards of excellence.

And then there's Heath Ledger.

Whilst Ledger's Joker is fantastically evil and unique, it is not the awe-inspiring, oscar winning performance than a lot of people seem to be making it out to be. Some of his more extreme scenes felt slightly forced, as if Heath was trying too hard.

He will no doubt at least be considered for an Oscar nomination, it may not be for the performance, but maybe for the tragic circumstances surrounding it.

So was he better than Jack Nicholson's Joker?

You can't actually compare them. They're two different characters, in two very different fictional worlds that are based on the same iconic villain. The only commonality both characters share is the name Joker, but other than that it's like comparing waking up to breathing air.

The Dark Knight (12A) is out in cinemas and IMAX nationwide.

Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins will delve deeper than any film before into the Terminator universe and show the post apocalyptic wars between the machines and John Connor's human resistance.

Christian Bale (The Dark Knight, American Physco) stars as John Connor, humanity's final hope against the machines. Connor finds the future he was raised to believe in in question, following the appearance of the mysterious Marcus Wright, a stranger whose last memory is of being on death row.

Connor must find decide whether Marcus has been sent from the future or rescued from the past.

As Skynet prepares its final attack on humanity, Connor and Marcus set upon an adventure that will lead them to the very centre of Skynet's operations where they uncover the terrifying secret behind the possible extermination of mankind.

The trailer looks good, but I just don't understand why they've decided to set this in the future and not bring back the governator for a 4th round.

Infact! Imagine they got Stallone and Arnie to star in Terminator 4....walking sticks at dawn anyone?

Your Wednesday question of the day is, what would you rather have seen, the governator back with one more round...with Stallone possibly, or a whole new post apocalyptic, futuristic take on the franchise?

Hey guys,

Sorry about the lack of updates. We've been really busy. Anyway, below is reviews of the Hulk, Hancock, Wanted and Kung Fu Panda.

The Incredible Hulk

Ed Norton is, as predicted, flamin' fantastic as the big green machine. He's just what the franchise needed. This is a 'requel' to 2003's disastrous Hulk.

We find Bruce Banner on the run from the US Army, deep in South America. He seems to be in control of his rage, that is until one tough guy pushes him too far and it's all lean, green and mean from there. Terrible, terrible pun I know.

This is a well-done Superhero movie. The all-star cast does help and while it isn't by any means a master piece, it is fun for all the family.

Oh and the cameo from Robert Downey Jr. is ace.

Wanted

Coatbridge born Mark Millar will be delighted with this adaptation of his graphic novel.

Starring Angelina Jolie, James McAvoy and Morgan Freeman, Wanted tells the story of Gibson, an average-joe who, as fate would have it, turns out to be the son of the world's greatest assassin.

Don't go into this trying to analyse or take some hidden meaning from it like you could the Matrix. There is none.

Enjoy it and marvel at the madly, overblown action scenes.

Hancock

I was really excited about this movie. Hancock is basically Superman without all the jazz- no cape, no slicked back hair and none of that boyscout attitude.

This is a very interesting concept- a Superman who doesn't give a crap.

Will Smith is great in the first of half of the film...but that is until the woeful second half unfolds and everything goes to shreds. The plot contradicts itself and there is no real climax to it all.

I was really disappointed with this movie, but if you're up for some seriously high budget laughs then you should definitely check this out.

Kung Fu Panda

This is the best of the four. Jack Black plays Po, a Kung Fu fan, who, through a series of mishaps, finds himself flung into the world of martial arts as the chosen Dragon Warrior.

Featruing an all star line-up with the likes of Dustin Hoffman, Jackie Chan and Angelina Jolie, this film will definitely not disappoint. What is surprising is that with cast like that, the marketing team for the movie didn't shout about them.

I had actually planned on seeing The Forbidden Kingdom but I decided to go for this instead and I have to say, this was one very good movie.

This has something for all the family and even Kung Fu fans will admire the well-put together fight scenes.

It is definitely the best family movie so far this summer.

Remember those childhood days, years ago, when you picked up the latest issue of your favourite comic book and wondered what it would be like if it was real?

How would the sparks fly as Wolverine would clawed himself through the endless herds of Magneto's sentinels?

Would you notice Kitty Pryde as she disappeared into the molecules of the nearest wall or solid object?

Could you smell the fear as Batman descended like a ninja from the rafters on a gang of unsuspecting hoodlums?

And was Frank Castle (The Punisher) the merciless, criminal slaughtering vigilante that we imagined him to be?

Well nowadays it isn't so hard to imagine thanks to the plethora of comic book movies now on offer. The thing is, as great as a lot of these movies are, they don't have the same wow factor that they would have had on us when were kids.

To be a kid watching these movies must be an awesome experience, or is it? I overheard a few kids on the bus home the other night debating about Spider-Man 3, the Incredible Hulk, Batman and Iron Man.

What they said here was quite shocking. So I thought I would share it with you all.

"Tony Stark would beat the Hulk if they got down and dirty in Gotham" the lanky one says, brushing his overgrown, aardvark like beard out of his face.

"Yeah but Goku would totally p'own both their punk behinds," responds the seedy, short one, his smile wide.

"Aye man, but Batman would give them the Joker fear!" hollers the plump one.

The seedy one slants his baseball cap to the side, as his black fringe falls like a musty, old curtain and drapes over his left eye.

He opens his mouth and as if in slow-motion, he says something that will forever change the way I look at the younger of our generation.

"Have you ever wondered why Batman was always the stronger of the X-Men and the best leader of the New Avengers.... but comic books suck, I mean the only difference between Superman and Dennis the Menace is a red cape, baldy bad-guy and some super powers...."

The rest I didn't hear. I wanted to jump in to their debate, but my stop was coming up and I didn't want to be labelled the weird 22-year-old who corrects young, would-be comic book fans.

To the more hardcore, veteran fans the above would be sacrilege.

However there has been a shift in generations and how we look at comics. The older fan looks now, more than ever, to his comic collection as a sanctuary from fear of Hollywood demand dumbing down overly complicated plots and origins.

Whereas the younger fans look for the traditional good versus evil, with the occasional team-up with two of their favourite heroes.

You could argue that a lot of this younger generation are animation fans who became interested in comics after watching the cartoon-adaptation. This is by no means a bad thing, in fact, Batman: TAS was the reason that I got into comics, but these cartoon adaptations have to be simple and nowhere near as complicated as their comic book counterparts.

Perhaps, what we're beginning to see is a shift in generations and the new emergence of a comic book fan.

Something a little new age.

A fan who can appreciate all aspects of a modern, successful comic: the core comic, the animation, the video game, the merchandise and the Hollywood movie.

Maybe, just maybe, these kids will lead us forth into a new age of multi-medium appreciation where no comic book fan complains about adaptations or the watering down of a franchise.

And who knows, maybe even pigs will fly.

2008 is one big year for DC.

Final Crisis is going to beset fans with whatever its has in store. Evil will apparently triumph over good and several storylines, origins, characters will be revamped or scrapped from continuity.

Not even Superman can save the day this time.

However with this approaching there is one major plot point that has many people wondering, it's a little thing called the death of Batman.

Not a physical death, but a literal one.

Scottish writer Grant Morrison has taken the main role for writing Final Crisis, but is also working on a story by the name of Batman R.I.P.

This summer the Batman the world has known for the last 69 years will cease to exist, with Bruce Wayne no longer dawning the cape and cowl.

Apparently something so tragic is planned for everyone's favourite non-super-powered-super-hero that he will give up his life's work.

Nightwing, the Red Hood (Jason Todd), Tim Drake and even Hush are pipped to replace Wayne and take up the mantle of Batman.

A new villain, Black Glove, is behind one of the most elaborate schemes to destroy Batman. He/she knows who Batman is, what drove Bruce Wayne to be Batman and everyone of his dark secrets.

The rumour mill has been in overdrive and message boards have been set alight with speculation about the identity of Black Glove.

Many have suggested that it is Alfred, others have even said it could possibly be Thomas Wayne (Bruce's supposedly dead father) and some have even said it to be Bruce Wayne himself. These are the very hard-to-imagine scenarios.

However after recent revelations, which may or may not be true, Batman's entire origin maybe a sham and one of the above situations could be highly plausible.

In a recent issue Commissioner Gordon is trying to convince a local newspaper not to publish a story about a dossier that came into a journalist's possession. The dossier was supposedly compiled by a private detective, hired by Martha Wayne's parents to investigate her and her husband's murder.

What it reveals is that Alfred Pennyworth is Bruce's biological father, Thomas Wayne was an alcoholic who got his wife addicted to heroin and it contains several photographs of an orgy involving Martha, Thomas and Alfred a long with the cast of a noir film by the name the Black Glove.

As if this wasn't shocking enough the editor also explains to Gordon that Thomas Wayne may still be alive and that the murder of his wife was part of a convoluted plan to get rid of her and fake his own death.

So, with that, the idea of Thomas or Alfred being the Black Glove may not be so hard to imagine after all. Given that off course the dossier is true and not a ruse.

The other suggestion is Bruce Wayne and that he has developed an evil split persona, named the Black Glove and is trying to sabotage himself.

There is no other character out there more pshycologically tortured than Bruce Wayne. Maybe, as Aaron Eckhart puts in the recent Dark Knight Trailer, he's lived long enough to see himself become the villain.

Or perhaps Alfred is acting under orders from Bruce's new evil persona ? Who knows.

At the climax of the latest issue however, Batman was drugged and fighting for his life in the Batcave. Just as the villains were about to storm his lair and before he passed out, the dark knight asked the Batcomputer to analyse everything it knew about The Black Glove. Its result concluded that the Black Glove was Zur-En-Arrh.

Zur-En-Arrh has only been mentioned in Batman # 113 way back in 1958. In that issue Batman is brought to Zur-En-Arrh by the planet's resident Batman to help him fight evil robots. The interesting thing is that Batman found he had "Superman-like" powers whilst he was on Zur-En-Arrh.

Zur-En-Arrh has appeared throughout Morrison's run as graffiti and hallucinations.

Well considering that Final Crisis and the Batman RIP arcs are supposed to interlink, it could mean anything and I'm not going to speculate to much on it....but there will be a definite link between Batman#113, Bruce Wayne's fate and whatever Final Crisis has in store for the DC Universe.

Feasibly the Batman from, Zur-En-Arrh is acting as Simon Hurt?

So your Monday questions of the day are: What are you looking forward to Final Crisis? What do you think will happen to Bruce Wayne? And what's your theory about the idenity of Black Glove?

Buffy's old watcher is getting on a bit, but he's wittier than ever.

On Friday Night with Jonathon Ross, Anthony Head spoke briefly about the much talked about Buffy spin-off series, Ripper.

When asked if he would reprise old roles he said: "Yeah absolutely."

"Joss Whedon and I have talked about doing this perennial question of are you going to do Ripper?"

"It would start of as a one-off, but we've talked about it perennially, every sort of 3 years."

"Every 3 years it pops up, so I'll probably be too old by the time I get to do it," he added jokingly.

"Buffy Lasted seven years. At the end of five years I was like 'I want to go home now please'."

"I was away for 8-and-a-half months of the year while my family were in England. Every holiday was spent in L.A and we put the kids through school their twice."

While Buffy Season 8 has experienced huge success in comic book form, it would be nice to see Buffy or Angel come back to our Television sets.

So your Monday question of the day is:

If you had the choice to see Buffy, Angel or Ripper make some sort of new TV series, what would it be and why?

Comment below and keep it clean.

Anyone who grew up the late 80s or the early 90s will surely remember this that theme song.

Coming home after school and watching this was a treat I used to enjoy on a weekly basis. I used to wonder how Racer X could always show up in the nick of time and I always wondered if my dad's old Ford Fiesta could flip itself if it were racing.

The show, the characters, the style of animation and the story were some of the first anime I had experienced. It really cracked open my imagination. As I grew older I began to appreciate the original 60s series more as nothing could quite match what it essentially was: one of the primary reasons that anime and manga is so popular in western pop culture today.

So fast forward from the early 90s to 2008. What good driving movies have we had?

Or rather, since well put together driving scenes are such a rarity, which movies have we had that truly put pedal to the metal?

Fast and the Furious, Matrix Reloaded, The Italian Job, Deathproof, Ronin, Batman Begins, The Bourne trilogy, Casiona Royale and maybe a few more. Comment below if you disagree with my choices.

Speed Racer takes what these movies have done, rips them to shreds and blasts by them in a pace of colourful wonderness.

Produced by Wachowski Bros, this is one movie that strives to stay true too the original anime and it does it brilliantly. From the moody, post conversation style glares, to the delightfully mixed array of characters and all that lovely hi-def colour.

Emile Hirsch fits the bill perfectly as Speed. He looks just like Speed, seriously, from his hair too his mannerisms, Hirsch pulls of the act very well.

But it's not just Hirsch- the entire cast is fantastic. Notable perfomances by John Goodman and Susan Sarandon as Pops and Mom are a treat to watch. Matthew Fox is also a joy as Racer X.

While the story is simple, good versus evil and cheaters never win being the two main themes, it is carried well enough by the actors for the audience to really get behind Speed.

This is not the Matrix and this is definitely not V for Vendetta, it is a family movie for everyone to watch.

Extremely colourful, a feast to watch and great fun for all the family Speed Racer is out in cinemas nationwide.

Just don't try and flip your car after seeing it....