Reviewing Movies

Mutant X was a guilty pleasure when it first came out on late night TV
and watching it now on DVD an exercise in nostalgia. It was like so many
other shows of the era a Canadian production shot in Vancouver with the
seaside cliffs and downtown office towers very much in evidence. This
re-issue is as bare-bones as it gets in "full-screen" TV Aspect with no
sub-titles and no supplemental materials.

The well-built stars of the show engage in extremely athletic martial
arts fisticuffs in a seemingly invincible fashion. Their double helix
and other toys are the stuff of science fiction. Their computer skills
are still cutting edge a decade and a half later. The show is one part
contact sports, one part soap opera, one part high tech. The ensemble
cast seem to enjoy working with each other. The show lasted only three
seasons.

Third in the series directed by Christopher Nolan with Christian Bale
portraying the Dark Knight. At least with Bale the enhanced muscles in
the bat suit actually exist on the body inside. This outing is even more
dark and violent than the first two and Batman gets kicked around like a
helpless toy for most of the movie. Bruce Wayne appears old and brittle
for much of the show and even loses the support of his major domo
Alfred. His gadget master takes a back seat and catwoman has an
ambiguous role to play. At nearly 3 hours the storyline take too long to
unfold and tends to drag. The victory the caped crusader finally wins
feels rather pyrrhic especially after the bad guys chew up nearly half
the city. Joseph Gordon-Levitt as the young police officer who believes
is a welcome positive addition.