BATMAN 2: NO KATIE

YAY!!! There were rumors flying last week, but Variety has confirmed that KATIE HOLMES will NOT be in BATMAN: THE DARK KNIGHT (Batman Begins 2)!! Depending on who you ask, she was either dropped from the picture, or she decided herself to bail out of the movie to instead be in "Mad Money", the new Queen Latifah movie. Er, ok. Anyway, I'm stoked!!! She was the weak link in that movie. Besides hating her as an actress, I thought her character was weak and annoying as batshit.

Personally, I hate the "love story" element in Batman movies. I prefer the Batman version that does not have a girlfriend. Instead, he's devoted his entire life to being Batman and trying to save Gotham. He's borderline obsessed and just on the other side of the line of the villains he's fighting. He knows he'll never win his war on crime, but he still puts on the costume every night and will not stop until he's no longer breathing. He's a tragic character that way. The only eye-candy you need is when he's out in public keeping up the "Bruce Wayne Playboy" act, with 2 bimbos on his arm.

I still wish they had replaced her character in the movie with a young HARVEY DENT. Except for the lame love story plot, Dent could fit into the story perfectly replacing Holmes: A young Harvey and Bruce are best friends. After the Waynes' murders, Bruce steps onto a path of self destruction, while Harvey goes into Law and eventually finds himself working for Gotham's DA. At the end of the movie, Dent's boss is killed and ends up being promoted to fill the void, one step closer to becoming DA. In the sequel, Dent is now DA and is secretly working with Batman and Gordon to battle the influx of "freaks" that are taking over the mafia in Gotham (ala "The Long Halloween"). Then, at the end of 2, Dent gets acid on his face and becomes Two-Face. Batman 3 then has Batman/Bruce frantically trying to save his friend.

If you liked BATMAN BEGINS...
RECOMMENDED BATMAN STORIES:
Batman: Year One
Batman: The Long Halloween
Batman: Dark Victory
Batman: The Killing Joke
Batman: The Cult
Batman: The Dark Knight Returns