Darth Vader is a powerful opponent, but he doesn't stack up too well against comic book superheroes.

The trick about defeating Darth Vader is that, for those not impervious to its effect, you have to avoid the lightsaber.

Opponent	Outcome
Superman	This one is no contest. Superman could literally eat Darth Vader. Superman has been shown surviving a nuclear blast, and flying through stars, so the lightsaber could not harm Superman.
Batman	Batman is Earth's greatest martial artist. If you consider that many characters are Jedi Hunter's in the Star Wars expanded universe, and that there are even a few in the canon, it's not at all hard to see Batman as being an equal of Vader's. As such, it's entirely within the realm of possibility that Batman could be a match for a Jedi.
Magneto	If they were to fight, Magneto would just pull out all of the metal parts that keep Darth Vader alive.
Wolverine	The outcome of this battle would definitely be affected by whether or not a lightsaber could cut through adamantium. However, Wolverine has been shown to be a more apt fighter than the majority of the Marvel Universe (see the third series). Given this, and assuming that adamantium is at least somewhat impervious to the lightsaber, I give him the advantage.

So, we see that Darth Vader is generally the loser, or at best in a stalemate position, when put up against the all-stars from comic books. These characters are written as winners, while Darth Vader's writing pre-ordains him to fail. The character of Darth Vader represents, among other things, the slow weight of a lifetime of bad decisions overtaking the goals and ambitions of the individual. Conversely, comic book heroes generally embody positive attributes, and are habitual winners. It's no surprise that Darth Vader comes up a dollar short in most of these matches.

Few books cause a worldwide fervor and so instantly see themselves made into films. Gone with the Wind, The Godfather are other members of this class, but none have had such a dark tone. Steig Larsson managed to capture a zeitgeist with his tale of a journalist and hacker fighting against Neo-Nazis to solve a decades-old-crime.

Mikael Blomkvist (Michael Nyqvist) has been offered a great deal of money by respected industrialist Henrik Vanger to inspect the disappearance of his niece, who has been gone for forty years. The job offer would come across as odd if Mikael weren't currently disgraced after a libel suit went against him.

Still, Harriet's disappearance peaks Mikael's curiosity. He takes the elder Vanger on his deal, but Henrik's job offer comes with a warning: he will have to investigate the other members of the Vanger clan.

Lisbeth (Noomi Rapace) makes her living on the outskirts of society. A computer hacker by trade, she trades in formal dress wear and a cubicle for piercings and dim lighting. She comes across Mikael's investigation by accident, but she too finds the case intriguing.

Given Lisbeth is the titular character, it comes as a surprise that she figures into the film much less than Mikael. Noomi Rapace does her level best to pull Lisbeth off the page, but she just doesn't have the inner nastiness to do it. Even when fending off her very forward court-appointed guardian, that venom never comes out.

Niels Arden Oplev crafts the thriller as best he can, but the characters are dull and don't seem to differentiate from the snowy backgrounds. Blomkvist in particular seems an unlikely ally to draw in Lisbeth. A journalist with a tongue silver enough to convince Ms. Salander to assist him in an investigation would make more of an impression on the audience. Whether that is on Nyqvist or the source material is hard to decide.

Girl with the Dragon Tattoo doesn't flinch at its subject matter and for that thanks should be given. Adaptations find themselves neutered when going from page to the screen. However, as the twists and turns pile on top of the clues Lisbeth and Mikael compile, it becomes quite apparent who the killer is.

Condensing a three-hundred page book into two hours is an arduous task, but the pacing lingers in places it shouldn't. Tedious passages that could have been slashed from the novel surprisingly make it into the film.

Lisbeth is an interesting character, but the film doesn't display her prowess.

**/****

The trailer for the Edgar Wright's (Spaced, Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz) comic book adaptation is finally here!

I didn't really know anything about Tron before the teaser trailer came out last summer at Comic-Con, but the trailer piqued my interest. So I check out the original Tron and to my surprise it hasn't aged badly at all. The story is infectiously enjoyable and reflective of the Cold War period it was made in. I was looking forward to this next Tron with cautious optimism, but then the new trailer for Tron Legacy was released and my expectations have been blown sky-high.

The LA Times has another interesting piece with director Christopher Nolan talking about the third Batman film:

Jonathan Nolan is “now doing the hard work” of writing the script based on the story by his sibling and Goyer. “My brother is writing a script for me and we’ll wait to see how it turns out.... He’s struggling to put it together into the epic story that you want it to be.”

He continued on about the appeal of doing the third film. “I’m very excited about the end of the film, the conclusion, and what we’ve done with the characters,” Nolan said.“My brother has come up with some pretty exciting stuff. Unlike the comics, these things don’t go on forever in film and viewing it as a story with an end is useful. Viewing it as an ending, that sets you very much on the right track about the appropriate conclusion and the essence of what tale we’re telling. And it harkens back to that priority of trying to find the reality in these fantastic stories. That’s what we do.”

To be honest I'll be glad when Mr. Nolan and company end this Batman trilogy. Not because I don't like the series (if anything I'm in the tank for it) but because the most disappointing part of Joel Schumacher taking over the reins from Tim Burton was the destruction of the continuity of the Michael Keaton series. Nothing was ever really concluded. Having an ending in mind it only makes sense in Nolan's Batman universe. A vigilante can only fight crime for so long; he won't last forever.

Of course I felt that Bridges should have won, let alone be nominated, for The Big Lebowski. Comedies have never been the forte of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, but despite what some thought Bridges wasn't toking up before takes, he was acting. Alas, he has his Best Actor Oscar now and the injustice has been righted.

The Hurt Locker ran away with this poll taking 41.7% of the vote with Inglorious Basterds lagging behind with 25%, Avatar with 16.7%, Up in the Air with 12.5%, and Precious - which suffered from not being seen most likely - took last with 4.2%

Hurt Locker and Inglourious Basterds received most of their votes from the U.S. but a majority of Avatar's votes come from overseas.

For a long while it looked like the Best Picture winner would be a surprise, but at this point of the race it's leaning heavily to Team Bigelow. Be sure to tune in Sunday for the big show.

House star Hugh Laurie has signed on to star in the indie comedy The Oranges, according to The Playlist. The story follows the Schiff family, who live on Orange Drive, a New Jersey suburb, with their neighbors, the Bass family, who are torn apart when David Schiff (Laurie's character), embarks on an affair with the Bass's daughter Nina (Leighton Meester). Catherine Keener, Allison Janney, and Adam Brody also star.

Hugh Laurie's film career hasn't quite parlayed to success after the resurgence of his career following House: Monsters vs. Aliens, Flight of the Phoenix, and the Stuart Little films. Hopefully The Oranges will change that.