Late on Friday at MegaBox, a preview of The Dark Knight was screened for the local film media and it was shown in the Imax format, no less. Anticipation was extremely high since the blockbuster was partly shot here and is also disgraced star Edison Chen Koon-hei's first movie appearance since his sex-photos scandal. But getting in was no easy task. In addition to the audience having to check in their camera phones at the door, they had to pass through metal detectors. As for the movie, the city's skyline certainly looks nice in its supporting role early in the story. However, our financial reputation takes a hit as we are presented as a global hub for underworld money laundering. The segment only lasts about five minutes, enough time for Bruce Wayne/Batman to disable the circuitry in an entire building, swoop down from the top of Two IFC (pictured) and scoop up a suspect wanted back in Gotham City. As for Chen's appearance, it's little more than an extra's role, greeting Morgan Freeman's character at the Peninsula's helipad. 'Welcome to Hong Kong,' Chen delivers his line to a few sniggers from the audience. Then at an office entrance, he adds: 'For security reasons, I'm going to have to ask you to check in your mobile.' That's the extent of his scene stealing. The rest of the movie is long, loud and very dark. When it finally ended, it was close to 1am as people wandered out to a rainy and desolate industrial Kowloon Bay with no taxis in sight - not unlike the kind of place where Heath Ledger's scary psycho, The Joker, or Christian Bale's solemn Batman might suddenly appear.
