Usually when a movie is hyped as much as "The Dark Knight," there's a certain letdown when you actually get to see the thing. Think of Pirates of the Caribbean's "Dead Man's Chest." Or that horrible electromagnetically-impaired opening bit in the last Indiana Jones, "Kingdom of the Crystal Skull."
"Dark Knight" was such a compelling story that the physics goofs that usually turn me off barely even registered. The writing, directing, and nightmare-invoking performances of Heath Ledger and Aaron Eckhart overshadowed the sheer improbability of some of the stunts. Our sole local theater ran the flick on both of its biggest screens and still turned away hundreds of people over the weekend, according to an employee.
Batman's toys always rock, and they're lightyears beyond anything Q cobbled together for James Bond. Physics professor James Kakalios has written "The Physics of Superheroes" and he describes how Batman's uber-cool toys aren't so far-fetched.
"That is definitely within the realm of technological plausibility," he said. "Although there is no specific material that can do that, there are materials that produce structural changes upon the application of an electric field. They're called piezoelectric materials."
On the other hand, Kakalios notes that the human body isn't as tough as the toys:
Keep in mind your own physical weaknesses when you get to the theater: you won't want to get a large soda before the movie, 'cause you don't want to risk missing one bit of it.
posted by Cheryl Shepherd-Adams
