The Dark Knight

Let me start by saying, WOW.

Jenny and I decided to brave the opening night crowds and see the most anticipated movie of the summer, "The Dark Knight". It doesn't mean as much as it used to when you can get reserved seats at the Megaplex. Let me tell you, that is the greatest thing to happen to movie-going since homogenized lard-based butter flavor popcorn topping! Jenny and I rolled in to the theater at 6:20 for our 6:30 showtime, which definitely beat the 3 hours we could have waited in line to avoid a front row seat had we not had reserved seats. The other greatest thing ever: online purchase with kiosk pick-up. We didn't wait in a line all night. It was fabulous.

Now to the movie...it's hard to say that any movie could live up to the hype and expectations that came with this movie, but I can say that "The Dark Knight" was the closest of any over-hyped summer blockbuster that I've seen. I think part of the reason I loved Iron Man so much is that I had no expectations for it, unlike "The Dark Knight". I probably rank "Batman Begins" as one of my top 5 all-time favorites. I had extremely high expectations for this movie and they weren't helped by the fact that the pre-release talk of Heath Ledger's portrayal of The Joker is Oscar-worthy and it had Best Picture buzz to boot. Needless to say, I had HIGH expectations going in.

And, for the most part, they were exceeded in every way. Some of the peripheral things that I love about this movie: First, they went away from a CG Gotham and used a real set as a back drop. This gives the whole movie a sense of realism and makes Gotham a main character that I think was missing a bit in "Batman Begins". Second, there was nothing too over the top in this movie, much like "Batman Begins", except for The Joker, but that was expected. Ledger's performance is unreal, almost captivatingly creepy. The scariest part about him is that there is no apparent motive to anything he does other than to prove that everyone is as insane as he is. Ledger should win an award for this performance. Third, I love the underlying social commentary that is present in both films. If you pay attention to the dialogue, there are a lot of thought-provoking points raised about society's acceptance of vigilante justice and the restrictions placed by law on those who have been appointed to uphold the law. Both these movies are extremely smart in that way.

Overall, the movie is intense. DO NOT TAKE KIDS! Although the violence is tamed to a PG-13 level, there is enough to make you think they got away with something. They use the soundtrack and effects perfectly to build suspense and anticipation, much like a horror movie where you know something is coming but don't know what it is until you're off your seat. To use some showbiz venacular, this is a HARD PG-13. Don't take the rating lightly.

That said, this is the best movie of the year so far. "The Dark Knight" does not disappoint. It will be one that you will want to see again to review what you may have missed. I'm sure there will be points that I missed the first time when I see it again, hopefully soon.