i'm the batman

a few days ago, i was lucky enough to get into a sneak preview of the new batman movie, the dark knight. (thank you, lauren adn johnson & johnson, the makers of batman bandaids)

i have to admit that i wasn't so excited to see the dark knight at the beginning of the summer, but by the time i got into the long, snaking line outside the theatre on wednesday night, the marketing hype had convinced me this was THE movie of the summer.

ultimately, the movie was one of the best i've ever seen, and undoubtedly the best action flim i've seen.

from the first frame, director christopher nolan set stage of a dark world where villians threaten gotham city with robberies, murder and destruction. although district attorney harvey dent (aaron eckhart) goes after the ringleaders of gotham's baddies by attempting to take down the leaders of various gangs and mobs, batman shows up at the scene of the crime, trying to knock some sense int the criminals, then tying them up and leaving them for the cops to pick up.

batman has one rule: no killing.

batman's arch nemesis, the joker, does not follow the same rule, and in fact kills hundreds of people with wild abandon and excited glee. the violence of these deaths sometimes forced me to shield my eyes. there was lots of violence in the movie, but there wasn't lots of blood spattering or pools of blood. some things were left up to the imagination, lifting the scary factor up even more.

i was scared of the joker throughout the movie, but heath ledger plays the part tremendously. he was an understated whacko, thoroughly frightening. towards the middle of the movie, the joker ends up in jail, but movie traditions and the fear instilled in the viewer during the first half of the movie, let you know that the villian will not stay there long. and, in fact, many more are going to die before the day is done.

lets talk about health ledger for a moment. i believe he put his soul into this last role of his lifetime. his joker is crazy in a hannibal lector kind of way. there is no convincing him that his view of life is evil. he doesn't care. he will create chaos with explosives until someone -- batman -- kills him. but batman doesn't believe in guns and murder. so, the gotham city psychopath lives to see another day, even though heath ledger did not, dying this winter from an accident overdose in his soho apartment.

if they do decide to bring the joker back to a future batman movie, i cannot think of someone else who could play the role so menacingly yet so effortlessly.

i am not a big fan of sequels, but this second installation of the nolan-helmed bale-starring batman was a million times better than the first. and i hope they continue to make them. i want to know what happens next. does the gotham police ever catch the "dark knight"? does the city find itself a new "white knight"? does batman find a new love? (catwoman?)

before the talk of anther sequel even begins, you should go to see the dark knight. if you enjoy action films and superhero movies, you will love this. even if you don't like those types of movies, you will be pleasantly surprised.

i declare the dark knight the movie of summer 2008.