The Dark Knight

Where do I even begin? Let me first start by saying that the movie was absolutely incredible. Better than the first one, and probably up there as one of the best comic book movies ever. Remember awhile back when I had the poll up for movie you were most excited for? I chose Iron Man, and I guess I should really explain the reasoning behind that choice.

I knew that Christopher Nolan would make a good movie. I knew Dark Knight would be as good or close to the Batman Begins. Iron Man had me excited because it could either suck or be fantastic. I loved Iron Man, but then last night I saw what a comic book movie could really be. You can make changes the characters, but if you understand their core, it does not matter. Dark Knight outdid my expectations, which were already pretty high.

That being said, with all the marketing for the movie, I started to get nervous that it might be really bad. Or that my expectations were getting too high, like they did for Spider-Man 3. Again, Nolan and his team did not let me or anyone else down.

Anyways, let us get to the nitty-gritty of the film. Let me just say that I have nothing negative to say about the film. If you have not seen the film, you might want to stop reading then because I will probably have a few spoilers throughout.

As most people have already said, Heath Ledger was incredible as the Joker. He turned the character into something dark and scary. Everyone loved Jack Nicholson's version, but if you read the comics, you can see that the Joker is much more than someone who laughs a lot.

The Joker needs to be scary, sick, and twisted. The only person who gets the joke, is himself. Ledger pulled that off remarkably. The little things he did made the character seem very real, such licking his lips or telling the stories of how he got his scars. Also, no silly origin setup about the Joker was great. He just comes out of nowhere. We never learn who he is, nor does Batman, goes with the way he is in the comics. I know someone will say that in The Killing Joke, Alan Moore created an origin, but at the end even the Joker admits that he could be lying about it.

Aaron Eckhart's performance was also very good as Harvey Dent. They changed the back story a good bit about Two-Face, but for once, this fit the movie much better than the comic's version.

Eckhart's ability shows through during the dinner scene where Harvey defends the Batman to Bruce Wayne, Rachel, and the Russian Ballet dancer. The tone of his voice goes from uplifting and very light hearted, to quickly dark and edgy when he says about living long enough to see himself as the villain.

Question for everyone, did Two-Face die at the end? I thought he did, but then after discussing it with Adam, I agree with him that they probably hauled him off to a secret padded room in Arkham Asylum.

The sad thing about the film is that Christian Bale will receive almost no recognition for being such a great Batman. In the first one, most critics said he was the best actor to play Batman. He was just as fantastic in this movie, if not better, but Ledger and Eckhart stole the show.

Another thing I love about the movie franchise is the relationship between Bruce Wayne and Lucius Fox. In the comics or even the Animated Series, Fox was always the guy who led Wayne Enterprises, but had no clue who Batman actually was. Having Fox in there as someone who also knows and actually helps out, completely strengthens the plot. It does not hurt that Morgan Freeman is a great actor.

Did anyone purchase Gotham Knights? It is set in between the two films, broken into six separate stories and basically explains how Batman becomes even more badass. Anyways, I watched it the other night and one of the best parts of that little film, was of Bruce going to India to learn how to focus his pain.

They used that during the film, such as when Two-Face shoots him and he still manages to get up and escape. Or when guys just mercilessly beat him with clubs or bottles and he moves through it without notice.

Without going on forever, I just want to say that everyone should see the film, and most likely go see it again. Tell me what you thought.

Comic Book Movie Grade: A+