Dark Knight ...an appropriate title, but goes too far

Rating: 1/10 (25 July 2008)

Granted, I'm not a huge "splosion" fan, but walking out of the theater after just seeing this film, I am appalled. I feel like a Roman who has just witnessed a tiger maul a man. Why wasn't this rated R? Why do we as a society think movies like this are amazing, let alone acceptable? I am an English teacher; the symbolism and social commentary were not lost on me, but at what point are dramatically violent scenes in a movie ultimately contributing to more violence in our communities? What price do we pay as a society to entertain our growing need to witness this level of destruction . . . using school buses to rob banks and murder? Blowing up hospitals? Pointing guns to children's heads? This has gone past harmless entertainment, particularly when it's witnessed by younger children (there were a number of 6-9 year-old boys in my showing that ended at midnight). Needless to say, I will not be seeing a third installment of the franchise, and will be encouraging people (at least the last five on the planet who haven't seen it) to avoid this film.