The Movie That I've Been Waiting for All Summer

Rating: 10/10 (18 July 2008)

I remember in my younger days watching the campy (not necessarily bad) Batman movies with a wide variety of actors from Adam West to Michael Keaton to George Clooney. I remember being a child and being especially afraid of Jack Nicholson's Joker in Tim Burton's version of Batman in 1989. But I didn't even imagine the Joker as I saw him tonight. Heath Ledger is by far the scariest Batman character, I believe, to ever be brought to life on the big screen. The purple-suited prankster is more in love with anarchy than schemes and such. With a dark sense of humor, you find yourself laughing at some unexpected places in the film. But why not put a smile on that face? Enter Bruce Wayne, our model hero, to save the day...or so one would think. But when the going gets tough, Wayne questions his place in Gotham City. Now that new DA Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart) is in town, maybe Gotham deserves a "hero with a face," as Bruce puts it. Maybe they deserve the knight in shining armor instead of the knight in midnight black bat suit.
With plenty of humor, character development, and action, "The Dark Knight" keeps you guessing and hanging on until the end credits roll. With the brilliant Nolan brothers writing and directing once again, how could this have failed? Who ever saw Batman as not just a figure in the dark, but a dark figure himself? While the original TV series was campy and comic, "Begins" and "Knight" have surely cast that image away from the franchise. And all I have to say is...bring on some more.
Supporting performances from Eric Roberts, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Morgan Freeman, and Michael Caine make "The Dark Knight" a summer winner. Hats off to all involved for the entertainment and a job well done.