3 Cheers for The Joker

Rating: 10/10 (27 July 2008)

I'm not a fan of Batman or any other comic book heroes, so when I saw the poster for "The Dark Knight", I never gave this title another thought.
That was until I watched the prologue (the first 3 or so minutes) of this movie about 2 weeks before it came out. I was stunned. Shocked. Amazed. When the title of the movie flashed across the screen, the only thing I could do was sit there, my mouth open in awe.
The movie was amazing: packed with action, explosions, shootings, ingenious schemes and pure dark evil, it was much like a modernized "Sweeney Todd". I also believe that the posters are the best ones I've ever seen, especially the 2 "Why So Serious" versions.
Heath Ledger did a spectacular job as The Joker. His character is scary, but addicting; he's obviously mentally unstable, yet all of his plans are so carefully thought-out, so precisely timed that you have to admit that he's a genius. His actions are completely unpredictable: some will have you laughing, some will show up in your nightmares.
Heath really got into the character this time. Everything about The Joker was perfectly dark and evil, the posture, the voice, the expressions and, of course, the laugh. He made this movie as good as it is and his sudden death is tragic. The end of the movie almost made me cry, since I realized, that never again will we see this genius in action. The third movie in the series would be empty without you, Heath.
Personally, comparing the rest of the movies of 2008 to "The Dark Knight" would be like comparing the vocal abilities of Barney, the purple dinosaur to those of Whitney Houston and Celine Dion.