I saw The Dark Knight on Sunday morning, a time when most of Little Rock is in church. This sunday was the exception, the IMAX screening was a sold out show leading me to the realization that at this time in history Batman trumps Christ in popularity. Let's face it, he has cooler gadgets.

Picking up where Batman Begins left off we are treated to a very intense bank heist that is beautifully shot with a heart-pounding score that only heightens the experience. I knew within the first 5 minutes that this was going to far exceed my expectations and that was even before the bat or the clown-prince graced the screen.

At it's most simplistic level, The Dark Knight is a horror movie with perhaps the most terrifying villian to grace the screen since Hannibal Lechter. The Joker is given no origin here and that is not a detriment. It adds to the mystery of the man in a grease paint mask and makes him all the more horrifying.

This Batman is not for kids...it is gritty, intense and what makes it so nerve-shattering is that it is quite realistic. The Joker is referred to in this film as a terrorist and it is a title that fits quite appropriately.

Ledger's portrayal is spot-on and well worth the accolades he has received. He disappears into the role and you forget that you are watching the actors final completed performance. The full effect that we have lost such a great actor is not felt until the Joker delivers one of his final lines on screen, "We can do this forever" he tells Batman, explaining why he would not kill the Dark Knight. Only then do you realize as a viewer that his eerie promise will never come to be and as you leave the theater completely exhausted from a fantastic movie-going experience you truly feel the loss of a gifted young man who will never again grace the screens.

But The Dark Knight is much more than Heath Ledgers swan song, it is a film that manages to be an action film, a horror movie and a dramatic character study all rolled into one.

Director Christopher Nolan proves that he can handle multiple villians with grace and tact unlike Joel Schumacher and unfortunately Sam Raimi in Spider-Man 3.

With a cameo by The Scarecrow and The Batman dealing with 2 other villians the movie does not feel cluttered and at 2 and 1/2 hours runtime it most definitely does not feel rushed. I would advise not drinking a trash can-sized Mr. Pibb within the first twenty minutes of the film because you will not want to leave the theater to relieve yourself. The film is that riveting. Luckily, if it is a packed house you can relieve yourself right there and blame one of the other 200 people.

Ledger's portrayal is spot-on and well worth the accolades he has received. He disappears into the role and you forget that you are watching the actors final completed performance. The full effect that we have lost such a great actor is not felt until the Joker delivers one of his final lines on screen, "We can do this for ever" he tells Batman, explaining why he would not kill the Dark Knight. Only then do you realize as a viewer that his errie promise will never come to be and as you leave the theater completely exhausted from a fantastic movie-going experience you truly feel the loss of a gifted young man who will never again grace the screens.

I actually stopped my post short because I couldn't quite figure out how to put into words how I felt about watching Heath Ledger in this film. I was deeply saddened by his death, more affected by it than what is normal for me. I don't know why that is, and I've given up trying to figure it out. But because it did make me sad, I actually was dreading going to see this movie.

I was taken aback when shortly after the Joker first appeared, I realized I wasn't seeing Heath Ledger at all - Tony is right when he says that Ledger disappeared into the role. What I was seeing on that screen was pure villainy, one of the darkest and most terrifying characters I've ever seen. The true weight of the loss didn't hit me until the credits started to roll.

This movie is one of those rare sequels that outdoes it's predecessor. By a wide margin.

Batman Begins wasn't bad, but I had some issues with the character development and plot threads.

The Dark Knight was near perfect. Ledger's Joker ranks up there in the top greatest movie villains of all time.

While, it's unfortunate that we never saw Nicholson's Joker return, it's more unfortunate that we will never see Ledger's Joker return either.

The Dark Knight was near perfect. Ledger's Joker ranks up there in the top greatest movie villains of all time.

The disappearing pencil was about as good as it gets.

I was talking with a co-worker about where he ranks as far as cinema villians are concerned and the only one I could think of besides Lector was Keyser Soze.

The disappearing pencil was about as good as it gets.

I was talking with a co-worker about where he ranks as far as cinema villians are concerned and the only one I could think of besides Lector was Keyser Soze.

The "lets put a smile on that face" part was very disturbing. We had a huge peek into his madness at that point. As for ranking him, I thought he equaled, if not surpassed, Hannibal at that moment. The only one equal I can think of would be Rutger Hauer in "The Hitcher".

I saw The Dark Knight on Saturday and really liked it. First two criticisms - I thought the movie was a little long, at least one too many turns of the plot before the climax and some of the choices seemed a bit arbitrary.

Agreed. The Hong Kong subplot? Lose it and it tightens up the whole movie.

Ledger's portrayal is spot-on and well worth the accolades he has received. He disappears into the role and you forget that you are watching the actors final completed performance. The full effect that we have lost such a great actor is not felt until the Joker delivers one of his final lines on screen, "We can do this forever" he tells Batman, explaining why he would not kill the Dark Knight. Only then do you realize as a viewer that his eerie promise will never come to be and as you leave the theater completely exhausted from a fantastic movie-going experience you truly feel the loss of a gifted young man who will never again grace the screens.

VERY well put, Tony. [SPOILER]And we are disheartened when we realize that this character could have recurred in later movies and now can't (and the converse fate of Two-Face, leaves us feeling doubly cheated).[/SPOILER]

Agreed. The Hong Kong subplot? Lose it and it tightens up the whole movie.

I actually liked the Hong Kong subplot and thought it helped introduce some of The Bat's new technology and demonstrate the depth of The Joker's scheme. For me, I could have lived without the tunnel scene; it just didn't have the realism of the rest of the movie. I must admit that I'm not much of fan of the new Batmobile; I really didn't like it in Batman Begins and was glad it was only briefly on display in this one. I thought the Batcycle was pretty cool though.

I actually liked the Hong Kong subplot and thought it helped introduce some of The Bat's new technology and demonstrate the depth of The Joker's scheme. For me, I could have lived without the tunnel scene; it just didn't have the realism of the rest of the movie. I must admit that I'm not much of fan of the new Batmobile; I really didn't like it in Batman Begins and was glad it was only briefly on display in this one. I thought the Batcycle was pretty cool though.

The Batmobile was okay but not real high on the wow meter (it was more of a brute force machine, just plowing through all obstacles). I agree about the Batcycle. There were a number of moments in the theater when the audience (and myself) went *wow* and the Batcycle had some of them (when it went up a wall and then did Matrix-like move, for example).

Here in Japan, we can watch it from August 1. I really want to see it.

SPOILERS BELOW !!!!!!!!!!






Finally a movie that lives up to the hype. It was all that and a bag of chips. I still like Burton's version but this was far superior in every way. There hasn't been a film this unremittingly dark since Se7en. Very similar films. Neither one pulled any punches and evil wins big time.

Ledger was incredible. Made me want to vomit just looking at him. SO FILTHY! Every caper was brilliant. I could have sat there a couple of hours longer watching the ingenious situations the Joker would put people in. The jail escape is right up there with Silence of the Lambs. Might even top it.

I'm hoping they have a directors cut DVD. Pretty obvious that a lot of violence was trimmed out to get away with a PG 13 rating.