The Dark Knight

The follow-up/sequel to Batman Begins came out this morning. I woke up for the 9:30 AM show. Before we get into the review, you need to know that this movie is long. It clocks in at 2 hours and 30 minutes and there are times where you might feel it. I think I checked my cell phone twice to see what time it was. I came out of the theater feeling like I had been watching Batman all night. But I felt that way because of the early hour.

I was excited to see the early reviews for this monster - Rotten Tomatoes had 100% positives. I was anticipating this movie like a 10 year old waiting for his birthday!

Having said that, this movie is dark. I would not recommend taking small children to see this movie. It isn't promoted like Spider-man and is nothing close to Spider-man. While mainly bloodless, there are countless deaths.

You feel despair from the first bank robbery.

Christian Bale does a fine job as Bruce Wayne and The Batman. The problem comes with his "Batman voice". We heard a small amount of it in Begins while he yelled and gave us one word phrases, but with Knight, Batman is giving longer speeches and his hoarse/gruff "be afraid of me" voice comes across as a bit silly.

The other actors, Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine, Gary Oldman and Aaron Eckhart do fantastic jobs in their roles. The issue continues to be the Rachel Dawes character played by Maggie Gyllenhaal. For some reason I just don't enjoy any screen time with her - for both movies. For The Dark Knight, she's dating Harvey Dent (Eckhart) while waiting for Wayne to quit being Batman.

Wayne sees his chance in Harvey Dent. Dent is the new District Attorney for Gotham and is cracking down on the mob. The citizens have a "hero with a face" and cheer him on in his quest.

Enter The Joker. Heath Ledger is the master of this movie. Any time he isn't on screen, you're wishing he was. And when he is on screen, his performance is so disturbing you never want it to end...Makes one feel a little dark for enjoying the crazy antics of the psychotic killer.

Because The Joker has no deep, hidden reason for what he does, anyone can be killed in this movie at any time...anyone. Christopher Nolan and his brother have written a script that holds nothing back.

Even with the small flaws (I'm thinking of the policeman constantly saying "This is not good") The Dark Knight is the best Summer movie I have seen...Ever.