BATMAN AND ME

Movies are an interesting phenomenon in western culture. Usually, there are "rules" to movies and storytelling. USUALLY, the rules include: "Don't over-hype a movie or people will be disappointed after they see your film." Case in point: "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull." I liked that movie just fine, but the aforementioned rule ended up trumping the general audience's appreciation of it. Having been a Batman enthusiast since I was growing up in the 70s with Adam West's television show, and upon experiencing HUGE "hype" with this summer's sequel to the excellent "Batman Begins," I feared the rule would trump this film as well.

But the funny thing about SOME super-hyped movies is, they break the rules. "The Dark Knight" is the perfect example of such a rare exception.

This movie has been so highly anticipated since "Batman Begins" left theaters in 2005, it was almost DOOMED to failure! But not only does it "not fail," it separates itself from its excellent predecessor and surpasses it--far exceedingly so!

The drama is not upped "one notch"--it's upped about a hundred fold! You've heard all about how moving a performance the late Heath Ledger gave in this film. That's true. But ALL the castmembers give jaw-dropping performances! Aaron Eckhart is downright perfectly cast as the conflicted Gotham D.A. Harvey Dent/Two Face. And Christian Bale deepens the characters of Bruce Wayne and Batman. Gary Oldman also shines--moreso than in the previous film.

It'll be hard for the reader to trust me on what I am about to say, because I've already revealed my hand that I am a Batman fan; but bear with me: THE DARK KNIGHT is not only very possibly THE BEST superhero film ever, but it should rank up there as one of American cinema's BEST films in the past 10 years. Yeah, it's THAT good. I venture to say that if you aren't a big "comic book/superhero" movie fan, you'll STILL love this one. It's "Shawshank Redemption" good.

I guess I'm trying to say that I loved it, and hope you can share my enthusiasm.

But please bear in mind two very important things about this movie before you rush off to see it:
1. It is LONG for a film of this genre--about 2.5 hours in length, so plan accordingly.
2. It is NOT for young children! There are some disturbing images and themes in this movie, including the threat of violence against children.