The Dark Knight

I'd waited through opening weekend to see it. I was foolish and waited too long to get my tickets and all the IMAX shows for opening weekend were sold out. So I had to grit my teeth and wait until Monday. Luckily, I had Alison to wait with. So we waited...I saw Mamma Mia instead. Not a worthy substitute, FYI.

IMAX...I've only seen two other movies on it. Batman Begins and Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Harry was worth it because at the end it went 3-D, which was awesome, in my opinion. The first Batman, eh, but this one was definitely worth the $16 (yes, that price is right, this is New York). From the first scenes, those floating "beauty" shots of Gotham, I was off-kilter and I think that was the point.

From that point on, I don't know if my mouth closed. I haven't seen many movies that literally make my jaw drop. This one did, over and over. In case you are late to The Dark Knight party, the film picks up where the last left off. Gotham has begun to be terrorized by Batman's most infamous villain, the Joker. I'll get my praise for Heath Ledger out of the way now. I remember seeing the first teaser for The Dark Knight, last year, when Ledger was still alive. I remember the hairs on the back of my neck standing up, seeing a shot of him against a wall looking up in the most classic case of rapist face I've ever seen. So I'm going to go ahead and say that my critique of his performance was not colored by his untimely death. Say what you will, but it is a masterpiece. I sat there in awe the entire time, especially in a scene where he has been captured and is being questioned in his cell. He owns the movie from the very beginning, when you can only see the back of his head. He is remarkably creepy, twisted, funny and yet, still attractive.

(Side note: this isn't the first time Alison and I have found such an evil character attractive. We're both hold a hankering for Ralph Finennes as Voldemort (re: suit in the train station, film 5). After seeing this film and realizing we were both attracted to the Joker, green hair, well-cut purple vest and all, we feared what level of evil would next attract us. I said, at the rate we were going, it would probably be the inevitable biopic of Hitler.)

I could go on and on about how much I loved Ledger as the Joker, but you can go elsewhere for more poetic praise. As for the plot, the Joker is using the mob as a backer to wreak chaos on Gotham. Meanwhile, Gotham's newest hope is new D.A. Harvey Dent, who Batman hopes can clean up Gotham enough to allow him to hang up his batsuit so he may pursue his one true love, Rachel (Maggie Gyllenhaall), who happens to be dating Dent, naturally. I don't want to give a lengthy plot summary, honestly, just go see it and pay close attention. In the words of Michael Caine as Michael Caine, er, Alfred, "some men just want to watch the world burn." That's the Joker and that's what he does for the entirety of the movie. There are some cool twists, nifty chases, ahem, flipping over a semi and unexpected deaths.

In short, although, I absolutely loved this movie. It was one of the best examples of art and commerce working seamlessly. I loved it so much, I went and saw it again the following Friday. I haven't done that since a movie that shall remained unnamed (Leo!). I left the theater thinking about it and I was still thinking about and marveling at it the next day and now anytime someone mentions it. I have some negative critiques (Batman's voice) but they were so few, they're not even worth getting further into. Since Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince has been moved to next summer, the race is on to replace The Dark Knight as my favorite movie of the year.

Disagree? Discuss.