THE DARK KNIGHT!!!

*** SPOILERS WILL FOLLOW - If you've yet to see the movie and don't want me ruining it for you, don't ready this until later.***

"The Dark Knight," the sequel to the great "Batman Begins" by Christopher Nolan, is quite possibly the greatest movie I've seen when compared to the hype that preceded it. And that's not to say it's just better than other over-hyped movies. This movie simply blew away the hype that came along with it. I went to watch this movie at the midnight premiere, so it was totally worth not getting to bed until well after three am.

Typically, you get what you expect with a summer blockbuster, especially when it's an action and/or comic book styled flick. Even recently, I was entertained by Will Smith's "Hancock," but it's definitely not a movie I'll rave about. While I do think it was one of Smith's funnier movies, I wasn't really held to the edge of my seat, nor was I left wondering what would happen next. Even the big major plot twist in the film didn't totally catch me off guard. The special effects were overdone and the fight scenes looked way too unrealistic.

However, with TDK, special effects are only noticeable in one scene, and even there they look quite realistic. Most of the stunts, car crashes and explosions are actually stunts, car crashes and explosions, and the movie was filmed in Chicago, which gives it a realistic city feel. 

Now, on to the movie itself.

Batman Begins introduced us to a terrified, tormented, and vengeful protagonist named Bruce Wayne, who actually became Batman. By the end of the movie, it was clear that Batman was the real person and Bruce Wayne was actually the alter ego. (as a reflection of what he was inside). TDK takes this a step further, almost borrowing a sub-plot from Spider-Man 2, in that Bruce is constantly looking for an out to be Batman no more. This is partly because the people of Gotham hate him, and for various reasons; namely, the Joker constantly terrorizes the city and kills countless people because he wants Batman to reveal who he is under the mask. People blame Batman for the death of cops, including the commissioner, and also a judge. The other main reason Batman wants out is give Bruce Wayne a shot with the love of his life, Rachel Dawes, in is instead in love with new DA Harvey Dent. The movie keeps a constant running inner debate for Bruce.

Meanwhile, Heath Ledger's Joker completely lived up to the hype that he was receiving. I'd think the Joker would be one of the tougher roles to pull off in a movie because of the corny and cheesy versions that came before it. In the 60's Batman movies, Ceaser Romero played basically a practical joker; he had jack-in-the-box traps, an exploding octopus, and was known to use a shock-buzzer on his hand when shaking hands with someone else. He had pale skin and green hair and that was about it.

In 1989's Tim Burton Batman, Jack Nicholson took the character a step further. He was scared second-hand by Batman (he fired a gun at the Bat and Batman deflected it back through the cheeks of Jack), fell into a vat of chemicals which stained his skin white, and required surgery to fix his face, which left him with a permanent grin. But, still, Nicholson's Joker played on the campy, out-witting style that Romero did in the 60's. While Nicholson pulled this off to perfection, the character wasn't entirely unpredictable.

Ledger's Joker is an absolute maniacal freak. He does things that make no sense, even to himself sometimes. He tells everyone a different back story about his scars, and then uses clown makeup to cover them up. He has no plan other than to try and one-up himself with every crime he pulls. The scene were he confronts Harvey 'Two-Face' in the hospital was one of the best movies scenes in recent memory. He basically turns Harvey Dent into the murderous Two-Face by convincing him that when plans are made, people will always find a way to corrupt those plans and stab you in the back.

The Joker was a character I both loved and hated. I loved him because he was a hilarious person. He didn't walk around literally cracking jokes and trying to out-smart everyone, but rather he was the most socially backward and out-cast movie villain I can remember. He doesn't at all care what people think about him or his appearance. His makeup is nasty and caked on, his hair is greasy, and while sitting there watching the movie, you can almost imagine how horrible he'd smell. But I hate the man because he commits crimes for his own entertainment. He has no empathy for anyone else. He'll kill anyone for any reason, an he'll rob banks just for the sheer joy and thrill, not to get any money. And even in all his random so-called no plan of villainy, he does indeed have a grand plan.

As for other characters, I was left scratching my head a little about Harvey Dent/Two-Face. I thought Aaron Eckhart did a great job with the two roles, but I just wondered where Two-Face really fit in with this movie. After seeing the previews, I really felt like this movie would set up Two-Face to be the bad guy in New Batman 3, but that's obviously not going to happen after he dies at the end of this one (while the Joker wasn't necessarily killed off... we were left to wonder about that one). In the 25 or so minutes he's Two-Face, Harvey only takes out his rage on people that he felt double-crossed him and led to the death of Rachel. In reality, the Joker was directly responsible for her death, as he not only kidnapped both Rachel and Harvey, but in telling Batman where each of them was located, he intentionally swapped their locations, knowing that Batman would take off to save Rachel. When the caped crusader instead arrives to save Harvey (and Rachel was too far away for the police to reach in time), the Joker knows that this will drive Harvey insane.

As Two-Face, Harvey kills a couple cops and some related with the mob, deciding the fate of each one on a coin flip. I liked that the character didn't become a vicious mass murderer, because that really would've just been a copy of the Joker. And he really didn't even have that last-minute redemption that is so expected from most movie bad guys. But Batman and Commissioner Gordon decide that letting the public think that Harvey Dent died noble and with honor rather than as a psycho will preserve him as the hero they needed him to be.

My only complaint is that I was a little confused about Two-Face. I was pretty surprised with the choices of who died and didn't die (Two-Face and Rachel die while the Joker doesn't), but none of my complaints are strong enough this to not be one of my favorite movies of all-time, if not THE favorite. I've always been a huge Batman fan, and this movie certainly live up to my expectations. I don't normally throw these around, but it was one of the few I ranked a 10 on imdb.com. 

Batman takes the wrap for all the murders Harvey committed, telling Gordon that in order to make Dent in deed be the hero, Batman himself would once again become the vigilante. As Batman rides off on the Bat-Pod with police in tow, Godron tells his son "He'll forever be in the shadows, our Dark Knight." It basically sets up the movie to be a good finisher to a two-part series, but it also leaves unlimited room for additional sequels. Judging by the hype and expected box office dollars for this movie, I'm not willing to bet this will be the end. I certainly hope not, anyway.