The Dark Knight-No Spoilers

I have the good fortune of being on semi-vacation this week so this morning I donned my cape and pointy-eared cowl and headed for the movie theater. I'm kidding, of course, about wearing a costume, in fact there was a surprising dearth of Batman memoribilia (and sadly, deodorant) in the theater this morning. I love that Batman plays to such a wide demographic. There were teens, older couples and the requisite guys in ponytails and GWAR t-shirts. Fortunately, there were very few children present; this is no way a kid's movie.

It is, however, a dark, brooding violence-filled thriller that banishes West, Keaton, Kilmer and Clooney to some distant Home for Inferior Batmen. And this isn't neccesarily because Christian Bale is better as Batman (though he is), because I loved Michael Keaton's version. It's more about the movie having a tone that none of the others tried to reach. This movie deals more with how Bruce Wayne/Batman reconciles his vigilante duty and Bale is up to the task. The movie is a bit long and dragged down slightly by its bloated narrative, but for the most part it is a bleak and relentless attack on the senses. You get your gadgets, your fistfights, your explosions, your high drama, your soaring orchestral score and, of course, your Joker.

I scoffed when people said Heath Ledger would probably be nominated for an Oscar for his performance, writing it off as hype and sentimentality because of his passing. I may have to recant those scoffs. Ledger's Joker may not posthumously win an Oscar, but he goes down in my book as the second greatest (or should it be worst?) villian in cinema history behind only Hannibal Lechter. (Though I haven't seen No Country for Old Men.) This Joker is funny, intense, violent, intelligent and creepy without being at all over the top. Forget Jack Nicholson, this is the iconic Joker performance. The Joker and Batman have a five minute encounter 2/3 of the way through the movie that is worth the price of admission. Intense and, on a certain level, scary it made me wonder to what level Ledger's career could have ascended from here. Too bad we'll never know.

If you like Batman at all, strap on your utility belt and race your Batmobile to the theater. The Dark Knight is one of the best superhero movies ever thanks to a great hero, but mostly thanks to it's even better villian.