The Dark Knight

I just saw The Dark Knight, the sequel to Batman Begins, starring Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Gary Oldman, Aaron Eckhart, Maggie Gyllenhaal, and Eric Roberts.

Holy crap! What an amazing movie!

Dark Knight is a great name for it. It's more than just a nickname used in the comics, it's really what the film is all about. It's dark, very very dark, in all meanings of the word. And it's about a White Knight versus a Dark Knight and what they mean to Gotham City. Just what has Batman's reputation as a vigilante above the law caused to happen? How have the people, and more importantly the criminal underworld, reacted to his presence? This film explores that.

It really is taking the idea of superheroes into a realistic area of analysis. In the real world if someone was crazed enough to dress up in costumes to secretly commit acts of either heroism or cruelty, there would be outrage and obsession over them. Most comic book films gloss over that, in order to tell an action packed storyline, with a prerequisite happy ending, and leaving room for potential sequels. This time Chris Nolan, the Director, has taken it to a new level, one that's been sorely missing from comic book films. And comic books themselves, really. This time it's really dealt with some of the harsher issues that a Superhero-guarded city would have to endure, in a confronting and sometimes tragic fashion.

I cannot recommend this movie enough. Dark, twisted, exciting, surprising, and thrilling. You really don't know what is going to happen as each scene unfolds. Completely unbelievably cool.

Oh, and Batmanuel in a Batman film. Surreal.