Greatest. Superhero. Movie. Ever.

So I saw a 4am IMAX screening of The Dark Knight, Christopher Nolan's new... Wait a minute. Who's been trapped under a large rock all year? I'm assuming it was a really wide rock, to miss all the posters and billboards. Honestly, it feels like the viral marketing has been going on for YEARS. It reminds me of the work done for Batman. Do you remember the advance marketing for Tim Burton's first Batman movie? The bat-symbol teaser trailer launched really early, at least really early for the time, stirring all sorts of speculation. Between that and the 1-900 hotline to decide if Robin died in the comic book, it was a great time to be a 7th grader enamored with the caped crusader.

But this is 2008, and I just saw The Dark Knight. Wow.



Let me go ahead and get this out of the way: Heath Ledger delivered a staggering performance. Menace and nihilism personified. But wonderfully charismatic. There were so many subtle touches. I loved his licking tic; it really sold the scarring make-up. I thought there would be a lot of baggage from Nicholson's take on the character, but it was never an issue. This really was Ledger's movie.

But if it was just one amazing performance in the midst of a mediocre movie, I wouldn't be this giddy. For all the talk that's bound to happen about how dark the tone of the movie is, I found it to be a LOT of fun. The base-jumping? Awesome. The "birth" of the Bat-Pod? Awesome. The Empire Strikes Back-esque take-down of a semi? You get the picture. I had a similiar feeling leaving this screening to leaving Casino Royale when that hit theatres. Sad as it may be, Batman and James Bond were heroes of mine as a child, and it's thrilling to see them treated with all due respect. Who knew there would actually be a Batman movie made that would seriously meditate on law and order, and the thin line you can cross into fascism? Without being preachy? A real achievement.

One minor gripe: Bale's "Batman" voice was sort of annoying. Like a bad Fat Albert impersonation.