The Dark Knight

I wasn't really sure what to expect from this latest Batman movie. I really enjoyed Batman Begins--it turned me into a serious Christian Bale fan, for one. When I first heard that Heath Ledger was playing the Joker, I was dumbfounded. I mean, Heath Ledger? Cute fluffy blond guy, right? Yet, in this movie he delivered a performance of perfect madness and revolting evil. Jack Nicholson is no longer the Joker, if he ever was (I've heard it said that Nicholson is only, ever, Nicholson). Ledger, now sadly gone, made the Joker his own.

The rest of the movie, though, was troublesome. There were occasional moments of pure genius--brilliance sharp and glittering as diamonds--but they were unfortunately covered up in a great deal of sticky bread dough.

The end result was a movie that, in a way, perfectly matched its musical theme: rising and rising, drawing you along with it, but never granting you a crescendo. Never reaching a moment of realization and climax.

I think it was well worth seeing, but as a really good movie? Almost is the best you're going to get.