The Dark Knight: a Bright light for movie making

Samantha and I went with Tyler to see The Dark Knight last night. I'm not sure what I expected, but it was above and beyond what I thought it would be. Batman Begins was a good movie, but this was a great movie. I've heard people say that Heath Ledger "lost himself" in the role of The Joker. I 'm not exactly sure what they mean, but his performance is spot on. Creepy to the point of making you feel exceedingly uncomfortable when he's on screen, even if Batman is there to bust some heads.

They continued with the development of Batman, mostly illustrated through a few short mentions of upgrading the Bat suit, which was nice. Usually the sequel just begins with the super hero we all know and we're supposed to just believe that they figured out exactly how to use their powers, or in this case perfected their tools. Although I was worried in the beginning, because the Bat suit looked kind of stupid. Later on, though, Wayne sets out for another tweak to the suit, and it looks pretty cool for the rest of the movie. I think in the next one they'll have yet another update, because the suit wasn't perfect... yet.

There's also a lot of other characters. It isn't just shots of Batman terrorizing thugs on the streets and lounging in his penthouse like past Batman movies. Gordon, the Mayor and even other police officers play major roles, not to mention regular citizens who, in the chaos of The Joker's game, end up with one of the most important decisions in their hands.

Technically, the movie was great. They pulled back about 3 feet while filming the fighting scenes, which was a vast improvement over the (I now admit) confusing and somewhat frustrating fight scenes from Begins. The choreography was spot on. Coupled with the intense pounding sounds of Batman's fists, it'll make you cringe at how real the fights look. Those thugs really take a beating. The camera work was interesting, but not overtly flashy to the point of distraction.

All in all, it's one that anyone should see. If you're a Batman fan, I can't imagine you won't enjoy it. If you're not a Batman fan, I bet you really are and you just don't know it yet.