Nothing would make me happier than to be able to trash this movie. Anyone who knows me understands I like to think I hate everything popular, and this seemed like a prime candidate. I hate superhero movies, and action movies in general are a little to campy for me in the first place, so there was alot of negative ground to work from. That said:

The movie actually rocked.

Heath Ledger was unreal. Normally, I watch movies like this and say “RUN TOM CRUISE” or whoever, because the actors reputation overtakes the role. Watch War of The Worlds and you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about. Why is this scientologist crazy person living while everyone else is getting vaporized. Why did the jumbo jet crash and leave a PERFECTLY DRIVABLE PATH down the street.

Ledger naturally looks like the Joker should look. I think the moment he was cast in the role, people seem to say, “yeah. that makes sense.” But what really gets to you in the movie is the how deep into character he gets. He IS a psychopath. There’s no question about it. For everyone who’s seen the movie, the scene where he meets the mob is probably the best example of it. Between the looks and dialogue its hard to be like “Hey, that’s the gay cowboy” or whatever “wasn’t he the knight in that dumb Disney flick that my girlfriend in college had posters for?” Its frightening how good he is

The plot was any other movies plot, but there were a bunch of twists that were pretty good. Three or four times I leaned over to tell my friend “dead” or “bang” and I think I was wrong twice, which is a pretty low batting average for me. (Here’s an aside for anyone who wants to get into the movie-guessing-whats-going-to-blow-up game: If the camera focuses on a building or car for more than 2 seconds, odds are its going up in flames. See Casino.) Nolan did a good job of keeping people on their heels and tense for the 6 1/2 hrs that movie seemed to go on for.

For all its good parts though, me being the cynical bastard I am couldn’t come out of the movie without one thing to bitch about. Any Jimmy Norton fans will have the same opinion I did after hearing him talk about it, but the voice on Batman was a little too deep. And by a little, I mean McGruff the Crime Dog if he were meant to give kids nightmares deep. You’re mysterious Batman. Lets move on.

So call me a fanboy or whatever, but the movie lived up to my personal hype of it, which was higher than any other movie thats come out in theaters in a while, which was enough to make me come out and see it. And now that its over, I will return to my ways of only seeing Oscar contenders and Reno 911 sequels, should they make another one. I really am a pompous fraud.