Batman Lives up to the hype and thensome

Last night I saw The Dark Knight at the midnight opening, and it was awesome. I was worried that the movie would be a let down after months and months of hype and all the discussion of the late Heath Ledger's portrayal of the Joker...with him getting lots of Oscar buzz this past week.

Well, let me tell you that The Dark Knight met my expectations and then blew them out of the water. This movie rocks from the opening to the closing. Ledger is a scene stealer each time he's on screen. His Joker will go down as the best comic book villain ever to be adapted to the big screen. He was that good. Throw in James Gordon, Harvey Dent/Two-Face, Alfred and of course Bruce Wayne and you couldn't have asked for a better Batman movie. Rachel Dawes is again being talked about as a weak point in the cast, but her role is a good one and she is key to Dent's storyline. Seeing Two-Face on screen for the first time is a shocking moment in the film as the effects team held back nothing in creating the look.

This movie was violent, funny, suspenseful, disturbing and all around entertaining for two-and-a-half hours. After watching the movie, I wondered if it was better than the excellent Batman Begins, but after sleeping on it (it was 3:30 a.m. when I got home from the theatre), I can definitely say that The Dark Knight exceeds the greatness of Christopher Nolan's first Batman effort.

I can't wait to see it again.