Movie: The Dark Knight

We FINALLY saw “The Dark Knight” last night – on an IMAX screen, no less. I know, it came out forever ago – but better late than never! And it’s rare that Denis is willing to go see a movie that has been out this long already, so I jumped at the chance when he said he’d be up for seeing it.

When we first got in the theater we picked out some seats, but the minute the picture came on the screen I knew there was NO WAY we could sit there. We promptly moved back to the next-to-last row and it was a significant improvement. I would have HATED the movie if we had stayed in our original seats. And in the end, I don’t know if the IMAX version made the movie any more enjoyable – I have to think probably not. So no more IMAX for me, I think.

As for the movie itself, I thought it was good. There were some things I didn’t like about it (Christian Bale’s over-the-top gruff Batman voice was ridiculously bad), and other things I loved (Heath Ledger’s constant tongue flicks were creepy and perfect).

The story itself was well-written and well-thought out. Sure, the movie was filled with speechifying, but they were good speeches. The action scenes were well-timed although I once again take issue with directors who insist on shooting fight scenes close up. And when those same closeup fight scenes air on an IMAX screen it’s near impossble to tell what’s going on. So please, directors? Back the camera up. Let us see the specatular moves of the stuntmen/women who work so hard for you.

Everyone has already written 100s of reviews on the movie and it’s meaning. I won’t do that (do I ever?). But I will say that Heath Ledger was fantastic and throughout the whole movie I kept thinking, “So sad, so sad.” Christian Bale was great. Morgan Freeman and Michael Caine were dreadfully underused – shame shame on the Nolan Brothers for that. Maggie Gyllenhaal did a fine job replacing Katie Holmes (you know Tom Cruise is ticked he didn’t let his brainwashed bride participate in this one).

It’s a near perfect movie.

4 1/2 school buses out of five.

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