The Dark Knight

Here's one that is still in the theatres. Lester and I felt so ripped off by the latest Indiana Jones farce, we decided to double-or nothing our theatre movie money and try another sequel.
I am not a lover of sequels - it can be the best movie in the world, but after the original comes out, it loses all of it's suprise so therefore it loses the magic that it created when sequels come out.
So we went down to Larry's place in Sandy (Jordan Commons, 'cause we know that guy...) in the heat of the day, on friggin Monday afternoon specifically to see it in the IMAX presentation form (It is the first major motion picture to have sequences shot on the IMAX system (very pricey) blended with the standard 35mm format, so I thought that would be nice to see the way it was handled.) By the time we got there, there were plenty of seats left - as long as we sat in the front row or didn't sit together. Who in the hell goes to movies at 12:30 on a Monday afternoon? - apparently half of the town of Sandy, which leads me on my next tirade which is my general dislike for Sandy, or what I've come to call, "Provo North", but that is content for another post... So we ended up catching another showing 15 minutes later. Here's the part where I smash it to pieces:
The film RULED ALL OTHER SEQUELS BEFORE IT! Until the last half hour. The show is 2 hours and 36 minutes long, but it goes by fast because it has a very large and mighty little toe (entertainment value), once again until the last half hour where it goes off on a glaringly apparent political tangent that I have yet to completely decipher. I must admit thatI dearly loved Batman Begins, specifically Christian Bale as the man o bats. This one was no different, except it had Ledger to counterbalance his coolness. Dead or not, I would not hesitate to blast an actor on their work, but Heath Ledger tore the roof off the place - firstly because you almost can't recognize him - but man, everyone said he was getting in some pretty big shoes with the Joker role, and you all know how I feel about the hugely overblown Jack Nicholson (mumble mumble, Easy Rider coasts on...), but the Jokers shoes have been filled, and then some. Jack should be embarrassed. One more word on Ledger: Nurses outfit. That's all I'm going to say, but you'll know it when you see it. Creepy and darkly funny at the same time.
But, all good things must come to an end, and this one wrapped it up about a half hour late, according to my watch - with the turning of the DA Harvey Dent (you'll see) the reflection of somebody's political views started flowing, and perhaps the most perfect sequel ever made slipped, and by the end of the movie, I had that feeling like after pigging out at McDonalds - it was tasty as you ate and ate and ate the cheap food, but near the end when you are belching up flavors from the first burger you had, you start feeling a little guilty for eating it all, and just wish you could go back to the first burger again and leave it at that. 4 out of 5 toes. Story line suffers. Ledger for supporting Oscar, and not just 'cause he's dead...