In Brightest Day, in Darkest Knight...

I had a hell of a time trying to get tickets to The Dark Knight - pleading, begging and cajoling all my colleagues who'd successfully balloted for tickets to the gala preview (In an ironic turn, I'd failed to secure any for the movie I most wanted to see, even though I'd gotten tickets every single time I tried for previous, shittier movies like Speed Racer). Finally, though, my efforts paid off, and it was with nervous anticipation that I sat in the theatre last Tuesday night (yep, on the 15th), waiting for the movie to start, wearing my new Bat-logo movie tie-in FCUK T-shirt.

I can't write better about the movie than tons of other people already have, since I didn't start writing this earlier. Suffice to say that my expectations had been sky-high, and yet it managed to surpass all of them, leaving them trailing in the wind like yesterday's laundry.



I expected a decent superhero movie, because, well, let's face it, Batman Begins is pretty hard to top. I got a crime epic that escalated to involve the humanity of an entire city. I expected a smart script, maybe not quite up to the mindfuckery that was Memento, but at least along the lines of The Prestige. I got a dense tome with layers upon layers of depth, twists and turns, reminiscent of a Shakespearean tragedy. I expected good performances. I got a mind-blowing portrayal of The Joker from Heath Ledger, perhaps the best screen performance of a villain ever. I expected to cry. I did so, more than once. I expected to feel thrilled at the end of it all. I ended up having no strength to do anything but sit there and soak in the entire experience.

There's no doubt about it. The Dark Knight is the Movie of the Year. Wall-E might come close, but there's no real competition in my heart. Not with a character that I've loved for almost 20 years. Plus, it's got a really sweet poster campaign. Now, to watch it in Imax... when's that coming out here?