The Dark Knight: Yep, its really that good!

There’s no way you live in the free world and don’t know that The Dark Knight is opening this weekend. You’ve heard all the hype. We’ve been trained over and over again to believe anything with a big budget being over promoted by big corporations is never as good as they say. But just this one time … maybe for the last time … believe the hype. I saw The Dark Knight last night and it really is that good.

How hyped up could it be?

The first movie in this current series was a solid film. It was gritty, dark and cool. It put Batman back on top of the comic book movie list. You could even say it was more than a comic book movie. In a lot of ways it was a good film on its own. Anytime a big movie does that well, there’s bound to be lines for the squeal. Combine that with the growing reputation of director Christopher Nolan, talk of shooting action scenes in IMAX, and the promise of more Bat gadgets and the hype really starts growing. Display really disturbing teaser posters like the one pictured here, and everyone wonders how crazy it can get. Throw in an amazing marketing campaign that started unfolding Nolan’s wild vision of the Joker and Gotham City through crazy planted internet clues, and entire websites devoted to portions of the plot … and the kids can’t stop talking about it. The last straw came with the unexpected death of Heath Ledger and the constant talk of watching an Oscar-worthy performance from the grave. Now people are trampling each other to get in. Tickets to the opening show have been sold out for weeks, and tickets are starting to sell out through early next week for IMAX theaters. This could be the most hyped movie in history.

It lives up to everything you’ve heard.

It’s not a comic book movie anymore. The question is not how it compares to Spiderman or Superman. (not even close) The real question is; how does it compare to Heat, or The Departed. (it just might be that good) I don’t know what else to say other than “check it out for yourself.” Oh yeah, you really might not want to bring young kids. Doesn’t that make you even more interested?