Reviewed by Scott Billy

The Dark Knight has opened with record numbers at the box office beating out Spiderman 3 as the biggest opening in movie history. Of all the movies to open this big (Spiderman, Pirates of the Caribbean, etc.), The Dark Knight is by far the best in every possible category. Writer/Director Christopher Nolan’s take on the Batman series has made all his predecessors’ attempts look like Community Theater. He is accompanied by a cast that does a stellar job from Michael Caine as Alfred the Butler, to Gary Oldman as Lt. James Gordon, every character provides something memorable to this film. However, the two that stand out the most are Christian Bale as Batman/Bruce Wayne (sorry to spoil Batman’s true identity), and Heath Ledger as the Joker. Ledger’s genius absolutely shines in this movie, making Jack Nicholson’s Joker look silly and boring. His performance is reminiscent of Daniel Day-Lewis as Daniel Plainview in “There Will Be Blood” (which won Day-Lewis the Oscar for Best Actor). He plays the Joker the way it should be played, as a character that inflicts fear and despair in the hearts of all of Gotham City while seeing it all as a twisted joke only he finds funny.

The story unfolds as Gotham City is being terrorized by the Joker (and I do mean terrorized), who takes over the task of “killing the Batman,” from the mob. What they unleash is a murderous clown whose sole motivation is chaos, plain and simple. Standing in his way is Batman who emerges as the man in the shadows trying to stop the evil of Gotham, and the District Attorney, Harvey Dent (played superbly by Aaron Eckhart) as the man in the public eye fighting injustice. The movie progresses as Batman and the Joker are locked in a vicious dance, one trying to save Gotham and one trying to destroy it.

This film has been given a PG-13 rating by the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), and for once it means “Children under 13 shouldn’t be admitted.” The scenes of widespread terror that the Joker induces could be terrifying to children because they are intense. Also this movie racks up a significant body count with multiple characters being disfigured. I would’ve given this an R rating, but for all the violence and disfigurement the gore really isn’t there which I feel lead to the PG-13 rating.

Overall I would give this movie 10 out of 10, it was the perfect Superhero/Summer film.