second night

There's only a handful of movies that I've ever seen twice while in the theater. Today, The Dark Knight was added to this short list. I first saw it a month ago with my brother and my parents while David was gone backpacking. I was worried that all the hype had heightened my expectations too much and that on some level I would be a little disappointed. This was not at all the case....it met every expectation and then some. After the credits started to roll, I knew I would be seeing this movie once more before it left the big screen.

This afternoon, I finally took David with me to once again see what I think is definitely the best movie of the summer, if not the year. Seeing this film twice has now confirmed for me what a masterful work of cinema it is. The plot is full of non-stop action AND intelligence --two characteristics that don't usually go together in a movie. The tone of the movie sucked me completely into the dark and mysterious atmosphere of Gotham City. And I know that Heath Ledger's performance has been praised ad nauseam, but I'll do nothing but add to that praise: I strangely look forward to every scene the Joker is in because Ledger has created a character that is mesmerizing to watch.

There's already a lot of talk about whether Christopher Nolan will sign on to direct a third "Batman" movie. However, I could understand if Nolan is somewhat hesitant...because how do you top something as amazing as this?