The Dark Knight

Todd and I went to see THE movie of the season according to the critics. Yes, it was a good movie. If you are really into Batman (which I am) and really into action flicks (which I am NOT) it should be on your list of must see.

While it is a lot more cerebral than any other super hero show I have seen, it was short on plot and story line in my opinion. Being a literary person with an education in English I am much more intrigued by intricate plots and subplots. Like the books "The Da Vinci Code" by Dan Brown and "Map of Bones" by James Rollins. I have the DVD of "The Da Vinci Code" starring Tom Hanks and directed by former Opie Ron Howard and like to watch it from time to time. But that movie owes its intrigue to Howard as much as Brown. I'd like to see Howard take on "Map of Bones." Maybe I ought to suggest it to him, what say ye?

If it hadn't been for Heath Ledger's performance the Dark Knight would not have been worth my time. But, as I said, if you like action and special effects, it is a great movie for those. The scenes where Batman is running the streets at high speed in the Batmobile and on the Batcycle (whatever it was called) were well done to over done. Of course we always want chase scenes over done with cars, trucks, trains, buses, buildings and etc blowing up and tumbling end over end wrecking havoc as they go knocking people a city block into walls which fall down when hit by them.

Ledger's part was well scripted while the other lead characters seemed very flat to me. The subtle humor of the Joker leaned to the cerebral at times and on several occasions what he said had to be taken on a sub level from the obvious.

This movie would have propelled Ledger into even greater fame. It's too bad he's gone. And I understand one of the special effects guys died in a dummy film run of one of the chase scenes. An Australian named Conway Wickliffe. Wickliffe, according to NPR was a master welder of special effects and had built the entire Batmobile used in the last Batman movie.

But, LOTR remains my favorite of all time. The ultimate good verses evil fiction ever written. And yes, I watch parts of it frequently. Mostly the Helms Deep sequence in the Two Towers part of the trilogy. No matter how many times I watch it, Helms Deep survives the onslaught of Orcs.

Because the hearts of men, dwarfs and Elves were pure.

There is a lesson in there!