Um... wow.

The Dark Knight was... wow. I mean, Heath Ledger was so...and then there was the the thing with the semi...and the jail -- it was so... wow. Maggie Gyllenhaal was a much better Rachel, and the whole thing was...wow.

The theater was a mob scene -- there were actually cops along side the line when the theater doors opened so that people were more likely to be peaceable. The nerd watching pre-game was priceless, including a girl wearing a catwoman ears headband who was no catwoman. Even the trailers were first rate, including the new Bond flick, a new one from the Coen brothers with Clooney and Pitt, and quick glimpse at the 2009 Terminator. People actually applauded after the trailer for The Watchmen, which is apparently a graphic novel legend, so the nerds were lapping it up.

The movie itself was exactly what it should have been -- very dark, very sleek, and just really really good. Heath Ledger deserves what ever awards he gets, and would even if he hadn't died earlier this year. Christian Bale was appropriately complex without being over the top (well, too over the top, I suppose). Morgan Freeman and Michael Caine were perfect. Anthony Michael Hall (of 80s teen-angst movie fame) has a spot in it and looks a mess, which is a statement on all of our fleeting youth I suppose, but he was good too. It was well worth the three year wait.

I'm looking forward to seeing it again once the huge lines die down in IMAX (did I mention in an earlier post that I freely align myself with the nerds?). It was just so... wow.