Upon a second viewing, I must concede that the gripes about Christopher Nolan's handling of action scenes are spot-on. I didn't realize until the second time around that Jim Gordon was driving the SWAT van during the film's main action scene; I thought he just kinda popped out of nowhere on first viewing. But the driver never speaks, and his face is covered for the entire chase, implying that it's Gordon. All Nolan had to do was give us a shot of Gordon getting out of the van and pulling his mask off, and there wouldn't have been any confusion.
There are many scenes that seem to be missing insert shots -- these would be close-ups that clarify the action inserted into a master

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own to terrified citizens as the Joker.

Aside from reading the CCT (that's Cape Cod Times for all you not famliar with the initials) about "The Dark Knight" I must say I had been rather excited by

DARK as night and nearly as long, Christopher Nolan's new Batman movie feels like a beginning and something of an end.
The Dark Knight, which opens in the UK on Friday, goes darker and deeper than any other Hollywood comic-book movie â including Batman Begins, Nolan's 2005 pleasurably moody resurrection of the series â largely by embracing an ambivalence that at fir
isn't fighting for anything or anyone. He isn't a terrorist, just terrifying.

By Kam Williams You heard it here first: the late Heath Ledger will win an Academy Award for his defining, spine-tingling performance as The Joker.

Christopher Nolan's "Batman Begins" explores the origins of the Batman legend and the Dark Knight's emergence as a force for good in Gotham. In the wake of his parents' murder, disillusioned industrial heir Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) travels the world seeking the means to fight injustice and turn fear against those who prey on the fearful. He returns to Gotham and unveils his alter-ego: Batman, a masked crusader who uses his strength, intellect and an array of high tech deceptions to fight the sinister forces that threaten the city.
Driven by anger, Bruce Wayne (Bale) seeking a means to administer justice for the death of his parents. In the Far East, under the tutelage

By Adam Higgins | Article Date: 7/20/2008 10:42 AM With the sort of command performance that has sent Oscar voters and pundit’s tongues a-wagging,

Batman and the Joker led a record-breaking box-office weekend, which also featured a history-making performance by ''Mamma Mia!''
ening weekend of all time (beating Spider-Man 3's $151.1 mil bow). It achieved the best opening day and single day in history ($66.4 mil, shattering Spider-Man 3's mark of $59.8 mil). It brought in the most money from Friday midnight shows of any release ever ($18.5 mil, passing Star Wars: Episode III — Revenge of the Sith's $16.9 mil). It banked a record $6.2 mil from 94 IMAX venues over the weekend (Spider-Man 3 had the old record, $4.7 mil). And it did it all with the biggest theater count, 4,366 locations, of all time.
grade.

I saw The Dark Knight three times during the 40 hours after its release. When I love a movie, I do that. I'm possessed with the need to see it over and over again within a short time span. Usually after the third viewing I'm ready to sit out a week or two before visiting the film again. At this very moment, about 15 hours since my third viewing, I could easily jump in my car and speed off to it again. Yes, the hype is true. The movie is great. Brilliant. A pop masterpiece. It ain't hyperbole if it's true.
After the opening midnight screening, I crawled into work the next morning. Co-workers lined up outside my cube for a fuzzy-brained review. For most, a lazy string of superlatives

As I write these words, opening weekend boxoffice for The Dark Knight is already north of $155 million and counting, and Sunday is only half over.
I am proud to say that $20.50 of that amount came from my pocket -- or I should say, to be honest, from the pocket of my 29-year-old son, Nick, who treated my wife and me to a sold-out screening last night at Clifton Commons.
previews, ads and screen trivia-questions ended, I was really psyched; and, for the first hour or so, I was engrossed. The second hour filled with more and more fireballs, shootings, and car wrecks, I think I glanced down at my watch. Then I felt guilty when I saw Heath Ledger's smeared, ludicrous-sad

Gory, but Will it Qualify Dark Knight for Inclusion in the Most Violent Movie List?
By Sylvia Cochran, published Jul 20, 2008
e movie and do not want to spoil the experience for yourself, stop reading now.

By Chris Georg Heath Ledger's role as the Joker in "The Dark Knight" is without a doubt his most significant performance of all, so impressive that it's

‘KNIGHT’ MOVES: Batman (Christian Bale) is breathing easier - and staying cooler in his redesigned togs.
HOW'D THEY DO THAT?
tradition. Rather, the "Dark Knight" crew was adhering to the creative mandate that Nolan first set on "Batman Begins": Ground the proceedings as much as possible in real-world believability. As costume effects supervisor Graham Churchyard pointedly puts it, "You're supposed to be scuba diving in a neoprene body suit, not kickboxing."

We were heading home through Boerum Hill one evening two years ago when my older daughter pointed to a brownstone and said Heath Ledger had moved in there.