The Dark Knight

I'll make this part short- Heath Ledger does the defining role of his brief career- I thought it might be posthumous hype at first, but he is positively compelling and brilliant in a role that could have come off as campy and banal. You cannot take your eyes off of him as he fills the screen with his performance. He will be forever on the list of top 5 movie villains of all time. Hands down. Now, for the longer part. When Ledger is NOT on the screen, you must endure Christian Bale as a rather miscast Batman. Why, you might ask? Thith is why. He lithpth. Tho much tho that I giggled at one point. As Batman, he has an affected, gravelly voice and his teeth look like piano keys. But you cannot be compelling when you are lisping like sylvester the cat. Then it becomes a weird obsession to listen for the way his lisp comes and goes. What Superhero lisps??? At least while in the Superhero mode? Then there is the homeliest actress in America today- Maggie Gyllenhaal. And in this film, she is referred to as beautiful and desired by not only Mithter Batman, but by the charming Aaron Eckhart. Not gonna happen. Even in a fantasy film. Was there no one else available? Michael Caine is charming as always. The film seems to have some extraneous and confusing story telling in spots. A film this long should have every plot twist clearly delineated. By far, this movie has one star- and for once it isn't the special effects - but the incredible performance of Heath Ledger as the Joker. And that is the reason to see it.