Enter The Darkness

I had the great pleasure last Friday of attending an opening-night showing of The Dark Knight. I arrived early enough to get a great center seat and prepared myself for total cinematic immersion. I had very high expectations for this movie, which is rare. Usually I try to come into new movies with an open mind, willing to be merely entertained and pleasantly surprised if I get anything more, but I will be honest, I had psyched this movie up so much that I was worried it would be easily outdone by my expectations. This was not the case. What followed was 2 and 1/2 hours of some of the most engrossing and compelling cinema that I have ever seen. Every thrilling leap, explosion, and gunshot penetrated my spectators armor and found my emotional core. This became even more apparent to me after the credits had rolled and I found myself literally physically exhausted. The first adjective that came to my mind to describe the movie was: Heavy.
I don't mean heavy in an aging hipster sense or indicating some profundity of deep meaning, though both of those things were true, but heavy in a very physical sense. I felt as if the weight of the film had been pressing down on my shoulders for 2 and 1/2 hours, but, like any good workout, I felt stronger and better for the effort. The film rises to a number of exhilarating climaxes, and seems to stretch on without demanding an early conclusion. The weight comes, in part, from the darkness and disorder that spreads over Gotham and seems to touch every character and audience member. Christian Bale seems stoic in the face of such madness and destruction, and his strength as the caped crusader inspires the audience to try to share the emotional burden with him. At the same time Heath Ledger revels completely in the madness, as any true supervillan must, and is completely buried in the character. And the cast certainly does not end there, we get phenomenal performances from Aaron Eckhart, Morgan Freeman, Gary Oldman, and Michael Caine.
In fact, my only regret about the movie is its biggest strength: it is DENSE. I could see this movie three more times (and I probably will) and I would still not fully appreciate the quality of acting, cinematic action, storyline, and production that came together to make this masterpiece. The supporting actors performances are a perfect example of this. One of my favorite parts of the movie is Gary Oldman's closing monologue, and yet how can you keep track of every powerful moment with the exquisite visual effects and Heath Ledgers unbelievable portrayal of The Joker?
In short my advice to anyone who is reading this post and enjoys movies is simple: SEE THIS MOVIE. If you go to it and you don't like it for some reason, or even if you just have something to add please comment because I am interested to discuss it.