Travis and I had the opportunity to attend the new Batman movie this past Friday night and it was great. We went with our friends Ben and Michelle in Prattville and we all had a truly great time. Michelle and I enjoyed watching Christian Bale in the movie, as Ben and Travis enjoyed every “geek” aspect of the movie. There has been much said about how great Heath Ledger is in this movie and I agree, he puts the Jack Nicholson version of the Joker to shame. Other than the fact that Heath Ledger was so good in the movie, I will actually give you the reasons he was so good. Every time the Joker/Ledger was on screen he was completely in character, he had the same tone in his voice, the same walk, the same mannerisms, the same psychotic stare and the intentional lip smacking that makes you doubly aware of the scars that the joker has on his face and can even make one wonder if the cuts on his face were never stitched properly or taken care of that the lip smacking is a permanent result of the injury. Absolutely a fascinating portrayal of the Joker that was so incredible it was disturbing, but in a good way. The movie also featured stellar performances by other characters. I purposely went into the movie with no knowledge of what was going to happen. So, I literally had no idea who “Harvey Dent” was and who he turned out to be. Aaron Eckhardt was wonderful in this part, although at first I really didn’t like his character in the beginning of the movie, but by the middle of the movie, I found myself wondering what was going to happen with his character. Also, special effects and make up in this movie deserve as much Oscar consideration as Heath Ledger does, and it will be an absolute crime in Hollywood if Ledger does not win a posthumous Academy Award for his portrayal of the Joker. Yes, he is that good in this movie. I adore Christian Bale and he was great in this flick as well, but as Bale himself said, the Joker/Ledger steals the movie and Bale was happy to recognize that fact and agree with it, which is impressive to me as to how humble and honest Bale is. There are some things people are critiquing about the movie and some possible questions/holes with it, but the movie was 2 hours and 32 minutes by itself, so I’m sure they were feeling a little pressed for time. It is PG13, but I do NOT recommend this movie for anyone under the age of 12. Another thing to keep in mind, is this movie was not designed for children, yes there are toys on the shelves, but blame marketing for that, not the film. The film is made from Frank Miller’s vision and would you take your child to see 300 or Sin City, both of which received R ratings. This film is designed for fans and to bring an amount of realism to a great comic character. Also, very few kids read the graphic novel comics that are age 10 or under, because they have no interest in the material, therefore, do not present this movie as a child’s movie. The trailers certainly do not, so don’t let the fact cereal has toys in it convince you this is for children! I do give it 5 stars though, my top rating for movies. Go see it, its a great movie!