The Dark Knight Shatters Records, Expectations

“The Dark Knight” was released Friday, July 18, and people were lined up for blocks to get in to see it. And the money came pouring in. It’s as if the Joker was forshadowing his own success when he stacked up millions of dollars in pyramid form. The midnight shows alone brought in $18.5 million. When added to the rest of the day’s totals, Batman made $66.4 million on opening day. This amount broke the previous record of $59.8 million held by “Spider-Man 3″.

Batman is “The Dark Knight”

And yes, it was worth every penny. I saw the new Batman movie last night, and loved it. Sure there was a lot of hype going in, particularly owing to the Heath Ledger back story. But it lived up to it.

I would recommend watching “Batman Begins” again before going to the theater, though. I spent a good 15 minutes saying to myself, “how did the last one end, again?” But I got over it, and fell right into the new story.

As I’m sure you’ve heard before, Heath Ledger truly is the best part of the movie. He’s 100% believable as the Joker, and funny! Although he’s crazy as hell, you kind of get what he’s saying, and he’s totally light-hearted about it and yet simultaneously dark. A hard character to pull off, Ledger does it well.

As for the rest of the cast, Christian Bale and Aaron Eckhart hold up their end of the bargain. They’re righteousness isn’t even annoying - people really are good deep down! But as much as I love Maggie Gyllenhaal, her Rachel Dawes was just okay - I think she watched “Batman Begins” too many times and became a mimic of Katie Holmes. I know the character is the same, but make it your own, Maggie.

Over all, a great movie. I completely forgot about standing in line for 45 minutes while the movie started 40 minutes late. (New movie theater - apparently they’re still trying to figure things out. Unfortunately, there was no comment card.)

See more photos from “The Dark Knight” and the trailer below.