the Dark Knight

so, this isn't the sort of thing i usually post about here, but last week i saw the Dark Knight....and it was pretty fantastic. i'm not going to go all fangirl and "omg best movie evar!!" and nonsense like that, but i was pretty impressed. i will offer the disclaimer that i have never read the Batman comics, so i cannot speak to its accuracy as far as the established story, if that's something you care about. but for a superhero movie, it was very well-done. i will say that i thought it was too long, at 2 1/2 hours, and could easily have been split into two movies, but i would have wanted to see both of those.

Heath Ledger's performance as the Joker is completely deserving of all the hype it's gotten. i choose to believe i would be saying this even if he were still living. the only phrase i can think to use is "completely psychotic," and i'm not sure which sentence to put around it.

that said:
i wish i could see the film without knowing everything i know about Ledger. it sort of goes back to the whole world-in-isolation bit: how would you experience anything if you could come to it with a completely blank slate? how would you watch star wars episodes 1-3 if you knew nothing about 4-6? how would i view the Dark Knight if i hadn't spent time in the theater thinking "this is the role that killed him" and "i would have gone completely crazy too." i can't help wondering if i would have taken something different from it.

so yes. in summary:
1) Dark Knight = very good movie.
2) Heath Ledger as the Joker = absolutely incredible.
3) you should go see it, but i'd have to be heavily persuaded to pay to see it again.