So I finally saw “The Dark Knight” and if I had to pick one word to describe it, it would ironically be “dark.” The second word would be “violent.”

This is not a Batman movie for the kids. It’s very dark, actually pretty depressing and very violent. Most of the blood and guts aren’t actually shown, rather more or less implied, but it’s still very cringe worthy and my friend and I were turning away more than once in anticipation of what was about to come.

I definitely enjoyed it more that “Batman Begins,” but for some reason it didn’t seem like a Batman movie to me. Well let me say it didn’t seem like a superhero movie to me. That has its pluses and minuses. The pluses are of course in the wake of some of the crappy superhero movies to come out as of late *cough* “Spiderman 3,” which just go too far and over the top. The minuses are that it loses some of the feel of a superhero movie. The difference with Batman of course is Batman doesn’t have any actual superpowers, so in this case it can work. The movie however felt more like a crime/mob drama with a lot of action thrown in.

Heath Ledger was amazing as the Joker in the film. However I also have to be honest, and my friend agreed, we saw a lot of Jack Nicholson in his portrayal. The way he moved and spoke for instance. In a few scenes I almost thought Jack Nicholson WAS doing the voice.

I also think in light of Heath’s death, his portrayal of the Joker has taken some of the spotlight off the other villain in the movie, even though he was minor. Oh yes, unless you know the comic characters, you wouldn’t even know from the trailer and commercials that Harvey Dent becomes Two-Face in the film. I thought Aaron Eckhart was phenomenal as well.

I do have to say that Christian Bale’s horsey Batman voice still makes me cringe, I hate it!

There is definitely an opening for a third, and given how much money this one raked in, you know it’s coming. Of course who knows where they will go. Eventually they will start having to use more of the super-powered villains, but they can spin them and do it right too. If you think back to the original slew of Batman movies, that’s where they stated going down hill. The first two by Tim Burton I thought were amazing, but the villains really didn’t have superpowers (except maybe for Catwoman). They were simply crooks. Then Michael Keaton left. Then Tim Burton didn’t direct anymore. Then the films went to crap. Let’s hope history doesn’t repeat itself.

. . . . Though I will admit I love Uma Therman’s portrayal of Poison Ivy!