You've changed things...

In 17 years of obsessing over various movies, I've never been so smitten with one that my every thought revolves around it. Well, maybe it's happened a few times with Star Wars Episode 3 (which wasn't that bad) and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (which was pretty much south of "decent"). But the difference between those movies and what's coming out on July 18th is that I know that it's going to be good. In any case, my extremely high expectations will be satisfied, of that I am sure.

The buzz surrounding it has been infectious, to say the least. Lucky bastards have who have already seen it have praised Heath Ledger's performance as worthy of a posthumous Oscar. I seriously don't doubt that for a second, which is saying a lot considering all I've seen are the trailers (about 650 times each). Every line that comes from his mouth is delivered with such precise insanity (an oxymoron?), craziness that embodies the Joker so perfectly that anything less than an Oscar would be an insult to his performance. When Nolan announced that Ledger would be playing the Detective's archenemy, I was extremely worried. A pretty boy whose career highlight was an overrated love story about cowboys and sodomy? But shit, after the second trailer, he had me convinced of his extraordinary ability. In that sense, I kind of felt bad when he died; the preparation for the role, I believe, facilitated in his untimely demise. Unfortunate, but this movie will be the performance of his life, I have no doubt about that.

My admiration for Heath Ledger aside, my love for the movie lies mainly with Nolan's decision to keep the movie dark, broody, and dramatic. The reason why the first movie was so goddamn amazing was because it nailed the character perfectly. The Caped Crusader is not a fucking colorful comic book character who has keeps a credit card with his insignia over it, does not make puns with Poison Ivy, and sure as shit does NOT fight a Victor Fries played by Arnold Fucking Schwarzenegger who unleashes an unstoppable river of awful "cold" puns. Bruce Wayne is a tragic character, forever scarred by the murders of his parents, disillusioned by the rife corruption that's taken almost persistent hold of Gotham City, and seeking redemption for his wrongs. He's special in that he has no special powers; he's just a man, perhaps insane himself. Christopher Nolan has these elements in spades, the main reasons why his movies are so good.

The movie already has these two things going for it, and frankly, that's all it needs. Sticking to the original formula will most likely grant another big-ass success. Unless Nolan decides to throw in the pun-juggling cuntmonkey that was in Joel Schumaucer's debacle of a movie, I doubt anything will make it seem even remotely shitty.

PS. I wrote this whole fucking entry without once using the word "bat" "Batman" or mentioning the movie's title. I'll let you decide whether or not that's impressive or really goddamn stupid.