Off The Walt

Walking up the stairs to the Museum of Discovery and Science and Autonation IMAX 3D Theater for a screener was certainly a treat. The limited number of patrons outside gave the normally child-centric building a different feel and on the other side of the glass doors the crowd of adults reinforced this.

After speaking to Jody Ligas and picking up my ticket, I took the elevator up about 5 floors where I was repeatedly told to turn my cellphone off… that if it went off during the theater I’d be asked to leave. I love it! Finally a movie with no phones and conversations interrupting the movie! I love you Fort Lauderdale IMAX!

Walking into the press area, I was fortunate enough to get a seat next to my friend and podcast co-host, Dave Montalbano aka CInemaDave. To my right sat a guy who introduced himself as Kit Mobley. I was having a conversation with Dave and Kit, ignoring the crowd below when Kit directed my attention to the ‘preshow’ in the middle rows below. It seems when you mix beer, 8pm and problems, you have a preshow. Fun stuff. It kept us amused for the minutes while waiting for the projector to fire.

So as the movie started and Dave clarified this was a DC Comics movie, I began to wonder if DC would follow Marvel in forming a large studio to film its own movies or what if they bound together for this?

A DJ from a local radio station spoke for a moment and the lights dimmed and the five-story screen came alive.

The film opens on the oddly-serene cityscape, zooming in toward a building finally slowing to reveal an exploding window and men in clown costumes firing a cable to the top of a lower building, zipping down and disabling an alarm, kicking off a bank heist.

Too bad for the robbers, the bank is managed by William Fichtner, who we’ve seen recently in Prison Break and who we last saw with Christian Bale in Equilibrium.

The introduction of The Joker was very well done. True fans of Heath Ledger will spot him despite being masked right away, just based on his gait. The "execution" (don’t worry, you’ll get it) of the bank heist is fantastic and sets the tone for the rest of the movie.

The Joker is also a great magician. In a meeting with fellow crime lords, he makes a pencil disappear. 10 points to you if figure out how as you’re watching.

Michael Caine as Alfred brings back memories of Alastair Duncan in previous incarnations of the IP. Alfred continues his role as protector and advisor of Batman and Caine plays the role with great finesse.

I was pleasantly surprised by Nestor Carbonell as Gotham’s mayor, but I couldn’t help thinking of him as Batmanuel in The Tick earlier this decade. (Watch The Tick for free at Hulu!) I do have to say that I enjoy his range as an actor and it’s unfortunate he doesn’t have too many projects in his queue.

Maggie Gyllenhaal (Jake Gyllenhaal of Jarhead and Donnie Darko’s sister) did a good job as Rachel Dawes, but I didn’t care for her in the previous movie, nor did I like her now. Maybe it was just the character or maybe I just don’t like her. She wasn’t bad in my opinion, mind you, just not stellar.

Dark Knight is absolutely, positively the best movie I’ve seen all year. The action scenes are amazing, well choreographed and realistic. The movie wears its PG-13 rating well and delivers all promises of action and grit. I’m really, really glad they are showing a more realistic portrayal of Gotham and taking it away from the Keaton/Kilmer/Clooney formulaic comic book method. This film shows a darkening knight.

All in all, you don’t have to like action, suspense, explosions, gunplay or anything else, you only have to see this movie . It is all things cool and it will be the center of discussion around the water cooler for weeks to come. I predict one of the best box office openings for the year, possibly in history of cinema.

If you have the opportunity, see it in IMAX. If you have to wait a day or travel to the next city, do it. There were certain scenes specifically filmed just for IMAX and you really should take advantage of it.

Kids under 14 will probably not want to see this unless they are nerds-in-training like my son. There’s a lot of plot development and not as much action as in the previous movie and it may bore those that can’t comprehend, so a babysitter may be in order.

The movie was generously dedicated to Heath Ledger. We’ll look forward to seeing his final stand in The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus.

The Dark Knight’s Official Website: http://www.thedarkknight.com/

Walt Snider is a Computer Technician and Webmaster in South Florida that operates the fourth largest podcast network in the world, Florida’s largest. Walt Snider can be reached at www.WaltSnider.com, blog at www.OffTheWalt.com. His podcasting group, Kore New Media, can be found at www.KoreNewMedia.com.