Dahknas everybody! Dahknas is spreadin'!

So everyone agrees that "The Dark Knight" is the best comic book movie of all time right? Wrong. I don't and I feel very alone in this. Don't get me wrong I'm not one of those comic book geeks that has to have the movie adhere to a strict interpretation of the comic on screen in order for me to enjoy it. I'm a different kind of comic book geek. I enjoy all comic book movies because I remember there was a time when comic book movies really sucked (let us not forget Barb Wire). But I digress... "The Dark Knight" was a triumph in many respects, in terms of acting, storytelling, and I think the realism was pushed as far as a comic book movie can go. Maybe too far. There is a sense of wonder and awe that I associate with comics. "The Dark Knight" didn't seem to capture that, and I know that Chris Nolan was aiming to create something very bleak thematically. I will debate that in succeeding to bring the Dark Knight closer to reality it has drawn it farther away from the imagination and pure escapism that is comic books. Heath Ledger was amazing, "The Joker" is anarchy personified. The image of his face scarred and painted like a human Warhol is iconic in itself, but was it truly "The Joker". I have always thought the essence of the Joker was that of a homicidal comedian. Anarchy because life is a really bad joke. What happened to the Joker's sense of theatrics(or Batmans for that matter)? Where was the surrealism? Okay the scene in front of the hospital was funny. classic. I still think that even with all the costumes and make-up you have a very good movie that has nothing to do with superheroes. I guess some would suggest that Batman is not a superhero that he is an Anti-Hero. Yeah whatever. Fuckin Batman is the illest superhero. He has no powers but he commands respect from Superman. There was a lack of presence in this movie, Christian Bale was on auto pilot but thats not his fault. I wanted to see "the bat" become more of a shadow, the legend that has spawned hundreds of stories. At best this Batman is a billionare navy seal at war with a social terrorist. Pretty safe territory in "summer blockbuster" terms. Maybe I'm just being too hard on this movie because of my expectations, I just expected to be thrilled when I left the theater. I wasn't. I was satisfied, I guess. I just hope that this doesn't start a trend of comic movies that are dumbed down for audiences with little to no imagination. I saw "HellBoy II" the day after and got the fix I needed. Maybe going over the top with it aint the way to play it in 2008. The Joker wouldn't agree with that though...