Why so serious?

So, we got a sitter and went to a movie last night. We were having a hard time deciding which movie, Mamma Mia!, The X-Files or The Dark Night. We already know the story to Mamma Mia and I was afraid the X-Files would disappoint me, that left the Dark Night.

Now, I love Batman but I really don't care for the "new" Batman. I wasn't a big fan of Batman Begins, primarily because I don't like Christian Bale's version of Batman. He speaks all bulldoggie, raspy and lispy and it drives me nuts. I was also leery of all the hype about how great Heath Ledger plays the Joker and assumed it was probably because the guy died before the movie came out. I knew this going into the movie and the fact that at two and half hours long, I might be in for a painful experience.

I'm still not sure what all the hype is about, if you want to know the truth. I felt that the storyline was a bit dull and rambling. But the excitement over Ledger's Joker is total deserving. He saved this movie as far as I'm concerned. I enjoyed every scene that he was in and got bored when he wasn't around. He was totally in character and added a whole new element of creepy. The movie seriously needs a good editing and probably could have had benefited from cutting out 30-45 minutes.

Something else that surprised me, the PG-13 rating. I felt that this movie was really too violent for that rating, but since I wasn't bringing any kids with me I guess it didn't matter.

Overall, Ledger's performance is worth seeing and I would recommend it for that alone.