I give this a solid 5/5.

Late Thursday night, I sat in line for 2 hours.  I was behind some 200 people already.  People dressed up as all sorts of Batman characters.  There was even a Spiderman.  Three theatres, each seating 400 people, all full.  We got great seats, the previews were fun, and then the roller-coaster ride started.  Seriously.  There aren’t opening credits.  It just … starts.  Grip your armrests, and hang on.

It’s like Star Wars III was to that series.  Batman isn’t impervious to harm.  He’s not clearly better than those he’s fighting.  He’s brutal, merciless and only draws the line at killing.  Even then, he’s not going to go out of his way to save people who bug him enough.

There was pain.  There was terror.  There were difficult situations that were not magically solved.  There were situations that were not solved at all.  At no point are difficult situations diffused or glossed over.  They are bluntly explored.

The Dark Knight is a psychological journey for everyone in it.  Bruce Wayne has to really understand what makes Batman different from a criminal.  The movie constantly presents us with situations where the characters have to make very difficult decisions.  Moral gray areas are almost every scene.  Do you kill someone you don’t know to save a loved one?  Just because you can get away with avoiding the rules, does protecting people give you the right to ignore them?

The movie is very dark.  The romantic undertone is not a sappy cornerstone of the movie.  It gives the movie an added depth that was completely unexpected to me.

Harvey Dent comes out as a shining light to Gotham.  Just as you’d expect from the early comics, he is a capable, friendly, likeable person who is immediately liked by Bruce Wayne.  He’s committed.  He’s talented, intelligent, and motivated.  He clearly cares more about Justice than anything else.  His transformation to Two-Face is difficult to watch, but excellently done.

The Joker was played to perfection.  He is the embodiment of insanity and chaos.  The interaction between Ledger and Bale is intense, and really makes the movie.  I don’t know what more to say about that - it’s hard to explain if you haven’t seen the flick, and once you’ve seen it … well, you just don’t have to say anything.

I can only wonder where it goes from here.  There is no question that I want to see more.  But this movie is an emotional roller-coaster.  Sometimes the whole theatre laughed.  Sometimes the whole theatre gasped.  Sometimes we all squirmed.  Mr Ledger did a fantastic job.  I can’t picture someone else taking up that role.

This movie surpasses the hype.

If you’re a fan of the Batman world, then you’ll surely enjoy this.  Even if you’re not, this movie was excellently done and is very much worth the $12.50.  Plus, you can get one of these: