This is no tough question for me, as for the summer movie season, I've been over the top about The Dark Knight. With the complete 180 that was Batman Begins for the Batman movie series, I walked out of that and was already waiting for news on the sequel.

I was, like most, skeptical that the clean cut Heath Ledger could pull off something that was good in comparison to Jack Nicholson who really set the bar and no one has even tried to pass it. However, when they released the trailer with only sound in August of last year, and I heard the laugh, and the voice, and a few hints at the story line, I, as a movie fan, a harsh critic, and who prides himself on avoiding prejudging movies to the point I don't want to see them, COMPLETELY lost it. This might have had to do with the fact I had a few odd details from a friend who worked on the set in Chicago over the summer. My confidence in the cast has never waivered, and with Katie Holmes, whom I was mad for not resigning, being replaced by someone of the caliber of Maggie Gyllenhaal, I knew we were in for a great performance that Katie Holmes could never give. Aaron Eckhart from Thank you for Smoking, looks to have absorbed Harvey Dent nicely, how much time he will get as the homicidal Two Face is unclear though.

The man who has taken care of these movies and finally done the character justice is Christopher Nolan. The man is a genius, and if you want to argue, go watch memento 4 times and tell me exactly what happens. The level of commitment and confidence and pure talent it takes to write and direct and more challenging, edit that piece of work is unfathomably high. I was unsure of Ledger, of course prior to the trailers, but knowing Christopher Nolan, who wears a full suit to work everyday, has a hatred for CGI, and went through the effort of filming the action sequences in IMAX format, I had know worries that it would be an amazing performance. What I didn't know was I would most likely end up being scared shitless, I can only hope to walk out of that movie and really fear clowns.

The script of this movie was literally kept in check like a library book, and printed on colored paper to avoid photocopies, and was only shown to Maggie Gyllenhaal before she had signed onto the picture. With the fun events the advertising team has had running along with all the websites that are freaky and extremely detailed, this movie might just live up to the hype, and I can guarantee we won't be shown any special scenes before its released, unlike The Incredible Hulk which found it necessary to show us the Tony Stark cameo by Robert Downey Jr. in a freakin tv ad during the NBA playoffs.

Anyway, this movie has me hooked in a way that no other movie has before it has come out, not even the Harry Potter movies, which I am a closet fan of, even though I know, I know, they really aren't very well made with the 4th one being an exception so far. I'll link the trailers below, and post a few pictures, see what you think.

The first trailer.

The more recent trailer.