I had planned on seeing The Dark Knight at a local IMAX theater, since a half hour or so of the film had been filmed in IMAX, but all the shows were sold out. Last Saturday I happened to notice that one of the two remaining drive-in theaters in my area was screening a double bill of The Dark Knight and Get Smart.  My wife can't wait to see the opening of a big new movie so we went to the drive-in.  Sitting under the stars, witnessing a deep orange-hued Moon slowly rising above the horizon, and watching Jupiter heading westward during the course of the night subtly added to our movie-going experience.

Heath Ledger's outstanding rendition of the Joker as a psychotic anarchist really grew on me and, despite some minor flaws (e.g., the film was a bit too long, the fight scenes were often hard to make out as they also were in Batman Begins, Batman's rasp was difficult to understand at times, and somehow Gotham City had mysteriously changed into a very recognizable Chigago), I found The Dark Knight to be excellent on the whole.  The movie is currently sporting a very high 94% Tomatometer rating at http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_dark_knight/

This was the most realistic Batman movie to date.  Gotham City was not a stylized, super-gothic metropolis in The Dark Knight, as it was in all the previous films.  Most of the action scenes involved real, and very impressive, stunt work and not CGI.

Gotham City was not the only thing that Batman cleaned up this weekend -  http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080720/film_nm/boxoffice_dc

Dave Mitsky

Drive-ins still exist?  Good thing you saw it at the drive in instead of the IMAX.  IMAX theaters are great for National Geographic type movies, but for action movies they suck.  I saw "Batman Begins" at an IMAX, the action scenes broke apart to the point you could not follow it.  I was glad I saw the movie at a regular theater previously, otherwise I would not have a clue what happened.  All the people I watched it with came out with the same opinion.  I am surprised that they still show these movies at IMAXes.

Looking forward to seeing "Dark Night"(at a regular theater) but will wait till the baruh-ha-ha dies down.

Really agree on this one Dave. A very good film. I used to escort gang bangers to their drug rehab as a bus driver and the way the character in the film dragged corrupt behavior out of others to their surroundings reminded me of them. Only the Joker added a twist: What would happen if someone came along with some of the same basic values the hippies of the 60s had who then became a gang banger?

 Good review Dave, I have't been to a drive-in since I left Aussie 27yrs ago. Have to admit to a bit of envy that you still have one.

To those who read The Dark Knight Returns by Frank Miller, what did you think of the comic book series?  To me it seemed too eerily on the mark with the then and even now contemporary society.  It doesn't really speak well of New York or America.

Is this also echoed in the film?  I plan to go see it soon. 

 I saw the movie a couple of weeks ago and really liked it.  I admit I prefer the "darker" nature of some of the newer superhero movies coming out.  I did think that it was a bit long and it felt pieced together in some scenes.  I was wondering if the Joker was supposed to live to be an ongoing nemesis in future movies.  With the death of Heath ledger maybe they decided that his performance was so good that they would kill the character off.  I am not sure.  It was good and I hope to see another Dark Knight.