A Dark Knight, A Great Night.

It's twenty minutes 'til four and on any other night I would be fast asleep, tossing and turning in dreamless sleep but tonight is different. Tonight I'm wide awake reveling in the moment, in the joy of having been a part of something special, something huge.

Tonight, Warner Brother's long awaited addition to the Batman series, The Dark Knight, made its theatrical debut. The hype around this movie is phenomenal due much in part to the tragic passing of the film's standout performer Heath Ledger but I don't believe that should be toted as the sole reason for The Dark Knight's resounding popularity. This film pulled out all the stops. Every second of screen time was stuffed with action, suspense, drama, humor, wit, tragedy, misery, adrenaline, darkness and explosives. From the first, expertly crafted scene I, along with nearly every other member of our sold-out audience was on the edge of my seat. The twists did so at just the right moments to wrench our guts away from the expected and throw us hurtling off in a new, and quite unforeseen direction. These movie makers are clearly at the top of their game.

I'll admit, I'm pulling for this film, not because I'm a huge fan of any of the actors, not because I love stuffing my money into the already overstuffed studio exec's pockets, not even because I love Batman. I'm pulling for this film because it had the ability and the balls to bring people together to share a moment. After Mr. Ledger's death, I'm sure the Studio was faced with many tough decisions: how to market a huge, summer blockbuster without capitalizing on the passing of one of its stars, how to best pay tribute to a phenomenal actor while maintaining the spirit of the movie. I feel that, for the most part, they were able to wrangle the attention onto the superb acting and away from the "let's go see the dead guy" attitude.

Sure, there are some things that really annoy me. Like, for instance, the excessive product tie-ins (Verizon, Domino's, Reese's, you name it, they'll leech the success). I think it's distasteful to merely mention the Joker in cheap pizza commercials, espcially when everyone know the reason why the real actor didn't film the spot. I can't stand seeing Batman holding a package of Reese's Pieces and I feel it overkill to sell a Dark Knight themed cell phone (after all, there will be other movies). In these cases I have to wonder how many marketing firms actually encouraged riding Mr. Ledger's coattails.

All that aside, The Dark Knight did a fantastic job of getting people excited. There is nothing more thrilling than sitting in a sold-out auditorium of over four hundred, side by side with your closest friends, all anticipating the same thing: a great time. At that, Dark Knight delivers.

It's late, my friends, and I am tired.

Go see The Dark Knight, you won't be disappointed.