Wow, that was long, wasn’t it? I mean, geez, two and a half hours. Wow. What kills me is that they could very easily have separated that into two eighty or ninety minute films. I mean, why have both the Joker and Two-Face? Why not save Harvey’s descent into madness for a second film? Oh well. It is what it is, and what it is is too long. Damned if Heath Ledger didn’t make it his film though. Batman is almost a secondary character here. I can’t imagine anyone being able to fill his shoes. Certainly his is the most authentic portrayal of the Joker. He makes Cesar Romero’s portrayal seem almost wholesome by comparison. No, Ledger’s Joker is truer to the original than any portrayal since the character first appeared in print in the 30s. That Joker was a murderous thug as well. Various recent cartoons and comics have tried to inject some of that raving, lunatic darkness back into the character, but they always seem to hold back. Ledger’s Joker is a man who’d just as soon kill you as look at you. Nobody’s safe when he’s in the room.

Good though it was, I’d’ve been just as happy getting the film from Netflix though. It was never tedious, but it was overlong, a film I wish I could’ve paused so I could take a bathroom break or gotten dinner. I’d rather have seen Hellboy or Wall-E.

Of the trailers the only film of interest was The Mummy. They played the trailer for Watchmen, but I’ll be honest: I don’t think Watchmen needs a film. I hadn’t read the Watchmen until after I saw the trailer, and I was surprised to see that the trailer was composed primarily of scenes (or adaptations of scenes) lifted directly from the comic. Then, after reading the comic I went back and watched the trailer a second (and then third) time. It’s impressive, apart from the horrendous CG (which is less obvious on the giganto-screen at the theatre than it is on my monitor). The trailer only gives one a taste of the true film, but assuming they remain largely faithful to the original story the final product should be quite watchable. Which doesn’t mean I’ll be seeing it.

They showed a trailer for the upcoming Terminator film. I can live without it. The first one was good, the second decent and the third...well, I know excrement when I’ve stepped in it. I’ve not spent any time on the TV series, either. There was a trailer for Rightous Kill, a new Pacino/DeNiro vehicle. They play - surprise! - veteran cops on the trail of a serial killer. Fun. I think there was a trailer for a film with Leonardo DiCaprio too. Ooh, almost forgot: There was one other film I want to see. Quantum of Solace, the new Bond film.

But I tell ya, we had to sit through what felt like half an hour of commercials before they even started the trailers, and we got there late. I should’ve demanded half our money back.