The Dark Knight

I finally saw The Dark Knight today. I normally hate to gush, but this is by far the best comic book movie ever made. For me, this movie delivered on just about every level. The writing was great. The story was outstanding. The atmosphere was engrossing. The Joker’s strategy of sowing chaos by putting people to impossible ethical choices was… disturbing. The only weakness I found was some uneven acting, but Heath Ledger is going to win an (entirely deserved) Oscar for his performance.

Speaking of Heath Ledger, the masterminds behind this movie must be tearing their hair out. This series of movies was really set to go places behind his Joker, but what to do now? His death puts them in a very awkward position, after the movie sets up the Joker as Batman’s eternal soul mate/nemesis. Do they find someone else to play the part? Do they write him out of the series without explanation? Do they contrive some way to kill him offscreen like a character in a Greek tragedy?

I suspect they’ll get somebody else to play the role. If so, does that person try to imitate Ledger, or put their own stamp on the character? The comparisons are inevitable whatever happens, and given the power of Ledger’s performance, they are more likely than not to be very harsh indeed. An interesting Jokeresque dilemma…

• View the trailer for The Dark Knight