Heroes and saints can be very one dimensional, but a wild, anarchistic villian has the courage to touch that primal nature we bury beneath our civilized selves. Heath Ledger’s performance was shattering.

Heath Ledger was fantastic, but Christian Bale was just as good, in my opinion, playing Batman. His demeanor was kind of cool, subtler, and not designed to reach out and grab you, whereas The Joker was right in your face. The flick was not wanting for action. I mean, a bank heist right from the opening scene. I think the curiosity factor of seeing Ledger posthumously in his final film also boosted the ratings. It reminded me of Bruce Lee’s “Enter the Dragon”, which propelled him to international fame in 1973. Bruce died on July 20, 1973, and the premier was three weeks later. Contrary to what most believe, Lee did see the film in its final version.

For all the reasons everyone mentioned, Heath Ledger’s Oscar worthy performance and too soon and very sad death, the brilliant everything connected with the uber-successful 60-year old franchise (ie started as a comic franchise.) And the PR including that before pretty boy billionaire, Bruce Wayne, could fasten into his Bat-cape for his latest adrenaline-rush smack-down against arch nemesis, Joker, Forbes Magazine’s flashed that The Caped One is worth nearly $7 billion bucks. And Businessweek wrote that he’s among the brainiest super-heroes in history. But what many forget is that Batman lacks superpowers. He inherited a fortune as a child after witnessing his parents murder in Crime Alley. And developed physical prowess and deductible reasoning to fight crime and avenge their death. But he’s a lot like us. Stuff happens, you’re in a sticky situation, and the question is: What are you going to do about it? The inherent, universal human archetype is The Hero. That is why Super-Heroes emotionally resonate within us. We have those powers inside just waiting to be tapped. Everything you need to know about life you can learn from Batman. Including that he’s the reflection of the Hero in you. That’s why I love Batman!

Because of Heath Ledger’s death, and because it’s Batman. I personally don’t care for the dark, edgy look and feel to the new Batman movies, but I watched this one out of curiosity because of the hype about Heath Ledger’s performance. He was amazing in the role, but I still didn’t care for the movie itself. I loved the Tim Burton/Michael Keaton versions.

There is a magical quality about human melancholy. Like works of art, once an artist is no longer alive, we hold what they once created as something special, unique … matchless. The artist—like his creation—becomes a rare object. We won’t see the likes of them ever again! So, we hold dear the magic that they have left to the world. We wonder what could have been, and our interest in them is suddenly peaked. Heath’s performance in “The Dark Knight” was absolutely stunning in the way he captured the obscurity of a character who had absolutely no reverence for the rules of life. We are intrigued by that darkness, and we are intrigued by something and someone we will not be able to see again.

I haven’t seen it but my kids think it was “awesome”. However, I overheard a conversation at my coffee shop the other day by a woman around my own age who saw it the night before. She said, “It was stupid and way too long, in fact I think it is probably still going on.” But she did mention that Heath Ledger’s performance was good.

Now that Heath Ledger has entered the realm of James Dean, Marilyn Monroe, and River Phoenix, to name just a few who left us too early, we are left with the uneasy feeling of “what if ” and speculation of what artistry he could have achieved . He showed such promise in Brokeback Mountain and A Knights Tale, and to know this movie is his last, I guess we needed to see it , in a sense of farewell. And what a farewell it was, a dark, otherworldly, amoral character, as Serena so beautifully put it, “with no reverence for the rules of life” - you couldn’t take your eyes off of him. Wow, this kid could act ! As far from Nicholson as you could get. Such promise, such a future, such a shame ! The movie, however, in my opinion, went on a little long and totally lost me with the Aaron Eckhard face business. Interesting… The Joker, I totally got, the face business I said “come on “. Now that’s acting

The certified Batman fan in our home can’t see this movie- he’s 3 years old. My son has Batman pajamas and several Batman toys including a Bat cave (doll house structure) made by a division of Fisher Price. I got him hooked on the Justice League cartoon and out of all of the superheroes; he wanted to connect to Batman. I must admit that I am pleased at his choice. Batman is multi-dimensional; he is the only regular human being on the team. He is a self taught crime fighter, developed his formidable skills out of pain and loss and rose to the ranks to stand beside Superman and my favorite Wonder Woman. The movie franchises have been fun to watch although I’m partial, like Sister Julia, to Tim Burton’s version of the Batman story. I haven’t seen it, but my oldest daughter has seen The Dark Knight and she was wowed by Heath Ledger’s performance. He was one of her favorite actors and she was quite sad when he died. I was sad too actually, what a loss, he had such great talent. We both agreed that Heath accomplished an Oscar worthy performance. I hope his family gets the statue in his honor.

No wonder it’s breaking records. It is a fabulous movie!!! Great script, actors, everything! And the good reviews of the movie is making more people see it… I’ll also give a lot of the credits to Heath Ledger, who’s brilliant playing the Joker!!! And the sad fact that he’s left our world, is giving the movie even more promotion…