The Dark Knight $$$$$

You can judge a movie by how willing you are to hold your pee.

I think I might be poisoned.

The Dark Knight is a violent and bleak doctrine on the vulnerability of not just puny mortals, but our beloved superheros. The Dark Knight pummels you with all the negativity that has you escaping to the theater in the first place. It drags in current controversies like wiretapping and living in fear of the next terrorist attack, and its most captivating performer is a homicidal nihilist who craves chaos. Blade Runner or Death Race 2000 or Mclaughlin Group almost look like the Teletubbies compared to this mass grave of human frailty. It makes no sense for this to be a summer blockbuster. It's 2.5 hours long, one of the main actors is dead, and one of your favorite characters will die. And at the end, Christian Bale's Batman whisks off into something more of an inferno than a sunset. Yet I was still like, "Hell, yah, that's awesome!"

And it is. The action is impeccable, some of it, including the flipping of a forty-foot semi truck, is filmed on IMAX cameras (I saw it in IMAX and that could make Yentl exciting). So it's got all the action hero movie accouterments, and the captivating performance of Heath Ledger as the joker. He's good, and when he shows up he owns the screen, and probably the most of your attention since Hannibal Lecter. You'll be riveted, partly because everybody from Morgan Freeman to Michael Caine make this movie more of an event than a film, but also because you're wondering how director Christopher Nolan will tie together all of the movie's many major players. He does. Using the Joker as the nucleus, he pulls off a big bang of cops scrambling after gangsters, a global pursuit of crooked bankers and a psychological exam of a tormented Batman, all with a city on the verge of self-destruction and a three-way love thing that cannot end well.

Beware: There's a lot to follow, but just kick back because it's too darn loud to ask questions.

Who Will Like This: A world of moviegoers who've waded through many summer disappointments.

Secret to Better Enjoyment: The pencil trick.