the movieGOOMBA

Christian Bale reprises his roll as Bruce Wayne, Maggie Gyllenhaal fills in for the, then preggers, Katie Holmes, as Rachel Dawes, and the late Heath Ledger is The Joker. Two of Aaron Eckhart's faces also makes an appearance.

Here's the bad news - Christian Bale has a stupid Batman voice. More seriously, though, the story flow is quite misleading, which made for an anxious audience, and an anxious Jenn. I was watching what I thought was the final action scene in the film, only to find that it was only about half way through the flick. Then I had to go through the psychological toils of a whole nother action scene.

Here's the good news though - those toils are totally worth it. What an extravagant and fully loaded ending. And not only is the last scene emotionally charged and perfectly narrated, but Heath Ledger's performance was magnificent and comparable to Anthony Hopkins' performance in The Silence of the Lambs. Ledger was completely unrecognizable, and he put the socio in front of path. His subtle mannerism and creepy, sticky-dry voice transformed him into something mind-blowing on screen.

I also have to mention the CG feat on Two-Face's face. The impact of the reveal made me gasp out loud. I was expecting some burns and disfiguration; not what those animators shocked me with. That's some gruesome creativity right there.

Overall, what a fun and perfect end to the summer movie line up. We need more movies like this to stir up the box office numbers. Kapow!

Side note: I want Bruce Wayne's Lamborghini. I'd be so hot.