Movie Event Of The Decade? In History?

Three years ago, the Batman franchise at Warner Bros was saved by director Christopher Nolan and his dream cast of actors, including Christian Bale, Gary Oldman, Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman. The previous two films, Batman Forever and Batman & Robin were highly criticized and even despised by moviegoers and especially by hardcore fans of the Caped Crusader. Under Nolan's vision, the superhero's origins were stripped down and brought back to its dark, tragic reality, showing us the man behind the mask who eventually chooses to defend a decaying society under a black cowl and mask.

Batman Begins, released in June 2005 was widely loved, and though its softer-than-hoped opening weekend of $48 million could have been higher, strong word-of-mouth carried it to over $200 million, a feat that hadn't been accomplished since Tim Burton's Batman in 1989. The film reinvigorated the Batman legend, and a whole new army of fans were born.

The closing moments of Begins provided audiences with a teasing glimpse of things to come. As Lt. Jim Gordon discusses crime escalation with Batman on the roof of the Gotham City Police Department, he hands the crimefighter with an evidence bag before telling him of a "bank robber, convicted of a double homicide, with a taste for the theatrics" much like Batman himself. When Batsy turns the bag over, its a joker card, in a cinematic moment for the ages as theaters full of people must've been gasping in delight and immediately discussing it with their friends. The Joker was about to have the spotlight shone on him, and Batman had met his next and possibly deadliest foe to date.

Now, three years and one month later, the most anticipated movie in perhaps the last decade or even EVER has been unleashed on cinemas across the world - The Dark Knight. Once again, Chris Nolan is the director and he brings back old faces and new ones for Batman's newest and most challenging adventure yet. Christian Bale is back as Batman, along with Michael Caine, Gary Oldman and Morgan Freeman. A few new faces are among the players - Maggie Gyllenhaal takes over the role of Rachel Dawes from Katie Holmes, Aaron Eckhart stars as Gotham City District Attorney Harvey Dent, who everyone knows will ultimately and tragically morph into the twisted, disfigured villain Two-Face, and of course, the late Heath Ledger is Batman's most famous enemy, and many have said steals the movie as The Joker.

The hype machine behind this film has been nothing short of gargantuan. It started over a year ago, when production on the film started in April 2007. Soon enough, on-set photos popped up online, shaky and far-away videos were uploaded on YouTube trying to spoil certain plot points, and much debate was discussed on characters such as The Joker and Harvey Dent. By the time an audio-only teaser trailer was released in August, the hype monster had gone into overdrive. Warner Bros engaged in viral marketing, setting up multiple websites that allowed visitors to decipher clues and play games in order to view exclusive photos from the film. The first official trailer, released in December when Warner Bros film I Am Legend came out showed footage of key events in the film, and the discussions continued. Warner also released the entire first scene of The Dark Knight, in a 6-minute prologue that showed The Joker and his henchmen robbing the Gotham City Bank.

Since then, more tireless efforts from Warner Bros have engaged thousands and thousands of fans in the film's marketing campaign. Personally, I didn't take part in any of the viral marketing, as I knew a lot more people with a lot more time on their hands would crack all the mysteries and puzzles that the studios gave them.

Doing all of this was, in my opinion a great move by the studios. It shows a real dedication to the film and gives people hope that there's still some fun to be had in the movie industry.

However, Heath Ledger's sudden and tragic passing in January of this year put a shadowy overcast on the film. The studio wasn't initially sure what to do, as Ledger's Joker was obviously a massive part of the marketing campaign for The Dark Knight. Encouragement from his family and loved ones enabled the campaigns to continue, in more of a celebration of his performance than simply showing viewers that he's "the bad guy" in the film. It was another smart move by the studio, as even Heath's most dedicated fans are anticipating his final completed performance in what many critics are already calling Oscar-worthy.

As for myself, I've been waiting for this film the moment that the ending credits rolled on Batman Begins. When I read in 2006 that Ledger was chosen as The Joker, it caught my attention and I knew right away he'd be a great choice. Then when I heard that Harvey Dent was included in the story, I became excited to see the events unravel that transforms Dent into Two-Face.

Through every photo, trailer and TV spot, The Dark Knight has fast become a priority in my life. Which is why I bought advance tickets online on Monday for Saturday's showing at Galaxy Cinemas in Saskatoon. I am absolutely ecstatic and the fact that the film's running time is 152 minutes almost makes me salivate in anticipation.

To celebrate, I plan on watching all 3 of my favorite Bat films - Batman (1989), Batman Returns (1992) and Batman Begins (2005). That's over 6 hours of Bat-tastic action and I'm definitely lazing it up tonight.

Yes, its excessive.

Yes, its even a little insane.

But dammit...

IT'S BATMAN!!!

Keep 'em laughin',
- Derek