So ok, I fell victim to the hype, and saw “The Dark Knight” yesterday afternoon. Clearly, I’m not alone - as the opening receipts for the latest in the Batman series set a box office record for single day sales at over $66 million dollars, easily topping Spiderman 3 for the honors.

I have to say that many of the early reviews I had read regarding Heath Ledger’s performance as the Joker peeked my curiosity. Being his final film, there was bound to be an extra amount of scrutiny. We Americans love to honor our fallen idols - in the recording industry, “last albums” by artists sell notoriously well for the same reasons - it’s our last connection with that forever lost celebrity.

As to the film itself, perhaps I’ve grown too old to be awed by Hollywood’s special effects - because while The Dark Knight is relentless in its delivery of action scenes, they really didn’t “wow” me at all. The plot of the film itself seemed strangely disconnected at times - I found myself thinking “huh?” more than once - and that’s not good. I also have to admit that I’m not particularly fond of Christian Bale as Batman. There’s something about the voice he uses as batman that actually gets on my nerves a little! To be completely honest, Michael Keaton, of all people, was to me the best Batman. Beyond Bale’s performance, Maggie Gyllenhaal does a good job with her character, and is always darkly seductive. Aaron Eckhart also does a fine job as Harvey Dent. Eckhart has seemed like an actor on the verge for some time now, and perhaps his exposure in this blockbuster film will lead him to more creative opportunities down the road. The rest of the star studded cast, including Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman and Gary Oldman fail to impress. I was especially let down by Oldman’s portrayal, as he’s clearly a better actor than this.

As to Heath Ledger, whom I suspect is a big reason for the heightened interest in this film, his portrayal of the Joker is in fact exceptional. He’s vulgar, terrifying, demented and dangerous in every single scene he’s in, and he also dominates every scene that he’s in. I’ve heard a lot of premature talk about “Oscar” caliber performance - and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him actually be given the award posthumously. But unfortunately, his outstanding performance did not, in my opinion, turn an average film into a great one. Having said that, I would however go so far as to say the film itself was worth seeing if for no other reason than his performance. He really was that good in the role.

Overall, I would have to say don’t kill yourself to stand in line and see this in a packed theater right away - it’s still worth seeing, just not worth seeing this instant.