When “The Dark Knight” – the second film in Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy – opened in 2008, I went to see it opening day because, like a lot of guys, I grew up reading Batman comics and was excited to see where the story would go next. Though that film was technically good , it was also the bleakest movie I think I ever saw. I actually felt jittery on the inside after it was over because it conveyed palpable feelings of despair. That was largely due to the character of The Joker who who didn’t have any redeeming qualities whatsoever. This wasn’t an evil-in-a-comic-bookish-way villain like Loki in “The Avengers.” The Joker was like the devil personified, calmly and enjoyably spreading evil wherever he went. He may have been a movie character, but there was something frighteningly real about him. “The Dark Knight” received lots of acclaim, especially for Heath Ledger who won a posthumous Oscar for playing The Joker. My feelings about the film were mixed though, because I like my superhero movies a little more superhero-y.
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