Who will be haunting my dreams??

The Joker, of course. I just got back from seeing Batman on the Ultrascreen. If Heath Ledger doesn't win every award they can throw at him for his performance as the Joker my name isn't Kim L. The hype over his performance is not just about his untimely death after the filming of the movie, it is about a role that should have been career-making.

With due respect to Christian Bale, who was once again excellent as Batman, this was the Joker's show from start to finish. He starts by ripping off Gotham's mob bosses then walks in to their secret meeting and convinces them that they should work for him instead. And because he's just that crazy, they end up agreeing with him.

Bruce Wayne, vigilante that he is, still thinks of the Joker as a conventional criminal at first. This is his first mistake. The Joker doesn't follow the normal rules of criminals. He doesn't follow any rules. Neither does this movie. Superhero movie rules dictate that major characters must not die, endings must neatly tie everything up except for the allowance of possible sequels and heroes are heroes, villians are villians.

We're plunged, instead into the possibility that Batman really isn't that different from the Joker after all. That maybe to save the things he cares about he'll have to cross the line.

I think you will have to search high and low for a negative review of this movie, and yes, I say that it does live up to the hype.