Field Trip: The Dark Knight

Last night we headed up to the IMAX theater in Miramesa to see this summer's must see blockbuster The Dark Knight. To begin I should say I'm not a cape and cowl guy at least I haven't been one since about 1966. Which is a bit of a problem because when you peel back the veneer of the movie - you've got a comic book movie.

The Dark Knight certainly has its pretentions to be bigger than its genre. It sermonizes incessantly about good and evil, and draws parallels with modern terrorism. But, in the end, I thought the movie sank under the weight of trying to be relevant.

I will say sights and sounds of the IMAX experience is well worth the price of admission. It occurred to me last night that going to the movies might be returning to its roots. Originally there would be a few big screen theaters around town. Then for economic reasons theaters became mega plexes with up to 30 much smaller screens per theater. Now that more and more people have large TVs there is less reason for people to pay to see a movie in the theater. IMAX is different. You can't get that experience at home. It might be time for theater operators to reduce the number of their screens so that they can increase their size.