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There's an ugly rumor going on the net right now that Eddie Murphy has been cast as the Riddler, in the sequel to the Dark Knight. Ewwwwwwwwww and no no no no no no no no! The rumor was posted by the Sun, and the whole article reads as either really bad journalism or great hoax.

They ended the article with, "Everyone’s excited to see what he does as the Riddler." Really?!? Who?!? The 5-year old's who loved Daddy Day Care?

Word is that Johnny Depp (Surprised? I'm not) is a strong candidate to being the Riddler. I'm afraid he's gonna bring another Jack Sparrow to the screen and then it's just a waste. I'm going with my original submission that I think Jude Law would be fantastic.

Another rumor is Shia Labeof, which has also been discounted as being just a rumor. I like Shia, but I'm not too crazy with him as Robin. Actually I have no idea who a good Robin would be. I'm thinking someone sliiiiightly younger than Shia. Shia seems a bit too old for the role.

And the last rumor set by the Sun, is Rachel Weisz... as Catwoman. Meh. Hoping this one is a rumor too. I voted for Jennifer Connelly or Charlize Theron even. Maybe even Milla Jovovich.

Yes those are the figures as of right now for the Dark Knight. I did check it out Friday night, waiting an hour before the show started in blistering heat. I was lucky enough to snag tickets before standing in line on Fandango, because it sold out literally 5 minutes after I bought them.

I will probably be outcasted for saying this:

I'm going to start off by saying Heath Ledger was FLAWLESS! I cannot wrap my mind around the fact that it was Heath Ledger behind all the make up and pure insanity. He just really captured the mental disturbance and brilliant mind that is the Joker. The littlest things that were done help the character stand out, like the way his mouth kept twitching and his slight clumsiness when it comes to fighting or his lack of care of whether he comes out dead or alive at the end of it. Whether it was the writer's or the director, or Heath Ledger himself, the entire presentation of the Joker was phenomenal.

As for the rest of the movie... eh. Yes I said it... eh.

For the friends that are dearest to me, they know I have an immense hatred for Katie Holmes, but it kills me to say, she made a better Rachel. *flops over dead* There was just something about Maggie Gyllenhaal that I didn't like on the big screen. She didn't fit in with Christian Bale, and Aaron Eckhart who came out a tiny bit too goody-two-shoes with a hint of the need to be in the spotlight. His dire need to help the poor city of Gotham was annoying.

If it weren't for the Joker, this movie would bomb in my opinion. Whether it was Heath Ledger or the Joker's contribution in the storyline it doesn't matter. They carried the story. You sat in anticipation of the next scene that included the Joker. The rest was just fluff.

At the end I felt like I walked out of a B-rated movie instead of being wowed by all aspects of the film and not just one.

I'm suggesting Jude Law up for the role of the Riddler. Even though I will embarassingly admit that I actually enjoyed the crazy version Jim Carrey gave. Come on! He was funny! Moving on...

From what I remember in the cartoon series of Batman, the Riddler was portrayed as this very intelligent and arrogant villain. If you mix Jude Law's performance in The Talented Mr. Ripley with A.I., I think you get the perfect Riddler.

As for the rest of the cast I'm not sure. I'll come up with something... I doubt I can come up with anyone worthy enough of Michelle Pfeiffer's portrayal of Catwoman or Danny DeVito's version of the Penguin.