This just in: the summer movie lineup looks like a season of suck.

That is, with one exception: “The Dark Knight.”

I speak with some authority. I just spent the last few days watching all the available trailers and clips from some of the big movies this summer in preparation for a story that is running in our Friday Extra! magazine. Frequent readers know that while I spend a lot of time reviewing books and Oscar-caliber movies (the latter of which, to tell you the truth, doesn’t mean what it used to mean), I am a complete sucker for blockbuster films done well. There’s just something wonderful about a two hour-plus piece of filmmaking that knows it is nothing more than sheer, unadulterated, “soak in it until your fingers get all wrinkly” entertainment. Like, say, “Jaws” (the first of the modern day summer blockbusters). Or “Raiders of the Lost Ark.”

Or, more to the point, “Batman Begins.”

Yes, I realize more was going on in “Batman Begins” than most super hero movies, especially the “Batman” movies directed by Joel Schumacher, which are abominations (Just looking at the movie poster gives me chills. Childhood heroes corrupted, and all that). Still, though, we’re talking about a guy dressing up as a bat. And while director/writer/creative force Christopher Nolan took the topic seriously, taking an hour to introduce us to Bruce Wayne before Batman even shows up, he still included this line from villain Ra’s al Ghul when confronted by Wayne in the Batsuit: “Well, well. You took my advice about theatricality a bit… literally.”

Pulling off that sort of self-deprecation is always a sign of a good summer film, and “Batman Begins” certainly accomplished what it set out to do: reboot a weary franchise and also along the way make one of the best superhero films, one you don’t feel embarrassed telling people at school or in the office that you enjoyed.

And now we come back to this summer. For laughs there are the same-looking entries from Will Ferrell (“Step Brothers” ) and Adam Sandler (“Don’t Mess With The Zohan” ). For the kids, Pixar (“Wall-E” ) and DreamWorks (“Kung Fu Panda” ) are back. There’s a new “The Incredible Hulk” and Harrison Ford is teaming up with the Lucas/Spielberg juggernaut for a new “Indiana Jones” movie. That last one is sort of sweet and all, but watching Harrison Ford jump around at 60 seems more sad than exciting, like watching Alec Guinness have a saber “battle” with Darth Vader in the first “Star Wars” movie.

And then, tucked in the middle of all this, coming on July 18, is “The Dark Knight,” a zone of non-suckage. If you think at this point I am going overboard with praise — or maybe I’m just a fan boy disguised as a newspaper guy — than I challenge you to take some time and watch all the trailers for the new summer movies. Which one sticks with you? Which one looks like it has the best single performance (Heath Ledger as The Joker)? Which one has the entire great cast returning (Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Gary Oldman) and has actually upgraded one key role (Maggie Gyllenhaal replaces Katie Holmes)?

This also is the closest I think anyone has come to making something that looks and feels like “The Killing Joke,” the Batman graphic novel by Alan Moore and Brian Bolland. In fact, if you really want to geek out, check out the look and line at about 1:08 in the trailer — the “Where is he?” bit. That’s right out of “The Killing Joke.” Ledger apparently studied the comic, and you can see it in the intensity of his performance. One can only hope they go where the comic went — The Joker trying to prove to Batman that he is just as insane as the criminals he pursues.

Here’s the trailer, which I posted before but who wants to scroll down, right?

This is far and away our best hope for the summer movie season. Unless it’s “The Pineapple Express,” but that’s just a whole other story.