An excellent followup to Batman Begins

Rating: 8/10 (18 July 2008)

The Dark Knight was a very good follow up to Christopher Nolan's first batman film Batman begins. I watched this last night and enjoyed it pretty much but it didn't really blew me away as compared to Tim Burton's version of Batman. I enjoyed it particularly because of the acting, music, atmosphere which were phenomenal. I gave it 8 stars because I wasn't really into this whole "dark" batman thing and Jack Nicholsan as Joker was deeply etched in my memory ever since I watched it when I was only 6.
The movie started of with a bang with Joker(Heath Ledger) as he robs a bank and killing his accomplices one by one so which led him to leaving with the entire amount of money robbed that day. Joker wasn't actually in need of the money, he was robbing mainly for the thrill of it as could be seen later in the movie when he burns down a mountain of cash. Heath ledger did an amazing job as acting the downright evil, corrupt, insane, psychotic nemesis of batman as he goes all out his way against what batman upholds: justice, even to the point where he made Harvey Dent aka half-face( Aaron Eckhart) a villain to Gotham city who was previously deemed as "white knight" of Gotham. Comparing it to Jack Nicholsan's rendition of Joker, Heath Ledger's version of Joker was more scary, evil and less funny which was similar to the later versions of the comic book.
Besides Heath Ledger, the rest of the cast were excellent. Christian Bale has done a tremendous job as our Caped Crusader as he struggles between his 2 personalities of being a rich heir and an upholder of justice which also puts his relationship with Rachel Dawes on the rocks.
Aaron Eckhart also did an amazing job as "white knight." His sense of justice was also what brought him and Rachel Dawes(Maggie Gyllenhaal) together. However, the loss of his love and with Joker's mind-playing, he was drove to insanity and became the villain that he would have previously hated. Aaron Eckhart's portrayal of Harvey Dent's as he struggles with emotions, justice and insanity brought Half-face to another level.Maggie Gyllenhaal did great replacement for Katie Holmes as Wayne's love interest Rachel Dawes, as she shows more sensitive and caring side towards Bruce but chose Harvey in the end. Michael Caine(Alfred) also delivered as the loyal butler who cares and took care of Bruce as well as Morgan Freeman(Lucius Fox), aiding Batman in the remake of his batsuit, batmobile and use of equipments and technology. Gary Oldman( Lt. James Gordon) also deserves an applaud as Batman's sidekick and police officer as both track down Joker.
In short, this is probably one of the best 2008 films but not without its flaws. Firstly, there were too many characters for the given time. Both Joker and Batman were supposedly the main cast but so was Harvey. I wished that he was given more screen time as half-faced because the ending seemed a little rushed. There should be more acknowledgement to his role. Secondly, there were times where I got confused as the film progresses and I couldn't understand the discussions between La(Chinese mobster)and Bruce as well as the significance of Joker's killings. True he killed them to lure out Batman but I couldn't understand why he chose them.
I feel that this film will appeal to audiences of a larger age group or those who read the comics. Teenagers might find it hard to understand. I had problems with it initially but after the movie, when I pieced everything together, then it started to make sense.