Not just the greatest superhero movie ever made. A fantastic crime-drama is at play here.

Rating: 10/10 (14 August 2008)

The Dark Knight serves as both the title of the film, and as its final purpose (i.e., its a play on the phrase, "White Knight.") At the essence of this film is an extremely simple story, complicated (rather enhanced) by a series of developments triggered by the introduction of said "Dark Knight" in the previous film. And their consequences.
The core of the movie is Bruce Wayne - originally having intended to serve as a hero for a time - desperately clinging to the hope of Rachel Dawes, and her promise of waiting for him, in the last chapter. But her heart is elsewhere. On the flip-side; everything is troubled by the inner-workings of a clown-apparent madman without a purpose.
Christian Bale is exceptional here; playing the role of both Batman and Bruce Wayne differently (one of the only actors to ever realize that in the role) and both are played with equal confliction and brooding, building on the same promise shown in "Batman Begins." Aaron Eckhardt, on the flip-side of the coin (pun intended), is the obviously-inspired presentation of Harvey Dent like Elliot Ness in "The Untouchables." He is doomed to misery and scarring, of course, from the first reel and - strangely - every scene with him in it carries that pre-established foreboding. Perhaps intentionally. And Maggie Gyllenhaal does well in a role that was poorly-written last time and difficult to really care about. In the end, he comes through and enhances a role that comes off bland on paper. The rest of the cast is exceptional as well. Michael Caine, Gary Oldman, Morgan Freeman and Eric Roberts all shine spectacularly in this ensemble cast.
But the true star of the show is Heath Ledger. From the first reel of the film in which he leads a scene that starts the show with a bang, to the end credits; the actor and the man who was Heath Ledger is nowhere to be found. He disappears into the role with an intensity that you would not expect in - what is ultimately - a superhero movie. I have seen the film three times now and each time I notice something else in the performance. For instance, every line that he utters has a strange comical side of it. Whether its threatening someone's life, giving a rendition of his "violent history" or simply antagonizing Batman; every line is strangely funny and unnerving at the same time. Its also note-worthy that in performing a rendition of the iconic Joker far and away from his comic book origins; he ironically nails the best depiction of the Joker to date. Yes, surpassing even the likes of Mark Hammil.
I found it interesting how they interweaved the Joker into the plot. Without spoiling anything; the Joker exists outside of the entire structure of the film and, truthfully, could have been easily removed and still maintain a tangible film. It almost reminded me of the intentional-writing on "The Sixth Sense" where (again, without spoiling anything) Bruce Willis' character exists in the movie with that same "interchangeable" involvement. This increases the entire scope of the Joker because, as a self-proclaimed "agent of anarchy"; he even exists within the reel of film as the embodiment of chaos.
Christopher Nolan comes through yet again. One of the things I was hoping walking in was that the movie would be more urban than "Begins", which was more wrapped up with mythology than action and deeing the Batman in action. This time, we start off running with Batman finishing some business from the last movie. He keeps the film on the brink Another interesting thing I noticed about the film is that EVERY character is developed by the end of it. At first glance, all of the characters, second-billing and less, comes off extremely cardboard cut-out and one-dimensional. Surprisingly, throughout the course of the film, each and every one of them have their little story arcs that flesh out their characters.
Perhaps this is why the movie has an epic feeling that surpasses the vast hype surrounding it. Having seen it three times in the theater, and "other places" (*waves at the Internet police*) I find myself hard-pressed to find a legitimate gripe about the movie. I have been sitting here this entire time trying to find one - and I can't. It is a taut, hard-boiled crime-thriller and mystery that happens to have a superhero at the thick of it; which is exactly how a Batman movie should work. Most of the film is even strangely realistic, in an unsettling way.
Probably the finest movie of the year and a legitimate masterpiece.
****/****