About as Perfect as a Batman Film Could Ever Be

Rating: 9/10 (5 August 2008)

After defeating the Scarecrow (Cillian Murphy), Batman and Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) have little time to return to normal life. The mafia is growing, and there's a new menace prowling the streets: The Joker (Heath Ledger, in his last performance). Can the Batman handle a villain who has no morals, no goals, no methods and is completely unpredictable? Also, a love triangle forms between Wayne, Rachel Dawes (Maggie Gyllenhaal) and Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart).
There's little use in writing a review of "The Dark Knight" -- the critics loved it, fans love it, the sales are going through the roof and are likely to pass every record ever set. And I loved it, too, making it easily the film of the year and both an action-packed thriller as well as a bit of a tear-jerker. Heck, even small amounts of comic relief were thrown in (especially if you like dark humor).
I could make complaints: the spinning camera shots were overdone. The Batman voice -- digitally altered for no good reason -- was excessively gruff. The "Bat-Sonar" was far-fetched, cheesy and pointless. And bullet reconstruction to get a fingerprint? Doubtful. And the Wayne-Batman character was largely flat and uninteresting, encouraging fans to root for the Joker. So, there was room for perfection (which is why this film, as great as it is, cannot receive a perfect score).
Concerns aside, the film was well done, as Christopher Nolan and Bale work well together (see "Batman Begins" and "The Prestige"). The action is intense, the violence superb for a PG-13 film. There's some suspense, plot twists, unexpected deaths. The romance aspect is a bit unclear (when does this film take place -- Rachel seems to have found a fiancé fairly fast). And Heath Ledger, oh my.
The hype around this fill was very Ledger-centric, declaring him as Oscar-worthy. I thought this was exaggerated due to his untimely demise and was therefore disrespectful. However, the praise was well-deserved. This was the Joker, inside and out. I couldn't even visually Ledger under the makeup. I'll always love Jack Nicholson's portrayal, but Ledger brings his "A" game. If he is nominated, I accept it; and if he wins, that seems reasonable to me. Best performance so far this year, in any genre.
As I said in the beginning, my review is pretty much just more or what you've already heard. The rumors are true, but judging by the sales of the picture, you've already seen it and know first-hand. If you haven't, see it in the theater while you can. Or rent it. Not sure if it's a movie worth owning (I can't see myself watching it repeatedly, depending on the special features). But this may be the superhero movie that defines the genre.