A Batman for all fans.

Rating: 10/10 (15 March 2009)

In the modern era, we finally get the ultimate Batman movie. The one that most fans have been waiting for since roughly the early Eighties. Christopher Nolan, who rebooted the franchise with BATMAN BEGINS, gives us the excellent follow-up THE DARK KNIGHT. Christian Bale returns as the haunted Bruce Wayne and his caped alter ego Batman, as do Michael Caine (as loyal butler Alfred), Morgan Freeman (Lucius Fox, financial adviser and inventor), and Gary Oldman (Lt. James Gordon, who's about to get a big promotion). Maggie Gyllenhaal takes over for Katie Holmes in the role of D.A. Rachel Dawes, a much better trade, in my opinion. As in BATMAN BEGINS, Chicago once again stands in for Gotham City and the city looks even more nightmarish than it did in the previous film.
Batman now has to contend with a town that has gone over the edge with both imitators (like a chubby, shotgun-toting Batman) and a new criminal: the Joker (the late Heath Ledger). Unlike the previous men who have played the Clown Prince of Crime, Ledger's Joker isn't interested so much in making a profit from his crimes, just the kick that he gets from causing havoc. I still wish that they had gone the route of the comic books and had Joker actually have white skin instead of wearing make-up, but they do a good job with what Ledger does with the character. He practically transforms the Joker into his own. Meanwhile, Rachel, after breaking up with Bruce, is now dating the new chief D.A., Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart), who we know is doomed to become the coin-flipping Two-Face. Batman wants Dent to be the white knight that he feels Gotham needs in order to combat villains on the order of the Joker while he is the dark knight of the title.
As dark as this movie is, I certainly hope that this isn't the last we see of certain characters that were shown in this movie.