Excellent work from Nolan. And made even better with Ledger's psychotic yet decisive turn as the Joker.

Rating: 10/10 (20 July 2008)

"The Dark Knight" which is the sequel to Christopher Nolan's 2005 "Batman Begins" clearly without question is a much better film as it goes deeper into the dark mind of both the superhero("Batman") and the villain("The Joker"). The action and drama in the film is nonstop and you as the viewer will find it interesting and exciting. Yet most of all as I just mentioned unlike many comic book films of the past which have been kids stuff this is a film that shows the darkness of human nature proving that good and evil are just a short distance away from one another.
When you have such great talent on a set like Bale, Ledger, Eckhart, Caine, Oldman, and Gyllenhaal with the serious psychological direction you clearly know that a film of this type is out to prove that it's fun and full of character struggles with all of it boiling to epic showdowns. Nolan makes the film very lengthy to try and wrap it all together, yet as bat fans know no matter how much you try to get across this saga will always be an epic that continues really my only negative of the film was the long length. As for everything else I loved the way that Nolan explored the conflict and dark minds of both "Batman" and the "Joker". Plus his subplot that involved the "Harvey Dent" character and for his new approach of how the creation of "Two-Face" became was interesting and neat.
You find Gotham the same only this time "The Joker"(Heath Ledger)is robbing banks in the city, yet his main plan is to overthrow and control all of the city's underworld workings. Here we find "The Joker" shown in a much different form than in the past. This is an evil villain with smeared makeup who was deeply hurt by his father and it was different seeing the clown prince having a weapons choice of a knife. Ledger takes the character to new psychotic heights in fact this performance from him rivals more like a turn to the "Alex" character in a "Clockwork Orange". I still favor the 1989 performance from legendary great Jack Nicholson who took the "Joker" role over the top with a mixture of camp and humor that still lead to majestic vanity, yet still this crazy freak turn from Ledger was great work for the way he did it with such maniacal grace. Heath certainly saved his best performance for last.
Bale is once again in top form as "Batman" who yet again is a conflicted man trying to clean up Gotham even though an element of camp is shown in the film when it shows the city is running with copycat "Batmans". The love interest is still Rachel Dawes(Maggie Gyllenhaal who's a big upgrade over Katie Holmes)only the moonlight shift has caused a break in the romance so Harvey Dent(Aaron Eckhart)moves in to steal both types of thunder first the romancing of Rachel then he's out to shine as the city's crime fighting DA. Underneath all the conflict and drama the best man to see thru the corruption in the complex world is Lt. James Gordon(Gary Oldman). During all the drama and action and corruption the subplot and twist of Dent becoming "Two-Face" happens quickly which wasn't really necessary as this film's central theme is a hero who has to battle with darkness in his own mind and heart.
So overall what more can I say on many levels this is the best "Batman" movie ever made. As Nolan clearly accomplished a lot with his direction of showing how even a hero can be very conflicted and complicated yet still must fight the darkness and be the heart that shines for justice and protection against evil and corruption. Sadly it's a shame that Ledger didn't live to see this work of success in which he as a dark wild card character helped blaze the film to a glorious victory. Heath's performance is one of the best in film history, and "The Dark Knight" in my opinion is one of the greatest films ever made.