The Dark Knight Review from a fan boy and nit picker.

Rating: 9/10 (20 July 2008)

Batman Begins showed how an "origin" story should be developed and we have seen such films this summer as Iron-Man and The Incredible Hulk follow suite.
The Dark Knight should not be considered a direct sequel to Batman Begins but an entirely different film. In this movie, from the beginning sequence, we can tell we're in for a different treat. Heath Ledger was solid as The Joker and gave a performance that will be remembered for years. Ledger's Joker embodies the essential characteristics of the ultimate and perfect on-screen villain of all-time. But give credit where credit is due -- To the Nolan brother's for a terrific script and dialogue for Ledger to work with. Give credit to the entire cast that surrounded Ledger. But the most credit is to be due for Christopher Nolan because when Heath Ledger was cast as The Joker, people were skeptical but Nolan showed us what he had in mind and boy it was a sight to see.
With all the action sequences, all the thumping music and excellent cinematography, there seems to be something missing...
To me, Batman Begins was about the elemental symbol, the terrifying creature, the monster, Batman. Everyone feared this image. In "The Dark Knight", this is the only thing that felt missing to me. Batman was more human than ever in this movie. The Joker calls himself "A dog chasing cars" and that he wouldn't know what to do if he caught one. It really felt like it was Batman who was the dog chasing cars. This means that Batman pretty much had a pointless pursuit against the Joker, there was no way to really stop the madness. It was a great crime-drama and comic book adaptation. However, the spirit of the movie, Batman himself, seems to slowly dissolve from the movie. It really felt like Bruce Wayne dressed up in a bat-suit vs. ala Begins where Wayne was his mask and Batman was who he was meant to be. Batman's voice is cheesier than ever in Dark Knight versus Batman Begins. The new suit is cooler however the Bat symbol is practically invisible from his chest. Because of these minor problems, I give the movie a 9.5 out of 10. Because no movie will ever be perfect.