Ambition pays off {{Spoilers??}}

Rating: 9/10 (27 July 2008)

The build-up,hype and expectations from both critics and fans over the follow-up film to the agreeably successful Batman Begins from 2005 was so large that one could conceive of the possibility that this could crash beneath those expectations as easily as it could success.
Luckily,for both it and the public,it really didn't.
Save the(one might say)bloated running time and somewhat UN-fun deeper themes(i.e. human nature,the nature of evil,the moral conundrums of vigilantism,the expectations on law enforcement,etc.)that get maybe more exploration than one would necessarily warrant out of a summer film,this follow-up is everything one could ask for out of BOTH a summer action film and the Batman canon.
Practically all of the front line cast--with the noticeable exception of KAtie Holmes--has returned from three years back, augmented by Maggie Gyllenhaal(picking up for Holmes as ADA Rachel Dawes),Aaron Eckhart(as hotshot prosecutor Harvey Dent)and,of course,the now late Heath Ledger as the Joker. Joker is,as per the true BAtman series,a completely enigmatic character--almost a NON-entity,really--who swoops into Gotham proposing to bring down Bats. His attacks on the organized criminal element of Gotham prove to be highly effective in both galvanizing the cops and the mob in their attempts to break through the DArk Knight. As this is going,Bruce Wayne(Christian Bale)contemplates a world without his crime-busting alter ego,but the previously stated conflagration will make sure that that doesn't happen.
Christopher Nolan has truly adapted his lens for the BAtman story,and his choices of scenery,lighting,angles and stunts have pretty close to wiped out all memory of a Joel Schumacher-painted Batman(And for that matter,truly altered the heavy-monochromatic schemes of Tim Burton's films). Cinematogrpaher and long-time contributor Wally Pfister gets some of the credit for that. The acting is solid,top to bottom,and even though Ledger gets the most attention here(well-merited attention),pretty much all of the principles(and even a few of the minor parts)are also quite strong. Eckhardt's stretch is athletic going from super cop/prosecutor to a darker ethos,and Gyllenhaal's RAchel is beautiful and brave,and seems more age-appropriate for her role.
It takes some ability(and chutzpah)to make a "Big" Hollywood,summer blockbuster film founded on a super popular comic,making this accomplishment a marvel to behold. Any film sequel that can make you truly LOOK FORWARD to another sequel HAS to be worth the price of admission and concessions!