Great action, dark atmosphere, and a few odd plot holes

Rating: 8/10 (20 July 2008)

For those who like a non stop action roller coaster, on the whole this movie should be highly enjoyable. From beginning to end it's deliberately fast paced, even confusing at times. As with most modern movie flicks you need to forget about the laws of physics. The Bat-Mobile and Bat-Cycle, and even Batman himself are great fun, but totally impossible of course :)
The Joker's character is a perfectly crafted horror. He dominates the movie, partly because the film makers have given him seemingly unlimited energy to be everywhere at once, to easily bypass security everywhere, and an unexplained ability to command total loyalty from his henchmen who he consistently betrays.
The mood is deliberately grim, focusing on the seedy underbelly of the world's largest city and how it bites back when threatened with extinction.
In the first movie we saw Bruce Wayne create the Batman character as a symbol of hope for the tired and beaten-down populace. In this movie we see him ultimately sacrifice that symbol for what he believes to be a greater and more important one. That's what makes it such a dark movie. Although the ending is in true Hollywood style, good does not triumph over evil.
The film is long, but the time passes quickly and whether you love it or just like it it is definitely worth seeing. Hope you enjoy it :)