Truly one of the best movies of the decade!

Rating: 9/10 (15 March 2009)

Seeing 'Batman Begins' three ago I was so thrilled because I never thought a Batman film could be such a great film. Now Christopher Nolan (Batman Begins/Insomnia) who truly is one of today's finest directors has outdone himself. Not only has he made a better Batman movie but has crafted an epic crime masterpiece that is up there with Michael Mann's 'Heat' and has redefined comic book movies as we know them.
I highly respect Nolan's intense style of direction for many reasons but one of the main reasons is because he chooses to avoid using 'CGI' as much as possible, therefore looking a lot more realistic than your average comic movie or any of today's action movies for that matter. The movie begins in a bank where a robbery is about to commence. Now this scene is great for its absolute realness, the reactions of the citizens, the guards & manager are very realistic. The story is merely a story of good vs. evil but the way it is written and directed is just phenomenal and the cinematography is gorgeous.
At the end of 'Batman Begins', officer Gordon (Gary Oldman) hands Batman a joker card, the calling card of the new criminal who's terrorizing Gotham City. So of course there are great expectations on how good the joker's performance is going to be especially since it was already done by Jack Nicholson and did quite a good job at it as well. Well to say the least, those expectations have been met.
Nolan has made a brave decision and chose not the origins of the joker and I think it was a wise movie for numerous reasons. One is that Tim Burton already showed us this in 'Batman' from 1989 and two it leaves us to draw our own conclusions, you never where he came from and that makes him even more mysterious and terrifying. The joker is played by the Late Heath Ledger plays as the demented villain he truly is and gives a bone chilling Oscar worthy performance in doing so.
Since the everyday villain does whatever he does for some sort of reward such as money, control etc. Batman (Christian Bale) tries to find out what that something is in one the film's greatest scenes where Batman interrogates the joker in the cell at the precinct by literally beating his head time and time again against the stone wall to gain absolutely nothing because the joker can never be bargained with or reasons with ever! Another great character in the film is Harvey Dent (Arron Echart) who also does a fantastic job with his part. He is a man who would do just about anything for the good people of Gotham City and happens to be in a relationship with Bruce Wayne's ex-girlfriend, Rachel Daws (Maggie Gyllenhaal  a terrific upgrade from Katie Holms in Batman Begins). He is a man that believes in the justice system & Batman so much that he would give his life for the greater good but the joker aims to change that appeal as that is the joker's goal. To corrupt the good people of Gotham for his own sick pleasure as Alfred (Michael Caine) Bruce's butler tells Bruce "some people just want to see the world burn!" When the movie was over I had the same reaction I had with 'Batman Begins' only greater and that is I was disappointed that it was over and I cannot wait for the next one