Where do I begin?

Rating: 10/10 (18 July 2008)

Where do I begin? The film was hyped ever since reviews started filtering out about Heath Ledger's final performance. The film, as well as his performance, has been lauded. I was slightly skeptical, but still highly anticipating film and my expectations were very high. Well they were met and exceeded. I have to agree with those reviews comparing it to The Empire Strikes Back. It is that equivalent to the superhero genre. The overtones are darker than Batman Begins, which was a great stepping-stone for this incredible and epic storytelling of two masterful nemeses for Batman, The Joker and Two-Face. However, the film did not get lost in the dark and still holds a great sense of humor to alleviate much of the pain of the film.
To begin with, Batman is having troubles carrying over from the first film. The narrows was lost and he is still trying to collect the criminals who escaped including Scarecrow / Jonathan Crane in small cameo appearance, which really was only weak point of the film. For a villain given so much story time in the first film, it felt disappointing to see him carelessly tossed aside here as he was at the end of Begins. I digress on that, matter though as it is overall a minor disappointment. As he is finishing business with Scarecrow it also shown, that Batman has inspired others to follow him in his "vigilante" activities. He is not pleased at this. It is not what he intended when he donned the mask. However, the vigilantes inspired by him are not the real beef.
The Joker and first the mob is the first beef. Batman and Lieutenant James Gordon are cracking down on the mob hard forcing them to launder their money to one man. Pounding them into a corner, this proves most deadly for a city already having major problems. Into this deadly net waltz the ultimate in chaos theory. The Joker, a mad hatter and the anti-thesis of Batman, who not only follows not rules, but also has no qualms about doing what Batman will not, kill and kill without remorse. He is a mad man and sadistic and still one the enigma he is from the comics, something that Jack Nicholson had ruined for him back in 1989. Unlike him, Heath Ledger is aloud to play the role savagely and therefore, cannot be compared to Nicholson's lighter Joker. He is unto a class all his own in the Batman universe. Anarchy and madness that is what Ledger plays Joker as and deftly too, as advertised a complete screwball whose actions have no rhythm and no bounds. He is the showman of the film, but overblown. Still one cannot help but laugh with him as the film goes up to the point when he kills.
While Joker plays the villain of the film, the film offers three main lead heroes whom through the course of the film are tested to their limits by the Joker bound by none. There is the incorruptible Batman, the stalwart James Gordon, and the newcomer District Attorney Harvey Dent. All played just as well as Ledger's Joker making the film are a fantastic film to watch as the four men butt heads. Individually they do it with the Joker as well as together. It is the heart and soul of the film. The three heroes most especially Harvey Dent represent the goodness of Gotham. That is something that is tried to the edge by the Joker. It is through the performances of Christian Bale, Gary Oldman, and Aaron Eckhart that the film flourishes dramatically.
Extraneously on the side, there is the love triangle between Bruce Wayne, Rachel Dawes, and Harvey Dent, but only alongside the main one of the heart of the city and the triangle of Batman, Gordon, and Dent. Above all Gotham is what must survive and that is what Joker makes at stake as much as Ra's al Ghul did in Begins. Therefore, the love story takes a back seat, but it is not overlooked in the 2 hours and 40 minutes that the film runs. It covers a lot of ground with lots of twists and turns and it does not miss a beat and way to tie up a loose end, save for Cillian Murphy's ever suffering Scarecrow.
The technical makeup of the film is equally as stunning as the film story and makes it astounding strong in all respects. Add to that the perfect melding of countless comics and portrayals in the performances here and the film falls into place as the pinnacle the Batman film series has to offer to date.