Less intact but more powerful than its predecessor

Rating: 9/10 (3 August 2008)

First of all, pardon my language. I'm finnish, so my writing may seem funny at times. There may be some spoilers, but I try not give the whole movie away (edit: I edited in some thoughts I have now when the whole trilogy is finished).
I managed to avoid most of the hype before seeing this film. I just knew that people were very excited about this film and everyone was talking about Heath Ledger and his death. Just before I went to a theater, I found out that "the Dark Knight" had topped Godfather in ratings. Glad I didn't read any comments about this movie though, so I just turned off my computer and went to see this one with my cousin, knowing little of what to expect.
After about 2,5 hours, I was confused. I knew I liked what I saw, and there were many great scenes, 1-on-1 conversations, good performances, great action, and almost anything you'd expect from Nolan's second Batman-flick. But still, I felt like I needed to think about what I just saw, because it didn't just click the way I wanted it to. It was never boring, and the film has so much stuff in it, so it's hard to handle it all if you just see it once. So I thought about it, discussed about it, and it just made me want to see this movie again, which I will do - and probably many, many times. I'm getting there, to the part where it all "clicks".
Now, I'm not going to compare this one to Spider-Man 3, but I gotta say one thing. Both films have numerous sub-plots, more than one villain, and scenes that could've been just taken away. Spider-man 3 basically sucked because of that, it was too much of a mess. Now, "The Dark Knight" did much better and succeeded in bringing many little things together, without taking away the dark mood of the film. I was not happy with everything, so let's get it over with (some minor spoilers ahead):
What I didn't like:

Did the movie really need another villain? I think not. Maybe it could've worked better if the transformation from a good guy to a bad guy hadn't been rushed. I just didn't believe it. I liked how he looked and all, but I didn't believe the total transformation process at all. It seemed it was crammed into a movie that had already too much going on.

The "batman" voice. I can somehow deal with it, no problem there, but why must Batman use his alter ego-voice when he's speaking to someone who knows who he is? It takes me out of the movie every time.

Scarecrow in the beginning, he was just another punk. Why handle a notable villain like that? What was the point? (same thing in TDKR)

Nolan is not an action director, and it shows at times. Some fights don't have the impact they should, be it from camera work or quick cuts or the overall design.

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What I liked:

The Cast. The performances. Of course I got to say what everyone else has already said a thousand times: Heath Ledger was...he was so great. Every little move he made, every stare, every time he quickly licked his lips, every tone in his voice....greeeat. And I didn't even mention the freaky make-up. I try to see his performance without any death-bonus here, and I think I can safely say that Heath stole the show. Bale was OK and fits well to both roles, he did a decent job, but of course there was no chance for him to throw a million different facial expressions in this role. And because Bale was "just" OK, it left plenty of room for Caine(especially), Freeman and Oldman to be great as supporting characters for our hero. Gyllenhaal was more believable than Holmes, too.

The lighting, cameras, sounds, action, effects, whew. Technically, "The Dark Knight" is top-notch. No question about it.

The plot, or plots, had many surprising elements to them (funny, how the same thing didn't work for me in TDKR).

It made you think about morals from many different points of view.

It has several memorable scenes and powerful lines you can quote for the rest of your life. In many ways, the movie as a whole is worse than the scenes it delivers. "Batman Begins" is more intact as a film for me, but lacks these powerful scenes.

To put it shortly: arguably the best Batman-movie to date. "Batman Begins" is certainly more whole as a story, but this one has more memorable scenes. TDKR disappointed me, but at least I have these two to choose from. Ledger, rest in peace.