Oh sweet merciful Lord, that there can actually be sequels that surpass the originals

Rating: 10/10 (18 July 2008)

I saw this movie, just last night, at an advanced screening for the theater. I was not terribly looking forward to it initially because I figured it was just another Batman movie. Yes, Christopher Nolan was directing it and he also directed the movie that renewed my faith in the Batman series (Batman Begins), but it was just another sequel in my mind. wait for it to come to DVD, I thought. So my friend got me a free ticket to this screening and I went. All I can say is this (and I am not exaggerating): It Is THE Best Superhero Movie EVER. A true psychological thriller, Nolan slowly builds the suspense, terror and madness each minute you watch. At first, Oh sure it's the Joker. Biiig deal, he kills some of his own henchmen. But gradually, the diabolical mind behind the clownface emerges (demonstrated absolutely flawlessly by the late Heath Ledger). Batman, played by Christian Bale, is as dark and brooding as he was in Begins. His gadgetry and the quality of his costume is improving, but he is also gaining admirers in some strange places as small-time criminals begin to emulate him--something he refuses to accept, they ARE criminals after all. Bale's portrayal is perfect. Vengeful anti-hero by night, Billionaire jackass by day. In this movie, he is charged with cleaning up the mob from the Gotham City streets. Utilizing the legal powers of Dent and Gordon's access to city officials, he does this, clearing Gotham of the scum in one magnificent swoop. Hooray for our hero. Fortunately, the movie does not end there. A string of deaths occurs, all masterminded by the same diabolical villain and Batman makes it his personal quest to rid the world of the Joker. As people begin to blame him for the mounting hysteria, Bruce Wayne begins to falter. Drawing into himself, he tries to shoulder the responsibility onto Dent more and more. But Dent has a weakness, the same one Bruce does. And when she dies, with Dent listening over a radio, it is the final straw breaking for him. Maggie Gylenhaal portrays the role of Rachel Dawes, thankfully, grabbing it from the poor acting of Katie Holmes. Rachel's role is fairly minor, unfortunately, but there really is no back story to her. Not in the comic anyway. While Gylenhaal is there, she plays a much better Rachel than Holmes...though that is not saying much. Aaron Eckhardt, a man I almost immediately recognized from his role as the main character of "Thank You For Smoking", plays the 'White Knight of Gotham', D.A. Harvey Dent. This is a man destined to plummet into the depths of complete and utter insanity, as the villain Two-Face. Everyone in the theater saw it coming when he did. That doesn't take away from Eckhardt's portrayal of the driven Dent, who allies with Batman and James Gordon to rid Gotham City of the Mob. He is equally magnificent in his fall. I never forgave Tommy Lee Jones for destroying my vision of Two-Face in Batman Forever...but there were a lot of mistakes in that movie. I digress. Two-Face may be a psychotic, but he is NOT a giggling, twerpy psychotic. He retains Dent's drive and powerful charisma. Eckhardt and Nolan flesh this out beautifully. But all of this pales in comparison to Heath Ledger's Joker. The movie may be about Batman, but it is the Joker's movie, without question. I had always felt that Jack Nicholson's portrayal of the Joker was done well. It was cartoonish to Ledger's maniacal villain. From the outset, as he so deviously states, he is out to "send a message." The message is that anyone in this "sophisticated" society that we cling to can fall to his depths with just the right push. His very demeanor was so creepy and so histrionic that it had everyone in the theater on the edges of their seats. And he wins, in spades, as he finds a way of turning Gotham's "greatest hope" and the man Batman sees as his public face, into something similar to him. Ledger, for those two and a half hours, is the embodiment of the chaos of the Joker. He captivates. It may be the most incredible bit of acting I have ever seen.
But don't take my word for it. Go see the movie.