Finally a good sequel to Catwomen.

Rating: 8/10 (8 April 2010)

Since everyone and their grandmother has an opinion/review on this film, I'm not going to reiterate what you probably already know. Nonetheless, the facts are 1) This film beat every weekend box office record 2) This is Heath Ledger's last completed performance, and his best 3) This was one of the most highly anticipated movies in film history 4) It was the #1 film of all time according to IMDb when it premiered.
Hmmm, well I think the populace is in agreement; this movie sucks. Ha, just kidding there, but OK, yes this is a very, very, good film. It's hard to properly judge how good it is, considering the hype is still overwhelming, and ousting the film has pretty much become blasphemous. Yet the film isn't perfection, and while I'm not trying to say it wasn't good because everyone else is saying it is, I'm not going to idolize the film either.
Heath Ledger will always be the main topic of conversation when this movie is brought up. His performance is extraordinary, yet you have to wonder if the same grandiose praise would be given to him if it wasn't for his unfortunate departure. The camera almost exclusive films him in close up, as if over confidently stressing Ledger's dramatic importance. And although now it's more than appropriate, some might have said it was a bit over the top. Christian Bale's Batman on the other hand is played down, making him feel like a prop while all the supporting characters around him are provided much more emotional depth. This depth is played enormously well by Aaron Eckhart as district attorney Harvey Dent, but I wasn't so much sold on Maggie Gyllenhaal replacing Katie Holmes as Rachel Dawes.
The real performance however is the one provided by Christopher Nolan and his brother Jonathan Nolan for creating a script that takes all the best elements from the Batman comics and adapting them into a magnificent morality play. The film exceeds 2 and 1/2 hours, has an exceptionally difficult stuffed plot which needs at least two viewings to sink in, and is a tedious cat and mouse game between the Joker and the Bats. Yet it's all held together by the tightly woven script that asks the soul searching question; when under duress, do we always make the honorable choice or the one best suited for ourselves? This is the wavering question that is played out between Batman, the Joker, and Harvey Dent. The Joker is convinced there is no order in a chaotic world, while his antithesis Batman is the unfaltering symbol for it. Harvey Dent becomes the struggle between this ying and yang, constantly being tugged like a rag doll back and forth until he finally decides between the two sides. This duality is not only the embodiment of the Two-Face character, but is the everyday struggle we all must face in our own lives. This at its core is what makes this film succeed. So by the end of the film whether you've answered this question for yourself or not, Batman remains the beacon of hope to help remind us what side to choose.