Even darker than Batman Begins, though the Joker didn't die.

Rating: 10/10 (17 July 2008)

Christopher Nolan's approach for Batman again worked. Judging by my observation in a Bangkok cinema on July 17, it will drain at least 150,000,000 both in US and worldwide. This is one of the main movies, if not THE main movie, of the year. But it's not your typical commercial comic hero for many reasons.
1, Back in 2005, Batman begins was criticized to be too dark, as a Batman movie. If you still give points to those comments, you will definitely find the Dark Knight even darker, maybe as twice dark as Begins. In the movie, there are virtually no sex, no explicit gore and even no swearing. But there are two main traditional villains, both twisted and horrifying as much as any A-Class horror movie villain. There are main characters died in most miserable circumstances, which made the audiences depressed. There is also a darker conclusion for Batman's fate, and none of the above was presented in a moderate way.
2, Come along the dark messages, is our dear Joker. We know the Joker didn't die; Heath Ledger died instead. There is still a rumor around saying that, it's the Joker, who dragged Ledger into a world of madness and didn't release him from the character, killed Ledger. The rumor can't be justified, but the Joker does jump out of the screen. He threatens everyone on and off the screen in a unusual manner, giving you a chill which makes Jack Nicholson's Joker look like a Disney joker. This is a very daring performance indeed, but dangerous, for the parents may find their children approve the Joker for his logic and his value which work better in the "real world". It seems this Batman movie doesn't belong to Batman, but to the Joker, who essentially pushed the whole story forward and destroyed more than just human lives, but also their beliefs in Batman.
3, Batman doesn't own this movie. He is merely a narrator, a firefighter who desperately saves human lives from evil, while witnessing tragedies happening around. Once he want to be proactive, he drags himself into more trouble. Consequently, friends have gone one by another.If we see any development on Batman's character, that should be his loneliness.
So, audiences may find Dark Knight a bit more difficult to swallow than Iron Man, Incredible Hulk, Hellboy 2 and Hancock. Among all the blockbusters so far, it assumes more thinking and higher IQ from the audiences... Honestly speaking, I can't recommend this to everyone, especially NOT to children.
I will recommend it to those who: 1, require a smart script and intelligent quotes. 2, willing to see creative action sequences and less CGIs. 3, not allergic to extreme violence and anarchism. 4, accept the realistic(sometimes pessimistic) messages from a superhero movie. 5, at least 20 years old.
Feel free to listen to some lighthearted musics after you see Dark Knight, if you need something to get rid of the mood.
9/10 Almost excellent.