This Contains A Lot of Spoilers... If You Haven't Seen the Movie, You Probably Won't Want to Read This

Rating: 6/10 (20 July 2008)

I know it's a little cliché, but Batman has always been my favorite comic book character since childhood. I loved watching reruns of the 60s TV show in the 80s, but as I became a teenager, I needed something with a little more substance.
Then came along a series of graphic novels and a movie (yes, just one with three embarrassing entries following)which gave me that.
Now, as an adult, I find myself still needing more. Batman Begins gave me a taste of the Frank Miller and Alan Moore I liked so much as a teen. It was a start, and a good one, and The Dark Knight continues in that trend; giving more. People are right in saying that The Dark Knight is much more than a comic book movie. And true, it does fit well into the crime-drama genre, but it isn't as good a film as some I've heard it compared to (Heat, Scarface, The Godfather)...
One thing about this series of films is that they are well cast. Michael Caine, Gary Oldman, Morgan Freeman, Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Cillian Murphy; all good or great actors although if I were Cillian Murphy, I don't think I would have returned for that tiny little cameo; a minute and a half of screen time, two-thirds of which was whining (maybe he just really likes Christopher Nolan). Even usually mediocre actors like Michale Jai White and Eric Roberts turned in surprisingly good performances. Maggie Gyllenhaal is a marked improvement over Katie Holmes, but still I must admit letting out a sigh of relief when they killed her character off (I told you there were spoilers)...
There are a few issues I have with the film, though, the first of which is Two Face. Two Face is one of Batman's classic enemies. They spend two and a half hours building character development for him and for what? To kill him off at the end? What a terrible waste. And he looked pretty impressive. Too bad. Second, although the Heath Ledger was great in his role and even though I think he looked great (some of my comic-geek friends hate the look), the Joker should have been slightly more playful or flamboyant. If they had just incorporated a tiny bit of Jack Nicholson, the character would have been perfect. Not over the top like Jack, but just a taste of looniness... Last are issues put forth by other reviews that I have an issue with. 1. The movie is geared too much to American audiences... Batman is an iconic American character and has been for 70 years. Shut up. 2. It's too long... It's only 12 minutes longer than Batman Begins... Again, shut up. 3. It's too dark and violent... I respectfully disagree 4. The Joker is too scary and he's not funny... aside from what I said above I, again, respectfully disagree 5. Bad writing, bad directing, bad acting... Must not watch a lot of movies...
Anyway, I really liked the film, but I'm honestly looking forward to Iron Man 2 more than Nolan's Batman 3...