The best Batman movie indeed!!!

Rating: 9/10 (21 July 2008)

OK so when a movie is surrounded with so much hype it's usually impossible to live up to the high expectations and not to disappoint the fans and moviegoers expecting the best movie of the year.But this movie is an exception - it is indeed the greatest Batman movie ever and the 2nd best comic book movie behind only Sin City.This is quality film-making at its best.Chris Nolan is just an amazing director and what he did with the source material is phenomenal.He manages to top his 2005 Batman Begins and create an even more mature and exciting movie which explores the dark side of every one of us,our inner side which we try to hide but are sometimes provoked to show.Nolan shows us a dark side of life and further explores it.You can tell that he did his homework and was inspired by great Batman comic stories such as The Dark Knight Returns,The Long Halloween and many more.The movie absolutely rises above its comic book boundary and is a unique achievement on its own creating a real earthy superhero who is actually human as much as each of us.The performances are all flawless to say the least.Our hero Christian Bale is a terrific Batman/Bruce Wayne who feels and knows that he has much responsibility on his shoulders and he's the one destined to fight crime but sometimes finds it hard to resist to the temptation of being a villain himself,to break the rules he had sworn to keep.The supporting actors all add depth to the movie.Michael Cane is good as Alfred although is still prefer Michael Gough as the butler,Gary Oldman is the perfect commissioner Gordon and looks and feels exactly like his comic archetype,Maggie Gyllenhaal is a much better Rachel than Katy Holmes and is anything but annoying.Now for me the best thing about the movie - the villains.Everything about Heath Ledger's masterful turn into Joker has already been said so I don't know what else to add except that he's a perfect Joker who feels exactly like Frank Miller's take on the villain.Jack Nicholson's take on the Joker was very different from Heath's so I think there shouldn't be any comparison between the two but I think we can all agree that they are both awesome.However what truly made me happy is Aaron Eckhart's Two Face.The two sided villain has always been my favorite Batman enemy and you can't imagine what joy it is to see him on the big screen exactly as he should be - evil,menacing and deadly and of course relying on his faithful coin.The whole Two Face story in the film is what intrigued me the most,seeing Harvey Dent as a person who fights against crime as much as Batman but unfortunately under circumstances turned into a criminal himself.The other bad guys are amazing too specially Eric Roberts who does one of his finest roles yet and shouldn't be overlooked.The twist and turns are plenty and you can never predict what will happen next.The action sequences are spectacular and epic of course and Nolan has improved his direction during the action scenes,the camera isn't so close to the fights and you get a clear view of what's going on.Just like its hero the movie is dark,the colors are dark in tone and you can literally feel the darkness Of Gotham City.In conclusion this is one of the best movies of recent years and for me one of the best ever.watch it and be amazed.