Better than Batman Begins? I'd say it's a draw.

Rating: 9/10 (20 July 2008)

The Dark Knight (2008) was a really good movie, this should be obvious by now. I don't want to go through everything I liked about this movie because that would just take way too long. However, that doesn't mean there weren't any flaws in the flick.
One thing I will point out, however, is that I absolutely loved how they handled multiple villains. Most super hero movie sequels tend to inject loads of villains in an effort to up the ante, but they all completely suck at it. Here, they juggled it perfectly: Scarecrow made a brief appearance at the beginning, but was quickly caught. The Joker was the main villain, and dealt with for the bulk of the movie. And Two-Face was really just thrown at the end to add a bit more tension.
Now for the flaws: 1. Maggie Gyllenhaal confused me. It took me a little while to figure out that she was the replacement for Katie Holmes as Rachel Dawes. I also thought she was kind of ugly and not a very good actor.
2. Christian Bale was mostly good, but his deep Batman voice was even cheesier than it was in Batman Begins. It almost sounded like he couldn't breathe through his nose.
3. They didn't really wrap up The Joker's story. The last we saw of him, he was just hanging from a roof, and he seemed like a smart enough (and violent enough) guy to get out of that situation - though, with Heath Ledger now deceased I doubt we'd see a reprisal of The Joker in this series.
4. I thought the whole sonar phone thing was a little dumb - sorry. The whole "no man should have this power" speech just seemed politically pointed and crammed in where it didn't really fit.
Keep in mind, these are only minor nitpicks. It was a good movie. Did I like it better than Batman Begins? Eh, I don't know. The back story in Begins was really awesome, but the villains in Dark Knight were really amazing - I'd say it's a draw.