Modern Enough...Stylish EnoughÂ…and its Batman

Rating: 9/10 (1 July 2014)

Immensely Popular and a Mega-Money-Maker (over $1 Billion worldwide and still counting) this is a very Ambitious Batman Movie and as always it is the Character Batman and, in this case, The Joker and to a lesser extent Two-Face that are the Soul of any Series with such Iconic, Indelible, Artful, Mythological Personas.
It can be Hyped and Hyper-Financed with all the Technological and Creative Spirit Available in any Time period, but it is the Manifestational Psychology and Surreal Images of the Fictional Representations of Humanity that are at the Core.
Here Heath Ledger's Legendary and Academy Award Winning Performance is helped by the Great Psychotic Clown's Character. He is Batman's Arch Nemesis and it just begs for Over the Top takes on His Disturbed Mentality and His Psychotic Glee, and a Look that is Archetypal and the Anarchy Abounds.
The Film is not without some Missteps and up front Disappointments. Like the Ending that is Overwritten to make Batman "the Hero that we deserve". That bit of Nonsensical Overkill is too Pretentious to be Profound and is the Filmmaker Reaching too far.
The Cast, including Christian Bale as Batman, are pretty much in the Spirit of Things as usual. The Look is Great, except the City that is Nothing More Now than just a City. Gotham's Dark Architecture is Gone and Gleaming Skyscrapers and Clean Streets are an Antithesis to the Milieu of a Dark Time and a Cynical Society that usually Surrounds Batman.
Overall, a slightly Overrated but Excellent Entertainment that is Dark enough and Disturbing enough and Modern enough to be a Respectable and Rewarding Second Act to Director Christopher Nolan's Trilogy.