True to the character's spirit, and great movie in general.

Rating: 10/10 (22 July 2008)

I went to see this movie with extremely high expectations and the movie just blew my expectations up with a huge bang.
The tight pacing(hard trick to pull, for a movie 2 1/2 hours long), the style, the very epic feel of The Dark Knight, and just the overall technical fireworks, drama, and action, is reason enough to give this movie at least 8 stars.
But the true genius of the movie is in the characters, and the actors playing them. Batman in this movie, to me, feels more faithful to the comic book character than in previous movies. The late Heath Ledger pulls off a very creepy and very intense version of The Joker, who practically steals the show as the Caped Crusader's nemesis. Harvey Dent, well, I don't want to spoil anything for you, but you'll love him.
And lastly, my personal favourite is the understated Gary Oldman as (pre)Commissioner Gordon, whose portrayal of a seasoned cop just doing the best he can with what little resources he has, really managed to tug on my heartstrings at points in the movie.
So I'm giving this movie 10 stars, because it's my definition of the perfect movie, comic book or not. I'll definitely be watching this movie again, many times more.