The Dark Knight

What's it all about?
Batman and new DA Harvey Dent are working to clean the streets of Gotham City; one with the law and the other with gadgets and fighting.

The Joker wants the world to see that the world is like him, and starts a crime spree in a bid to reveal that Batman is just like him.

Awesomeness follows.

Looks Like...
Whilst 'Batman Begins' relied on darkness and shadow, more of this film is set during the day. This time around it is penthouses and warehouses and police stations that set the scene, and yet just as frightening.

The Joker is there, standing out in the daylight and yet always one step ahead of the good guys. There is nothing hidden with this guy, and that is itself is a little creepy.

The film also plays very little with CGI, especially for a comic book film (<-- This is the one and only time I will use this term to describe the film. Sure, it is one, but it is SO much more). We're dealing with real people, in almost everyday circumstances, instead of watch a virtual Batman leaping off a virtual building into the pixelated Gotham night. And for this I salute the film.

Sounds Like...
In a bid to distance itself from the previous franchise, the actual Batman theme is played very little. This Batman doesn't have a theme song, or anything as comforting as that. Instead we get haunting songs, subtly reinforcing the action.

Also, Batman's voice seemed a whole lot less comically deep this time around. Or maybe I'd just got used to it.

Tastes Like...
Sweet vengeance.

Feels Like...
I expected a lot from this film, there is no denying that. Christopher Nolan is one of my favorite directors (along with Bryan Singer and Joss Whedon). In my opinion, he has never made a bad film and he made the ONLY decent Batman film. So yeah, the sequel had to be something I've never seen before, something amazing. He had to pull something amazing out of his bag of tricks.
And he did. And more.

Everything I was expecting this film to be, it exceeded.

I'd expected Heath Ledger to be the wild card casting choice and play the Joker in a much more sinister way than Jack Nicholson ever did. What the film delivered was the performance of the year so far, with Ledger playing the role so well that I forgot it was ever him.

Instead, he WAS the Joker, chaotic and intelligent and chillingly confident. It was all in the little nuances: the licking of the lips, the tidying of the hair, that smile. From the moment he enters and pulls his 'Magic disappearing pencil' trick, he was screen gold.

I expected Christian Bale to be good, since he always is, but he plays the two roles of Batman and Bruce Wayne superbly. When costumed-up, he gets to be all noble and heroic, and as Bruce Wayne he is expertly sleazy. Best Batman ever.

Aaron Eckhart is the anti-Bruce Wayne (He's the white knight to Batman's dark knight. Geddit?), and is suitably noble. And when the inevitable happens (And it IS inevitable, even for those who don't know the mythos!) Eckhart's performance means that the change makes sense, even earning him a little sympathy.

The rest of the cast are all acting at the top of their game, with special mention going to Gary Oldman as (the eventual) Commissioner Gordon. In any other film, they'd be praised highly, but here they are over-shadowed by Bale, Ledger and Eckhart.

The story is complex and lined with themes throughout. 'Batman Begins' was about fear. This is about good and evil, dark and light, order and chaos and the duel nature of everyone. There's Batman and Bruce Wayne, different sides to the same man. There's the Joker and the police, chaos and order battling for the streets of Gotham.

And then there is Two-Face, the kick in the teeth if you haven't been getting the themes for the first two hours of the film. You can think of Harvey Dent's coin as the object that sums the film up; everyone has two sides.

And yet these themes never get in the way. I can describe them now only because I've thought back at what was being said, analysed what I was shown. In the cinema though, I was enjoying every minute. And this is rare for me, as I tend to pick the film apart whether I like to or not. It's a flaw.

But on this day, for this film, I was engrossed. Absolutely captivated. And there is no higher compliment from me.

Yet, I feel obliged to pick a flaw, just one thing that stops this film being perfect. A lot of people have claimed that the film is too long, which it could easily be said to be. Yet, to shorten it would mean getting rid of a scene, or a moment, and that is something I would ever want them to do.

So for me the flaw was Rachel Dawes, the love interest. Whilst I think Maggie Gyllenhaal's portrayal was great, and a marked improvement on Katie Holmes is, I just didn't feel she was in the film enough. Sure, neither were Micheal Caine or Morgan Freeman, but Rachel played an important role in many of the main character's fates that she needed to be there more.

But it's a small point, and one everyone should overlook.

Because I cannot say enough good things about this film. Without raiding a thesaurus, I'm lost for words. It's just really, really good.

Verdict...
It is dark and gripping and smart and awesome. Whilst I'm not at all original for saying this, 'The Dark Knight' is, and will probably remain, the best film of the year.