It’s been awhile since I’ve really been impressed with a movie, let alone a superhero film; last year’s Spider-Man 3 really let me down in a lot of ways. And given that I was never really into Batman as a kid, I feel like it’s even more impressive that I’ve actually started to delve more into the mythos behind the caped crusader.

Anyway, until I actually saw The Dark Knight I too was worried that it would turn out to be all hype with little delivery, but I was wrong. Heath Ledger really is that good as the Joker, albeit this is an entirely different take on the character from Jack Nicholson’s version in the 1989 Batman. Ledger’s is more like some maniacal psychopath with a taste for chaos than some petty criminal with clown make-up. Hell, the film itself is as dark as they come, blurring the lines between what’s good and evil.

The returning actors all play their parts well; I personally liked Gary Oldman more than I did in Batman Begins. The new additions to the cast are also good. Aaron Eckhart’s version of Harvey Dent is terrific, and I’m glad they made the decision to cast him. He’s just got that lawyer/businessman kind of vibe that fits with a character like Dent. And yes, Maggie Gyllenhaal is much better than Katie Holmes. It was far easier to take her seriously than Holmes.

The action and narrative come at a good pace, but there’s a lot of information to digest, which can get confusing if you’re not really paying attention. And judging by some reviews, people seem to think two and a half hours is too much time to devote their attention to – ah, the beauties of contemporary American audiences and the YouTube generation! I personally like longer, more engaging films, and personally the two and a half hours is time well-spent.

The Dark Knight is an impressive film to be sure, but I’m a bit worried about where Christopher Nolan is going to take the series from here, if he decides to continue it – and with an opening weekend record breaker, why wouldn’t the studios try to push a sequel? Still, it’s always a fun conversation to imagine what other Batman villian is next in line to be given the Nolan treatment.

I get bored easily and consider two and a half hours to be unforgivably long for any movie, but as unforgivably long movies go it was pretty okay!

Also, slightly unpleasant! I had to think “it’s rated 12, they’re going to cut away before anything too nasty happens” in order to not spend the whole thing wincing and looking away.

Well, I expected a much better movie. It was too long, too much stuff was squished into it, the Joker failed to impress me, and Bale as Batman was much better in “Batman Begins”.

First of all, yes, I liked it. Which is strange, because I wasn’t really expecting it to. I thought it wouldn’t live up to the expectations, probably be good but not as good as Batman Begins. And I was wrong. I think that The Dark Knight was much, much better than the first movie, for a number of reasons. First of all: the first movie had about fifty minutes of unneccessary origin story, while The Dark Knight had zero. You started in with Batman as the status quo right away, which was good for the momentum of the storyline. Second: the science in this movie, while still kind of bad, wasn’t nearly as bad as the science in Batman Begins. (Seriously. Microwave generators creating steam in water pipes but not cooking ANYONE? That’s bad, BAD science.) Third: excellent, EXCELLENT foils. While The Scarecrow and Ra’s Al Ghul were passable in the first movie, Heath Ledger’s Joker is really very good. He’s been getting a lot of praise in the media, which I had chalked up the hype machine going into overdrive due to his death. His performance in this movie, however, is in fact very good. Chilling, hilarious, and dare I say even honest? His Joker may not be the one fans are familiar with, but it fits the Nolanverse (a term I just coined, thank you very much) very well. The buzz that he might get an Oscar nomination seems a bit much, but “not getting an Oscar nomination” does not equal “poor performance”. Ledger did a terriffic job, showing you just how good an actor he really was.

In fact, as good reason number three-point-five, the acting of nearly everyone in the movie is rather good. Gary Oldman gets a lot more to do in this movie, and he does it very well, playing the one good cop in a city gone crazy and giving the audience a solid anchor. Aaron Eckhart, an actor I’ve never been particularly fond of, is really quite engaging as Harvey Dent. Of course, Maggie Gyllenhaal is a vast improvement over Katie Holmes, and Michael Caine & Morgan Freeman round out the cast with their trademark gravitas and a couple of light comedic touches. The actor I had the most problems with is sadly Christian Bale, who does a very good Bruce Wayne but grates on me whenever he’s Batman, thanks to the ridiculous voice he affects whenever he puts on the cowl. You don’t need to sound like you’re gargling chunks of hot asphalt to disguise your voice or sound intimidating. Less is more, man.

Bale’s vocal antics as Batman are one of only a few minor quibbles, though. The story starts off as fairly straightforward but then gets as twisted and turned as it becomes more affected by The Joker’s influence. There are many good moments in this movie that I could harp on, but it’s getting late. The point is, even if you’re not a comics fan but liked Batman Begins, I think you’ll like this even better. Not that you need me to sell you on it. I just think it’s worth your time.

I am officially jealous of anyone who hasn’t seen this yet

With so much anticipation, I was excited, but slightly dreading attending The Dark Knight as I was afraid that it wouldn’t live up to the hype. The problem was that I watched the trailers a few times and couldn’t help be start to construct the film in my mind. Luckily the film of the trailer isn’t really the film that I saw.

Christopher Nolan (and his co-screenwriter Jonathan Nolan) set up a series of ethical decisions that the main characters must make in the film as well as setting up an interlocking web of characters and their opposites. What distinguishes good from evil, right from wrong, or us from them. The film starts off by establishing the context of the situation in Gotham and then alternates between action and character development. The action is expertly done without the excesses of Nolan’s first Batman film.

The cast is great and Christian Bale continues his solid interpretation of Bruce Wayne / Batman, but with the addition of Aaron Eckhart as Harvey Dent and Maggie Gyllenhaal replacing Katie Holmes as Rachel Dawes, it seems to balance things out more and makes the cast much more interesting. But the centre of the film is really Heath Ledger with his twisted and frightening performance as the Joker.

It’s a entertaining, but dark summer film that keeps you thinking about what happened and the idea of the superhero long after the film is done.

Spoiler Alert:

Wow. That is all.