Where do we begin? Not only is this uttered by the Joker in the trailers and the movie, but it's also the same question I have to ask myself when sitting down to write about one of the few event movies to ever live up to the expectations so reverently.
Everyone knows the story. I won't even discuss that. So first, in the true objectivist way, I'll get the negatives out of the way first. I don't care what anyone says, replacing Katie Holmes with Maggie Gyllenhaal was not a good idea. She's not a better actress, and it hurts the continuity between The Dark Knight and it's equally brilliant predecessor Batman Begins. Second of all, Two-Face falls victim to Venom syndrome (Spider-Man 3), he is introduced too late into the film and his run seems to be over too early. He's a great villain, probably the second most recognizable Batman foe (behind, of course, the Joker), and it feels as if he should've had a whole movie to himself, not just the final half hour of this one.
And that's it.
Everything else about The Dark Knight is nearly flawless.
Heath Ledger's performance as the Joker is so haunting, you get goose bumps when he's onscreen, talking calmly yet at the same time maniacally. He's all about simultaneousness; he's funny but at the same time scary, calm but at the same time mad, and crazy yet at the same time intelligent. Nearly everything he says will be quoted in AIM away messages around the globe (including my own) from his final "madness is like gravity" to even his simple "yea..." when a mobster asked him if he stole his money. Every word that emanates from his scar-littered mouth is memorable. This Joker truly is the definitive version of the villain. He's brutal and terrifying, yet at the same time never loses that casual hilarity about his crimes that makes him the Joker in the first place (one particularly good moment shows the Joker frustrated that his bomb isn't going off, so he presses the button in frustration like a little kid with a video game controller).
If you asked me who I'd take in a battle between Ledger's Joker and Jack Nicholson's Joker, it wouldn't be much of a contest: Ledger's new, edgy, brutal Joker is more terrifying than Nicholson's could ever hope to be while killing people with shampoo and dancing to Prince.
With that said, and it needed to be, lest we forget the other performances, all of which are equally good (with the exception of Maggie Gylennhall, who really doesn't do anything with the Rachel Dawes character except hurt continuity). Christian Bale is once again a solid Bruce Wayne, and is slightly better as Batman than in Batman Begins (the "bat-rasp" has been enhanced, but not quite fixed). Morgan Freeman returns as Lucius, and Michael Caine once again reprises his role as the surrogate father figure to Bruce Wayne, with every line he speaks being some sort of lesson about morality.
The film itself, minus the performances, succeeds not just as an actioneer but a drama that attempts to blur the line between right and wrong and succeeds on many levels. There are many, many "WTF?!" moments (including two particular plot twists that made everyone in the audience gasp). It's incredibly violent, and at times, very disturbing as well. The Joker really has no limits when it comes to who he kills or how he kills them, and this is something that not only Batman discovers, but the audience as well, and it has quite an impact.
The action sequences are better done that in Batman Begins, and the IMAX cameras give a breath of scope to the overhead cityscapes that's never really been seen before. The Dark Knight is the Empire Strikes Back of the Christopher Nolan Batman series. It serves as not only a sequel, but a standalone film that succeeds on its own solid ground while also laying out the future. Its epilogue somehow manages to tie up all of the film's loose ends, while at the same time leaving everything in chaos for the (inevitable) third installment. There is conclusion, but no closure.
Oh yeah, also, Cillian Murphy-the Scarecrow-is in it, but only for about a minute. Here's hoping he's back for the next Nolan-Batman movie. Here's hoping that Robin never shows up. And here's hoping that director Christopher Nolan finds some way, somehow, to top this masterpiece.
But as Lucius Fox says to a young lawyer threatening to out Batman: good luck with that.
Score: 9.5/10
