It's all about Heath Ledger. And yes, all the hype surrounding his "final" performance is true. (This probably isn't really his last, since footage already shot for the Terry Gilliam movie "Doctor Parnassus" will supposedly include Heath's scenes.) He's absolutely mesmerizing and mind blowing as the most maniacal, amusing Joker yet with his own lethal chaos theory. In fact, for me, when Heath wasn't on screen I kept wishing he'd come back into frame. He's that good. Maybe it's because I got myself too built up about "The Dark Knight", what with all the critical acclaim and anticipation, but I was actually slightly disappointed in the movie as a whole. Let it be said that I'm sick to death of super heroes -- enough already! I know it's summer, but if I see one more comic book movie I may give up on Hollywood until the fall. Batman is my favorite comic book leading man, and Christian Bale is my favorite Batman, but 2-1/2 hours of explosions and car chases is still a little bit too much for me. Batman seems to be saving the day in an increasingly brutal fashion which is beginning to disturb me. Perhaps that's the point.
We return to Gotham City with its citizens at the mercy of rampant crime, mob activity and, of course, the diabolical stunts of The Joker. Despite his wish to hang up the bat suit forever, rich playboy Bruce Wayne gets pulled back into action as Batman, facing his most daunting enemy in a cat and mouse game of monumental proportions. It seems the very soul of Gotham City is at stake. Returning from "Batman Begins" are the wonderful Gary Oldman as Lt. Jim Gordon, Michael Caine as Bruce's trusty man servant Alfred and Morgan Freeman as sophisticated weapons expert Lucius Fox. There are two newcomers to the cast: Aaron Eckhart as crusading District Attorney Harvey Dent and Maggie Gyllenhaal as Rachel Dawes (a character previously played by Katie Holmes). And then there's Heath, who simply burns up the screen. For me, everyone else in the movie just pales by comparison, although I really enjoyed Gary Oldman's subtle portrayal as the besieged Gordon.
There are some thrilling action sequences and chilling scenes in the movie. One particularly effective stunt is a standoff orchestrated by The Joker in which two ferry boats are both loaded with explosives and filled with terrified people (one with convicts, the other with "regular" citizens). The passengers of both ferries are given the option of activating the detonator to blow up the other boat before their own vessel can be destroyed. Good stuff. I only wish writer/director Christopher Nolan had used more of those situations and fewer pyrotechnics. I know I'm sure to be in the minority opinion here, but I wanted to fall in love with "The Dark Knight" and ended up merely liking it.
Things to love about this movie: Heath Ledger as The Joker; some excellent twists and turns that were truly surprising; dazzling special f/x
Things to hate about this movie: It makes me long for a sequel, with Heath as The Joker, that can never be; a little too long
Pleasant surprises: Gary Oldman is given more screen time as Lt. Gordon
Unpleasant surprises: Although I'm a big fan of Aaron Eckhart, he seemed slightly miscast and not as effective as he should have been as Harvey "Two Face" Dent; the always terrific Maggie Gyllenhaal is given little to do; Dent's disfigured face make-up looked really fake
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