The Dark Knight is everything it has been advertised to be: exciting, captivating, and enthralling. It is the first major category Oscar worthy movie I have seen in 2008, and not just for the gripping and chilling final performance of Heath Ledger, who certainly deserves a Best Supporting Actor nod. This Batman movie bests all of its predecessors. It is the best Super-Hero sequel movie i have ever seen, and may just be worthy of a Best Picture nomination come January 2009.
Sequel success is not a new thing in Hollywood, but more often then not Super-Hero follow ups fall short of their first chapters. Not only does The Dark Knight up the ante, it takes the whole pot, which is a relief considering one of the last Super-Hero franchises, Spider-Man, which showed early success, has trailed off into mediocrity. Heath Ledger's turn as the Joker is everything Alfred Molina's Doctor Octopus could only dream of being in Spider-Man 2. Maniacal, sadistic, and calculating, Ledger's Joker even makes Jack Nicholson's 1989 Batman performance seem like Bozo the Clown.
Even my fear of Batman falling into the same trap as Spider-man 3, by writing in too many villains (and therefore too many plotlines), were quelled by Christopher Nolan and brother John's brilliant script. Aaron Eckhart's Harvey Dent/Two-Face was fresh and unexpected, adding more depth and emotion to The Dark Knight. The Nolan's succeeded where the Spider-man 3 writers failed with Sandman, Venom, and Green Goblin II, not by keeping it simple, but by creating a truly intertwined story-line for their villians.
This film certainly has it all, doing everything right for both the die-hard comic book fanboy and the pedestrian blockbuster movie-goer. The casting for every character is dead-on, including the replacement of love interest Rachel Dawes with actress Maggie Gyllenhaal who provides a much more believable peformance than her predecessor Katie Holmes. Many people will come to the theater to see Ledger at his absolute best, and he certainly is, but they will also leave the theater raving about the amazing action sequences and the engaging story-line. They will leave thirsting for more, and wondering how in the world another Super-Hero sequel, let alone another Batman sequel could possibly top this.