With the help of Lieutenant Jim Gordon and District Attorney Harvey Dent, Batman sets out to destroy organized crime in Gotham for good. The triumvirate proves to be effective, but they soon find themselves prey to a rising criminal mastermind known as the Joker, who thrusts Gotham into anarchy and forces the Dark Knight ever closer to crossing the fine line between hero and vigilante.

The Batman franchise is an interesting series of movies. We have seen the movies go from campy and comical to dark and brooding. From complete success to absolute and dismal failure back to success once more. So for some they may prefer the more light and comical Tim Burton Batman as both the original Batman and Batman Returns were extremely well done films and blockbusters themselves but just a different tone and feel then the newer Christopher Nolan films. And for others they may be in love with the newer, more dark and more brooding and realistic Batman that Nolan has created in such a magnificent way. For me I like both for different reasons, Burton managed to capture a more fantastic Gotham and Nolan has managed to bring Gotham to our world and gave roots and a reasoning for everything bat related. But if we are going to talk about what is the best Batman movie ever made it is simply and by far the Dark Knight which absolutely blows away all the previous films and maybe every comic book related movie made to date.

As I have said before comic book movies second installment always makes for the best of the series. You don’t have to introduce the character and set up the back-story that was all done in the first film, which allows for the freedom to turn in the most amazing action packed film that just blows you away. The Dark Knight takes that to new heights as we are introduced to a story that seems to capture who and what Batman is and that is a Dark Knight someone sent out to protect humanity but someone also torn with turmoil and darkness. Someone who’s very character keeps them hidden in the shadows, someone who can never truly be one of us and who must fight the good fight no matter what the world sees him as. Ok that may be going too deep into what the Dark Knight is about because it is also about, mayhem, explosions, violence, and just mad cap action that will glue you to your seat and blow you away. Sure all that drama is there, sure all that character development and brooding nature of a anti-hero is there but the core of the film is the action it is the wonder of Gotham City.

And we must not forget maybe the best part of the film and that is the Joker. For the first time ever we are finally treated with a true villain that can match wits with the Dark Knight himself. Gone are the campy over the top Schumacher villains like the Riddler and Mr. Freeze and gone are the much better done but still campy villains of the Burton era, heck even Nolan outdoes himself from the first film with the Scarecrow who really wasn’t that scary. Instead what we have is probably one of the most fantastic performances in any comic book movie ever made as Heath Ledger brings the Joker so much to life with such a mad cap craziness that you can’t even tell its Heath Ledger behind the magic. This is what all the buzz was about and rightfully so as Heath gives us one of the best performances as a Villain ever. Ledger’s performance as The Joker is up there with the like of Darth Vader, Hannibal Lecter and Norman Bates its that good and absolutely makes the movie beyond fantastic and amazing.

Christopher Nolan also makes some other changes to the Batman franchise as we see District Attorney Harvey Dent for the third time in the Batman films and no offense to Tommy Lee Jones but we finally see him done right. And when Dent does finally become Two Face I absolutely feel in love with the look and makeup they did for him. He looked how I imagined Two Face should look and acted how I always thought he should. The coin toss is not just a prop this time but truly a reflection of the tortured soul of Gotham’s once White Knight. Sure some things are still off as I would like the more traditional Bat Mobile rather than the rumbler the film uses but Nolan seems to have nailed the Batman Universe to a T and gives us another fantastic movie.

I still really do like Christian Bale as both Batman and Bruce Wayne as he truly feels like the Dark Knight and he gives a great encore to his fine work in Batman Begins. How Nolan got all these amazing actors to be in his film is still beyond me as Michael Caine makes a great Alfred and Morgan Freeman a great Luscious Fox. That might be the ace in the hole for the Dark Knight, as it seems every role is filled to perfection with great actors who have amazing pedigrees. The Dark Knight does not fail to amaze, nor does it disappoint as it keeps the tradition alive that a great first comic book movie is going to lead to an amazing sequel (Superman, X-men, Spiderman etc etc…) and may be the best movie of the year so far.

Grade: A