[Bryan]

I won't reveal any of the surprises (and there are a bunch of them) or give away too much of the plot.

The Dark Knight should be an open letter to the makers of Ironman, Spiderman, Hulk, and Superman that until they can come up with a story half as good as this one, they should just stop making them. Every character from Batman to the Joker to Alfred and Dent is well written and played even better. The movie doesn't lull between fight scenes like most superhero movies and the effects (Two Face's transformation is stunning and pretty graphic for a non-rated R movie) are great. Some of the images, like Two Face's transformation and the Joker dressed as a nurse are stuck in my head.

The Joker is fucking sick. He is one of the best realized villains ever. Most people have said that the Ledger's Joker is darker than Jack's. That is true but it is also a much deeper character. Jack's Joker didn't have a point to his actions. This one does. Everything he does is to get to his goal, even the bank robbery that starts the movie. It is more like the Joker in say The Killing Joke but much more ruthless. He is a sadist and Batman's interrogation of The Joker is brutal and at the same time sort of funny because of how the Joker loves being beaten to a pulp. The relationship between the two plays up on the comics that they are each other's opposites but are very much alike. The difference however is summed up in an early scene in which the Joker performs a "magic trick." On that note I suggest you see the movie first before you take a kid under ten or eleven to see it. I've seen R movies that weren't as violent.

Batman is almost as crazed as the Joker. He no longer wants to be Batman and wants a normal life with Rachel. He sees Dent as a way to do this. Some very good subplots with Alfred and Fox some angels most superhero movies stay away from, how being a hero effects the ones around you. Nobody is safe in this Batman. In the other Batman movies you knew right off the bat who was safe and what would happen. This one throws curves you don't see coming and kills off some important characters. Plus the batpod is cool as shit.

Two Face is sort of strange. The plot is heavy on Dent and like I said the transformation is great but don't expect to see much of Two Face. In fact that is the only gripe I could come up with for the movie. One good thing was they kept true to comics on who disfigures Harvey. I figured they would change it the same way Burton changed who killed the Waynes but they didn't. Scarecrow shows up and there are clues of other villains if you look.

Overall this is the best superhero movie so far. There will be a Batman 3. Ledger's performance is even better then you expect and my expectations based on previews were very high. One of the best performances I've ever seen. You can't take your eyes off him. The rest of the cast is very good but pale compared to Ledger. The movie feels half as long as Begins but is something like 15 minutes longer. It goes by in a flash. Already I can't wait to see it in IMAX tomorrow night.

I give it 9.8 out of 10.