Just saw the Dark Knight yesterday after college. The movie more or less lives up to expectations (which is a bit rare these days). It opens with a slickly executed bank robbery orchestrated with the Joker. Later on we are introduced to a new Gotham in which the fortunes of the mob are waning with the renewed assault of the new DA Harvey Dent and the Batman on the underworld. The mob in a moment of desperation hires the Joker, a mysterious sociopath who hides behind a painted face. Batman in the meantime considers giving up the mask as Gotham’s new protector the DA Harvey Dent seems to be doing a good job. However the peace is not meant to last. Soon the Joker begins his campaign against the Batman and the people of Gotham and its up to the Dark Knight to stop him.The movie is backed with some top notch performances by Heath Ledger, Aaron Eckhart and Christian Bale. This time round though Bale doesn’t have much to do spending most of his time behind the mask. Eric Roberts also puts in a nice performance as mobster Sal Maroni and William Fitchner has a nice little role as the Gotham National Bank manager at the start of the movie. Aaron Eckhart’s Harvey Dent looks every bit the white Knight of Gotham and is menacing as the horribly disfigured Two face.
But the most praise for the movie must be reserved for Ledger’s Joker. The Joker is every bit the twisted psychopath toying with his victims and doing exactly as he wishes. Whenever the Joker makes a threat, you know he will make good on it, be it bombing a hospital or making a pencil “disappear”. Ledger gives the Joker a menacing edge that Nicholson’s Joker never had. Watching him on screen is mesmerizing. And there is method to his madness as well. Right from the start, one can’t help but marvel how the Joker takes care of every little aspect of his master plan with almost everything going his way. He is truly the yang to Batman’s yin. This is a role that would have definitely propelled Ledger to the “A” list had it not been for his tragic demise.
Another good thing about the movie is that it is very consistent with the marketing campaign. It uses elements from the campaign such as the Joker recruiting an army composed of ordinary citizens lured by the promise of cash for killing an informant. It also ties very closely to Gotham Tonight. For example, it includes multiple batmen (hinted at during various broadcasts of simultaneous batman-sightings), and carries forward the back story of The Scarecrow. In the movie The scarecrow is apprehended by the Batman at a drug deal between the Scarecrow and the mob. It ties in with the GCN reports of drugs laced with fear toxin that are being sold on Gotham’s streets. The bank robbery at the start of the movie is also directly tied in with a GCN interview which was interrupted by a breaking news broadcast of the robbery.
In spite of all this I do have some grouses about the movie. For starters, we are lost in a sea of characters of whom a very small percentage of them are actually developed properly. In fact the scarecrow makes a very brief appearance. I feel the movie might have been a wee bit interesting if the scarecrow and the Joker were to team up, fear meets chaos kind of thing. Secondly I have always found Bale’s Batman voice very over the top and immensely irritating. Lastly the Joker should have got a lot more screen time 
All in all, a great movie. Do go and see it for Ledger’s performance.
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