The Dark Knight - A- (Updated)

In theaters. Rated PG-13, 152 minutes. Trailer.

"You've got a little fight in ya...I like that." This Joker (Heath Ledger) quote pretty much somes up my feelings for this film. Freed from the shackles of a hokey backstory (Batman Begins - B+), director Christopher Nolan and Co. have crafted a thoroughly dark, mesmerizing and challenging superhero film for our times. The raves we've all heard about Ledger are dead on, as he delivers a villain that anchors the film and puts him in the Villain Hall of Fame along with Jack Torrance, Bill the Butcher and Alex from a Clockwork Orange. Click below for more DARK KNIGHT:

All the old familiar faces (Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine, Christian Bale, Gary Oldman, and even, briefly, Cillian Murphy) are back, except for a spot on Maggie Gyllenhaal as Rachel Dawes (replacing Katie Holmes) and a perfectly cast Aaron Eckhart as the "White Knight of Gotham", District Attorney Harvey Dent. But this time, instead of a comically bearded Liam Neeson as Batman's primary foil, we get Ledger's ultraviolent and anarchist Joker.

Thankfully, this film lacks the jokey tone and sci-fi/futuristic Gotham of the prior Batman films (Batman Begins had about 20 jokes about how cool the Batmobile was....enough). The city feels more real, gritty and modern, which strengthens the feel of the characters and the film as a whole. The Joker bursts onto the scene trying to cut a deal with the mob and criminal element that he will "kill the Bat-Man". They scoff at first until he does his 'hide the pencil' trick and demonstrates his prowess as a chaos maker. His mannerisms, make-up, voice, and irony are all perfect as he portrays a man that can't be bargained or reasoned with. He is oddly sympathetic as he tells the story of his facial scars ("Why So Serious") and slices 'polite society' by calling their moral code only something that is adhered to when convenient. This is the central tenet of the film...are people basically good or basically evil? I'll leave such a weighty issue to Priest to sort out, but for me the one false note of the film (although it was expertly executed), is the feel-good resolution of one of the Joker's set-ups.

Batman teams up with Harvey Dent, a pre-2008 Eliot Spitzer type, and Commissioner Gordon (Gary Oldman) for a sort of holy trinity of incorruptible men hell-bent on cleaning up the city. They are successful at first, but their success breeds desperation by the criminals and helps to empower the Joker. The film follows this trinity as they battle Joker. There are several exhilarating action sequences set to one of the best scores in recent memory by Hans Zimmer. Nolan uses lots of close-ups and cool one on one action to allow the characters to actually advance during these scenes, especially the Joker. When he is awaiting Batman screaming "Hit Me" "Hit Me", I got chills. Any scene with Joker and Batman is high quality, especially when Joker is explaining his odd affinity for Batman, declaring "You complete me."

The main complaint I have heard (though I have avoided all reviews and clips other than the trailer linked to before) from the major reviewers is that the film is too dark. That's precisely what makes it great in this viewer's mind, and its the light touches that kept me from giving it a full A. I prefer my dramas dark and moody, not whimsical and light. Though the tone of this film is much darker than Batman Begins, there are still several funny moments that are perfect for the situationa nd don't break up the tone of the applicable scenes.

There are some slight political overtones in the film, with the Joker possibly represnting terrorism and Islamists, and Batman overstepping his bounds by 'wiretapping' everyone in the city to catch him, only to be rebuked by Lucius Fox (Morgan Freeman) for such drastic measures. I didn't need to have FISA points made during a Batman movie.

I will be seeing this again with Bride once my regular sitter returns, and we'll be going to the IMAX, as 4 scenes were filmed in this format and cannot be fully viewed on a regular screen. The film is dense and may move to a full A upon a repeat viewing.

Viewing note: At the Plano Tinseltown last night, Appraiser and I took in the 12:30am showing, one of 15 fully sold out midnight screenings. We parked further away than I ever had at the theater and we had to sit in the 3rd row even though we got there 30 minutes early. For those watching this weekend....get your tickets online and go early for a decent seat. New previews shown include Body of Lies (Ridley Scott, DiCaprio, Crowe) and the new Terminator (Bale).