The Dark Knight

Rated PG13 for violence, dark themes

Starring Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Aaron Eckhart, Michael Caine, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Gary Oldman, Morgan Freeman

This is the 2nd installment in the remake of the Batman franchise.

After the police and Batman close in on the mobs in Gotham, the Joker decides to step in, being a new class of criminal and causing death and chaos in an attempt to call out who Batman really is. New elected politician Harvey Dent, while on his crusade to lock up all criminals gets caught in the middle of it, as does Bruce Wayne's oldest friend Rachel Dawes. We see how revenge can consume some, while others "just want to watch the world burn."

While still good, I think it probably should have been cut into two movies, allowing for more elaboration of Two-Face - Harvey Dent doesn't turn into his alter ego until the last hour or so of the film and he doesn't get much face time - I recall him being much more villanious in the comics and it seemed like they just kinda crammed his story arch in with the Joker's when it could have filled a whole movie itself.

It should definitely be nominated for an Oscar though and the critics will be talking about it for awhile! Heath Ledger's portrayal of the Joker was amazingly dark and truly creepy - he deserves an Oscar for this role... too bad he died though, as it was definitely one of his best roles and his career had a promising future.

Definitely don't miss this one this summer and I recommend seeing it twice at least!