Batman II, The Joker Strikes!

There's nothing completely outlandish about The Dark Knight (TDK), which is a little frightening. Easily the best thriller of the year, it's a morality play for the new century with the backdrop of a superhero film.

We still get Batman beating the crap out of bad guys and jumping off of rooftops (Batman isn't Batman if he doesn't do either of those) and we get his insane arch-enemy The Joker being as crafty as he is in the comics. This movie is the second best nod to comic book storytelling this year (Iron Man being the first) in which we get to see how fun and thrilling their stories can be while drawing completely different stories from the same genre. Batman Begins was almost there but origin stories are origin stories.

Is a comic book movie that doesn't feel like a comic book movie still a comic book movie? It is now, thank the gods. It would be insulting to file this movie under a 'comic book movie' due only to the stereotype that horrible films like Daredevil and the early Batman failures have set up in people's minds for "those types of movies". These new movies should wipe those thoughts from the general public's mind soon enough. Iron Man, Batman Begins and Spider-Man 2 showed us these heroes can still be relevant today and are, in fact, more needed than ever. I look extrememly forward to next year's "Watchmen" (to which we get the trailer before TDK) which should be the best thriller of NEXT year. Not once during this movie do you think "Well this is just silly", it's just too damn fun and interesting, not to mention the constant distraction of your brain asking yourself "What would YOU do in this situation, smart guy"?

Dark Knight isn't as action-packed as some reviews might make you believe (one review I read said 'constant action from start to finish', and there wasn't) but there is plenty enough of it during the 2.5 hour story. There's just so much else going on that you don't need it, nor miss it. The plotline is almost that of Die Hard: With a Vengeance, with everyone on their toes wondering what the next problem is going to be. Though unlike Die Hard, there is no secondary distraction here, The Joker simply wants to watch the city squirm. But then the story changes, then it changes again until you have no idea who's going to do what.

Batman/Bruce Wayne is portrayed more human in this film than I think I've ever seen Batman handled (and I've been reading comics for 15 years). Though he never questions his mission, he questions the methods through which he may have to go by to get the job done.

Harvey Dent is The White Knight of Gotham, giving Bruce hope that Batman may no longer be necessary with such a good man as district attorney. Harvey is truly likeable and is a Batman of the real world in the truest sense of Bruce's definition. He can do legally (and in broad daylight, no less) what Batman can't.

This movie features The Joker how he should be done, completely unpredictable but always with an underlying motive while seemingly having no idea he's doing any of it. He's insane but gets more done in a day than anyone.

Minor characters are well used in this film, Lucious Fox and Alfred Pennyworth are always a treat but we see a wide range of people in the Gotham Police Department as well (yet another possible nod to "Gotham Central", an award winning comic series surrounding the Gotham Police Force working in a city with Batman making them look bad). Everyone has a role to play and as the story unfolds, it's amazing how everything goes like clockwork in this intricate tale. There are definitely a few moments where it could have used an extra pause to let the emotion of the scene sink in but there was always something else to get to.

The Dark Knight is the best thriller of the year as much as Iron Man is the best Action/Adventure of the year. I wouldn't be surprised to see The Dark Knight reign supreme at next year's Oscars as one of the nominees for Best Picture. It's a brilliantly told story that speaks to our core motivations as human beings performed by great actors who wear white face paint and a bat costume as if they were jeans and t-shirts.