Review of "The Dark Knight"

When the credits roll and we see that the film is dedicated to Ledger, it's beyond upsetting, it's infuriating. He was arguably the greatest actor of my generation, and in a film about corruption, the greatest crime is that its star won't be alive to see his masterwork received by the world.

You will be shocked. Several times.

Characters appear that you thought were gone. (From the first film, even.) People will die that you can't believe are dead. (Some of whom ... aren't?) And some of the stunts, explosions, and scares (there are a few, be warned) will make your jaw drop and your buns hop out of your seat. And if you haven't been spoiled yet on the design of Two Face .... eesh. Be prepared. I'm actually a bit surprised that such a dark, violent and thoroughly adult film didn't get slapped with an R.

If you have an IMAX near you, you MUST see it there.

This is a movie about a city. And in that respect seeing it in IMAX (whose aspect ratio is taller than it is wide) is incredibly appropriate. I got vertigo from several shots, and overall found the experience to be perfect. And coming from a guy who looooves his widescreen, this is something.

Watch out for some great cameos.

From Anthony Michael Hall in a bit part as a newscaster (?!) to William Fichtner as a bank manager, the movie is filled with faces and characters you'll recognize (including the welcome return of Cillian Murphy as The Scarecrow, albeit briefly). And notice the rather brilliant casting of Nestor Carbonell (who of course played Batman knockoff Batmanuel in The Tick) as The Mayor. Also, comics fans will notice the seeds planted of several other storylines and characters from different series. Whether any of them will return in the sequel we won't know for a while.

Christian Bale fans beware: He steps back.

Yes, after blowing us all away in Batman Begins, Christian Bale does the gentlemanly thing this time around and takes a step back. He actually probably gets less screentime than Ledger, and possibly even Eckhart as well. This isn't a huge character-building story for Batman or Wayne (he gets a little, mostly involving Rachel Dawes, but not much), so he is there mostly to chase the bad guys. It's honorable for Bale to allow "his" franchise to put him on the back burner for an installment, and it really does serve the film well. But those of you who were expecting another buffet of shirtless Bale, you may be disappointed. (Okay, he is shirtless once and daaaaamn he still looks good.)

And since we're on the subject, here's the only really spoilery bit of the whole review (which I'm putting out there for folks catching early screenings who want to discuss), so if you don't want to know the fates of a few of the characters, DO NOT CLICK THROUGH TO PAGE 3. Also, if you have seen the film and want to discuss spoilery items in the comments, please be polite and do not spoil anything in your comment subject lines.