In a city smothered in crime and injustice, there can only be one hero to protect Gotham from itself.
Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart) is Gotham's white knight. He is strong and fair -- the best defense attorney Gotham has ever had. He also happens to be dating the lovely Rachel Dawes (Maggie Gyllenhaal, replacing Katie Holmes) who is billionaire Bruce Wayne's ex-girlfriend.
No doubt, Wayne (Christian Bale) is jealous, but he has no time for petty emotions in his line of work. Since becoming Batman, he's been busy fighting crime and corruption in Gotham.
On the opposite end of the spectrum from Dent, there is a terrible villain lurking the dark streets of Gotham. The mob and the crime lords think him to be a joke. But that's just it -- he's not A joke, he's THE joke.
Joker (Heath Ledger) is his name and making mayhem is his game. Joker makes bizarre jokes, kills, steals and blows things up. He does this not because he's crazy but because he wants nothing but pure chaos.
As Batman and Joker face off, it's the ultimate battle between good and evil. The question is: who will win?
And what of Harvey Dent? Will he become a villain like those he sought to put in jail?
"The Dark Knight" is by far the best DC Comics movie ever made. It is much better than "Batman Begins," although that was good, too. "The Dark Knight" has everything a comic book movie needs: action, danger, comedy and romance.
The only part of the film that I found to be a little cheesy was Joker's origin.
In the comic, Joker's real name is unknown, but he was originally a thief called The Red Hood. In Justice #12, it states that The Red Hood, "fell into a vat of waste chemicals in a playing card factory." It goes on to say that Joker pretends to be insane so he can go back to Arkham Asylum rather than go to jail like he's supposed to. Clearly Joker is not crazy.
In Tim Burton's "Batman," Joker's real name was Jack Napier and like the comic, he fell into some chemicals. The reason given for his crazy smile was that the chemicals severed the nerves in his face.
In "The Dark Knight," director Christopher Nolan doesn't offer much about Joker's background. He does, though, give yet another reason -- which I won't spoil here -- about how Joker got his crazy smile.
Despite the fact that Joker's origin wasn't mentioned, I loved the film.
Heath Ledger does an amazing job portraying Joker. He's got a maniacal laugh, and it's clear that he really threw himself into the character. Although this is Ledger's last completed film, I believe it is his best film.
No offense to Jack Nicholson but Heath Ledger is the better Joker. Ledger's Joker is serious yet sarcastic, whereas Nicholson's Joker was just plain silly.
In one scene, where Joker is showing the mob how to make a pencil disappear, the expression on Joker's face is so wild and wicked yet remarkable at the same time. (That's one of my favorite scenes, but be warned, it's a little gruesome.)
"The Dark Knight" is a great movie not just for fan boys and girls, but for anyone who likes good movies. It will definitely "put a smile on your face" as well as leave you on the edge of your seat.