This super hero movie is a rare film that drills deep inside the character and the script more than the action. It may be boring to a few people who despise waiting for 2 hrs; However I promise you, Heath Ledger will keep you amazed the whole time. Ultimately, Christopher Nolan's "The Dark Knight" is a masterpiece, a film that doesn't just show off the visuals and action, but understands what deep pains and afflictions a superhero suffers.… Expand

You want action?! You got it!! You want a 185 million dollar movie that is perfect?! You got it!! You want the best f***ing batman movie ever?!?! YOU GOT IT!!!!!!!! It's just heaven for Batman and Cinema buffs alike. Hollywood should learn their lesson about making constant crap comic book movies. DC and MARVEL are the two big competitors while Dark Horse just sits quietly in the background and makes only a handful of movies that include the Mask, Sin City and the Goon which is yet to come out.
DC has finally made a masterful super hero movie again.

In an era where superhero movies unfortunately rule everything in the movie industry this is the golden light of the genre. Heath Ledger's performance made the movie for real. Without him it would still be great but not perfect. That's how important he is.

MARVEL should learn from DC's masterpiece and not make another like MARVEL's Wolverine Origins. I hated that movie. The Dark Knight is a golden movie that nobody should miss out on. simple as that.… Expand

Agree with Ty Burr, Boston Globe: "Ten tons of expressionist murk... Dirty Harry crossed with Hamlet." They tried too hard, lost all depth of plot and texture. Just because a movie is "disturbing" does *not* make it "art." "...Begins" was much better.

Inept political thriller dished up as a Batman movie, lacking in imagination and a decent story. Ledger's Joker was the only praiseworthy element but even so, nothing spectacular. If the poor guy hadn't had died this movie would not have been so insanely overhyped.

I love this movie! Definitely the best Batman movie ever! Heath Ledger really deserved his Oscar for Best Supporting Actor. This is a movie I will remember for decades!

Everything about this movie wins, the actors, the plot, the action-sequences, the soundtrack, and every other factor that i've regrettably decided to leave out to keep this review brief. It's really surprising considering that every other DC film for the past few decades (Batman Begins being the obvious exception) has been quite the **** but from start to finish, the Dark Knight will have you glued to your screen, a must watch for anyone with a soul, and even more so for fans of Heath Ledger, the best actor ever :D… Expand

I have to agree with Karen. For me the best scenes were those that involved dialog. Movie strated very well, but just seemed to get more and more silly. Silly to the point where the story was not relevent anymore. A major disapointment as far as I was concerned

Stupid Idiotic movie of the worst kind Jumbled plot, meaningless violence and sadistic We have hit real low for so many critics to give such high marks

Yes I admit Heath Ledger turned in a very impressive performance. Christian Bale was also good and there was some excellent technology and special effects. Drawbacks were the combination of it being generally a downer combined with being too long. A hero is someone you're willing to watch go through all kinds of hell as long as he is triumphant in the end. It is depressing that he has to sacrifice virtually everything including nearly his life, catches the bad guy, and yet still ends up persecuted in the end by an annoyingly over-righteous mindset. The chemistry with Maggie Gyllenhall is non-existent compared to Katie and she remains also irritatingly righteous where again, Batman seems to sacrifice absolutely everything in order to help people and yet it is still not good enough for her. Maggie also is simply not attractive enough for this role. As a comparison, when you walk out of Ironman, you feel good, when you walk out of Dark Night, you feel depressed.… Expand

Overlong, disjointed, with a convoluted plot and a good helping of silliness and hype. Completely devoid of any charm, unlike Burton's Batman, or even Nolan's previous effort. No likable characters, apart from Oldman's perhaps. Bale now seems bored of the role. Freeman is still doing his 'Q' bit and I'm still getting used to Michael '..blow the the bloody doors off' Caine playing Alfred. Granted, Heath did very well. Batman and the Joker, due to their own reasons, pose no real threat to each other. Dent's U-turn from good to bad was laughable and the movie ends with a muddled moralistic pompous message that fails to truly uplift. TDK might still be riding on the crest of a wave of popularity and hype ( due mainly to one guys performance and untimely death) but I have a feeling the years will not be kind to this movie.… Expand

The Dark Knight is an entertaining movie that definitely does the comic book character, Batman, justice. The movie keeps its dark, realistic tone from the previous Batman movie, Batman begins rather than the campy and light-hearted look of Batman and Robin. The plot was interesting and gripping, wasn't plagued by too many boring scenes and the story runs at a suitable pace. It continues on from Batman Begins as the vigilante known as Batman continues to fight crime in Gotham City. Now I wouldn't have thought that the movie would be too long or not as long as Batman Begins because of no need to explain how Bruce Wayne became Batman but I obviously thought wrong. It's a long movie, maybe too long but at least it's a good movie to sit through rather than a pain numbing boring one. It's a typical superhero action movie with a dastardly villain causing chaos and killing innocent people. This villain in the movie is none other than the Joker. The Joker is played brilliantly by the late Heath Ledger. He nailed the Jokers personality with the way he acts and that make up he wears is freaky! He's a psychopath and a dangerous person but comes across in some scenes like the "Magic Trick" scene where he slams some goon's forehead (or eyeball?) into a pencil and makes it disappear - just like the Joker said he would do - as somewhat funny. I like when he's dead polite in the "Party" when he greets the party guests and wielding a shotgun and helps himself to a glass of wine (or some alcoholic liquid), picks it up, accidently tosses the wine out of the glass and drinks from it anyway! It's no Matrix in terms of it's fight scenes but they are good and well edited (unlike the last Batman film where most of the fight scenes were shot in extreme close up). The action scenes like the chase scene where the Joker is trying to chase down the truck transporting "Batman" was exciting to watch. The other villain, Two-Face is introduced pretty quickly and at least doesn't take too much time out of the running time of the film. The visual effects on Two-Face are authentic and make him seem more threatening. I noticed when seeing this film, there's 2 scenes that reference 2 scenes from the 1989 Batman and it was great that director Christopher Nolan referenced those 2 scenes in this movie. The Batcycle is cool and the Batsuit that Batman wears matches the dark stylish look of the movie. The music is dramatic and suits the film and sounded more epic in the cinema than at home. I know he talked like this in Batman Begins but why does Bruce Wayne as Batman, have to talk in a dull, broken and grouchy voice? Yes I know he's doing it to conceal his identity, but in the 1989 Batman movie, Bruce Wayne talked in the same tone while he was Batman rather than a different voice. Also one scene, which may seem epic, is very bright and may cause seizures! This is just a short review of a movie that I really enjoyed and I consider it to be one of the best if not the best superhero movie I've seen.… Expand

The Dark Knight is hands down the best written, scripted and acted superhero movie of all time. The dialogue fizzes at all times, the character exchanges are more exciting than gunfire and there is a genuinely interesting psychological study at the root of it all. What does keep it shy of perfection, though, is the lack of a truly exciting action scene. The whole bat-bike / flipping truck scene comes close but ultimately when in combat, this Batman is a bit paint by numbers. Not that it hurts the movie too much because to paraphrase the Joker; "You didn't really think I'd leave the fate of Gotham's soul up to a fistfight, did you?"… Expand

As perfect as a film gets you will only see a select few better then it. Nolan remains one of the best directors of all time ranking with scorcesse and a few others.

The Dark Knight is among the deepest superhero films ever created. The thing that made it better was the villain The Joker, who helped make the film darker than Batman Begins.

With 'The Dark Knight', the super hero genre reached a new milestone: a superhero film that is topical and gritty beyond belief. It's the first Oscar caliber Super Hero film; a crime thriller masquerading under the guise of 'Batman', an acting powerhouse for its ensemble cast, an astounding action film and finally, a psychological drama, investigating the psyche of its characters. Heath Ledger, in his last 'complete role', created the Joker as one of the most frightening character in the history of cinema, and this is a PG-13 film! Christian Bale also cemented himself as the best of all the 'Batmen' in the last two decades. But the real star is director Christopher Nolan himself, who has cemented himself as the auteur of this generation. The Dark Knight: one of my top 10 favorite films of all time.… Expand

Seriously, the most legendary movie I have ever watched in my life. Characters, atmosphere, dialogs, music, action, depth... Everything is perfect! Thank you Christopher Nolan, for giving us this epic trilogy.

Ledger was amazing... easily the part of The Dark Knight. However, the film was unnecessarily convoluted, lacked any substantial depth, and could quickly devolve into cheap Hollywood banality. People are losing their shit over this movie, and trust me when I say I really wanted to like it, but i just ended up being extremely disappointed.

Some swell special effects . . . but I wonder, do you have to be a comic book aficionado to buy into the whole "superhero as tortured neurotic incompetent" bit? I thought "Iron Man" was a lot more satisfying.

Heath Ledger was fabulous as you couldn't take your eyes off of him. He is much deserving of an OSCAR. But what this had to do with the fun that is Batman is what takes this movie down for me. Everytime Batman appeared it ruined what otherwise was a very serious dark movie. I don't know if I was alone but that is the way I felt. If the Batman character was removed from the film I may have given this a ten.… Expand

Over the top story, acting, action, runtime, characters, and critical acclaim. The only aspect of this movie Not OTT was Batman. Who was underplayed, had a silly voice, and didnt seem to be in the movie that much.

This movie is a mix of utterly serious themes mixed with a bunch of silliness. One minute an 18-wheeler is racing down city streets taking corners at 50 miles an hour in a manner 18-wheelers just don't do, and the next someone is brooding on some deep subject. The seriousness ruins the fun factor of the movie, and the fun stuff makes the serious seem bathetic.

The Dark Knight makes no sense, the scenes go by so rapidly and with so little connection to the next frame that you're often wondering what the heck you just watched or why something happened. The movie is terribly convoluted, lasting 2 hours and 26 minutes. It could havbe actually ended at around 1 hour and 20 minutes and the audience would have been perfectly satisfied and the rest could have been made into another movie. Instead, they rinse and repeat for another hour. There are a whole bunch of gizmos and gadgets that were just thrown in there to look gadgety, they add absolutely nothing to the movie. Why is there such a discrepancy between the technology Batman uses and the technology the police use? If Batman loves to fight crime, why doesn't he increase the survival chance of the average cop or give them a pay raise so they're less inclined to corruption? Heck, why doesn't he feed the poor so they won't have to steal? There is barely any Batman and when there is, we get poorly choreographed fights with people that have such unbelievable poor aim you do not consider them evil at all since they rarely hit anything and we never really see 'm commit any crimes either. Mostly they just sit around talk about how they're going to take over the city. Last time I checked, this is not a crime. Batman's accent is horrible, it's as if though they were trying to raise awareness for throat cancer victims. It's not mysterious, it's not dark it's just ridiculous. If anyone were to talk like that while dressed in a giant costume you wouldn't be able to take them seriously no matter how hard you tried. I also think the butler is far too haugty, I recall him to be very servile and humble.I've never been a big fan of Batman, the idea of a rich industrialist going after "criminals" is just a completely unrealistic yuppie fantasie but I'm open for a good interpretation of some old comic if delivered right. This is not a good interpretation, I'd rather watch the 70's cartoons. The acting is semi-decent, I'm not too impressed by the Joker. he seems pretty meek for a villain. He also seems more human than the rest of the cast. That's a mistake for a movie that's about good and evil from a 50's point of view. And what's with these annoying women playing the love interests? Maybe they should have made Batman pair up with a really queer yet loyal construction worker that likes to run around in a furry suit instead of a woman that likes to run with the hare and hunt with the hounds. You know, actually gives us a character we can laugh about instead of make us run out of nails to bite. Or maybe America just has a thing for unloyal, undecisive annoying women on the silver-screen? Same went for Spiderman. Great movies, just couldn't stand the female lead because of her inability to actually stand behind her man or make a choice. Sure it's all in the script but somehow these women play the part perfectly, they all have the same annoying look on their face when they deliver the same old lines. The batmobile wasn't very iconic either, it looked like something Mad-Max'ish and seemed out of place. I'm pretty sure Batman is breaking a few laws driving around with a mobile razor-blade! I'd hate to be stuck with a vigilante that believes the police force is incapable of handling crime yet delivers the criminals into their hands each and every time. Batman, unlike The Punisher, isn't timeless and it shows. Horrible movie, given the hype I expected way more.… Expand

Awful editing, trite and implausible storytelling, cartoonish characters, annoying Batman voice, to many eye-rolling moments, nerve-grating Joker lip-licking (to mock Tom Arnold??), too jumbled film-making, kowtowing to the whims of fanboys all equal a zero from this moviegoer who is grateful he didn't have to pay to see it.

Movie was too long, and got kind of stale in the end....Kept wanting to kill myself every time I heard Batman's voice. Also if he would have killed Joker in the beginning he could have saved like 50 people. Batman lets his own personal heroics get in the way of saving people.

Mediocre at best, if you want a great movie.... see Iron Man, or Wanted.... There has been way too much hype over this movie, and I think a lot has to do with the untimely death of Heath Ledger ..who steals the movie and is a sure Oscar winner with his performance.

A numbing movie. Why is everyone on the Ledger bandwagon? Yes, it was an enjoyable performance. But keep in mind how juicy the role was and that any number of actors could have given equally enjoyable performances.

Plodding and hamfisted. Terrible script. Good ideas, but ruined by having every thematic idea telegraphed over and over (and over and over and over...) in the least subtle way possible. Basically, it was like having anvils labeled "important moral allegory" thrown at your head every five minutes for three hours. That, and it occurred to me that Gotham wouldn't need Batman so much if the Gotham cops weren't so blindingly stupid. I mean come on--while transporting Dent one of the cops practically says "This looks like a trap. Let's walk right in to it."… Expand

I thought this movie was over-hyped, over-(and under)acted and just plain long. While the Joker character was well acted by Ledger (Oscar worthy for sure), Christian Bale fell short of making me believe that Batman was more than a mumbling, monotone, disconnected Houdini wanna-be.

Was not impressed by the Bat-mobile. Was not impressed by the Transformer-like Bat-mobile turned Bat-cycle. Was not impressed at all. A mostly wasted 3 hours of my life that could have been better spent picking my nose.… Expand

A sadly average movie that is grossly overrated. While many performances are great (despite the much talked about performance of Heath Ledger, Freeman, Caine, and Oldman give equally good performances) and some truly breathtaking moments (a bound to be much repeated opening shot that slowly zooms in over the skyline), the movie is killed by it's length, overly-convoluted plot and lack of any real character development. More depressing still are the flat performances of Christian Bale, Aaron Eckhart and Maggie Gyllenhaal, all of whom are too stiff and bland to really care about. A number of smaller problems (a stupidly overdone batsuit, a two-face subplot that doesn't go anywhere, and Bruce Wayne coming off as far too whiny) all bring down the film. Which is a true shame as the movie shows real potential in a lot of areas. However, the film starts strong and ends up going nowhere for far too long.… Expand

Confused & too long.

The IMAX format is spectacular. Too bad I can't say the same for the film itself.

i presume those who keep scoring "10" are teens? such an opportunity gone begging to flesh out the Joker. They could have focused on his childhood, the factors which drove him to the edge and gave Heath a meatier role that could have gone down in history. Instead we had a 150 min movie, brlliantly produced , but lacked characters with emotional depth. Mr Ledger is capable of so much better. Scintillating stuff for the xbox 360 crowd.… Expand

Way too violent and long. Much ado about nothing.

Wow.... people were walking out of the cinema i saw this in and it's understandable. The joker is great...but the film is so badly plotted it's amazing. The entire Harvey Dent character should have been edited out as it was not well executed and the story arc round Dent was weakly scripted. we don't believe him... The joker has been used as a cenematic 'device' by Nolan. He is a cypher. He turns up as required, in any situation... we never understand how he gets there, how he commandeers a skyscraper, or enters the impenetrable apartment of Batman... The film degenerates in the last 40 mins completely. Once the only character you care for is dead the film just keeps going. I thjought it finished at least three times, only to groan when it started again. Indulgent, flat.. and uninteresting... I think the crtic's reviews are shrouded with the death of ledger and no one wants to admit the films a barker....wooof....the dog of summer.… Expand

This was a very tough movie to grade. The bottom line is this is not the cartoon BATMAN. Instead under the guise of the Batman character we have a very dark psychological socialpath slasher movie. How this movie was given a PG 13 rating is beyond me? Any parent considering taking their child to see this thinking they are going to see the old POW BAM ZAP Batman is in for a great surprise. Heath Ledger as The JOKER is demented and belongs in a rubber room. Hanibal Lechter should come to mind because that is how disturbed his character is. IF you remember the knife scene from Saving Private Ryan well be prepared to be subjected to two grueling hours of this blood and mayhem. This is a violent sick disturberd movie masquerading under a cartoon character to make all of you go ga ga. P T Barnum once said a sucker is born every minute. Well as I said this is not a cartoon character and 15 minutes into the film you will be sitting on the edge of your seat. The violence is non stop and at one point it becomes overbearing. But when you see children in harms way and the constant disregard for human life with terroristic attacks well that is taking it to the limit. If they had made this movie under a different name with no connection to the cartoon character at least the audience would be prepared for what they are about to see. Heath Ledger is simply brilliant and will definitely win an OSCAR for his portrayal of the manical JOKER. But to say this is BATMAN is totally unfair. DARK is definitely appropriate for the makeup of this film. Not my cup of tea. Do NOT take any children to see this.… Expand

Batman Begins was terrible, and Bale brings his same I'm-so-cool "acting" into this one. I miss Michael Keaton.

Bullshit. No one would waste that much money to fight crime. So many things destroyed. How could anyone tolerate such loses. This is the real reason why I think Batman wanted to quit. It had nothing to do with remaining hidden. The story is flawed.

What happened to the Batman character as he appeared to be 3rd string in this very dark homicidal tribute to Heath Ledger AKA The Joker. No one cared about Batman as Heath Ledger was so perverted that all eyes were rivited on him. This movie is NOT appropriate for young children. Very little humor and way too much violence for my taste.

Sadistic, gratuitous violence and a rehash of borrowed ideas with no plot, horrible dialogue and worse acting. Ledger played a psycho well but his voice sounded like Al Franken, made me giggle, and made it impossible for me to get into his actions. An absolutely horrible waste of time.

The movie had a lot of action and very creative in the way that batman used his bag of tricks. But things just didn't make sense. The joker was all powerful and he did things and things were done as if he could do magic. It was very frustrating to watch when things didn't make sense. I expected a lot more. Iron man was a lot better.

Typical summer action movie with lots of blam blam punctuated by bits of sadism. Thirty minutes too long. I was bored by the end. A friend actually fell asleep. Had they cut it shorter, it would have actually been a better, more interesting movie. But, in true Hollywood fashion, they had to connect all the dots for us hapless movie goers. Ledger's portrayal of the Joker was top notch and the highlight of the movie. Rachel was not up to the part. There were some interesting moments but the end was one long slog. Wait for it on cable.… Expand

What a snoozefest. Though not as bad as its prequel, this film really had nothing interesting enough to require this run time. A poor script was helped along by some decent acting but really the film is nothing special.

Under normal circumstances this movie might get a two or three, but given all the bloated praise it's gotten elsewhere I think the zero is warranted. It's way too long, way too self-serious, and often makes little sense. My girlfriend and I were close to walking out because by the end we were exhausted by all the explosions, heavy-handed dialogue and thudding, stupid music. Batman Begins was fun, but this is just a loud, pretentious bore.… Expand

How can people like such NON sense!?! This movie is one big joke! The plot is so complex to the point where it doesn't make sense. And why does Wayne's voice suddenly go deep when he wears his batman outfit? A violent movie for grown up children is what this movie really is.

too many stunts, too much unnecessary violence and too much unbelievable scenes. reflects a huger society on violence and revenge. other than that, a good movie for a raged teenager that loves violent videogames

This movie was nothing more than another Hollywood action flick, completely void of depth, character development, or a remotely interesting story. If you're a mindless ape who enjoys action and Stalone and all that then you will adore it. If you're a pretentious 20 year old who reads nothing but comic books and doesn't know a thing about films beside Hollywood mockery then you wil love it. And for those of you who stick up your noses and say "you just didn't get it", there is nothing to get, watch a film by Tarkovsky and maybe you will understand what depth and art put to film actually is. ANd if yuo're saying it is the best film of 2008 when all you have watched are pathetic American Hollywood films then just keep quiet.… Expand

Dour, self important, bloated, overly long and pretentious film. The pseudo philosophical posturing of the joker was obnoxious and unnecessary. Instead of leaving the audience to ponder the difference between good and evil, if there is such a thing the creators feel the need to spell it our in stilted dialogue hamtastically delivered by all but the character of Alfred.

The first movie was so good I found this story to be lame contrived, I feel too much credit is given to Heath for his portrayal of the Joker, couple of great moments, and a few cool weapons or gizmos other then that lame. I feel they should have created a new story around a villain that hadn't been used before, hard to beat Jack's version of Joker.

I wanted to like this movie because of its high scores both by critics and users, but I found it to be very confusing and extremely hard to follow. The effects were spectacular, the acting nicely done, but the plot was a complete mishmash.

this movie was too long. mightv been better if it was about 1/2 the time. also it takes itself too seriously for a movie based off a comic book and after the first half you begin to wonder why you bother with the movie and its constant undramatic "twists"

Dark Knight ruined Batman - series should have never been written. DC should be ashamed!

So long.. so very long

I'm baffled by all the superlatives being showered on this film. I'm a huge fan of Nolan, Bale, Caine, Oldman, Gyllenhaal but really, this film was competely uninvolving. Bruce/Batman was given short shrift in this screenplay, it's the wonderful Christian Bale who breathes soul into every miniscule oppurtunity he is given. There is no back story, no fleshing out of any character except Harvey Dent. The film starts as if we've caught it in mid-low. And honestly, this hype over Ledger's performance is too inflated. For me, Tim Burton's Penguin is the greatest villain in the Batman series - evil, tragic, repelling and attracting at the same time. Jack Nicholson's Joker could have done with an editing job, but my goodness, the portrayal itself was one of brilliance and insane originality. Ledger was an actor of great promise, but the praise over his Joker seems out of perspective & proportion. This edition of Batman was a case of overkill, OD'ing on the dark element (not a single touch of genuine wit), over-indulging on the philosophizing and the explosions/mayhem. All in all, a superhero film that takes itself too seriously. It's tragic that some of the finest young directors ( Bryan Singer, etc.) are frittering their prime years away on superhero franschises. Christopher Nolan, please come out of your Bat Cave black hole and give us something worthwhile to watch, again.… Expand

Too long, too muddled, too rushed. It felt like there was enough material for 3 films. While in the Batman suit Bale speaks like McGruff the crime dog. While this is by far the best of the franchise, that's really not enough. Accolades like "best comic movie ever" don't really cut it because comic book movies haven't set the bar very high to begin with. The two face plot wasn't flushed out enough. Good job by Ledger though.… Expand

I was the victim of the marketing campain. I payed 9 euros and left at the half of the movie dissapointed. Ledger performance looks good but probably overrated by his premature death. This movie, like many other hollywoodian productions is nothing else than a capitalist excentricity with no artistic and cinematical value.

Batman Begins was excellent, but what happened to the characters? This movie is one over the top dramatic moment after another...and wow, 2 1/2 hours? I was looking at my watch after an hour. Seems like all these directors of superhero movies try to pump up the volume in their sequels--and they lose their heart and humanity. There was no drama and suspense--all big surprises. Heath Ledger is excellent, but he was the only one with any decent lines. This was an overblown mess and a big disappointment.… Expand

Gotham is portrayed as a town full of sheep who can only be saved by some fearless leader in whom they all have to believe in the same way that Germans believed in der Fuhrer. There is no community, just huddled masses yearning to be saved. And who will save them? Maybe the District Attorney, by prosecuting criminals? But no, he can't prevail against the evil Joker, so it has to be a super-wealthy guy who is the head of a massive weapons manufacturing company, and who moonlights as a gadget-driven crime fighter. He also apparently holds the purse strings to the D.A. guy (and the film has no problem with that), so let's face it, folks, Mr. Super Wealthy holds the fate of the city in his heavily-armored hands. To justify this monster, we need a greater monster, just like Cheney needs bin Laden. That's where the Joker comes in. Mr. Super Wealthy even develops a system for spying on every single square inch of space within the entire city, all justified by Mr. Joker, since he's so very, very bad. In short, this film should be offensive to anyone who believes in our Constitution's Bill of Rights. As for the drama, the plot is full of holes you could drive a Batmobile through, which the film does again and again, filling plot problems with gadgetry as needed, which is all of the time. I saw this on an IMAX screen and the aerial city views were fantastic; hence the 1 point in my rating. And Heath Ledger was very good at portraying a psychotic criminal, but unfortunately having a character with completely insane behavior tends to liberate the plot from sensible constraints, and so "what happens next" trumps "why did it happen" just about every time. My view seems to be in the minority, but if you saw this and liked it, after reading this, please ask yourself why. One more thing: Quite apart from its politics, I honestly thought that it was a bore.… Expand

Pure bilge. All the talk about this being the darkest Batman film is pure nonsense: Batman never deviates from his task or even tries to kill the joker (as he did with a kamikaze batwing attack in Burton's film). I'm not going to bother commenting on the rest but suffice to say it's confused, pretentious and self-important when it's really about as deep as something written by a barely-literate 15-year-old. I can see the lad right now, his dedication to his art total as he writes countless pages of description for each and every explosion. Watching the action sequences is about as exhausting as reading such descriptions. I disagree that Ledger was masterful as the Joker: how can somebody whose only background is made up of a handful of simple lies be even considered as a character? All the joker is is a plot device to string all of the scenes together: a bit like a tireless football player playing keepie uppies for the film's entire duration: about two hours too long. Absolute tripe, only Quantum of Solace makes this look good. I'd give that a zero too, but wouldn't waste my time saying why!… Expand

All right, I wasn't going to say anything because this is the internet. But all the morons here saying this film is "art" or the closest movies will ever get to art- how dare you? How could you say something so ignorant when you haven't bothered to study anything about films? Try watching films by Ingmar Bergman like Winter Light. Watch films by Andrei Tarkovsky like Andrei Rublev and Mirror. Watch Ozu films like Late Spring and Floating Weeds. I don't care if you loved the movie or whatever- I personally thought the film was hollow, worthless, and nothing new. But don't you dare say this is the highest the art form has to offer- it's barely a step above the lowest.… Expand

This movie was lame. Too long, too many anti-climactic action scense, fight choreography sucked, Maggie G was insufferable, Robert Downy Jr would have made a better bruce wayne than Bale, way too many stupid plot twists. Nolan tried way too hard, and apart from Ledger, the rest of the actors weren't believable. Heath's performance was the only shining aspect of this film. I don't think he was better than jack nicholson, but a great interpretation of the joker nonetheless. Lastly, ledger's death without a doubt inflated the success of the film, and if he hadn't died i don't believe it would be the 2nd highest grossing movie of all time, or anywhere near it. Overall it was dissapointing, way below my expectations.… Expand

Cut batman out and youve still got a mediocre story, and movie. Although full of a-listers like ledger, bale, and eckhart, its still unappealing. The acting was great, but, limited, the strongest performences came from eckhart and leger, bale is overrated as an actor.

Quite possibly the most overrated Hollywood film since Titanic. Convoluted and overwrought with dry performances, unnecessary subplots, and derivative action sequences. Ledger gives a compelling performance in what is otherwise a vacuous film. I respect Christopher Nolan, but he needs to ask Jon Favreau how to make a superhero film.

The makers of this film bought themselves a terrific toolbox but they didn't build much of anything. Well actually they made a very big, noisy, philosophically pompous, bore. It runs awfully long, too, as if trying to make up for its lack of satisfying content by giving a second and third helping, as the crash-em-up episodes just keep on coming. Please, no more of this batty-man. The myth has been over-explored and wrung out. Maybe it's time for an updated version of the campy interpretation many of us howled at 40 years ago.… Expand

Bored me to death. Pretentious and humorless. Batman's irritatingly raspy voice and his stiff costume efficiently erased the whatever nuances Christian Bale wanted to convey. Heath Ledger was good but I wouldn't go so far as to give him an Oscar nomination in this. Better that people should give much more notice to Gary Oldman who imbued his character with a quiet strength I found totally captivating and believable. The plot was predictable in many parts and hardly original. This movie takes itself way too seriously. What we have here is a tempest in a teacup. Greatest comicbook movie ever made? Hahahahaha!… Expand

There is an absolute lack of realism, not in relation to the superhero whom is allowed a pass in this aspect, but in the makeup of the plot in relation to the cops and technology of the movie. The scene with the magical cell phone technology that can somehow make any cell phone in Gotham create a ridiculous 3-d video image around it is the epitomy of the stupidity. Joker was faboulous but not enough to warrant my nine dollars and the hype.… Expand

A great acting job (heath ledger) does not make up for a terrible plot. no climax or depth to the storyline, made it impossible to have any attachment or regard for the outcome of any particular character. even with nearly 3 hour length, the movie couldn't go in depth in to any of the scenes and just strung together random high speed bursts of action one after another that still somehow failed to captivate.… Expand

Gotta go against the grain here. Great performances, including one that should get Heath Ledger nominated for a posthumous Oscar, but in the end, you have to ask what was the point? I initially thought they had to reconstruct and reedit after Ledger's death because that's the way the plot came out: jumbled and disjointed. It seemed to come close to making a point a few times, then just skittered away from it. OK, yes, it was striving to be something more than a superhero story, but it fell so far short of Batman Begins that it devolved into a paean to violence; in that flick, violence served to advance the plot while here it seemed to be inserted (liberally) for its own sake. While it was bloodless, you understood that the Joker was doing a fair amount of slashing off-screen, and there seemed no point in showing a fabricated genesis of Two-face when he lasts about 20 on-screen minutes before going the way of all flesh. My stomach is still in knots the way it was after, say, Aliens, but this was less of a roller-coaster ride and more of a cheap carnival funhouse trip. My one thought is that perhaps, like Peter Jackson's version of The Two Towers, it will all make a lot more sense once the DVD comes out if it has 40 minutes of deleted footage, but the film left me with such a bad taste in my mouth from the abysmal plotting and excessive violence that it's not something I plan to go out of my way to find out.… Expand

Heath Ledger is amazing, but the movie is a dark, nasty mess with a gaping hole in the middle where a hero should be. Feels like it's 4 hours long.

This movie sucked such terrific ass that I just almost can't believe I sat through the whole epic length thing. I learned early on that I couldn't get too wrapped up in any of the characters due to the idiotic way people kept turning into caricatures of themselves. Usually I'm not a violent person, but I kept wishing people would just die and stay dead. Batman made you like him even less by speaking in a strange he-man voice that no actual person would ever use for any reason whatsoever. By the last time the hoary-voiced dark avenger fell, I hoped he would stay dead so I could just get the f*ck out of there.… Expand

I like Batman. I like Christopher Nolan. I like Christian Bale. I like comic book film adaptations, by and large. So why didn't I like this movie? 1. Way too long. 2. Some really pointless sub-plots and over-egged supporting characters. 3. too many tedious and unexciting action sequences. 4. In short, it suffered from the same syndrome as Spider-Man 3 and X-men 3 - yet another puffed up sequel based on a promising beginning. Of course there are some good bits… Expand

i didnt get the hype behind this film . i know alot of people who liked it but i guess im not one of them . im almost wondering if it was because it was heath ledgers last preformance befor he died . well i guess for one im not a huge batman fan to begin with . well lets move on the critics where right though on heath ledger giving a great preformance as the joker i thought it would be really tough to top jack nicholsons version of the joker but he did a great job . im not saying that eather cause he kicked off he did actaully do it well. thats about really the only plus of the film that and the over all plot of how evil people can just light the world on fire and wach it burn and not care about any thing els wasnt bad eather . the main problems i have with this film are baal himself as batman . should i be laughing every time he talks as batman? well i am his low sounding raspy voice for batman just seems over the top and rediculas . i just kept laughing every time he opend his mouth . the film is also way to long like 2 hrs 45 min or some thing like that . it could have been easily cut to just under 2 hours. bringing in 2 face at the end i thought was just pointless for such a small roll and then end it the way they did . this film really wasnt bad but not nearly enjoyable enough for me to ever want to see it ever again or its sequels.… Expand

The best superhero movie. EVER.

I had a lot of expectations when I went to see this film. Batman Begins was so promising because it started on a darker and more realistic tone. The Dark Knight exceeds all expectations. It is darker, scarier, and a bigger ride.The old Batman movies and TV series were more joyful whereas the comic books themselves were more sinister. The Dark Knight is better than the comics. The atmosphere is bleak in Gotham City. Nothing but black thanks to the high crime rates. Batman helps decrease felony rates but Gotham needs a more normal person to take over. And that is Harvey Dent. However, the Joker marvelously played by the late Heath Ledger, is the only nemesis that stalls Gotham's hopes of being clean. And that path shows disaster as Harvey himself turns mad after the death of his girlfriend and the loss of half of his face. How Batman defeats both Joker and Dent is the main plot.

But Batman isn't much of an adventure as it is a perilous journey in the experience of doom. It feels and breathes dystopia. There is no light. There is hardly any shelter. The music itself explains the tragedy. But then there was Batman. And that is what helps Dark Knight to succeed. How one person alone attempts to triumph in the lack of light. How he sacrifices himself to help his city from the depths of despair really makes him the Dark Knight.

The cast has done a superb job in portraying their characters without going overboard. Christian Bale returns giving both sides of Bruce Wayne equal attention (the playboy and the hero) as he did in the first film. Aaron Eckhart and Maggie Gyllenhaal also give fine performances. But it is the Joker that really makes the film terrifying. He is insane but believably played by Heath Ledger. The Joker alone is enough reason to see this film.

But alas, people will say that it is the best part of the film even though there are several other reasons on why The Dark Knight is not just the best superhero film but one of the greatest films of all time.… Expand

Director Nolan illustrates his movie too darkly and too gloomy. Why this super-hero movie should deserve to philosophically intricated one. Watching Super-hero movie is merely for fun.

If you removed Heath Ledger from this film then it would be trash. The only good parts of the film are with the Joker and Heath puts on an amazing performance that will make you go out and buy the film and re-watch it just for him. The main cast was rather disapointing, The entire film was a bit too long for my taste, and it was actually rather boring outside of the parts with the Joker.

Heath Ledger is the best Joker out of them all and has possibly the best performance I've ever seen. But Christian Bales voice ruins this whole experience. He tried too hard to sound like a bad ass that it transformed his voice into the sound someone with throat cancer makes.

This movie is really just trying to disguise what it is. What it is is just another Batman movie. It added pointless layers of depth to itself so that critics could not write it off as another superhero movie. I liked it when it was just Batman beating the crap out of criminals, and not Batman being a political figure. I usually like Christopher Nolan movies, but he really was overloading this one and makes it complicated enough that the regular audience of Batman films (6-10 yr olds) wont enjoy it and end up calling it boring. In short, great as a superhero movie and confused as a political thriller.… Expand

Great stuff. . Epic story, good acting and production. Something as big as this can't help but attract negativity, but please be assured that it is a great effort. And remember, this is modern myth-making! These stories are our morality plays, our tales of gods and monsters. Please don't look at it as just a crime thriller or you will find implausibility!

If "The Dark Knight" is an unique, fascinating masterpiece is thanks to the nihilist tone, bleak atmosphere and profound story that director Christopher Nolan exploits with great refinement.

is the best movie about Batman, because almost all the cast and special effects that could use very well. The actor who do Joker is fantastic, but the woman who makes Rachel she has attitude and is very ugly

I thought this movie was unbelievable, especially joker. Everything was incredible from the special effects to the actors and of course. They got batman just right, because he has that serious feeling that is batman. As well as the joker with his sick and weird(slightly funny) feeling. Which is of course joker. And is of course one of my favourite comic villain of all time. In a way they are both perfect for each other. Serious and joke one cannot survive without the other. I give it two thumbs up. Best movie of 2008.… Expand

This is the Batman film for the ages (with the 60s Adam West one as well). It is very dark, gritty and very distressing to watch: You really do feel all the pain felt by each character from each bone-crunching punch to every gun shot. Batman himself is perfect in the film, perhaps the best portrayal of the character I have seen or read and you do seriously feel his pain. But what makes this pain? The Joker. I know how many times it has been said before, but Heath Ledger's Joker makes the film what it was, and still is. This is one of the best movies ever made and really deserves all the positive attention it gets. From the perfect portrayal of its characters to the realism thrown in (boat scene, and questions about utilitarianism) and to the amazing special effects, this truly is cinema/ movie mastery at its best.… Expand

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. An almost flawless film. This did not in any way feel like it was 2 and a half hours long, it was the fastest and most exciting two and a half hours I've spent at the cinema, and at home watching this on DVD. If you want a tightly woven story, replete with character threads, themes and actions that have serious consequences, this is definitely the film for you. Heath Ledger is most certainly the star of this film, delivering a solid and menacing performance, that makes you feel like you wouldn't want to cross this guy in real life. Also worth of high praise are Aaron Eckhart and Gary Oldman, both of whom deliver solid, dramatic and emotive performances. I can't understand how people can watch this film and say it lacks plot depth and texture, seriously, most of the people I know who reviewed this thing had to watch it multiple times to finally grasp and coherently understand all of the themes that permeate this movie, from escalation, terrorism, criminality, evil's triumph over good, there is a lot more to it than the negative reviews seem to be wanting to notice. The editing keeps a fantastic balance of drama, character development and action, and there is never too much of one over the other. A lot of the negative reviews I've seen seem to boil down to either "over hyped" or "too long". If you're not going to review the film on an objective level, then you may as well just not post a review. The only criticism I'd give of the film is the post-Rachel death scene between Alfred and Wayne, which was a missed opportunity and fairly unconvincingly acted by Bale. Other than that, the film is a must see.… Expand

Christopher Nolan directs an epic, emotional thrill ride. Providing nonstop action incredible performances especially Heath Ledger who gives the best adaptation of one of the most memorable villains. This movie is one of the most unforgettable experiences you will have until the last one arrives. I give this movie 90%.

Heath Ledger gives one of the greatest performances of all time as the Joker and is really the only reason for watching this film (I re-watched his parts quite a bit). The acting is good and it looks great. The rest of the cast is ok, I expected better. To be honest, The parts without the Joker arent even worth watching and are pretty boring and generic. The addition of Two-Face works well for the story but I didnt not care for him as a villian or the actor who played him.… Collapse

A film with too many plot holes. The plot is all over the place. This film really should of been split in two to make it flow better. As is, it's one giant cluster ****

This movie is a what all movies should be like. This movie features great acting and superb special effects . Heath Ledger's role as Joker is the best of all the jokers there have been. Everything about this film is great and I loved it

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. Nolan finally reveals his ability that it is not skill to bring forth a gritty "realism" to a comic book movie, but a lack of complete and utter imagination to fulfill a fantasy based character. To be honest the film itself was not that bad, had it not been an hour too long. Had the movie ended after Rachel Dawson died, and the reveal of two-face, it would end on such a somber "Empire Strikes Back" note, and really left the audience in a state of wonder and a need for me. But instead Nolan decides to continue on for an hour where he plateaus with his boring action sequence, and than killing off two face in on of the worst ending in comic book history since Fantastic Four. Too damn long, but of course, Heath Ledger shines bright… Expand

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. The thing about The Dark Knight is that there's so much build up going on through the entire movie. The movie does a good job of juggling multiple villians, like how Batman Begins was. Joker is the main villian, and Lau and Salvatori Maroni are the other villians. There's also a lot of bad guys in this. The action is a big step up in this one to as there's not only more action than Begins, but the quality is a little better. The last dilema with the Joker and the ships felt a bit rushed though, but the movie quickly picked up at the finale. The screentime for this movie is longer than a few other superhero movies at 2hrs.18min without credits. But the pacing throughout the movie is so well done that the movie feels more like 2hrs than that time. The movie is so intense at times it may be a bit uncomfortable. But the intensity is not violent as there's blood or a lot of cursing in it. The plot and issues just make it feel intense. Overall the movie haves a couple of flaws but it's certainly awesome.… Expand

The Dark Knight is a well-written, acted and directed film. Nolan delivers again and hits it big in the adaptation of The Joker and how he toys with Batman. This film is dark, exciting and satisfying. The ending is the only part that falls slightly short but only because they cannot put The Joker in the sequel. This film does well in the aspect that it shows how Batman struggles in his internal fight between being morally correct by not killing The Joker or breaking his rules and killing the Joker. It is interesting to see Bruce Wayne's decisions as Batman and how they pan out. Well done. These reasons are why i gave it a 9 out of 10. If i could I would have given it an 8.7 but there are no decimals while rating movies on Metacritic. I recommend this film to anyone wanting to watch a good film that has 2 and a half hours on their time. Enjoy!… Expand

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. The Dark Knight was a revolutionary movie of its kind (Superhero movies). It really brings out the darker side to what being a superhero is and how it can affect that person as well as the people around him/her. Not only was unique to other superhero movies but it was superior to them as well as many other movies in terms of acting, special effects and the lasting appeal. Honestly words dont describe how well Heath Ledger played The Joker, as well as the life and 'madness' he brought into this movie. Take the first scene of this movie, where the Joker and his men robbed the bank, and how he tricked them into killing eachother. I have never seen a more absorbing first scene to a movie. Yes I agree that Christian Bale could of put a little more then a deep voice into the Batman character, but being how he was, he really made the villains in the movie (Two Face and Joker) shine. This movie brought a lot to the movie industry and would be hard to top as a superhero movie. I think this movie outshone both the Avengers and The Dark Knight Rises in almost all aspects and should not be treated as merely any old movie. Overall it tops my list and I highly encourage everyone to watch it.… Expand

Although it has its flaws, it is a wonderfully crafted piece of epic crime drama that explodes past expectations with an excellent script, exhilarating special effects, amazing acting, and powerful themes.

TDK is one of the best movies I have ever seen in my life. Joker did a great job. The script is fabulous. Chris did well. I think Christoper Nolan is something. I mean he is genius. This is one of my period favorite movies.

This is a true superhero movie. An exquisite Masterpiece, in this film there is a touch of realism that bring you into the world of Batman. It is unbelievable seeing this film in comparison to Tim Burton Batman back in the 1990s. Nolan have took away the gothic and traditional perception of the characters and made it his own. Batman is no long wearing rubber suits, the joker is no long flamboyant, Alfred is no long just a guy carrying tea around the place and Harvey Dent is no longer the guy with a perfectly halfed red face. These characters changed for the better in this film.

Heath Ledger is am absolute inspiration to all of us, when I walked into the cinemas on the opening night I didn't expect much, I didn't know who is in the film apart from the names on the poster and I thought "it's a new batman film lets see how this one in compared to the others" from the first second when the DC comic sign sppeared on screen the soundtrack behind it create a huge suspense, I have no idea where it is going to lead me then it starts, the glass shatters, the guns started to go off then the joker appeared. At that point that was the very first time I saw the joker, and "holy **** I thought to myself. The look on the jokers face scared the sh** out of me I didn't know it is going look like that. It thought another Tim Burton joker, but I was completely shocked the action continues and does not allow you to have a breath. That's why this movie is so good thats why "it makes the marvel movies look silly" The stunts, the action, the story, the acting and the interaction between characters really capture you into this movie. Today this film is on DVD or Blue Ray but while The Dark Knight Rises is on screen, The Dark Knight is also playing in IMAX theatres so why no go see it on the massive screen again it's worth every cent!… Expand

This is a very over-rated film, slightly boring, It took me two days to actually get through this snooze-fest, It's a decent film overall but even Heath Ledger's fantastic performance can't save this from just being another film featuring a comic book hero, I enjoy Batman normally the comics are fantastic but this isn't fantastic and you could even miss this film if you were watching The Dark Knight Trilogy.… Expand

This is just a great film. It's over every superhero movie because of it's complex story, spectacular acting (Heath Ledger deserved that Oscar (R.I.P.) and entertaining action. I don't know why some people say this movie is just "good". That's complete jelaousy! F***ing haters.

one of the fantastic movie i have ever watched.... i am obsessed about it... everyone should watch this movie... have fun.............................

Not for little pussies wanting to see a self righteous boyscout as their superhero.

What a fantastic film. Great special effects, a super performance by Heath Ledger. How these bloody American newspapers keep scoring this film at anything below 100% is beyond me.