Salute the Knight

What happens when you give the keys of a superhero franchise into the hands of an outstanding director who finds talented screenwriters either employing himself or his protege' brother and get the best actors to play his characters on screen. You get a movie where Amazing Happens (borrowed from the NBA) !
To me, the Batman really started with Batman Begins. Nothing against Tim Burton, but i didnt really enjoy the pre-Nolan Batman movies. They were good but they were like those recipes which taste delicious, yet you still feel there is something missing, mmm, may be cinnamon, may be salt, may be pepper, you can't narrow it down and still you know it could have been better.

Enough said already about the movie, so i will keep it short. I found a perfect handshake between developing the characters and keeping the pace of the movie in TDK. Just listen to the meticulously written dialogues and you would know how carefully they've written the script.

Finally a movie, where we get to see the full blown villain, Joker, the man behind the painted face with special love for anarchy and chaos. Agreed he doesn't tell any jokes but he makes you laugh with his wisecracks and plain insanity. The agent of chaos is written remarkably by the Nolans and portrayed perfectly by Heath Ledger far better than the Riddler of Jim Carrey. I especially loved his confrontations with Batman - "This is what happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object.... You won't kill me out of some misplaced sense of self-righteousness, and I won't kill you because you are just too much fun !"
"Why do you want to kill me?" "Kill you ! What will i do without you. Go back to ripping off mob dealers? ..... You .. you complete me". Equally good were his arguement with the officer "Do you wanna know why I use a knife? Guns are too quick. You can't savor all the little emotions...... So in a way, I know your friends better than you ever did .. Do you want to know which of them are cowards? " or his "Why so serious?" tagline explanation of his scars. He's really got into the character of Joker and once again, credit also goes to the script.

If Batman Begins was written for Bruce Wayne and Christian Bale, then TDK without a doubt is written for Joker and Heath. To be fair to Bale, he's done a great job showcasing the Batman who wants to turn Gotham into the hands of the "White Knight" Harvey Dent, or turn himself in to stop Joker's innocent killing and give up his suit for the love of the city. He wants to see the picture of Gotham that doesn't need Batman, but it is still not there yet, so he remains a dark knight, who like a guardian angel protects the city, takes blame for someone else to keep the hope of the city alive, the shawdow the city needs and yet loves to hate. The movie also brings out technical wizzardry of Batman and also touches the point that a completely human superhero has his limits.

Aaron Eckhart couldn't have been better in his "You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain " portrayal of Harvey Dent.

The stunts are just brilliant and you get to see every penny's worth on the screen. An occasional shot of perky humor, outstanding action sequences and great chemistry between some of the greatest big screen performers keep the movie racing and the clock ticking for 2.5 hours without you noticing.