The Dark Knight

Sometimes the hardest thing for me to do is to not over sell a film. So trust me when I say that The Dark Knight is a potentially revolutionary film that I am honestly trying not to oversell the film.
The film itself is likely best known for the performance of Heath Ledger as the Joker. In writing about Tim Burton's Batman I mentioned that I don't compare Jack Nicholson's portrayal of the Joker to Heath Ledger's because the vision behind them is so drastically different. But I will say that in each case the actor portraying the Joker is seemingly consumed by the character to the point that they are unrecognizable. Ledger's performance won the Oscar for best supporting actor, a rare win of a performer in a "cartoon" film.
Of course, the revolutionary aspect of the film is that I believe it totally blurs the lines between comic book world and reality in a way that is considerably more successfully than any previous comic book film. In some ways I actually believe the film fits squarely in the cops vs. gangsters category with some similarities to The Untouchables. The Joker is the ultimate bad guy who even the other bad guys would like to see go away. Batman is the ultimate good guy who the dirty cops would turn on in a heartbeat in order to go back to the way things were. It's a battle between good and evil with plenty of coverage of all the people who fall between the lines of good and evil.
I've been asked by my wife "why do you like this movie so much?" First of all, it's a film! Secondly, I believe this film represents film making and story telling at there very best and inside this world of good vs. evil we see Batman defined as a force for good whose is seen as unrelenting in regards to his moral convictions. In regards to the film making I would love to address the stark contrast here when compared with the works of someone like Michael "Boom Boom" Bay. How can I not look at the work of a Christopher Nolan and not take a shot at Boom Boom. In films like Transformers the audience is assaulted by colors and loud noises that are intended to make you forget the story. Of course when your focus is on style over substance there is no need to focus on the story. In the Dark Knight, not only is there a heavy focus on the story, but even the action sequences begin with a chilling silence and camera shots that set a mood and convey a feeling of tension that is far superior than Boom Boom's shiny toys. Nolan is a master at taking detailed material and presenting it in a compelling way without relying on cheap tricks to hold the audience's attention. To this day I remember seeing a special on TV before Transformers was released regarding how the movie was intentionally louder than any previous film because that's what Michael Bay was concerned with. Nolan's concern was to seemingly blur the lines between reality and fiction with the Dark Knight to the point were I'm not even sure it counts as a comic book movie.
Regarding the convictions of Batman, I find the most rewarding part of the film to be Batman's unflinching moral center. There are very few comic book or action films that I can think of in which the bad guy does not die in the end. I know the Schumacher Batman's kept one villain alive each but those films were soaked in comic book cliches. The way this one ends though is remarkable when you consider that The Joker is a character created to push Batman to his absolute limits. Which is why I believe that for Batman to "win" The Joker must live.
Beyond all the things I have mentioned above, I just want to add that the dialogue is stunning in this film and that the Academy Awards failure to nominate this film for best picture and Christopher Nolan's for best director is the primary reason the Academy Awards have expanded the best picture field to 10. The last thing I will say is that if you reach this point feel free to leave a comment regarding who you would want the villain to be in the next Batman and who you think should play them. I know Todd mentioned to me Guy Pearce as the Riddler and I wonder if they would do Maggie Gyllenhaal as Catwoman. I'm just curious what people would like to see, if you have no opinion it's no big deal.