INKHEAD s t u d i o s: Alecc B. on "The Dark Knight"

When I first heard that Heath Ledger had been cast as the Joker in Christopher Nolan's sequel to Batman Begins, I can honestly say I would have never thought of him to take on that role. While Ledger was a gifted actor, playing the Joker looked to be quite the task.

We all have had our vision of the Joker since 1989, with Jack Nicholson playing Batman's ultimate villain. Nicholson is a class act and his performance in Tim Burton's Batman is one for the books. But come Friday, Ol' Jack is going to have to make some room for Heath Ledger on the list for Best Film Villains Ever. Ledger gives us something so fresh in a film that shits on every other action film to have come out this year. The film I speak of is The Dark Knight!

PLOT

Batman has been doing his thing on the streets. Laying the smackdown on gangsters and Batman posers (Yeah, I'm bringing back "posers"! Do something!) His presence is felt all over Gotham City, pushing the crime syndicate into the shadows. Until a new face comes to town.

With the Joker causing all kinds of chaos and anarchy throughout the city, Batman must put an end to it with the help of Lt. James Gordon and the D.A. Harvey Dent.

ACTING

Christian Bale is one of the best actors of our generation. He adds depth to a character that can easily be bland. I know what you're thinking. You're thinking, "Did this mutha fucka just call Batman bland?" No, I'm not. I'm talking about Bruce Wayne. Yeah, his character has been through some shit, but when he's not in the batsuit, you need a gifted actor to still keep your attention. Michael Keaton was great as both Wayne/Batman. We won't discuss Val Kilmer or George Clooney's contributions to the Bat-franchise. Back to Bale! This guy is totally comfortable in this role, with only one complaint coming from me. I really hate the way he deepens his voice when he's in the batsuit. I know he has to do it, but I just don't like how Bale sounds at times. It comes off silly a couple of times and that bothered me in Batman Begins as well.

Aaron Eckhart is a welcome addition to the series as Harvey Dent, the man who wants to put an end to organized crime. Most people know where his story goes, and there are those few people that have been living under a rock their whole life and don't have a clue about what I'm talking about. For those people, I won't spoil something they should already know. What I will say is that his performance is top-notch from beginning to end.

Michael Caine returns as Alfred. He's one of the greats, just like Morgan Freeman, who also comes back as Lucius Fox. Both Caine and Freeman continue to piss excellence. Gary Oldman reprises his role as Lt. James Gordon. His accent slips here and there, but who cares?! IT'S GARY FUCKING OLDMAN! HE'S THE FUCKING MAN! IF YOU DON'T KNOW, RENT TRUE ROMANCE AND THEN COME TALK TO ME! Maggie Gyllenhaal replaces Katie Holmes in the role of Rachel Dawes. While not being nearly as cute as Holmes, Gyllenhaal has a ton of personality and talent, which actually makes her a little cute at times.

Nestor Carbonell shows up with his distracting eyeliner as the Mayor of Gotham City. I like Carbonell, but he needs to do something about that make-up. Eric Roberts stopped collecting unemployment to play Salvatore Maroni, one of the gangsters. He's okay, nothing more, nothing less, as expected. Anhony Michael Hall, Nicky Katt, William Fichtner, and a familiar face from Begins also stops by to say hello!

Now, there has been a lot of talk about a posthumous Academy Award nomination for Heath Ledger. All of that talk is legit. As Joker, Ledger delivered his finest performance. Gay cowboy, shmay cowboy. Ledger's villain is what we're supposed to get when we go see summer spectacles like The Dark Knight. His performance is funny, scary, crazy, and all at once. He was a true talent, and his portrayal of the Joker will always be remembered.

WRITING & DIRECTING

Hats off to director Christopher Nolan and his brother Jonathan. The Dark Knight is a very heavy story for the comic book film genre, and also one of the best ever. I've said it from the time that I saw the trailers that this film didn't seem like Batman film. It looked like an epic crime drama, like The Godfather, and that's exactly what the final product felt like. If I had one gripe with the story, it would have to do with a subplot in the final act of the film. I would have liked to have seen just a little bit more put into it.

Nolan directed the shit out of Knight, even shooting many scenes on IMAX film. I was fortunate enough to have seen this film on an IMAX screen, and let me tell you, it would be wise of you to see it the same way. There are action sequences and shots of the city that look amazing. The film will still look great at your local mutliplex, but IMAX is definitely the way to go if you have that option.

Back to the directing! Nolan tried to do as much of the action as he could the old-fashioned way, for real! Boy, does that make a difference. The action sequences here are the most entertaining I've seen this whole year. Yes, better than Iron Man, so everyone just calm the fuck down! Nolan's pacing is perfect too, making the two and a half-hour running time fly by.

Even with Bale's weird Batman-voice and that last subplot lacking a little sumthin' sumthin', The Dark Knight is still a fantastic summer film, and already one of my favorite comic book films.