This is NOT the greatest film of all time.  It is not in the top ten.  It is not even in the top twenty.  If you actually think that go watch some more movies and get over Heath Ledger's death.  This is a good movie.  It is solid and clever, but unlike great movies it lacks anything substantial to say other than, "sometimes you need to throw some rules to the winds to deal with evil..."  What it does very well is be topical.  Its war on terror references are all over the place continuing the staple of today's politics become a part of comic lore including a Gotham City reproduction of the FDNY working at ground zero with the Bat overlooking on a twisted piece of girder.  Yet it suffers from saying anything compelling other than saying we live in a time where we need hero's even though we will despise what they do.  Is Batman, GWB wiretapping our cellphones to find that Joker Terrorist?  I think so.  And while I agree with the film's point of view on the War on Terror I am also able to see that the depth that the movie explores these issues is too shallow to make it anymore than a good film.  Sorry guys if you want a three dimensional statement about terrorism and its effect on society and humanity check out The Battle of Algiers.  Great movies like The Battle of Algiers go deeper into these matters to touch what is universal, thus rendering them timeless.  The Dark Knight will be stuck in its time period, sorry.  Out of context of today's politics it says little to the nature of our being, art, fiction, or anything really.  Yet aside from the greatest movie of all time hype on IMDB this is a good film. 

Much has been made about Heath Ledger's masterful performance as the Joker, and he is easily the best batman villain to take the screen.  He is not, however, the best actor in this movie.  The best performance in this film is Commissioner Gordon, played by Gary Oldman.  As a minor everyman character he had less to work with than Heath Ledger who benefits greatly from a well written role and stage time.  While Heath gets all the glory with his cleverly constructed lines and crowd winning moments of bad-assery.  Oldman is able to craft a very compelling everyman struggling to do what is right and survive in a world fraught with out of control super villains and batman.  He is the only character that actually evoked any sympathy and had some humane depth.  Heath Ledger was second best in this film.  He delivered the joker very well and took advantage of what was an extremely well written part.  Michael Cain as Alfred was as usual effective as a father figure and mentor for the Bat.  Christian Bale was OK.  It was a very emblematic brooding boy scout batman, but since the movie didn't call for a lot of serious acting out of Batman it was buyable. 

What hurt this movie was Maggie Gyllenhaal, Rachael Dawes.  It wasn't that she was bad.  It was that her part was extremely integral to Harvey Dent's believability as Two Face.  For us to buy that Harvey throws away everything because she was destroyed, we need to believe she was utterly special and irreplaceable.  She fails at that gloriously.  Instead she is rather uninspired arm candy who, unlike Bruce Wayne's arm candy, has lines.  She ends up to be little more than a prop in the film to be saved, because of a love vaguely developed and utterly non-existant on the screen except for a few uninspired kisses.  Rachael Dawes dies and I don't really care.  Gordon has his family kidnapped and threatened by Two Face and I do.  Considering that Rachael Dawes is infinitely more important than Gordon I would say this is both a testament to how well Gordon was played and how uninspired Rachael Dawes was.

Yet aside from Racheal Dawes failure to be compelling and the shallow reduction of Terrorism as symbolized by the Joker, this was a great work of cinematography, lighting, sound and costume.  The Dark Knight is perhaps the closest Batman film to recreate the comic book feel without the goofy cartoony sheen.  Batman's costume is rather stoic and a tad menacing, and believable as something strong and flexible.  The angles and light the director choose to shoot in made for some incredible still frames reminiscent of exemplary cover art and concept drawings.  The editing was also top notch.  The way the story is developed was quite entertaining and the director masterfully hooked us into the charming irony and intriguing madness of the Joker from the immediate beginning with his charming little bus "joke."  It is well worth the money, and is worth seeing more than once, but not even close to the greatest movie ever hype.  Its not even the greatest movie of the 21st century.  The Last King of Scotland trashes this movie easily in that regard.