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I just returned from seeing The Dark Knight. As a long-time comic book fan—and as one who got caught up in the original Dark Knight hoopla some years ago—I attended the movie with mixed emotions, and various concerns.

The most recent episode of the Batman series is directed and written in part by Christopher Nolan. It brings back an all-star cast featuring Michael Caine, Christian Bale, Morgan Freeman, and Gary Oldman; among others, it has as an additional highlight, too: Heath Ledger co-starring as The Joker. The truth is, there has been so much hype and discussion regarding the death of Ledger (and his terrific performance) that there may be a tendency to have expectations that are impossible for Ledger and/or the film to live up to. I will make brief comment on Ledger below, but there is so much more to this movie—and while Ledger is certainly a huge story, this movie is a film that will live on in its own merit, despite the tragedy surrounding the film.

For fans of the comic series—especially (like me) of the Dark Knight series—this will be a film most will absolutely adore and love. There are so many layers in The Dark Knight that one may have to see the movie several times to catch everything. While Bale and Ledger are certainly the two stars of the film, an ensemble cast of terrific actors moves the story along with the terrific screenplay and direction. This film is as close to perfect as anything that has been released so far this summer, from lighting to sound, and from plot to score. It is all there—and for a film buff like me, much appreciated.

Now, I have been a fan of Ledger for some time and it is sad that this will be for many their first exposure to this young actor. It's unfortunate because homophobia may have prevented many from seeing his Oscar-nominated performance in Brokeback Mountain. I'll have to be honest; I didn't think there was any way Ledger could out-do his performance in that film. While I initially had some issues with Brokeback, I had a tremendous amount of respect for Ledger—and it is one of the only reviews I have ever revisited to point out how I was wrong, and in particular about Ledger's role. So while I was extremely skeptical of all of the hoopla surrounding Ledger's role as The Joker, I was tremendously surprised at how good it actually was. While I speculated that Ledger would likely get a posthumous nomination for this movie, I will now say it is hard to imagine anyone deserving it more than he. He is simply that good; and the truth is, all of the hoopla, all of the press is justified.

Now that the Ledger commentary is out of the way, the thing I am afraid many may overlook is the terrific depiction of the conflict within each of us. We see the struggle of virtually every character over the decision to do either good or evil. We all have that struggle, and in no character is the struggle more detailed and explored than with Bruce Wayne. Other characters observe the battle within Batman and Wayne, but he has to face serious difficulties before he realizes the struggles within, and the difficult decisions he has to make. While The Joker is pure evil, it is his own evil that forces Batman to come to serious decisions and great sacrifices.

But there are several scenes in which I really appreciated the effort of the filmmakers to show that sometimes, those we least expect are capable of doing good. Stereotypes put people—even God—in a box at times; yet we see the ability of all people to do good, as well as the ability of all people to also do evil. The Dark Knight makes no excuses about it: there is the definite presentation of a constant battle between good and evil, and often times that takes place within our very souls.

The Dark Knight is a terrific film, and the subject matter it deals with is worthy of thought; but while the film is close to perfect, it isn't. It is a little long and for me, anyway, and the last 30 minutes are rushed. We see the development of another villain in Two-Face; but it just isn't clean enough, and neither is the closure of the relationship between Gotham and The Joker. That said, this is still a superb film. It is dark (not so much for the little kiddies), violent, and hard-hitting. It is also worth seeing again, and again. There are surprises along the way, and I am one who will say all of the hoopla is right on the money.

On a scale of 1 - 10 minus the two villains of The Joker and Two-Face, I'll give a well-deserved 8.