I love Batman. I think he's a great character, a fallible and absolutely human superhero who, in a different time and place, with a different bank account, I could really be. Unlike, say Superman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, or Spiderman, for obvious reasons. So I was noticeably excited to go see the second of the "rebooted" Batman movies, The Dark Knight. And wow, was I surprised!

The Dark Knight isn't just good or even great. It is an excellent storytelling experience that blends old tales from the origins of the characters with new variations, centered around a great villain, The Joker, and our hero, the Batman. In fact, I think that Bruce Wayne as played by Christian Bale becomes THE Batman in this film. His legend is growing, his influence is spreading, and he's inspiring people. But a real villain, one with no rules or moral compass, is calling his bluff.

Others have admirably labeled Batman a Christ figure, talked about his mask, Harvey Dent's two faces, and more. In my preview, I challenged us to be all that Bruce Wayne could be, and I think the movie is at its best when we consider the humanity and morality of the "peripheral" characters, i.e., not Batman or Dent or the Joker.

In multiple situations, mere humans—not superheroes—are called to make choices, sometimes with horrific results. Multiple Batman impersonators rise up because they have felt the call of the Batman to fight back against evil and injustice in their city, and a few of them pay the price. Rachel Dawes provides a different kind of heroism: battling crime as a lawyer, she doesn't back down, but she also doesn't resort to the kind of vigilante force that others do. Jim Gordon discovers sacrifice and responsibility that doesn't just occur—it happens to you. How each person responds in the face of a crisis is amazing.

Still, one of my favorite scenes (and spoilers!) is where two boats, one with Arkham Asylum convicts and one with "innocent" Gothamites, are wired to explode in the harbor. Both boats contain people who make the argument that the other boat should be blown up for the salvation of their own boat. In the end, both boats decide to let the other live, much to the Joker's surprise. He believes that given the option, we would always save ourselves, even at the cost of others. He desires a dog-eat-dog world. What he gets is a reflection of what we are really made of, or in: the image of God.

The Dark Knight proves that we are all human, and we all have faults. The movie also shows how humans rise above what hurts them, and—in the end—that we are meant for more than we know.

Did I mention that the special effects, the acting and the storylines are great? I didn't?

Seems like this superhero movie is more than a cartoon.