Rarely does a sequel ever approach the original; especially an original as good as Batman Begins. Begins was the first Batman film I ever liked. In my view, the first two Batman films were only good to look at; there was absolutely nothing on the page. Batman Forever was so standard that it may as well not be watched, and in the tradition of the last Star Trek show ever aired, the fourth Batman film was so abysmal that I simply refuse to talk about it.

The Dark Knight had a lot to live up to in the wake of its predecessor. Although The Dark Knight was technically better in almost every way, interestingly enough I think I still liked Batman Begins better. But that isn't a criticism; it's just a personal preference.

This film never gives you the slightest opportunity to be bored. Right off the bat there is a situation involving a bank being robbed which it just so happens belongs to the mob. As we watch these thieves scramble around trying to one up each other we are also given a tremendous amount of insight into the psyche of our villain. The scene introduces us not only to The Joker, but to the Joker's way of planning and thinking. It is a kind of character development that thankfully never ends. Each scene is another peering into the mind of this amazing villain.

On the other side of the fence we have an interesting trio – Batman, Gordon, and Harvey Dent. Batman represents one side of the savior spectrum; the symbol of a vigilante guardianship that lurks in the shadows behind a mask. On the other side is Dent, the legitimate statesman who protects not through force, but through policy, law, and optimism. And in-between these similar but diametrically opposed symbols is Gordon; who functions as the mediator of the two.

In Batman Begins, the plot was always building; in The Dark Knight, the plot unfolds before us like a map. In the beginning The Joker makes both his intentions and his capabilities clear, and these warning signs are dismissed and ignored by everyone from the state to the mob. The Joker is literally the wild card of the criminal underworld making seemingly random demands and striking at seemingly random targets; all the while sending his threats via video tape. One wonders if there isn't an Osama Bin Laden reference being made here.

The three distinctly different sides of Justice – Batman, Dent, and Gordon – all react to the Jokers chaos in distinctly different ways. Watching this play out, we realize that the screenplay has much more to say than of a super villain launching his evil scheme. The Joker is not trying to take over the world, he's not trying to infect the whole city with poison gas, he is striking at the foundations of organized society; and we the audience watch as the different sides of society scramble for order and control.

In this film are moral dilemmas that would give even Aristotle a headache. While I found the conflicts in Batman Begins interesting, I never found my self saying anything but "I'm glad I'm not those people" as they all get hypnotized by poison gas. But in every moral conflict The Joker sets up, I constantly found my self asking "what would I do in this situation?" 

On a technical level, this film achieves a style and ambiance that far surpasses the first film. The mastery of direction and film making (IMAX or no IMAX) transitions Christopher Nolan from pulp popularity to real cinematic achievement; I don't believe any more experienced or popular director could have done better.

Another source of joy comes in the form of the stunts. That's right; in the 21st century where computer graphics are prevalent, this film (like the last) actually makes use of stunt men. The results are tremendously satisfying. When you see Batman speeding through a building on a motorcycle you really believe this is a real person who is really going that fast through a populated and confined space – because it is! A balance between action and story is remarkably difficult to achieve in a film like this, but Nolan blends the two to a state of near perfection.

And now for the other side of the coin: like any film, The Dark Knight has problems, but the surprise for me was how big some of these problems really were.

Our principle character – Batman – Has virtually nothing to do in this film beyond what is expected of him.  He hunts people down, beats them up, and brings them to justice. Even this is shallow when compared to the last film. In Batman Begins, Batman used fear to go against his enemies. We would see people being yanked off the street and hear faint noises in the background that messed with their heads. In The Dark Knight, however, Batman seems to have substituted an atmosphere of fear for one of brute force. There is never a situation that he does not resolve by bursting into the room and beating the culprits senseless.

On the emotional side Batman/Bruce Wayne have interesting reactions to the chaos in Gotham, but it all seems somehow sedate. In particular there is a certain death in the film that Wayne completely under-reacts to, and that Alfred just plain doesn't react to at all. Batman is not bad in this film, but he is almost demoted to supporting character. It's not surprising considering how many individual's stories are being told here, I just wish they would have given the main character more to do and maybe a chance to grow a little more.

Moreover, there is a story line that comes in the last third of the film that I felt just needed to be in another film; because it was getting in the way of this one. We have a surprise second villain in the last third that is not nearly as interesting as The Joker, and that doesn't need as much screen time as he had. Every time this villain is on screen, I just wanted the scene to end quickly so they could go back to the more interesting one. I understand what they were trying to do with this storyline, I just wish they would have saved it for another film. Again this was only one problem, but it was a big problem.

Lastly, the end of this film just came too quick and unsatisfying for me, and I'm talking literally the last twenty seconds here. It didn't feel like they concluded this film at all, they just sort of stopped it.

I hope I haven't given anyone the impression that I didn't like this film; by all accounts it was amazing. The good this film delivers; with its characters, it's scope, and it's tightly woven story more than make up for any shortcomings. This franchise is shaping up to be not only the best in the Batman series, but of any franchise before it. So was this the best superhero movie ever made? I still think Spider-Man 2 holds that title. But The Dark Knight comes dam – dam close.

P.S I thought that motorcycle was f**king stupid looking.