Best Movie Ever - The Dark Knight

Some random spoiler-laden thoughts on Christopher Nolan's second Batman movie, The Dark Knight.

Honestly, I hated the Rachel character and was not unhappy she got blowed up. I hope she is dead and doesn't come back. As has been said, Katie looks better but Maggie played the part better, and was even a little more likable as Rachel, but I'm still glad she died.

I was suckered by some of the twists, I though Gordon was dead, I suspected the driver to be one of Joker's agents, since Gotham is full of dirty cops. I kept expecting him to pull a gun and blow the passenger away and drive off with Harvey.

But I knew that Joker told Batman the addresses wrong while he was on his way to save her. Thought it was awesome.

I though Two-Face looked Perfect. I do hope that they were faking his death until they can give him surgery and rehabilitate him a bit. I read a comic where he had plastic surgery and was doing better, and then regressed and CLAWED HALF HIS FACE OFF WITH HIS BARE HANDS. I wouldn't mind seeing something like that in a sequel.

Everything about the Joker was also Perfect. Everything he did, the way he acted, everything he said... Pure Awesomesauce.

I really like Tim Burton's Batman. I really like Jack Nicholson as The Joker. Or I did. After seeing The Dark Knight I don't know if I can ever watch Batman again. There wasn't anything wrong with Burton's Joker, but compared to TDK it'll just never stand up. I much prefer the darker portrayal of the Joker.

This quote from this TDK Review says it better.

When Tim Burton's Batman was released in 1989, it was lauded as a dark, serious take on the mythos of Batman. But watch it now, after Christopher Nolan's Batman Begins, and that movie is barely above an episode of the old Adam West tv show. It's campy, self-consciously over-designed and verges on parody, but it took Batman Begins to really show us that.

I would rather not see the Riddler in the sequel. I don't think the Riddler could be seen as anything more than a cheap knockoff of the Joker. Less violent, less creepy and scary, etc.

I think if done slowly, and well written, some of the more fantastic elements of the DC Universe could be introduced into the Nolan universe, such that it wouldn't be out of place to have Man-Bat or Killer Croc.

I think Talia or Harley would be fun to have in the next movie. Harley would be tricky, as they would need the Joker, and they would face the inevitable comparisons between Ledger and whoever the new guy would be. But if he wasn't in it much I think it could be interesting.

In summary: best movie ever, I want to see it again, I will buy the DVD on release day (unless I've spent all my money on DCUC figures), no movie will ever be the same again in my eyes.
I have seen cinematic perfection, and it is The Dark Knight.