117 - The Dark Knight

    The Joker coordinates a plan to take over most of Gotham's organized crime.  Meanwhile, Batman works with the new D.A., Harvey Dent, to take down Gotham's organized crime.  The Joker proves to be a strange type of anarchist who is interested in sowing chaos.
    The Dark Knight was a big step up from Batman Begins.  The story is more complicated.  Each event has every character planning out their own steps to achieve their own goals, but this just makes it harder to tell how any situation will end - or if any of the characters were intending to have things progress that far.
    I don't have any problems with this movie.  The performances are entirely solid.  It's a pleasure to see Katie Holmes replaced with Maggie Gylenhall, who doesn't call attention to her acting in the same way.
    I suppose that's a problem that I have with the movie.  I never cared about the relationship between Bruce Wayne and Rachel Dawes.  I don't care about it in this movie, and I didn't care about it in Batman Begins.  It doesn't detract from the movie, because it does establish motivation.  But it doesn't feel like they actually care about each other.
    I've also felt like the structure of the ending isn't as smooth as I'd like.  The scene between Batman, Gordon, and Dent after The Joker has been stopped steps the tension down too far.  It is a needed scene, and it sets up the next movie.