The Dark Knight
Call it whatever you want--too long, too loud, too dark, too hyped, and you wouldn't be entirely wrong on all counts, but whatever you do, don't call "The Dark Knight" a superhero movie. Christopher's Nolan's unsettling follow-up to 2005's "Batman Begins" is a lot of things, visually stunning and deeply resonant, but will leave you feeling a little anxious, possibly depressed and certainly terrified. Emergency trips to therapists are made from experiences such as this, and that's precisely what one does during TDK: experiences, rather than watches.
Anybody who has ever studied physics is aware of Newton's law which states "for every action, there is an equal but opposite re-action." This is exactly how The Dark Knight opens. Gotham's criminals, having been run down by Batman's (Christian Bale, solid as ever) renegade acts of "heroism", are desperate to regain the upper hand and in attempting to do so turn to The Joker, (the late Heath Ledger, so wholly immersed the part he's unrecognizable) a character who is less a villain and more a physical manifestation of anarchy. He's what Sid Vicious might have been like if Sid Vicious didn't want money, power, women, or fame.
The Joker has no earthly desires and therefore no limitations. A creature who wreaks havoc and destroys whatever comes into his path, he finds what in his warped brain must pass for a playmate in Batman.
Not that everyone involved is so pessimistic. Aaron Eckhart, as the doomed Harvey Dent, provides a necessary hopefulness for Gotham's future that Bruce, Batman, and the rest of the city need to believe in to preserve some sense of optimism. Maggie Gyllenhaal steps in for Katie Holmes and is a welcome change, acting as both a rock for Dent and a moral compass for Batman.
But I'm getting side-tracked. What the Joker wants is for Batman, his equal but opposite, to break free of the rules that tie him to society and become the "freak" that he believes bonds them together forever. In intentionally provoking him to act on these impulses, the Joker sends Batman into an identity crisis of sorts, wondering what kind of monster he has to become in order to do the right thing, and recognizing how blurred the line between right and wrong truly is.
In the end, The Dark Knight is a film that raises a lot of profound questions, some of which have no clear answers. It's psychologically disturbing on a fundamental level. Oh, and yes, Ledger steals the show, but thankfully, not the focus of the movie. That part falls on Eckhart's able shoulders, whose Dent has an arc that plays out like something out of a Greek tragedy (in a good way, I swear).
So if you're looking for a head-scratching, mind-warping thriller, park your ass in a seat as soon as you get a chance, but if you're looking for a popcorn flick, go see "Iron Man" instead.