IMO, The Dark Knight is by the the best of the Batman franchise, including all Schumacher, Burton, and Nolan varieties. The movie actually had a plot and good villians. Mr. Freeze and the Penguin were absent, which is a great thing. Heath Ledger and Christian Bale both did first rate jobs bringing the characters to life. I think the film excells in that it blends action, drama, and a crime saga together seemelssly. The film is over 2 and a half hours long, but at no time did it seem tedious or monotonous. I would recommend this movie to anyone, and will definately go see it again.