I'm partial to Tim Burton's two early '90's efforts, but I've been pleasantly surprised with the rebound of the Batman franchise thanks to Christian Bale's solid performance as the millionaire vigilante and Christopher Nolan's excellent direction. This film is action packed and has a little bit of everything. It is very dark and intense thanks to Heath Ledger's stirring performance as the eerie Joker. His untimely death adds a great deal of spookiness to the role. A posthumous Oscar might be in order. This film is a bit long, but it tells a solid story, asks some interesting questions of the characters as well as the viewers, and is the perfect summer movie experience.