This is what the Dark Knight should be. A little bit twisted. A whole lot of dark humor and character development. I was ready to buy another ticket to see it again after the first viewing, and I never see movies more than once in the theater. It's truly a shame that Heath Ledger passed away because his interpretation of the Joker is the closest I've seen to the image in my head of what he's supposed to be like. Absolutely cruel with no conscience and no sense of remorse. Christian Bale continues to perform well as the Dark Knight, improving on the first in the series, and letting us see the human elements of Bruce Wayne such as love, lust, selfishness, hatred, and self-loathing. I can't wait to see who they'll bring into the series as the next villains. Bane would fit extremely well into the current state of Gotham City post-Joker.