Well the moment has finally come. Fans have been waiting for what seems like years for the sequel to the revamped Batman series. Can the dark knight live up to all the hype or does he fall flat on his face.  In what has probably been the most marketed summer blockbuster, The Dark Knight has been on the must see list for quite a while. From the websites, to the gatherings, everything has been executed brilliantly. There was always something new about the film coming and surprisingly, I felt as though nothing was ruined either. Despite all the trailers and photos, there are still plenty of surprises to be had.

In case you’ve been living under a rock for a long time, The Dark Knight follows millionaire playboy, Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) and his alter ego, the dark and powerful Batman. He must protect Gotham City once again from crime, this time from the psychopath known only as the Joker (Heath Ledger). Bruce must live a double life as he struggles to deal with his image as Batman and his love interest, Rachel Dawes (Maggie Gyllenhaal), as she is torn between him and her new lover, the District Attorney of Gotham, Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart). Aided by Alfred and Lucius Fox, Batman has a whole new arsenal of fancy gadgets including a new batsuit and batpod.

Everything about this film screams awesome. The acting, the story, the action; I was amazed by it all. Batman has come a long way from the Michael Keaton’s and George Clooney’s. There is a more realistic feel to The Dark Knight, which makes the film all the more entertaining. Christian Bale is excellent. He is dark and mysterious yet keeps his charm as Bruce Wayne. The only problem with him, and possibly the entire film, is his raspy voice. It’s a little too hoarse and doesn’t work well. It was present in Batman Begins and it’s present here. Kudos goes to Heath Ledgers as well. When it was first announced that he would be playing the Joker, I thought it would never work. He did a spectacular job as the maniac; getting everything right from the crazy laugh to the lunatic mannerisms. You can really tell how dedicated Ledger was to the part and clearly he put everything he had into it. Even Aaron Eckhart was great. He’s more talkative than the others but that’s what he is good at. Attempting not to spoil anything, the character is one of the more developed ones, as you will see in the film. Lastly, Maggie Gyllenhaal replacing Katie Holmes was neither good nor bad. There was nothing amazing about Rachel but Maggie did just as good a job as Katie did in the first.

Right from the start, the action begins. This time around there is no inventing the persona of Batman. Everything is already set up so the film goes directly into the meat of the story. What I loved was all the subtle references to the comics. Fans will be smiling throughout the entire film at these; I know I was. There are plenty of explosions; guns and chaos one would image coming from one as crazy as the Joker. The music also fits perfectly with the action, all of which get the blood pumping, making you beg for more by the end of it.

So, by now I’ve described the film as awesome, amazing, great, hmm...how about remarkable? This is definitely a must see of the summer and could quite possibly be the best film to hit the big screen this year. If you’re one of the few who hasn’t caught the midnight or 3AM or 6AM showings, then what are you waiting for? Get out there and see this film.