It's a love-hate relationship between Batman and the city he protects. Gotham can't decide whether it wants to worship or persecute its hero. More copycat Batmans begin to pop up in the night trying to exact their own type of justice and the Joker makes a one-sided deal with the real Batman—reveal his true identity or people will die.

Batman Begins, Christopher Nolan's first brilliant attempt at the franchise, gave us a glimpse of the makings of Bruce Wayne and his alter ego. The murder of his parents gave Wayne a sense of purpose. He developed a hero complex and a rule for self-control. But the Joker tests these limits and brings into doubt if Batman can really control himself all the time.

It's an epic discussion and a philosophical conflict. Does everyone have a price?

Other Batman films have taken a stab at this question, but The Dark Knight goes one step psychologically deeper, even with other favorite villains like Harvey Dent/Two-Face (Aaron Eckhart) and other Arkham Asylum escapees (Cillian Murphy's Scarecrow makes a cameo).

Nolan takes his time in developing his villains, but it doesn't come at the expense of the other essence of Batman films—the action and the toys.