The Dark Knight

With stunning visuals, a dark and intelligent storyline and a powerful collective performance from an all-star cast, The Dark Knight succeeds in topping its predecessor and laying claim to the title of best comic book movie ever.

Actually, if you were just looking at the reasons I mentioned above, this movie would compare pretty closely to Batman Begins. What puts it over the top is Heath Ledger’s performance as The Joker, a character that will go down as one of the great villains in film history among the ranks of Darth Vader and Hannibal Lecter.

Ledger’s performance is so mesmerizing and chilling that his character permeates the entire feel of the movie, affecting even the scenes he doesn’t star in. It adds up to a significantly darker addition to this already dark franchise. Parents should be advised that this one is not for the kids.

Those mature enough to enjoy this sinister epic will be rewarded with an action-packed thriller that moves at a swift pace while never skimping on the meaty themes and character moments that make these kinds of movies special. A film snob might complain that it’s longer than it needs to be, but it’s so much fun to watch that it doesn’t matter. More of this movie is not a bad thing.

The story follows Batman as he is settling into his role as Gotham’s protector and making a difference on the streets. That is until The Joker steps in and takes the craziness and violence to ridiculous proportions. In the midst of this, Bruce Wayne is looking to a new hero, district attorney Harvey Dent, as his chance to retire and have a normal life.

Much of the story focus on the lengths Batman, Dent and police commissioner Jim Gordon will go to in their war on crime and what it costs them. All the while the movie does a good job of exploring its themes, such as order vs. chaos, justice vs. revenge, and sacrifice for the greater good.

As mentioned before, this is one of the best performances by an entire cast in any movie in recent memory. Besides Ledger’s Oscar-worthy role, Aaron Eckhart and Gary Oldman stand out particularly as Harvey Dent and Jim Gordon. These guys even manage of outshine Christian Bale’s Batman some of the time, which is quite a feat. Having leading quality actors such as Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine and Maggie Gyllenhaal in supporting roles doesn’t hurt, either, and each of these actors are pure gold in their roles.

But, at its heart, this is Heath Ledger’s movie, which is just adds to the sadness associated with the young actor’s tragic death last year. We will be wondering for years what other kinds of performances this talented man had in him.

There’s not enough space to go into all the ways this movie succeeds, such as writer/director/producer Christopher Nolan’s brilliant cinematography and script, the eerie but pitch-perfect score from James Newton Howard and Hans Zimmer or the ridiculous action sequences. Just rest assured that there’s a good chance this will be the best movie you see all year.