The Dark Knight: Masterpiece

Rating: 10/10 (19 August 2008)

Some comic-book film adaptations are brilliantly action-packed and exciting and some are.....well......crap. The Dark Knight most definitely falls into the first of those two. Christian Bale returns as caped crusader Batman, still saving Gotham City from it's villains. But he's soon to meet his match in the form of the insane clown-faced Joker (the late Heath Ledger) who is determined to kill Batman and cause complete chaos in Gotham.
The Dark Knight is set to be one of the best comic-book adaptations ever made, maybe even THE best. From the well-shot opening bank robbery scene I knew that this movie was going to be excellent and I was right.
Christian Bale, Gary Oldman's and the rest of the cast's performances, although great, are completely and utterly overshadowed by the flawlessly top-notch performance from the late Heath Ledger as The Joker. Ledger gives such a brilliant performance that when he went off-screen, I couldn't wait to see him on-screen again. He is without a doubt now my favourite cinema villain due to Ledger's Oscar worthy performance. I found myself laughing at his character's humour several times throughout the film.
The film is action-packed and I have to say that the action scenes are exciting and exhilarating. They keep you on the edge of your seat and each action sequence seems to be better than the last one. The scene involving Batman on his Batpod (the bike!) and the Joker in the truck is absolutely outstanding.
The only problem I have with The Dark Knight is that I felt it's 2 hours 30 minutes length is a tad too long. Don't get me wrong, it was highly entertaining, but I think it should have been slightly shorter and some people (not me) don't appreciate sitting in a cinema for two and a half hours.
The Dark Knight is an action-packed masterpiece. I give it 10/10.