Best comic book film ever and an all time great!

Rating: 10/10 (12 April 2017)

After the spectacular re-introduction of the Batman character and franchise from Batman Begins, there was obvious hype and expectation on the sequel. It is probably needless to say that no one was prepared for what was going to happen when this was unleashed.
Christopher Nolan was to general audiences a nobody when it came to directing before Batman Begins, this was probably advantageous for him when making that film because the expectation was not that high as if he was a "big name" director. However when creating the sequel to the incredibly successful original, all of a sudden there was an extremely high bar for The Dark Knight to meet. So did Nolan meet the high standards of the original? Well no.......haha only joking of course he did and not only did he meet them he exceeded them. This film is bigger, darker and much more complex than its predecessor which is extremely rare to accomplish. Nolan expands on the fantastic basis that the first film gave him and the directing in this film is much more grand and powerful, in the quite character moments and the full blown hell of the action. Christopher Nolan will go down in cinema history for this film and so he should, outstanding.
The story of this film is personally the strongest part of it because it has the perfect blend of realism with a comic book backdrop. The basis to the story of the film is corruption in the mafia of Gotham, this mixed with a new evil trying to take over. The hero's of the story are comfortable with dealing with the crime problems and have been winning however the new type of crime/evil is what there not equipped to deal with. That description of the film is without any references to comics in any way, actually without Batman or anything like that this is a really interesting story for a great crime film. Its then the mixture of the chaos and brutality of comic book characters that take the story up a notch and elevate's every aspect of it to brilliance. Suspenseful and horrifying at times this story is a real emotional roller-coaster, this is done with brilliantly complexity and the fantastic character studies.
Talking of the characters in the film the cast are mind blowing in this film, there is not one weakness in the acting in this film. Lets start with the "one" that will never be forgotten, Heath Ledger as The Joker. Sensational, mind blowing, horrifying, scary and funny this is mesmerising and truly astounding performance from a very good actor. This is not only the best character in this film its the best depiction of a comic book character ever and it will be hard to beat, RIP Heath Ledger you'll never be forgotten. Christian Bale is also fantastic and improves the characters of Bruce and Batman, both are psychologically drained. Bruce is still being portrayed as this swanking and very egotistical businessman whilst Batman is wining against the mob and causing fear in the city. Both characters have ups and downs, showing the versatility of them and the brilliant acting range of Bale, this performance is underrated but still fantastic in both cases. The rest of the cast Caine, Freeman and Oldman are all at the top of their game and bring the characters we love from the first film back in great ways. However there is two others characters that are surprising, firstly Maggie Gyllenhaal's re-casting as Rachel Dawes, which for me personally works really well and is an improvement in the lack-luster performance of Katie Holmes in the first film. Secondly Aaron Eckhart, unfortunately for him his performance will always be overlooked which is extremely unfair because his interpretation on two-face is horrifying but fantastic. Its the downward spiral of the character from good guy to bad which is difficult to what but at the same time truly great and extremely underrated.
Other areas of the film that are good include the cinematography and the score which are still as good as the first film and show great continuity in the franchise. Both help with dealing the subject matters in the film and can at times elevate which is powerful.
Finally this is not only the best comic book film ever made this is my personal favourite film of all time 100% out of 100 , there is personally not a fault with this film is truly ground breaking and an all time great. From the realistic, dark interpretation of Gotham or the complex and enthralling story or even the great characters. This film is remarkable in every aspect and will extremely an even impossible to top what a truly mind blowing film.