Hollywood Gets It Right

Rating: 10/10 (1 August 2008)

This film is long at over 2 1/2 hours but that is because it does so much right that it takes that long to do the job. Everyone in the cast is terrific. The action is almost non-stop for this film too.
Michael Caine is even better in this film than he was in Batman Begins. Morgan Freeman who has been busy this year (also in Wanted this summer) is fantastic. The film has times where the action is so intense that you almost get lost but it picks you up and doesn't let you get lost. Kudos to Christian Bale as he is even better here than in Batman Begins.
Heath Ledger as the Joker is the big story. This is not a Joker like before, as this one is totally out there (and don't ask me where there is). His criminal activity is defined as unusually bizarre. He says it himself when he says in the movie that he just goes where he wants without any reason for what he is doing. The Joker actually starts the film robbing a bank. By the end of the movie, he has made that bank robbery seem and actually be pointless. The robbery is just a place to start the movie.
The film starts dark & ends darker with very little light in the middle. It kills off people often and even one of the main roles is killed. It gives viewers a delightful UN-predictability not just too the Joker but to where the film is going.
That is pretty much what makes this film go. I doubt than any film will top it this year. It even leaves Wanted in the dust grasping to catch up.