Flawless

Rating: 10/10 (20 July 2008)

Now that the movie has sunk in, I have to agree with all the reviews I have read so far. The Dark Knight is the smartest, most thrilling crime movie we have seen since Heat. It deserves nods for cinematography, direction, best picture and supporting actor.
The movie is so well realized. The story takes place right where Batman Begins takes off. Batman (Christian Bale), Lt. Gordon (Gary Oldman) and new District Attorney Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart) have made Gotham City a safer city. A new crime lord, Salvatore Maroni, has taken over as the crime lord of Gotham. He hires The Joker (Heath Ledger) to help with his crimes and that's where things begin to escalate.
The acting is flawless. My buddy thought that Christian Bale was a bit absent but I felt he did a great job portraying the turmoil Bruce Wayne struggles with and portraying the vindication and determination of Batman. Heath Ledger is simply great. He defines the role and gave us his greatest performance ever. His death should not give him an Oscar Nomination, his fantastic performance earned it all. Maggie Gyllenhaal surpasses Katie Holmes as Rachel Dawes and surprised me at how well she played the part. Aaron Eckhart is equally as creepy as The Joker as Two-Face and he is also quite convincing as Harvey Dent. This blockbuster has the quality acting of Heat, Goodfellas or The Departed.
Christopher Nolan is a superb director and gives his movie the ability to make us feel the chaos, make us feel the agony and to make us feel like a citizen of Gotham City.
It is an exhausting film at 152 minutes that's beyond entertainment. It is a complex morality picture which is hard for everyone to enjoy but easy for everyone to appreciate. I highly enjoyed this film and I doubt there will be anything else which can come close to it.