The Dark Knight is a masterpiece

Rating: 10/10 (18 July 2008)

The Dark Knight is a masterpiece! A truly brilliant film. Epic, action-packed, intelligent, dramatic. A sensational score. A cautionary tale about morality, moral dilemmas and their consequences, and the blurred lines between good and evil. Plus an exercise in BRILLIANT Film-making AND WRITING. The direction and cinematography are graphic, Gothic, and gripping.
OH...AND GIVE HEATH LEDGER AN Oscar!!! Not because he died. Truly, I feel this Oscar hype would exist even if he were alive today. Because, from an actor's point of view, his performance is one of the FINEST CHARACTERIZATIONS I have ever seen in a film character. It was a truly iconic performance and will be remembered. It is a well-crafted, nuanced performance while simultaneously going perfectly over the top. He doesn't play a comic book character, a stock villain, or the comedic relief...but a real man, albeit an insane one...a sadomasochist who doesn't care about killing our hero, but toying with him...unafraid to die or to feel physical pain but fully cognizant that the hero will not take his life because it poses him too difficult an ethical dilemma. How do you defeat a madman with absolutely nothing to lose? It's chilling and Ledger is truly magnificent. He is a true method actor and is transformed here. In that sense, he has crafted the most iconic screen villain, I think, ever.
Not even once do you see a GLIMMER of the actor behind the face paint. Everything about him from the physical ticks, the voice, the walk, the sadomasochism, the laughter, and delivery of some TRULY BRILLIANT DIALOGUE and deliciously evil one-liners...are INCREDIBLE. The part is extremely well-written and what I love even more is that Ledger and the writers don't try to offer some pop psychology explanation for why the Joker is this way. A truly fine performance that I cannot gush about enough. Give. Him. The Oscar.
But his is not the only good performance. All the actors are excellent in the film, especially Gary Oldman as Commissioner Gordon. A huge debt should be paid to the script, which is so intelligent. Oldman's speech in the final minute of the film is like lyric poetry, with the emotional, dramatic score pulsing underneath him.
It needs to be seen to be believed. The Dark Knight is an amazing film. A+