I am the knight.

Rating: 10/10 (25 November 2019)

While it is lost in the vast sea of middling superhero fare, The Dark Knight is one of the greatest movies ever made. The somewhat hefty runtime of more than two and a half hours flies by as a captivating and inspired story makes for one of the most enjoyable movie experiences I've ever had. From a technical aspect the movie is just as masterful, notably the cinematography which is eerily beautiful. The effects team pulls out all the stops making both The Joker and Harvey Dent look like they could be real. Heath Ledger's performance may be one of the greatest displays of acting ever put to film. Ledger brings subtlety and nuance to a role that could have come across as a bit too slapstick. The script backs up Ledgers Joker by injecting him with nihilistic motives that make him the most interesting person in the room, even when the other person is dressed like a bat. The writing of the characters is handled with intense care and the climax doesn't fail to disappoint, once again aided by great performances by Christian Bales stoic and graveling Batman and Heath Ledgers unpredictable and haunting Joker. Philosophicaly the movie plays upon themes of nihilism and chaos vs justice. The movie projects it's more sophisticated of messages with no restraint and doesn't talk down to the audience. It breaks the mold of the average superhero movie by portraying similar ideas of hope without the more gratuitous and heavy handed film making of its genre-mates. Overall, The Dark Knight, often penalized for the sins of its species prove that a superhero movie can be this good.
10/10