No disappointment here, ladies and gentlemen

Rating: 10/10 (21 July 2008)

It was difficult enduring month upon month of media frenzy concerning "The Dark Knight" and Heath Ledger's performance. Was it Oscar-worthy? Is The Dark Knight the greatest superhero movie of all time? Is it worth paying 7-ish bucks to go see? Yes!
The Dark Knight follows the path of its predecessor, "Batman Begins". Christopher Nolan reunites with Welsh actor Christian Bale in continuing the clean slate that lifted the hopes of so many Batman fans around the world. The movie is set not long after the last; Bruce Wayne/Batman (Bale) is as unsure as ever as to what his duties to Gotham involve and what he represents. The Joker (Ledger) has come to fruition about what needs to be done to prevent Gotham from being completely cleansed in deciding to "kill the batman". Lieutenant-Commissioner Jim Gordan (Oldman) faces the challenge of keeping the Batman and the Joker in check all while keeping a weather eye on his own shifty department. District Attorney Harvey Dent (Eckhart) faces almost the same as Gordon, with a little more love-triangles and politics thrown in there. Rachel Dawes is involved with that love triangle, and last but certainly not least, Lucius Fox needs to keep Batman's secrets and provide the cool stuff.
Now to the part that everyone really wants to hear about. The acting. It is superb, to say the least. I dare to compare the performances to that of legendary movies "The Godfather" and "Pulp Fiction". Christian Bale does the job as well as he did in Batman Begins, having more on his plate this time around with showing that 'darker' side of Batman. Heath Ledger does what everyone was talking about - he brings a "psychopathic, schizophrenic, mass-murdering" clown to life in a way that no other could possibly do. It was stunning. The Joker stole every scene he was involved in. The amount of change undergone from a witty Nicholson to a bone-chilling Ledger is unnerving. Everything from the terrifying cackle to the gangly posture - Ledger certainly brought his A-game here. Hannibal Lecter has a replacement as the most frightening villain in film. Anything less than a posthumous Oscar wouldn't be fair.
Fantastic performances go all the way through to supporting actors in Gary Oldman and Aaron Eckhart. Oldman does a fantastic job in personifying a stressed out Commissioner who's mind is juggling on three different fronts at once. Eckhart, I will admit, surprised me. I was a little uneasy when I heard of his casting, but I'm glad the doubt was proved to be out of place. He finely portrays Harvey Dent's masculinity and fire as a District Attorney. Maggie Gyllenhaal puts Katie Holmes to shame with the amount of depth portrayed upon a near-flat performance from Holmes. And of course Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman do what they do best in playing the guiding, authoritative voices in Batman's background that leads him through the tough times. I can honestly say I was not disappointed with one performance throughout the entire movie.
The cinematography and special effects are Oscar-worthy. Chrisopher Nolan succeeded in preventing The Dark Knight from becoming a over-zealousness of CGI and explosions, and the city of Chicago never looked so dark and gloomy to me before. Well done.
One thing I would never mention in any other movie, but the music in this movie was top-notch. I'm not talking a random alternative song thrown into the background of a car chase, but a superlative composition that makes the darker moments darker, and the colder moments colder.
In the end it seems only fair to commend the genius hiding behind the curtains: Christopher Nolan. The man has not only rebooted a quickly dying series, but he has done it in such a way that there is no turning away from the pending sequel. The depth that he has injected into the characters. The direction of the film. The technical quality overall. Truly amazing. I'd get into all the details concerning the theme of morality and the brilliant message that the ending provided, but I don't want to ruin it for any potential viewers. I was scared the movie wouldn't be able to find a proper ending for itself, that it would be like so many other lax endings to superhero movies, but the ending capped off a true masterpiece that had the entire theater in a standing ovation. Christopher Nolan along with his writing staff have created a masterpiece of the filming industry, one that can only fairly be called the greatest superhero movie of all time; arguably even bigger than that. Step aside Spielberg, your CGI mish-mash is outclassed here.
In 152 minutes you get a hero born, a hero that's doubted, and a psychopath that wants them both dead, all amongst twists and turns that are enough to plunge one into a feeling of euphoria that will last a lifetime.