The 'Villain' died a 'hero' and the film will live long enough to be a 'super hero'.

Rating: 10/10 (4 July 2009)

There are some movies which make you feel 'blessed' as an audience and 'The Dark Knight' is certainly one of them. The film is a perfect example of craftsmanship which showcases the 'perfect' handover from comics to the big screen. The sublime touch, with which a cartoon serial-killer with a slithery reptilian tongue is not only bought to life but epitomized for life, is unmatched. If 'Batman Begins' belonged to the super hero this master piece belonged to the anti – hero. The legend - Heath Ledger has truly immortalized 'The Joker' with the performance of a lifetime
There was a tremendous amount of expectation form the film especially post the 'batman begins' saga and the film was hyped in the truest of senses with viral to theatrical trailers being bombarded on the audience world over.. But the movie actually surpassed the hype and how!! there hasn't been any instance of such 'over hyped' movie later being felt like 'just promoted' after watching. Nolan, thank you for the 2.5 hours (yes it's that long but you crave for more when it ends!!) for this piece of art which makes 'movie going' all the more meaningful
There is no 'great' story as a 'backbone' apart from the fact that the Batman now has to face his most cunning and psychotic enemy, someone with no real motives...The Joker. But the real thing to talk about is the actors - Christian Bale has done a tremendous job as our beloved Caped Crusader, with him already blowing everyone else out of water with "Batman Begins." Bruce Wayne who fought self fears to be a super hero ultimately has the 'vulnerable' weak spot (which is his dual life balance - whether he is a wealthy businessman who fights crime in a gadget-riddled suit or just a normal man who is sick of all the scum in Gotham City) is exploited by the menacing - cunning - calculated 'Joker' making us emphasize with Bale's 'flawed hero'more than any of the other actors. If there ever was an 'excellent' Batman --- this is it. The 'wrong' is 'rightly' played with his character here. Heath Ledger was not only the best, but is now the greatest superhero film villain ever. His performance is truly terrifying, chilling, brilliant etc etc.... Every scene he is in - is stolen. (A well deserved Oscar) Even the 'side' actors cannot be forgotten - Harvey Dent (and later Two Face) he is very powerful, Rachel Dawes (Maggie) is much better than Katie Holmes, Michael Caine can do nothing wrong, Morgan Freeman as Lucius Fox and Gary Oldman's rejuvenated Lt. James Gordon..
The score sets the mood in every scene, giving an 'epic' tone. The 'dark' cinematography and screenplay are well complemented with state of the art action sequences (this was a drastic improvement over the 'batman begins' version). The dialogue is very well 'crafted'. In short – a perfect combo for a masterpiece and Nolan has delivered yet again flawlessly
Usually sequels don't turn out to be better than the original but The Dark Knight is one of those rare sequels that surpassed the original like The Godfather and terminator 2.
10/10 definitely (it does bring a 'smile' on your face)  It's a honor that film was made in my lifetime
PS: If you look at the votes count; there are over 10K people who have given a rating of '1' for this movie.. may be they are such people who after seeing 'Cleopatra' say that she is 'ugly' because of her 'IQ' (guys you need rehab.. no seriously..)