The best ensemble acting I have seen in a looong time

Rating: 10/10 (24 July 2008)

I just walked out of The Dark Knight, and I must say I am completely speechless.
I have to say that I am not someone who particularly enjoys action movies, or even super hero movies, but this one is an exception to the rule in every way.
I won't go into how great I thought the direction was or the script or the amazing technical and visual effects because I am an actress myself, so I will stick to what I believe I know most... acting.
First things first, I believe that Christian Bale does an incredible job as Batman, in my eyes he is the best Batman to date, not too dark, not too funny, just right, very believable and delivers a very solid performance.
Maggie Gyllenhaal, is also a great actress in her own right and has continued to dazzle in this role, for the first time I believe we were presented with a real "bat girl" not too glamorous or self indulgent just real.
Micheal Cain, Morgan Freeman, both Oscar winners and rightfully so, they suit their roles well and relate to the characters brilliantly.
Gary Oldman, I preferred as Dracula, but that's not to say that he didn't deliver, he also gave a good performance.
Now I come to the two people whom I believe stole this show, apart from batman of coarse I believe that Aaron Eckheart as Harvey Dent was nothing short of brilliant, I believed him in every aspect of his character development. He had great screen presence in this movie, great chemistry with all the cast, and even though I walked into the movie expecting to only want to see the joker for as long as I can, I found myself interested in dent's plot line, (and in all the other characters!) something which I believe is rarely achieved in a movie to create characters that are all equally interesting and fascinating as each other.
The movie was 158 minutes long but without a boring moment.
And now I have saved the best till last. HEATH LEDGER. what the **** was that? I was completely blown away by his performance, I read all the reviews on IMDb before going and I thought I had set the bar too high and I would be disappointed. but what happened was far from that. He was sooo good I completely forget all about his real life tragedy, and I was laughing, at him, with him, and I hated him, and i sympathized with him, and I loved him, and I believed him, it was a roller coaster of emotions. this character was not two dimensional, or three dimensional it was 5 dimensional!! definitely an iconic performance, and if he doesn't get an Oscar it doesn't matter because anyone who has seen this movie will know that he deserved one. it's a shame he isn't here to reap the rewards of a job incredibly well done.
by far the best ensemble work I have seen in a movie yet, I could write the same length review on the directing, the music, and the witty script writing, but I'll stick to what I know best and there's 1000 word limit to these reviews. But if this isn't enough to make you see the movie I don't know what is!