The Dark Knight (2008) - The Knight is Rising!

Rating: 10/10 (2 June 2011)

"The Dark Knight" is the second installment of Christopher Nolan's take on the Batman franchise. It has been well-known as one of the most successful movies ever accomplished, scoring an astonishing worldwide billion dollars in the box office, becoming one of the highest-grossing films of all time. It's also considered as one of the greatest superhero movies ever made. There's no wonder! "The Dark Knight" is a ridiculously entertaining, incredibly powerful, and undeniably sensational motion picture. "The Dark Knight" follows Bruce Wayne, a.k.a. Batman, on his path to clean up the streets of Gotham City, while a villainous Joker is on the loose, and starts to show Gotham their true colors. Christopher Nolan is a masterful director, delivering a perfect example on how superhero movies should be, immensely enjoyable, and pulse-pounding powerful. The script is delivered with precision, the directing is masterful, the visuals are flawless, the action is exhilarating, and the acting is wonderful. Speaking of the acting, the casting ensemble is just damn brilliant. Christian Bale still "kills it" as Batman, Aaron Eckhart is brilliant as Harvey Dent, Maggie Gyllenhaal is great as Rachel, and we get a bunch of reprised roles from the previous film such as Gary Oldman as Lt. Gordon, Morgan Freeman as Lucius Fox, and Michael Caine as Alfred. But, the one performance that makes this movie shine so bright, is the late great Heath Ledger, delivering the performance of a lifetime as the villainous Joker. Stealing every scene he's in, Heath Ledger has saved his best performance for last, but overall, he'll still be very missed. His dark villainy, smart timing, witty humor, and dynamic line delivery, makes this character so dark and brilliant. It's no wonder this performance won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar in 2008. This is the movie we will remember him by, and I hope that others will have respected that amazing career he used to have. "The Dark Knight" has been considered one of the best films of all time for a reason. It stays true to a more darker tone of Batman, the dialouge is top-notch, the characters are well-realistic, the directing is masterful, the effects are groundbreaking, and the music is just flat-out dark and mysterious. This is also one of my favorite films of all time. "The Dark Knight", in my review, "a spectacular thrill ride, entertaining and thought-provoking".