The Dark Knight: What's all the hype about?

Rating: 10/10 (3 November 2010)

I remember when I watched Batman Begins. It was so good that I watched it 2 more times straight. Christian Bale is the perfect batman. He can be a hero, but he can also be the villain. Never before in movie history, has a movie, 1: portrayed it's story in the same sense as the name of the movie, 2: told the story of every possible human emotion and the reactions to those emotions, and 3: ended the last line in the movie, with the main character's name, and the movie's name. I wasn't the biggest Heath Ledger fan prior to The Dark Knight. However, what I did know, was that, whoever I saw (in the posters & stills) that was playing The Joker (Heath Ledger), that they were going to do an amazing job, which is a major understatement, only viewing the movie in it's entirety would do it justice. The Joker is the greatest villain of all time because, he has no background, no logic, reasoning, rational, or motive. Like he says in the movie, "I just do...things..". That alone is very menacing and frightening. Also, as it pertains the movie, The Dark Knight, The Joker is hands down the most difficult role anyone will have ever tried to perfect, nevertheless, perform. Yet, Heath Ledger did just that, I remember in an interview with Heath, prior to The Dark Knight, Heath said this, "Well when I got the role, I already had an idea of what I wanted to do as playing The Joker." That being said, the rest is history. I've said it before and will say it again, no one, could of (or ever will) played this role except for Heath Ledger. Heath Ledger's Joker, isn't wearing a mask, like Michael Myers, Jason Voorhees, or Leatherface, and he doesn't need creepy settings to scare you like House on the Haunted Hill, Amyitville Horror, or Silence of the Lambs, and he doesn't need a motive (to conduct in his chaotic ways) like Candyman, Hellraiser, or Child's Play. In essence, what my point is, is that, Heath Ledger's Joker is so villainous, so menacing, so captivating, so perfectly acted, and so true to the human race (in reference to what he says in the movie), that this hands down makes him the greatest villain of all time. I also want to add that, never in my life have I experienced, in this case, a movie, in which, everyone in the room (theater), felt the same emotions or had the same thoughts, and if not the exact same, you could probably guess how someone was feeling at that time, or what they were thinking, either by, looking at them, or listening to their emotes/expressions. I also want to add that I've never been captivated the way I was from start till finish by The Dark Knight. It's so perfect that, in the end, as the last scene in the movie ends, and the music plays, the lights come on, people, don't rush to leave, oh no, not in this instance. People are talking amongst one another trying to come up with their own interpretation of the movie, when really, no one is really too sure what to think. Which is an interesting point to bring up because, many people felt that the Joker at times, was "scary", "insane", "funny", "evil", "hysterical", "outrageous", and many other terms. Usually, when you think of villain, you think of scary or more of your modern day antagonist. But with The Dark Knight, there's obviously nothing average or modern about it, it's on a whole different plateau.