To Date, The Best Film I've Ever Seen

Rating: 10/10 (18 July 2008)

A huge fan of the Batman movies, I have been excited since the end of Batman Begins. Picturing how the Joker would be portrayed in a film directed by Christopher Nolan flat out excited me from that last scene. When Warner Bros. announced that the Joker would be played by Heath Ledger, I thought, "Heath Ledger, the guy from the cowboy movie?" I had never seen Ledger in any films before, and definitely could not see him pulling off the Joker. I mean, come on. The Joker is crazy, insane, morose, I could go on all day. Honestly, I could not see Ledger doing anything near what I expected from Nolan. Boy, was I wrong...
My friends and I had been scrambling for tickets to see The Dark Knight at the ever popular midnight showing. However, (quite embarrassingly so) none of us could drive past the PA Junior License Curfew of 11:00 PM. We thought to take the bus, go with older friends, or sheepishly ask one of our parents to come along with us. I was scared I wouldn't see it opening weekend. But what are sisters for? My sister, an intern for NBC10, had told me about a month ago that she had entered a contest to win tickets to the July 17th Philadelphia premiere of the Dark Knight. "A long shot," I recall telling her. Though she did not win the tickets, her boss had plenty of extra tickets, which he was not reluctant to give away to employees. My sister nabbed 2 tickets, each with one guest permitted. Sorry to my friends, but how many times does this happen to someone? I was nervous at first, asking people I work with what its like to see a movie on IMAX. "Can you see the whole picture?" "Am I going to be looking up the whole time?" Needless to say, I could see everything, and my neck was nice and comfortable in the bucket chairs at the Franklin Institute. Enough about my experience, let's talk about the movie.
I had already declared (without seeing it) the Dark Knight to be my favorite movie of the summer, and quite possibly the best Batman film to date. My heart was pounding in the opening minutes as a result of the overwhelmingly large screen and the excellent camera work, but it settled down throughout the two hours and thirty-two minutes. As the movie went on, I thought to myself, "This is incredible." Christian Bale has already won my vote for the best Batman since seeing his stellar performance in Batman Begins. He did not disappoint in his second showing. Charming and witty as Bruce Wayne or heroic and physical as Batman? Bale proved he can do both, and both well. Although his performance is undeniably spectacular, he does not earn the Best Performance for this film. That, my friends, would go to the late, absolutely great Mr. Heath Ledger.
As stated before, I did not see Heath Ledger as someone who could do wonders to Batman's undisputed rival. Seeing him in trailers and pictures before seeing the movie itself restored faith in Christopher Nolan. However, neither the trailers nor pictures did justice to the performance Ledger gave in the Dark Knight. His voice, his makeup, his general being on screen simply blew me away. Being able to transform himself from a character such as Brokeback Mountain's Ennis Del Mar to a corrupt, evil character such as the Joker truly showed me how versatile the man was. Now, as I had mentioned earlier, I have never seen any of his films before. The Dark Knight was probably the best way to introduce myself to Heath Ledger. This may upset whoever is kind enough to read my review, but I would like people to know what I am about to say. Quite honestly, since the day I heard Heath Ledger has passed, I hadn't really cared. But how could I be if I had never seen any of his films and knew so little about him? Thanks to his performance in the Dark Knight, I now care not only about the actor he was but also the person he was. My hat is off to you, Heath Ledger; may you rest in peace.
The Dark Knight is truly magnificent. As I'm sure anyone who has visited the IMDb page for the Dark Knight has already seen it, I recommend it to anyone and everyone. I honestly could not see how anyone could dislike this film. It is by far the best film I have ever seen, and so far, the highlight of my summer.
1 million/10
Jordan