An absolute masterpiece

Rating: 10/10 (18 July 2008)

I went to a midnight show last night to see Batman because a)I've been dying to see it ever since the first one came out and b) I wanted to eliminate learning anything about it from other people.
It really is everything they're saying. An absolute masterpiece. I tend to get caught up in hype, but I can tell you that I remember when Batman Begins came out, there wasn't too much hype and maybe that was intentional on the part of the studio because of the failure of the last two installments of the previous franchise under Schumacher. But when I read about how it was going to be more serious and dark, it excited me because I knew that was Batman's true essence.
Obviously, after seeing Begins, I immediately placed it atop my favorite comic-book movies of all time with the original Superman and first Batman with Keaton second and third. I also considered it a great overall film as I know many critics did and didn't think there was much room for improvement.
Well, I now know not to assume anything. Last night was an experience. An absolutely amazing experience. That story, and those performances, if transposed onto a nameless cop and villain, would still carry the film. It was as perfect as a film could be. Nolan, with Ledger, Bale and Eckart, creates these incredibly tense moments, as well as some "WOW!" or other "That was awesome!" moments that the theater collectively applauded or laughed at in "Are you kidding me?" giddiness.
I never thought a film would surpass Batman Begins in this genre, at least not by much. With all due respect to the first installment, The Dark Knight far exceeded it's predecessor and my expectations.
I'm begging my friends to go see it because I don't want to pollute their opinions, nor risk any spoilers when talking about it with them.
Absolutely amazing.