An Excellently Refined Vision, Amazing Story, Action, And Acting.

Rating: 8/10 (30 July 2008)

When I saw the trailers for "The Dark Knight", I knew it was going to be a hit. And I wasn't disappointed. I highly enjoyed watching The Dark Knight. It's got the makings of a great film; An A-List cast, great cinematography, great story, and a large fan-base.
The first thing that really struck me was the cinematography. The camera-work, coloring, everything is excellent. The dark nature of the story is represented perfectly in this film, and truly represents the story. Even during the fund-raiser hosted by Wayne, there is a tinge of darkness to the way it is filmed, and it really boosts the feeling of the story.
The next element that really amazed me was the acting. Everyone's performance is top-notch. Bale makes the best Batman yet, and is perfect for the role. Ledger. What more needs to be said of his performance that hasn't yet been? Absolutely phenomenal. Eckhart especially impressed me with his solid run as Harvey Dent. He made a great new light to Gotham, but also maintained his performance as the crushed Two-Face. Oldman as Gordan was also great, as he is one of my favorite actors, and really brought all that the Batman's side of the law should bring.
The story is just brilliant. Period.
I do have a few, sort of complaints. The movie is abit overlong, it does drag in some places. I wasn't disappointed with the film, but I wasn't overly impressed. I expected it to be amazing, and it was. It was exactly what I thought it would be. A lot of my friends are saying it is the best movie ever, or similar thoughts. I loved it, but it's far from the best movie ever. It's a great movie, but I was actually more impressed with Begins simply because it was such a drastic change in vision. This seems like an extreme refinement of that vision. I do think the film is abit over-hyped, but I'd see again in a heartbeat.
Everything was on-point, and it did not lack in any area. I was not disappointed, but I was not overly-impressed, and I think people are way-overrating it. It was a great film, but by no means revolutionary, more the perfect refinement of Nolan's vision.
I cannot even fathom what amazing things we will see in the next installment. I believe the next film will absolutely break boundaries.