A Casual Superhero Story Carried by the Infamous, Iconic Villain Known as the Joker

Rating: 9/10 (23 November 2019)

Don't get me wrong, I liked this movie, I gave it a 9 after all, but the main reason this movie holds any merit is Heath Ledger's incredible performance. To this day, I still go back and watch scenes where you can see his character completely absorb him. Now, take his performance out of the movie and what are you left with? A typically superhero formula that has been recycled time and time again.
Christopher Nolan is one hell of a director capable of crafting beautiful works of art such as The Prestige and Memento, two of my favorite movies on my all time list. With The Dark Knight (the trilogy as a whole for that matter), he is restricted to what he can do with the story line because DC has an influence and those fans need their share as well. Not to mention the fact that they needed to keep this film PG-13 so it can capture the widest audience possible. I always look back at this movie and wonder how different it would be if the restrictions were lifted and its true colors would be revealed. As it stands, those Joker scenes are still embedded into my head, but just imagine if Heath Ledger's sinister character had no limitations. We are entering a point now in 2019 where superhero movies are finally starting to become more gritty and vulgar which is great. This adds a sense of realism to a fictional story.
These are my very brief thoughts on The Dark Knight and I would recommend this movie to all the superhero fans. Heath Ledger's performance will always be remembered and is the reason myself, along with many others, rated this movie so high.