I haven’t lined up to watch a movie in ages. Two days after the premiere of The Dark Knight, the lines were filled up in Rockwell yesterday.  I was thinking, this is going to be another one of those ultra-hyped superhero movies that’s going to end up as a huge flop.  So I went in the theater with nothing but very high expectations of how it would turn out.  I don’t recall ever seeing reviews and ratings for a movie so high from sources like IMDB and especially Rotten Tomatoes, but this one had all the critics bowing down in awe.

Usually, around 90% of the time, when I go into a movie expecting it to be unbelievably excellent, it proves to be a complete failure.  The Dark Knight, not only proved me wrong on that count, but also turned out to be hands-down the best movie of 2008 (no movie shown this year is even close), and it might just be one of the best movies EVER made.  You don’t have to take my word for it, if you haven’t watched it yet, do yourself a favor and line up, because it is definitely going to be worth every penny, and more.  I’ll try to make this review as spoiler free as possible for those who haven’t watched it yet.

First off, this isn’t a superhero movie.  Second, this isn’t even Batman’s movie.  It can be summed up in the words of one of the critics when she said “the Joker should be charged with the film’s biggest crime: stealing the show.”  And that indeed says it all.  Sure, this firm was a Batman film, but it was a film about the Joker, and even Harvey Dent, for that matter.  Batman played a supporting role in this film, honestly, amidst the new suit and toys, it was all overshadowed by how rich the Joker and Harvey Dent’s characters were put to life.  And that’s props to how great the late Heath Ledger and Aaron Eckhart were in their respective roles.

The movie starts off with a rather peculiar bank heist, and now that I look back at it I understand the point of starting it that way.  The mood and the storyline was riveting, and you wouldn’t realize that you have sat past 2 hours and 42 minutes because it kept you glued to your seat.  The anarchy and chaos the Joker created is unmatched by any Batman movie ever made.  And he was scary, man, whenever he came on screen you couldn’t wait to see what he was going to do next.  The morality angle was portrayed so well, and the kind of corruption the Joker was able to inflict on Gotham (in its entirety) was nothing short of poetic.  The twists and turns seemed endless too, and you would catch yourself thinking that was all there is to it, but there was actually still so much more.

The character of Harvey Dent as the “White Knight” of Gotham was awe-inspiring, and also very disheartening, because it proved that in the end, the Joker still won.  Dent’s role was played to a tee and also to utter perfection.  You would catch yourself cheering for the character as you wanted him to truly succeed in what he was trying to do, and still kept cheering on when you saw Dent’s character inexplicably transforming.  That’s what makes this movie eerily great.  You are totally engulfed by it and would applaud the characters that played their roles to perfection.  I had so many instances in the movie when I kept saying to myself “Damn, that was good.”  And this is definitely a movie for the ages, and for those who love seeing good versus evil, with an ending that is up in the air until the final cut of the film.

Heath Ledger’s portrayal of the Joker was unbelievable.  No words can do it justice.  And the fact that he is gone makes it such a shame, because it would be perfect to see him hold up that Oscar when he receives it.  Yes, he will get it, there is no question.  I thought that they were nominating him to win because of the sad fact that he passed away, and it would be like a nice goodbye parting gift, but he truly does deserve it.  I am sad that such a talent has passed away.  No one is going to be able to play the Joker as perfectly as Heath Ledger has, EVER.

Here’s a little trivia from IMDB to add more accolades to Heath’s role in the movie.  To prepare for his role as the Joker, Heath Ledger lived alone in a hotel room for a month, formulating the character’s psychology, posture and voice (the last one he found most difficult to do). He started a diary, in which he wrote the Joker’s thoughts and feelings to guide himself during his performance. He was also given Alan Moore’s comic “Batman: The Killing Joke” and “Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth” to read. Ledger also took inspiration from A Clockwork Orange (1971)’s Alex and Sid Vicious.  Wow.

What else is there to say without spoiling the movie any more than I already have.  It’s hands-down the best movie of 2008, it’s going to be up there on the all-time best EVER movies list, and it’s Heath Ledger’s final masterpiece on film.  Christian Bale’s Batman can come back with a bang in the third installment, but Ledger and Eckhart, OWN this one.

Personal Rating (out of 10): 9.4/10
IMDb User Rating (out of 10): 9.6/10
Starring: Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Aaron Eckhart, Michael Caine, Gary Oldman, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Morgan Freeman
Genre: Action
Duration: 152 minutes
Posters: Batman: The Dark Knight Poster, The Joker Poster, Harvey Dent Poster (500×800), The Dark Knight Poster (620×889), Batman: Facing Gotham, The Joker: Why So Serious (452×629)
Links: IMDB, Rotten Tomatoes