George West (HatoriHanzo1982)

The Dark Knight is the second film in what is said to be a trilogy from filmmaker Christopher Nolan. And boy what a second film it is! It is hard to discern exactly where to start talking about a film of this magnitude. One could start with the amazingly complex screenplay penned by Christopher and Jonathon Nolan, or the overall aesthetic, but I think the plae to start is at the heart. Above all other things, The Dark Knight is a character driven film. Christian Bale reprises his role as Bruce Wayne, and plays it better than any other. There wasn't a single bad performance in the film. That being said there were a lot of characters, and each felt fully flushed out, there wasn't any character that wasn't necessary to the film and the story. This complexity of story and characters made it feel more like a Shakespearean tragedy than a simple comic book film. There were two stand out performances. The first is that of Aaron Eckhart as Harvey "Two-Face" Dent. His performance brilliantly showcases the transformation of Dent from the White Knight of Gotham to the villainous Two-Face. His performance is Oscar nomination worthy. The other standout performance belongs to the late, Heath Ledger. Who gives the finest performance of his career as the Clown Prince of Crime. When you watch Ledger's performance as The Joker, you realize exactly how terribly inept any actor who has played the role was in their portrayal. There hasn't been a performance of a villain as good as this one. Ledger even trumps Anthony Hopkins as Hannibal Lecter. Ledger's performance in all honesty is perhaps the greatest in the history of cinema. The Dark Knight as a whole equals so much more than the sum of its parts. It is hands down the best film that I have ever seen in a theatre. It is also the most epic film I have ever seen. It raises comic book films to a plateau that I don't think any other comic book franchise can even remotely touch. It has been 54 years since the last time a film of this magnitude was released. The Dark Knight is nothing less than the 3rd Greatest film of all time.