The Dark Knight (2008)

With the amount of hype surrounding this film, and the ridicules amount of time put into its production, I allowed myself to gain high hopes for the latest in the Batman saga. I was hoping that with the odd casting, the change in plot formula, and this being Heath Ledger's last completed film that this would essentially be a Batman movie that can still dazzle and impress with characters and environment, while utilizing Bruce Wayne's classic charm, and Batman's ability to be a hard-ass. It's safe to say, I was far from disappointment. This movie achieves more than what anyone could expect from a Batman movie, and reaches out of its own comic book spectrum to dip its hand into many other sub-genres of film. The Dark Knight achieves itself as not only the best Batman movie to date, but easily the most disturbing, imaginative, and complex crime drama to appear in theaters for a very long time.

Christopher Nolan's decision to take Batman in another direction pays off, as this movie includes a somewhat cleaner look at Gotham and a plot that suits the on-going war between the city, Marconi's men (ones responsible for most of the chaos in the last film) and of course, the Batman. Marconi's thugs are dropping in numbers thanks to the combine efforts of Batman and the new district attorney Harvey Dent. The mob's desperation eventually leads to them hiring the Joker to take care of him. This is where the film becomes more of a thriller than a superhero flick.

The Joker, to me, represents the standard that every comic-adapted villain should live up to. Heath Ledger's final complete performance is a land mark in the amount of depth and utter insanity one protagonist can achieve, and he is represented as well in this film as he would in some of the best Batman comics. He really isn't predictable at all, and amounts to more than just a creepy clown with scars on his cheeks. He's an extremely intelligent maniac who uses the manipulation of criminal minds (and heroic ones) to achieve his ultimate goal. What also diversifies the Joker from most on-screen "evil doers," is he has no motivation aside from destroying order in Gotham. He is a character that thrives on anarchy.

The movie embodies every keen aspect of the Batman, which brings him to a level above how we saw him in Batman Begins. The film puts him in a sort of guild with Commissioner Gordon and Harvey Dent, giving him more importance than a simple crime fighter who wanders the streets. His character has great importance as both Batman and Bruce Wayne. All of his gadgets are present too, which I always found to be essentially what made Batman more necessary in the Justice League. I mean really, why would anyone need him alongside people like Superman and the Flash?

In accordance with Warner Bros. the Nolan brothers (along with David s. Goyer) were able to formulate something much bigger plot-wise rather than settling for something dark and stylish. The result is a very satisfying movie with a script you'd swear got an Oscar at some point in the past. For a movie that works outside the limited environment of a man dressed in a bat suit, The Dark Knight breaks the barrier of comic adaptations into cinematic genius.