A perfect movie is an extremely rare thing. A movie of such quality the only word to describe it would be a “masterpiece” (I don’t like to use that word very often). A movie of this good only comes around once every great while, But 2008 has given us not one, but two perfect movies. First was the animated, sci-fi masterpiece, WALL-E, and now we have what I believe is the greatest comic book movie ever created, The Dark Knight.

Not many high profile movies can live up to the hype that precedes them, but The Dark Knight more than surpasses the build up. The Dark Knight just does everything right. It brings a level of entertainment rarely seen these days, and it brings super hero films to a whole new level. The Dark Knight is to super hero movies what The Lord of the Rings trilogy was to fantasy films. It’s that epic!

The near flawless cast from Batman Begins return for The Dark Knight, except Katie Holmes (thank heavens) and Liam Neison. Christian Bale returns as Bruce Wayne/Batman. Michael Cain, Morgan Freeman, Gary Oldman all return, even Cillian Murphy reprises his role as the Scarecrow (for about ten seconds). This time around they are joined by Aaron Eckhart as Harvey Dent a.k.a. Two Face, and the late Heath Ledger as the Joker. Both of which deserve special mention.

Aaron Eckhart more than redeems the iconic Harvey Dent from Tomy Lee Jones’ butchering of the character. Even though you know whats going to become of Harvey Dent later on, you still have great admiration for the character and you really do “believe in Harvey Dent”. Which of course makes the character all the more tragic.

Heath Ledger’s performance as the Joker is absolutely brilliant. He has created a villain so maniacal, so diabolical, and so irredeemably evil that he is easily the best villain of the past decade, maybe ever. His plans are  incredibly sinister and aren’t about money or power, the Joker’s plans are all about bringing down heroes and creating moral dilemmas for people to choose between life and death for others or themselves. Very maniacal indeed. Heath Ledger is spectacular, he really does deserve a posthumous oscar for this.

The action hasn’t been toned down a bit. There are plenty of uber exciting action sequences that are excellently done. But unlike most super hero films, the action does not overshadow the story. The character development is perfect, it probably spends just as much time with Gordan and Harvey Dent as it does Batman, it doesn’t just revolve around one figure the whole time (yes, the Joker does steal the show, but he doesn’t steal screen time from everyone else like in Tim Burton’s Batman).  The acting is phenomenal, you couldn’t ask for a better cast. As I said before, the action is incredible and will constantly have you at the edge of your seat (cliche line, but a true one). There isn’t very much CGI either, which really gives the movie a more realistic feel.

The Dark Knight is nearly three hours long, but you wouldn’t know it just by seeing it. Nothing is waisted, everything comes together and there isn’t a single scene that seems pointless or unnecessary . It all goes by fast, it doesn’t feel like its almost three hours long, which is a very good thing.

The Dark Knight more than lives up to the hype and has become a new benchmark for super hero films. It is the best comic book movie ever made, and is easily one of the absolute best movies I have ever seen. Its a masterpiece.

I believe in Harvey Dent.

Why so serious?

See this movie is so good it gets two one-liners!

Also, the soundtrack is amazing and this is my favorite song from it.

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