The Dark Knight (2008)

This post was inevitable. My personal favorite of 2008 is this and it sure is one of my all time favorites as well. When I was on vacation, I asked somebody what they though of it and they told me "It's better than Gone With the Wind". It might actually just be. The Dark Knight is one to go down in movie for 1) being the second most grossing film of all time and 2) for being what all movies should be.

Among The Dark Knight's many plotlines, it is about Gotham, Batman's (Christian Bale) city which now looks down on him. Once he was the superhero, but now nobody really wants him anymore. Even worse, the Joker (Heath Ledger's final role) invades Gotham and causes chaos. Also, Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart), a sketchy official, gets elected as mayor. And you wonder why the film is 152 minutes!

I'm sorry, but it is absolutely necessary to devote this whole paragraph to Heath Ledger. He doesn't play the Joker, he is the Joker. Not to mention a stunning makeup job, his performance completely blows me away. Usually I wouldn't say this for this kind of movie, but Heath Ledger WILL win the Oscar. May he rest in peace.

I'll just highlight some of my favorite scenes. The first and best is the pencil trick scene in which the Joker stabs a pencil into a mobster's eye. The scene is so well done and spawned the quote of the year: "Why so serious?". The second is the scene towards the end with two ferries. I won't reveal what happens. My third favorite is the first scene which involves a bank robbery. All the mobsters end up shooting each other in a very sinister plan from the Joker. How clever!

Christopher Nolan has never directed better since Memento (a future post). No has ever acted as well as Heath Ledger. Only one movie has grossed more than this domestically. Only this movie holds my attention for two and a half hours. Among many other things, The Dark Knight is one of the best films ever. Hands down, this is my third favorite movie ever and I'm not even a comic book fan.