The Dark Knight
Oh man. Oh man. This was a really good movie. I read in an interview beforehand that Chris Nolan used pretty much every idea he had for the Batman franchise in this movie and, after seeing it, I believe it. This is like a 12-part serial condensed into a two-and-a-half hour movie. It has about five different climaxes and, after about the first 30 minutes, refuses to let up. It just keeps hitting you again and again with more great scenes.
Heath Ledger is great. He’s legitimately good in the role. Of all the actors who’ve played the character — and, yeah, I include Jack Nicholson in this — only Ledger and Mark Hamill have gotten it right thus far. Some of his scenes, specifically the interrogation room sequence and the hospital thing, are just mind-warpingly good.
Flaws? Sure. Christian Bale still insists on growling all his lines as Batman, which is such a weird thing to do. Despite the running time, the huge amount of plot packed into things makes it all feel a bit rushed. And, of course, coming out of things knowing that Heath Ledger will never be able to return to the franchise is a huge downer.
But overall, this is great. Right now it’s a toss-up between X-Men 2, Spider-Man 2 and The Dark Knight as to which is the best super hero movie of all time. Assuming The Dark Knight ages well — and I think it will — it’ll probably take the top spot.