The Dark Knight (The Best Movie Ever?)

Tim Burton is a master director and Jack Nicholson is classic as the Joker, but, my apologies good sirs, The Dark Knight just made your involvement in the Batman series of movies as irrelevant as Katie Holmes' (I don't wannnaaa waiitttt.....) disappearing act from the latest installment in director Christopher Nolan's new and improved series. The Dark Knight is awesome, action-packed, bad assery from start to finish. Where movies before have failed to live up to their grandiose expectations (cough, cough the Star Wars prequels, Matrix sequels, and, of late, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull), this film takes a sledge hammer to any and all nay sayers.

Starting from where Batman Begins leaves off, Batman (Christian Bale) and Lt. James Gordon (Gary Oldman) are trying to rid Gotham City of its nefarious underbelly, but a pesky, purple suited newcomer, who calls himself the Joker (Heath Ledger), keeps getting in the way. Enter the White Knight, District Attorney Harvey Dent (Aaaron Eckhart), and, now, it's the Three Musketeers against the demonic clown, played by Ledger to Oscar worthy perfection (wow, whoduh thought, really, the guy from A Knight's Tale).

This film is currently the best picture of 2008 for several reasons: First, it's the darkest of all the Batman films, a black hole compared to Burton's fun house hallways and Kilmer and Clooney's puke inducing night-lighted bedrooms.

Second, it's not just non-stop action. Don't get me wrong, the action scenes are killer, but this film goes beyond BAMS and BLAMS, bringing up themes that are relevant today: for example, how do you fight an enemy who lives on a different moral plane, is killing ever justified and how far should civil liberties be suppressed in order to keep the world safe.

Lastly, the acting in this movie is superb. Everybody does their part; Maggie Gyllenhaal is an improvement over Holmes, and Bale is fantastic, although I couldn't help chuckling the first time I heard Bale switch from playboy Bruce Wayne voice to "I will eat your heart" Batman voice. The man of the hour, however, is Ledger. Jack had the smile, but Ledger's punk rock portrayal of the Joker is a nightmare on screen. Generations from now will ask, "What if" because of the actor's untimely death.

If you have a beating heart or an operating pacemaker you must see this film. This could be the best movie ever made; fuck Citizen Kane and rosebud.

SPOILER ALERT: DON'T READ IF YOU PLAN ON SEEING THE MOVIE.

The Internet is already buzzing about who will play the Joker in the next film because the villain does not meet his demise. Daniel Day Lewis seems like a perfect choice, although, like Ledger, another young up and comer like James McElvoy could be great too. Usually, actors would be jumping at this role, but failing to live up to Ledger could be career suicide if left in the wrong hands.

Photos taken from batman-movie-buzz.com and ign.com