The Dark Knight

[Johann]

Thank you to everyone who worked on this film.
As a lifelong Batman fan I can't express enough my gratitude for producing such an artistically and emotionally gripping film of a mythology that deserves serious treatment.

Melding modern issues into it just makes it that more compelling.
I'm not reviewing the movie until later.
I'm just basking in the sheer glory of it, the wonderful Kubrick-like afterglow I have.

Raving isn't necessary. Adjectives and superlatives are out there in full force. You don't need any from me.

Just thank the cinema Gods that we've lived to see a work of this calibre. Any flaws that people point out (and I've heard a few) are to me just dismissed outright.

Heath Ledger is nowhere to be found in this movie. People have said it before and I'm parroting the same: he fucking disappears into the role of the Joker.
He's not acting. He's taking it to another level, one that is purely instinct and lyrical. Poetic even. He's "lyrikle spirikle" to quote Bob Marley.
He has almost a supernatural presence that is just riveting.
This is the kind of acting that only comes from knowing exactly what you're doing and then taking it to the edge. Complete freedom, complete fearlessness. You can see it on screen. You can see that they aren't just going through the motions here, hitting your marks and saying "that's a wrap". Nolan has done what Kubrick did: look for the magic and find it. The *dark* magic of it is just profound to me. A thousand thank you's to all involved for not making another run-of-the-mill comic book film. Ebert said "No Joke, Batman", and there certainly is no joking, nothing silly about this Joker. He's a very dangerous foe, the PERFECT foe for Batman, and Nolan has nailed that dynamic for all time.

Michael Caine has said that Heath is the most remarkable thing in the film and he is. It's his moment. Give the man his well-deserved due. I was absolutely astonished at his acting ability as The Joker. I'm ashamed I ever doubted him as an actor.
His performance is so exalted and pure...
Someone said in a review that everything he does is a Masterstroke, and I'm hard up to disagree.
You can pick the movie apart till the cows come home, Ledger is Ledgendary here. He's officially one of the greatest actors of all time, just on the basis of this showcase.

We have a movie we can enjoy and mine and re-live and study and appreciate until our last breath.
It's a film that is draped in gloom and darkness but there are lights aplenty in it, burning really bright.
I never thought I'd ever see a Batman film that was influenced by Stanley Kubrick but here it is, in 2008.

For me, this year is one of the greatest in the history of cinema.