★★★★½ Batman: The Dark Knight

[Gino: 4.5, Twoshoes: 4.5, Twinkletoes: 4.5, Tiny: 3.5] Gino says: 'This film had a great tone to it. Seamless, non-distracting special effects. A complex plot, and mostly one of the most enjoyable movie villains I have seen. I am not one to jump on a popularity or sentimentality bandwagon: Heath Ledger is fantastic, playing The Joker as totally unhinged and yet always nearly-grounded, not "larger than life" comic book-y. The film is 2.5 hours long, but it felt like 4 hours. Not because the plot dragged its feet, but I think because of the sustained tension, starting about half way through.'

Twinkletoes says: 'I'm debating whether or not this is superior to Batman Begins. In the end I think perhaps it is, by the slimmest of margins due to its sprawlingly ambitious story.'

Tiny says: 'I’m not sure why I’m not rating this higher, because every analytical part of me gives the movie very high marks. Great performances all around, especially Heath Ledger and the all-star supporters Oldman, Freeman, and Caine. A sophisticated plot that does not expect too little of the viewer. Great dialogue. Seamless special effects. In contrast to Avatar (which I saw the next day), which clumsily and simplistically handles the motivations of the bad guys such that at times I thought, “Boy, I guess they just like to blow stuff up,” a main theme of The Dark Knight that one must grapple with is that, indeed, some guys just like to blow stuff up to see what happens. By addressing that head on, this movie far exceeds the standard comic book/action movie. I should disclose that I have not seen Batman Begins. (I will, based on how good this was); perhaps that is why the movie didn’t quite entertain me enough to get a higher score. '