When an unstoppable force meets an immovable object

As I said after getting home from seeing The Dark Knight, my initial reaction was, "Holy god."

Now, two days on, that continues to be my reaction.  What an amazing film this is.  It is hands-down the best superhero movie ever made, by a huge margin.  Christopher Nolan is a master craftsman, and he has created a work here that is as thrilling as it is dark, as powerful as it is entertaining.

The entire cast is excellent, but it really needs to be said that all of the talk about Heath Ledger's performance is not just hype.  Ledger has proven himself a great actor before, especially in Monster's Ball and of course in Brokeback Mountain.  As with his performance as Ennis del Mar, Ledger really pulled me in with his Joker.  He is evil, clever, compelling, and strange, and the performance was a joy to behold.

And though the movie was more or less nonstop greatness, I must comment on the last 5 or 10 minutes, in a spoiler-free way.  The end of this film did something that no other superhero movie has done: it moved me deeply.  The stuff about what Gotham needs, etc. really struck a powerful chord with me.

I cannot wait to see The Dark Knight again.  Heath Ledger will definitely be nominated, but I hope the Academy has enough guts to recognize this film in a larger way as well.