#9 The Dark Knight:

Holy shit this is a good movie. My favorite so far on the list. Of course I’d seen it before. I have liked it since the very first time. But movies are a little different when you watch them alone late at night. You are drawn into them more and I think the experience is much deeper. This particular viewing moved me more than the previous ones. The acting, the suspense, the themes and messages were so vivid and clear to me. More on that in a minute. First, Maggie is a thousand times better than Katie. I personally have the hots for Kates, but as we’ve all seen since she signed the contracts with Tom, she can’t act. Maggie is cute as hell and really brought her character to life. Actually, that’s pretty close to the only criticism I have, that every actor brought their characters to life. Too well. I mean, you can’t blame them, most of the supporting cast have (or received) Oscars. But they were all so good and deep that Batman himself was overshadowed. Christian Bale is good, but not Oscar good. So at times, I really found myself thinking of Batman as a lesser character. More of a supporting part. Alfred is cheeky and wise, Lucius is super cool, and the Joker is threatening again. I know, I know, talking about the Joker is cliché. So much has already been said about Heath’s last complete role. But not enough has been said. There’s real viciousness in him. Things that I’ve only seen on real life videos of people being barbaric. Not things that are typically on TV or in movies. He tapped into the dark side. The Joker in movies and TV before this was kinda just comic relief. He wasn’t scary. He wasn’t really dangerous. This one is.
Towards the end, the theme became apparent in the form of Batman’s decision to do what is right, not what is honest, in taking the blame for Harvey’s rampage and going rogue. That the truly strong leaders do what is, in the end, right. Which isn’t always what society preaches. This is because not everyone is a true leader. You have to be right to lead. There are books and classes and techniques to leading people around, but that’s not the real deal. The real leaders know what is right and do it, ignoring the rules. It’s OK to lie to an entire city, if you really do know what’s best for it. The people would disagree. Say that their right to know has been violated. But that’s what makes them the people, and not the leaders. This part of the movie is what really puts it at the top for me. I’ve felt that way my whole life. It’s just nice to see someone else sees the world that way so I don’t look like such an asshole.