The Dark Knight (2008)

The Dark Knight runs two and a half hours and spends the last half hour starting a sequel inside the movie. That’s the complaint. Here’s everything else. Heath Ledger shows up as the Joker and steals every scene like he’s paid by the minute, which is wild in a movie where Christian Bale’s Batman voice sounds like a garbage disposal with a law degree. Gary Oldman’s Gordon is the most tired man in cinema and I relate. Nolan opens with a heist so tight it should be taught in schools, then turns a superhero flick into a crime thriller that made $1.01 billion worldwide. 3.24 million IMDb ratings average a 9.1 and somehow that still feels low. A 9.4 because it’s the comic book movie every other comic book movie is still trying to beat. $863 says you do the Joker voice at least once this week and somebody asks you to stop.

What works: Heath Ledger’s Joker, the opening heist, and a superhero movie that plays like a crime thriller with real stakes.

What doesn’t: The last act turns into a second movie, and the Batman voice is a choice nobody has ever been able to defend.

Who it’s for: Anyone who thinks superhero movies are kid stuff, and anyone who has quoted the Joker at a party.