The Dark Knight 2008

The caped crusader gets a stunning dose of hardcore dramatics in The Dark Knight, director Christopher Nolan’s ambitious follow-up to Batman Begins. Hailed as the first real big screen adult take on a popular comic mythos, the film goes to great lengths to show that costumed characters can indeed exist in genres outside of their comfort zone – which in this case, spells gritty crime drama. Nolan’s Gotham City might be beautiful, but it’s decaying from the inside out – as are most of the people in control of it. So at what point do the efforts of a costumed vigilante cease to have an impact on the society he vows to protect – and when does his mere presence present a detriment to them when it’s all said and done? It’s these kind of hefty issues that embody what could accurately be touted as a reinvention of the entire superhero film altogether. Thick with rich dramatics, daring performances and a few knockout scenes of action gusto, The Dark Knight strives to not only one-up its precursor, but also lay down a measuring stick of quality for the rest of Hollywood to live up to.