Zimmer is one of the best composers to grace movies with his work. We all know the amazing work he did on The Lion King, but his star is growing in the current scene as well.
The Dark Knight and Inception are related in so many ways, and Zimmer is part of the main reason for it. Music is an emotion unto itself, so his work turns a movie into a different genre at times. Probably my favorite Zimmer work of late is Tron: Legacy's soundtrack, which is one of the best ever in a movie. Daft Punk wanted to do the soundtrack after being inspired by his work on Inception and Dark Knight, and after they got done cutting the music, they sent it to Hans Zimmer's studio to polish it up and dramatize it. Oh, and he did Sherlock Holmes! XD
Just the other day I learned that he did some of the music in Modern Warfare as well. That shocked me honestly, that his reach has spread so far over the years.
Yet to come out: Rango, Pirates: On Stranger Tides, Sherlock Holmes 2, and Dark Knight Rises.
Enough cannot be said about his talent and musical prowess, and Zimmer is the reason I know LK not only word for word, but sound for sound.