Amazingly, lives up to the hype and more

Rating: 10/10 (26 July 2008)

For the second entry into the (very) successfully rebooted Batman franchise to live up to expectations was never going to be easy. Batman Begins had met with critical acclaim and set the tills ringing at the box office, so people were already expecting great things of the follow-up, and with the death of Heath Ledger shortly after the completion of filming, it ensured that all of the world's attention was going to be on this film. So expectations of a great film were high.
To a large extent, The Dark Knight not only meets, but exceeds those high expectations. With Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Gary Oldman and Morgan Freeman all returning, much of what was good about the first film remains, and the addition of Aaron Eckhart and Maggie Gyllenhaal have proved to be successful moves. With the performance of Heath Ledger however, objectivity was always going to be difficult, with talk of a posthumous Oscar circling the film's promotion almost immediately after his death.
It seems to be said of any sequel, particularly in a comic book franchise, that the second installment must be 'darker'. Sometimes this is indeed the case, sometimes the label appears to be applied as a knee-jerk reaction. The Dark Knight however is the first sequel in a long time to genuinely deserve this adjective (an impressive feat given that the first film was hardly brightly coloured!), all the way to the ending, to the extent that the film has met with criticism for its family-friendly 12A rating in the UK  some of the 'darker' scenes and plot elements are particularly intense and could be considered certainly unsuitable for children under 12. Yet The Dark Knight is still possibly the best film of the year so far.
As for the plot itself, The Dark Knight revolves around Batman's desire to step down and allow new District Attorney Harvey Dent (Eckhart) to fight the criminals out in the open. However, the rise of the Joker (Ledger) forces Bruce Wayne to return to his alter-ego, and go even 'darker' in order to bring him down. For a runtime over two and a half hours, the plot never gets too convoluted but is involving enough so that the long runtime is not felt too much (although shaving a quarter-hour off wouldn't have hurt). However, although The Dark Knight is a superb ensemble piece (as was Batman Begins) with some terrific action set-pieces (including car chases and explosions) the film's star is by far and away Heath Ledger, in what has proved to be a tremendously fitting swansong to a promising career cut way too short. Even allowing for all the inevitable hyperbole following his death, Ledger's performance is absolutely superb. He truly makes the character his own, and resists what must be a great temptation to overact and try and echo the performance of Jack Nicholson, yet still manages to capture the maniacal quality that is the Joker. Which makes it all the more tragic that this career-defining performance should be seen after his death.
But in all of the furore over Ledger's death, it would be easy to overlook the performance of the Caped Crusader himself (and bonus points for Christopher Nolan for managing to crowbar in that nickname into the film without making it seem too camp). But Christian Bale as the eponymous hero matches Leger's joker for intensity and the always-required darkness. It is his performance that makes the Joker such a perfect match for Batman, and probably the greatest comic-book villain ever. And in Aaron Eckhart a new star has been discovered, as his role as Dent the DA and his descent to Two-Face. Meanwhile Gary Oldman, Morgan Freeman and Michael Caine are all as reliable as ever.
Best of all, the ending leaves open the possibility of a completion to the trilogy  and although so-called 'threequels' are almost universally a disappointment, the unparalleled success of this reboot to one of the greatest comic-book franchises of all time means that it would be a completion eagerly anticipated. Memories of the ridiculous camp of Adam West, and the catastrophe of Joel Schumacher are now well and truly banished.
Exciting, adrenaline-fuelled, compelling, and, yes, darker. The Dark Knight is a fantastic film, and in a summer over-filled with comic-book adaptations, needs something special to stand out. And in Heath Ledger's tremendous performance it has it. Maybe the posthumous Oscar would be justified after all.