The Dark Knight is a triumph from beginning to end.

Rating: 10/10 (13 January 2019)

CHRISTOPHER NOLAN gave Batman back his self-respect. After years of comical, camera-hogging villains and rubber outfits sculpted from Ann Summers fetish wear, Batman Begins took the series back to basics. Nolan rediscovered the dark, troubled soul of this vigilante hero.
The Dark Knight takes the process a giant leap further, transforming a typical summer blockbuster into a brooding, unsettling reflection on the increasingly blurry boundaries between good and evil.
This is a film for our times and is so violent and intense in its execution that you wonder what the censors were thinking about when they only awarded it a 12A certificate. This is definitely not for children.
A year has passed since Batman Begins. Gotham City is like a lawless frontier in the Wild West. Organised crime flourishes but billionaire playboy Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale) is warming to the idea that the city may have found a genuine hero in district attorney Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart).
Dent is a fearless crime fighter who doesn't hide in the shadows or consider himself above the law. He is also deeply in love with Batman's former sweetheart Rachel (Maggie Gyllenhaal). Even loyal lieutenant Gordon (Gary Oldman) believes in the power of Dent to bring about change.
Dent has everything going for him and could be the man to make Gotham safe again. Naturally, there is a very big fly in the ointment by the name of The Joker (Heath Ledger), a frightening psychopath who describes himself as an agent of chaos. Ledger plays the lipstick-smeared character to the hilt but without the flamboyant theatricality that Jack Nicholson brought to the part. Ledger's Joker is the embodiment of anarchy, creating a climate of fear and loathing just because he can.
Ledger invests him with a chilling conviction. You believe that he is capable of anything. His performance is both a tremendous swan song and a sad reminder of just what a fine actor was lost with his death earlier this year.
The Dark Knight is a movie that has the substance to match the style. There are stunning car chases and death-defying acts but they don't exist just to catch the eye and dazzle the senses. This is not the kind of film that fills you up with spectacle then leaves you feeling empty half an hour later.
Actions have consequences. People die in violent and horrible ways. There are no comforting certainties or absolute heroes. In a world where nobody respects the rule of law, how can you possible tell who the good guys are any more?
The picture's ability to catch you off balance is especially true in its treatment of Batman. Christian Bale seems even leaner and more anguished than ever as he watches Dent steal his legitimacy and his girl. Dent could provide Wayne with the opportunity to abandon his Batman persona for ever but what else could he do?
There are times when Batman seems responsible for more carnage and death than any of the villains. He believes the ends justify the means but wouldn't the pursuit of justice also mean that Batman should be behind bars?
The film's mantra becomes the line: "You either die a hero or live long enough to become the villain" and Michael Caine's stalwart Alfred begins to sound more and more like Batman's conscience.
A movie that combines nail-biting tension with impossible moral quandaries, The Dark Knight is an intelligent, provocative epic for people who like their blockbusters to have brains as well brawn. It might well be the best Hollywood film of the summer.