'The Dark Knight' review

(Credit: Warner Bros.)

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With Batman (Christian Bale) firmly entrenched as the hero of Gotham City, a new, more dangerous breed of criminal has begun to emerge—none more frighteningly unpredictable than psychotic mystery man the Joker (Heath Ledger). Supporting Batman on his vigilante quest are his loyal butler, Alfred (Michael Caine), tech-savvy employee Lucius Fox (Morgan Freeman), incorruptible police officer Lt. Jim Gordon (Gary Oldman), former flame Rachel Dawes (Maggie Gyllenhaal, filling in nicely for Katie Holmes) and district attorney/rising political superstar Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart)—whom Batman hopes might become his legitimate successor in ensuring Gotham's safety.

Big questions: Can director Christopher Nolan top the impressively unique comic book vision he brought to "Batman Begins"? And can the late Ledger's final complete performance deliver on the persistent promise of Oscar hype?

Catch it: "The Dark Knight" arrives with unusually grand expectations, and the pressure lands on Nolan to deliver for audiences excited not just because "Batman Begins" was cool, but because it was good. This sequel is both, falling closer to gritty action-dramas of the '70s and contemporary crime sagas like "The Departed" than any previous Bat flick. (How far we've come from the days when Joel Schumacher added nipples to the Batsuit.) There's not a dud in the expertly selected ensemble cast, but consider Ledger first among equals. His tragic death adds an unintended but appropriately haunting dimension to the Joker, but even without the sad circumstances, his terrifyingly original portrayal would stand beside his work in "Brokeback Mountain" as a pinnacle of screen acting.

Skip it: There's no good reason to miss this movie, but keep in mind "The Dark Knight" was the first non-documentary film to shoot sequences using IMAX cameras. The film would remain colossally entertaining on even a tiny screen, but if you're not seeing it in IMAX, you're not seeing the full picture.

Bottom line: The first-ever comic-book-inspired epic, Nolan's sequel blows right past "Batman Begins"—and every other superhero movie ever made—to decimate all preconceived notions about just how accomplished these types of films can be. Impeccably acted, morally complex and crafted with across-the-board technical virtuosity, "The Dark Knight" emerges fully formed as an American crime-movie classic.

Check out Metromix's full "Dark Knight" coverage, including a video review of the movie

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