The Dark Knight (4½ Stars)

This is the second film in Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy. The death of Heath Ledger, the actor who played the Joker, before the film's release led to a lot of interest by people who would otherwise not have considered watching the film. However, the film stands on its own merits. It doesn't need off-screen scandals or tragedies to support it.

The film is a significant improvement over the first part in the trilogy, "Batman Begins". The first film failed to capture the atmosphere of the Batman comics. "The Dark Knight" presents us the Batman that comic readers know and love. In the first film I had my doubts about Christian Bale in the title role. Here we see that he's grown into the role. I was disappointed that Bruce Wayne's love interest Rachel Dawes had to be played by a different actress. Maggie Gyllenhall doesn't bring the same warmth to the role as Katie Holmes.

The film suggests, though not explicitly, that Batman is actually the cause of the plague of super villains in Gotham City. This is a topic that has been frequently explored in the comics. The presence of a masked vigilante has provoked the rise of a new breed of villains to oppose him. Could Batman really save the city by retiring? I think not. In the same way, the general availability of guns in the USA is responsible for the height of violent crime, but if private gun ownership were forbidden tomorrow it would only make crime worse.

I have mixed feelings about Heath Ledger's portrayal of the Joker. He's a scary villain, but is he really the same Joker that we know from the comics? For me Cesar Romero will always be the actor who most accurately portrayed the Joker.

Click here to view the trailer.