Gotham's Greatest

In the follow up to 2005's Batman Begins, Christopher Nolan has created a dark masterpiece.

The Dark Knight continues a few years after the events of Batman Begins and Batman has become a force to be reckoned with in Gotham City. The new DA in town, Harvey Dent, is putting criminals away legitimately and with public opinion in his favour, Bruce Wayne wants to retire Batman and leave the heroics to Dent so he can concentrate on romancing Rachel Dawes.

Enter the Joker, a gloriously fiendish Heath Ledger, ghoulish make up smeared across a face scarred into a fiendish smile. A wonderfully re-imagined villain, completely apart from Jack Nicholson's blackly comic portrayal, this is a darker, more savage Joker. One that enjoys a laugh sure, but with a predilection for uncompromising violence and a sadism that is unparalleled.

With gripping action and a fantastically well-written script, the two and half hour film is never dull. An all-star cast doesn't disappoint: Michael Caine is on form as dryly witty butler Alfred, Morgan Freeman is right on par as creator of gadgets Lucius Fox, Maggie Gyllenhaal easily outstrips any merits that Katie Holmes might have had and Gary Oldman shows exactly why he's one of Hollywood's best character actors. Special mention should go to Aaron Eckhart who manages to portray Harvey Dent as earnestly likeable and relentlessly dedicated which makes his inevitable downfall all the more moving.

Batman is more than just a guy in a black suit fighting injustice and the Joker more than just the clown prince of crime. Gone is the black and white morality of previous incarnations; good and evil here are shown here in profound shades of grey; chaos and order exist in tandem, inseparable from each other.

And did I mention, Batman's new bike rocks?

With well choreographed action sequences to die for, a clever and engaging plot and some of the most memorable performances you'll ever see in an action movie; this is the film to see in 2008.