The Dark Knight (12A) - 8/10

3:07pm Tuesday 29th July 2008

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IT’S all about heroes and villains, of course. But it’s funny that while the heroes invariably win the day in movies, it’s the villains who linger in the memory.

Batman, for example, is always upstaged, and usually by a character called The Joker.

In Tim Burton’s 1989 film, which kick-started the current series, Michael Keaton’s bloodless and frankly boring caped crusader was a supporting character next to Jack Nicholson’s lairy creation. It was a mis-match that succeeded in unbalancing the film.

The same could be said of new release The Dark Knight, although for different reasons.

In January this year, having just finished filming on The Dark Knight as The Joker, Heath Ledger, just 29 years old, died from an accidental overdose of prescription drugs.

It was publicity people connected with the film would rather have done without, but there is no denying it has given the film a whole new perspective.

And while everyone wishes the talented actor was still with us, at least he has gone out with the bang that movie fans were eagerly hoping for.

He is, quite simply, mesmerising. And while there is currently much unnecessary talk of a posthumous Oscar, Ledger’s powerful acting turns a two-dimensional comic book villain into something evil. Forget Nicholson’s gurning buffoon – Ledger, with fading, flaking clown make-up, lank, greasy hair and grotesque scars, is the ultimate bad guy for the 21st century.

As I said, the result is an unbalanced movie – but that doesn’t stop it being a good one.

The Dark Knight is a thrilling, complex action film that packs plenty of plot into its two and a half hours.

After the success of 2005’s Batman Begins, Christian Bale returns as millionaire playboy by day Bruce Wayne, and mysterious crimefighter by night Batman.

The streets of Gotham City have been cleaned up somewhat since the pointy-eared hero arrived on the scene, but there is still enough organised crime to keep honest citizens on their toes.

Among these are cop Lieutenant Jim Gordon (Oldman), lawyer Rachel Dawes (Gyllenhall), and new face Harvey Dent (Eckhart), the new District Attorney whose passion is to rid Gotham of its criminal masterminds.

This poses a bit of a dilemma for Wayne, who believes Dent to be the true hero in the city. With Dent doing a good enough job of fighting crime as the law demands it, what’s the point of having Batman?

But then The Joker enters the fray. A psychopath who seems to have no real motive other than to cause chaos for the sheer fun of it, this killer clown is hell-bent on creating as much mayhem and anarchy as he can.

With such films at Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk released in recent months, there was a danger of too many superheroes spoil the broth.

But The Dark Knight brings some fresh ideas to the table. Action scenes are fast, frantic and brilliantly filmed, combining excellent stunt work with special effects magic.

And with so many characters to keep up with, there are some interesting inter-relationships, be it Batman and Dent, Wayne and Rachel (who are old flames), Batman and The Joker, and even Wayne and his dear old butler Alfred (Caine). We want to see how these work out, and be warned, there are some shocks in store.

The cast do well. Bale is fine once more, Oldman gets a lot of screen time and is as dependable as ever, and Eckhart, in a fascinating performance, comes close to stealing the show.

But he doesn’t, of course. That honour goes to Heath Ledger. And it’s about halfway through the film that sadly you realise it’s a performance he won’t be repeating. 8/10 THE DARK KNIGHT (12A, 152mins) Starring: Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Aaron Eckhart, Gary Oldman, Michael Caine, Maggie Gyllenhall, Morgan Freeman Director: Christopher Nolan