For the past year or so, Hollywood hype has been about one major thing: the latest Batman film, and in particular Heath Ledger's performance as the Joker and his sad death. In all fairness, so many people have been praising this film since even before it came out, and the reviews have been so consistently positive, that it is not so much a case of if this is a good film or not, it's more a question of just how good it really is. I was curious to see just how good Ledger's Joker really was, what with everyone raving about how he should get a posthumous Oscar, so my folks came over to look after our son and my wife and I went to our local cinema. We sat in the comfy leather armchairs in the licenced screen with a pint of lager and a glass of wine and settled back to watch what you can only call a blockbuster! Come on, then, Heath, show us what you got!

The plot follows on quite closely to the end of the previous film, Batman Begins, which set the scene and gave a lot of background and history to the Dark Knight. Gotham City is terrorised by the enigmatic and charismatic Joker, a criminal who parades the streets of the city with his face painted white and with green and red around the eyes and mouth. Gotham's hero is Batman, but with regular citizens of Gotham impersonating him for glory and with the drugs barons as powerful as ever, he's got his work cut out. He is not massively popular with the public, and the authorities, led by new District Attorney Harvey Dent. As the Joker starts to terrorise the city in an attempt to get Batman to reveal his true identity, Gotham is sent into panic and Batman must team up with his old friends and associates in order to save everyone - and it may come at a great personal cost.

Once again, Christian Bale takes up the mantle of the Dark Knight. His performance in Batman Begins was hailed as the best by a man in the suit to date, and he continues here as he left off. However, it is almost worth giving him two comparisons in the film - one as Bruce Wayne, Gotham's millionaire, and his alter ego, Batman. As Wayne, Bale is supremely aloof and arrogant, but as Batman, he is selfless to the extreme, and completely honourable to boot. Bale's physique is impressive, and it is well documented that the actor throws himself into his roles. For Batman Begins, he had to bulk up immediately following a performance in The Machinist, and has kept the physique and indeed improved on it for The Dark Knight. The only criticism I have is the voice for Batman. I understand that the reason for this is that Bruce Wayne has to hide his voice when he is Batman for fear of people discovering his true identity, but the gruffness is too much and actually annoyed me somewhat.

Now, then. Heath Ledger's performance. I am well aware that a lot of the hype and gossip surrounding his death has been used as a way of bigging up his role as the Joker. Many have praised him beyond belief, and to a certain extent I think a lot of this could be because of his dramatic death. So, with this in mind, what did I think of Ledger? Well, when people say his performance is worthy of a posthumous Oscar, I can see what they mean. The actor's attention to detail is amazing, and his screen presence is commanding. Despite the hype, and even if you take it all with a pinch of salt, this is still one of the best individual performances I have seen of recent years, and the madness of the character is reminiscent of Jack Nicholson's performance in Batman in 1989, for which he won many awards. It is unfair to compare the two performances, yet at the same time necessary. If I had to vote, I would probably swing towards Ledger as the better of the two Jokers. He has more venom and gives the character close scrutiny. His attention to detail was amazing, and I am sure like many other cinemagoers I was closely watching to see how good he really was. The guy gets a big thumbs up from me, and I hope he gets some accolade for his performance. Rumours are if they make another Batman film soon Johnny Depp is tipped to take the role on. Good choice, but even he will have a long way to go to beat Ledger's awesome performance.

The film grossed over 150 million on the first weekend at the US box office. This is a record. The film is over 2 hours long, and it is non stop. Director Christopher Nolan impressed with Batman Begins a few years ago, and has raised the bar once more with The Dark Knight. If I have one criticism it is the length of the film. There were parts which could have been edited a bit more to avoid an intermission in the cinema. This detracted from the enjoyment factor a little, but it is not a major gripe by any means. The special effects are outstanding, with entire buildings being blown up and some amazing aerial stunts. The gadgets are back with Lucius Fox in control, and with sonar technology being added to the mix, it takes it up a notch. I felt that it verged on the ridiculous at points, but Nolan ensured that at no point did it get too silly.

There is no denying this is an excellent film. I could sit here all day and pick tiny little holes in this or that, but with no real conviction. Nolan's brother Jonathan does the screenplay justice and the creation of Gotham and the scenes in Hong Kong are excellently done by director of photography Wally Pfister. All in all, this is an outstanding blockbuster. It cost a lot of money, and it shows. Everything is top quality, from the cast and crew to the final production, and they have reaped the rewards by taking over $300 million in the first ten days of release - a record.

I wouldn't be surprised if people rave about this for a long time. It's a magnificent film with some powerful performances, great scenery, and a good combo of writing and directing from the Nolan brothers. Don't be fooled by the hype surrounding Heath Ledger's death - his performance really is that damn good. Ultimately, if you can walk out of a film with Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, Christian Bale, Gary Oldman, Aaron Eckhart, Maggie Gyllenhaal, and a whole host of recognisable faces and names, and the only thing you can think about is how good Heath Ledger's performances was, then you've got your answer. Great film, great acting, glad the guy got an Oscar!