Starring: Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Aaron Eckhart, Maggie Gyllenhaal
Director: Christopher Nolan
Category: IIB
In one of the key scenes in The Dark Knight, the film's major villain, The Joker (played by the late Heath Ledger), is seen berating what he sees as society's over-reliance on rules and norms. 'I'm the agent of chaos,' he purrs in a mixture of comical hilarity and spine-tingling menace.
The Joker does much more than instigate brutal robberies (as seen in The Dark Knight's staggering opening sequence) or inspire pandemonium among the general population of Gotham City. It's his ability to stir up the dark side of nearly everyone in the film - from seemingly incorruptible public crusaders to the city's ordinary denizens - that drives Christopher Nolan's relentlessly pulse-racing vehicle.
It's more than apt that this is the first Batman film in which the character's name doesn't appear in the title - while still remaining central to the narrative. The labours of the rubber-clad icon are almost eclipsed by the message that runs through the film: What does it take to convert normally civilised humans into crazed lynch mobs, and change white knights into shady monsters?
The Dark Knight is much more visually ravishing and adrenalin-inducing than Batman Begins (Nolan's first outing in the franchise). There is no shortage of high-octane action scenes, deafening explosions and car-flips augmented, of course, by the Batmobile.