The gang's all here for Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight, the sequel to 2005's Batman Begins. Well, almost...Maggie Gyllenhaal steps adroitly into the role left vacant by Katie Holmes, and offers an edgier, steelier Assistant District Attorney, while Aaron Eckhart joins the old cast (Christian Bale, Gary Oldman, Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman) as tough DA Harvey Dent, a white knight foil to The Caped Crusader.

In The Dark Knight, Batman (Christian Bale) is facing a different set of challenges than in the previous origin story. Back in Gotham and affecting good, Batman now has the burden of responsibility of power that he attained in Batman Begins. As a philanthropist tycoon by day, Bruce Wayne sees a shining light for the future of Gotham in the form of a new and heroic DA. Welcoming the possibility of gracefully retiring Batman, Wayne hopes to be replaced by this publicly elected official whose mission also is to stamp out corruption and crime. But Batman is confronted by The Joker (Heath Ledger), a wacked-out psychopath who is uniting all the mob factions and provoking Batman more than any villain has before. The Joker launches anarchic attacks, violently disrupting social order, and has Batman questioning his vow not to kill, but rather to bring criminals to justice.

Christian Bale is magnificent as the tortured hero, but the movie belongs to its freaky villain. Sentimentality might colour your appreciation of the late Heath Ledger's Joker who, while rivetting, could have been more menacing. Although far darker than Nicholson's iconic performance, Heath's Joker is almost too cartoony and not quite unpredictable nor scary enough. Aside from everything else though, this is well worth seeing on the big screen.