It’s somewhat appropriate that “The Dark Knight” is the only Batman film so far that doesn’t name its hero in the title: after all, this isn’t so much a film about Bruce Wayne/Batman (Christian Bale) as it is about Gotham City and the citizens who get caught up in the caped crusader’s fight against crime, chief amongst them being Aaron Eckhart’s newly elected District Attorney Harvey Dent and Lt. Jim Gordon (Oldman.) Of course, you’ve probably been hiding in a dark cave if you didn’t know that “The Dark Knight” pitches Batman (and everyone in Gotham) against Heath Ledger’s Joker. And yes, after all that hype you’ve heard (or not), his performance really is that good.

In fact, there’s so much going on in “The Dark Knight” (too much to even start to discuss without giving away so much) that Batman/Bruce Wayne comes across as more of a supporting character than a star, that role falling to Eckhart’s Dent, who’s at the story’s heart, providing the heroic face (and obvious target) that Gotham so badly needs, but that Batman can never be. If you saw “Batman Begins,” you’ll understand the conflicts surrounding Batman’s dual identity, the hope that Dent embodies, all of which is brought home hard in Wayne’s relationship with Rachel Dawes, Maggie Gyllenhaal bringing a subtle confidence, warmth and depth to the role that Katie Holmes never quite captured.

The action scenes grow in scale as the movie progresses (helicopter crash, rocket launchers, whole buildings exploding? Check, check, check) but where “The Dark Knight” rises above comic-book/superhero movies and action movies alike is in its cast: Eckhart is superb as Dent, the whole film resting comfortably on his performance (although performances may be more accurate.) Of course, Ledger can’t go unmentioned for his turn as the Joker: forget the Oscar-buzz, understated as it is, this is quite possibly the greatest cinematic portrayal of all time. The Joker himself is more of a force than a character, pulling at threadbare strings and manipulating the whole populace of Gotham, from the mob-bosses to the kids. And it’s a scope that’s completely believable too. Cutting and ka-booming his way through the film, the Joker is a terrifying presence, but one that is so enigmatic and enthralling, you can’t look away. Ledger’s death only adds the slightest whiff of a poignant moment once, telling Batman that he completes him, and they will be playing their cat and mouse game forever.

At two-and-a-half hours long, “The Dark Knight” isn’t a moment too short, and you can’t help but feel cheated out of a few extra hours. Racing from one incredibly tense moment to the next, it compresses the adrenaline of a whole season of ’24,’ all three Bourne films and every Michael Mann and Bond incarnation ever into a compact gut-punch that might even leave you crying by the end, if not open-mouthed in awe. Just don’t expect to leave the cinema without glancing over your shoulder to see if that’s a psychopath in clown make-up behind you.

VERDICT:

The darkest superhero movie in a long-time, and the better because of it, fitting together perfectly in what could be one of the best action/thrillers ever made. Oh, and there’s Batman in there underneath it all too.

Movie Trivia:

Matt Damon was Christopher Nolan's first choice for the role of Harvey Dent but turned it down. Before Aaron Eckhart was cast in the part, other actors considered included Hugh Jackman, Ryan Phillippe, Liev Schreiber and Josh Lucas.

As a joke, one bat suit was made with nipples, as in Batman & Robin (1997). It was presented to Christian Bale as the real bat suit, but he knew instantly it was a joke, having seen a few design pictures during preproduction. He did pose for some publicity photos in the "nipple" suit.

This is the first Batman film to not have "Batman" in the title.

Christopher Nolan has a son named Rory, for whom the working title of the film ("Rory's First Kiss") was named.

Robin Williams, Lachy Hulme, Paul Bettany, and Adrien Brody all expressed interest for the role of the Joker before Heath Ledger was cast.

When asked, "Why Heath Ledger as the Joker?" Christopher Nolan said, "Because he's fearless."

Dwight Yoakam turned down two roles in this movie. Originally he was offered the part of a cop; then he was offered to play a banker who had dealings with the Joker (Heath Ledger). Yoakam passed on both roles because he was working on a Buck Owens tribute album.

Turning down a salary estimated at between $1 million and $2 million, an increase over the roughly $1 million she was believed to have earned for Batman Begins (2005) - Katie Holmes chose not to reprise her role as Rachel Dawes. This was due to what was described as 'scheduling conflicts'.

Before Maggie Gyllenhaal replaced Katie Holmes in the role of Rachel Dawes, both Rachel McAdams and Emily Blunt were rumored for the part.

While filming on the streets of Chicago in April 2007, the filming was carried out under the fake movie title "Rory's First Kiss". Fliers regarding the filming carried this fake title, complete with a fake "RFK" logo for the movie and an address for the film's production offices.

One of the extra's military uniforms has the name "Philo" on it, after the film's extras casting director, Joan Philo.

On Thanksgiving weekend, 2007, fake four page tabloid size "Gotham Times" newspapers were distributed at various public events. Headlined "City at War - Batman Saves Entire Family", every article teased events in the film, and everything in the handout was geared toward the film, including the weather ("Gloomy and overcast...”) and advertisements for Gotham National Bank, the Gotham Girl Guides and recruitment for the Gotham Police Department.

To prepare for his role as the Joker, Heath Ledger lived alone in a hotel room for a month, formulating the character's psychology, posture and voice (the last one he found most difficult to do). He started a diary, in which he wrote the Joker's thoughts and feelings to guide himself during his performance. He was also given Alan Moore's comic "Batman: The Killing Joke" and "Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth" to read. Ledger also took inspiration from A Clockwork Orange (1971)'s Alex and Sid Vicious.

Director Christopher Nolan and co-writers Jonathan Nolan and David S. Goyer decided not to explore the origins of the Joker in order to portray the character as "absolute."

Christopher Nolan cites the film Heat (1995) as a major influence on this movie. 'William Fitchner' played in ‘Heat’ and in the scene in ‘The Dark Knight’ that was obviously inspired by Heat.

Christopher Nolan shot part of the film in the IMAX format. Nolan had wanted to shoot in IMAX for 15 years, and even now wishes he could have shot the entire film in IMAX, as he felt "if you could take an IMAX camera to Mt Everest or outer space, you could use it in a feature movie." Nolan shot in IMAX four major action sequences and quiet dramatic scenes which he thought would be visually fascinating.

Off-duty Chicago Police Officers along with Officers from Elyria OH, Hammond IN, Buffalo Grove IL and Joliet IL played Gotham Police officer extras.

Elaborate, interactive marketing campaigns were launched in the months leading up to the release of this film. One of which was an event at the 2007 San Diego Comic-con called "Why So Serious", which involved fans following clues hidden around the city. The legions of Joker-painted fans ended up congregating in the street across from the convention center, where one of their numbers was welcomed into a black Escalade (with Gotham license plates) that had just pulled up. After a moment the fan started screaming and the SUV sped away. Later that day, a "Gotham City newspaper" was circulated reporting that a man believed to be the Joker was found beaten to death. Included were "crime scene photos" of the fan who had gotten into the Escalade, and a mention that he was found with a playing card in his hand, on which was scribbled "See you in December."

Heath Ledger's sudden death on January 22, 2008 prompted immediate speculation as to the state of this film. Late the same day, Warner Bros. released a statement declaring that Ledger had completed all his scenes and post-production work, thus making the Joker the actor's final completed appearance in a film.

While in the nurse uniform, The Joker's name badge says Matilda. This is the name of Heath Ledger's daughter.

It's Sir Michael Caine's opinion that Heath Ledger beat the odds and topped Jack Nicholson's Joker from Batman (1989): "Jack was like a clown figure, benign but wicked, maybe a killer old uncle. He could be funny and make you laugh. Heath's gone in a completely different direction to Jack, he's like a really scary psychopath. He's a lovely guy and his Joker is going to be a hell of a revelation in this picture." Caine bases this belief on a scene where the Joker pays a visit to Bruce Wayne's penthouse. He'd never met Ledger before, so when Ledger arrived and performed he gave Caine such a fright he forgot his lines.

Aaron Eckhart described his portrayal of Harvey Dent as simultaneously coming from and being apart from the same world as Batman (Dent is the white knight of Gotham, as opposed to the Dark Knight). His challenge was "looking for the similarities and the tension between the two; to find what's similar to Batman and then what's opposite to him." Eckhart prepared for his role by studying split personalities.

Bruce Wayne develops and wears a new Batsuit in the film. This Batsuit was an improvement on the outfit from Batman Begins (2005), and made Christian Bale more comfortable and agile in his performance. It was constructed from 200 unique pieces of rubber, fibreglass, metallic mesh, and nylon (producing an impression of sophisticated technology), with elastic banding added for tightening the costume to fit Bale. The gauntlets had their razors made retractable and able to be fired. The suit's cowl was based on a motorcycle helmet and separated from the neck piece, allowing Bale to move his head left/right/up/down, and comes equipped with white eye lenses for when Batman turns on Bat-sonar.

The Joker make-up was composed of three pieces of stamped silicone, which took less than an hour to apply to Heath Ledger on each day of shooting. Ledger described it as "new technology which is much quicker to apply than regular prosthetics;" he felt he was not wearing any make-up at all.

Costume designer Lindy Hemming based the Joker's look around his personality, in which "he doesn't care about himself at all." Hemming was inspired by countercultural pop culture artists like Pete Doherty, Iggy Pop, and Sid Vicious. She avoided his design being vagrant, but made it scruffier and grungier, therefore making his movements slightly twitchier and edgier.

An explosion was filmed at the Battersea Power Station in London. The fireball created calls from panic-stricken local residents, who assumed a terrorist attack was on the out-of-use Station.

Nestor Carbonell who plays the Mayor in "The Dark Knight" coincidentally also played "Bat Manuel", a parody of Batman in the comic-based live action "The Tick" (2001) TV series.

The Batman Comic Books "The Long Halloween", "The Killing Joke", "The Man Who Laughs" and the first two comics to feature the Joker character served as an influence on the film’s storyline.

Jerry Robinson, one of the original creators of the Joker back in 1940, was hired as a consultant on the film (the Joker is to be portrayed according to his first two appearances in the comics, which Robinson was involved in). His "Batman" co-creator Bob Kane had earlier been hired as a consultant for Batman (1989).

David S. Goyer and Christopher Nolan collaborated on the story of the film. The script itself was written by Nolan and his brother Jonathon. After watching The Dark Knight, Goyer stated "I can't believe my name is on a movie this good".

In the movie, Bruce Wayne drives a Lamborghini Murciélago. Murciélago is Spanish for "bat."

Aaron Eckhart enjoyed wearing the Two-Face makeup and warned: "When you look at him, you should get sick to your stomach. It's like you would feel if you met someone whose face had pretty much been ripped off or burned off with acid. There are fans on the Internet who have drawn versions of what they think it looks like, and I can tell you this: They're thinking small. Chris has gone way farther than people think."

The "Batman" theme is heard only twice in the film, as Composers Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard decided that a heroic theme that a viewer could hum would ignore the complexity and darkness of the character. Hearing the tune only twice would create what Zimmer calls "a musical foreshadowing."

Composer James Newton Howard composed an elegant and beautiful score for Harvey Dent, which would serve as a jarring contrast to Two-Face's persona.

The actor that played the older gentleman that confronts the Joker at the party thrown by Bruce Wayne for Harvey Dent is Vermont senior senator Patrick Leahy. Mr. Leahy is a huge Batman fan and arranged an early showing of the movie on July 12th as a fund-raiser for the children's section of the Kellogg-Hubbard Library in Montpelier, Vermont, the state's capital.

Had the biggest three-day opening weekend of all time with $155.3 million beating Spider-Man 3 (2007).

Set a weekend box-office record for IMAX venues with $6.2 mil. Former record holder was Spider-Man 3 (2007).

Set a new mark for money earned in midnight showings when it grossed $18.5 million. Former record holder was Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005).

The film was delivered to some theaters under the name "Oliver's Heroes".>>> WARNING: Here Be Spoilers <<<

Trivia items below here contain information that may give away important plot points. You may not want to read any further if you've not already seen this title.

SPOILER: Heath Ledger improvised when he started clapping inside his jail cell in a mocking and sardonic capacity as Gordon is promoted. The clapping was not scripted but Christopher Nolan immediately encouraged the crew to continue filming and the sequence was included in the film.

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