I’ll start with the negatives. Christian Bale’s growling is a bit odd and Heath Ledger’s performance makes the tragedy of his death all the more sour, as we’ll never get to see it again.

I’m now out of negatives.

My heart pounded, my breath caught in my throat and at one point I even jumped! I never jump, which just goes to highlight the intensity of the film.

And it is intense. There’s been a trend in Hollywood over the past year for film-makers to avoid pulling-punches, and Goyer and the Nolans (that’s Jonathan and Christopher, not the 70’s girl-group) are no exception.

Another Hollywood trend in recent years, when it comes to the big franchises, has been to make a hugely successful, entertaining and innovative first film, and then go nuts with the sequel, cramming as much in as possible and ending up with something convoluted and silly. With a new suit, new vehicle, new technology, two new major villains, a ton of grand set-pieces and even some globe-trotting, it would have been easy for The Dark Knight to go the same way, but the whole thing is put together masterfully.

In fact, the writing is some of the best I’ve seen in a very long time. There are plot and character developments handled better in these two and a half hours than I’ve seen in an entire franchise. Not a single character is wasted and the innovation surrounding The Joker’s motivations in particular is inspiring.

The cast, too, are all on top form. Of course, Bale doesn’t seem to have any level other than top form and the rest of the returning cast all have their roles expanded and are all more than up to the task. Indeed, it’s a good thing Katie Holmes bowed out of playing Rachel Dawes again, because there is no way she’d have been up for the type of performance required. Maggie Gyllenhaal’s Rachel was slyer, wittier, more intelligent, more intense and more passionate than Holmes could’ve managed.

As for the other newbies; I was very impressed with Aaron Eckhart. To date, the only thing I can remember seeing him in is The Core, in which he played the standard disaster movie hero, but he very much shows his acting chops as Harvey Dent who, on the surface, comes across as little more than an incorruptible do-gooder, but has layers to his personality ***POSSIBLE SPOILER ALERT***even before the inevitable tragedy of his tranformation***POSSIBLE SPOILER ALERT OVER***

But, let’s face it, it’s Heath Ledger who steals the show. It’s an understatement to say I was sceptical when I heard he’d been cast as The Joker. I knew him as the Antipodean, blond pretty-boy from Casanova and A Knight’s Tale. The Joker? And a Joker in a darker, grittier Batman universe? Are you mad?!

The perfect blend of twisted, crazy, savage and nutty. In the blink of an eye he can go from hilarious to horrific to unerringly calm and coherent. His physical, vocal and emotional performances perfectly tailored to the character.

Mad?

No.

Inspired.

It’s said that rumours of a posthumous Oscar nomination were a little hasty, but I struggle to see how anyone can possibly top that performance.

The bottom line is, believe the hype. This is the best ever Batman film, one of the best Batman stories ever told, the best film of the year so far and probably one of my favourite films of all time.