Finally had a chance to see Dark Knight this past weekend and it is an epic film. Soaring themes of what is good and evil, what good has to do to overcome evil, the notion of personal sacrifice all had a role in this film.

I have been a Batman fan for over 30 years now. I have the comics which collected back in the late 70’s through the 80’s. I have read the Golden Age Batman through his reinvention in the 60’s and onward to the present day. The nuances of the character are well known to me. For once, a film has come to realise the Batman I have read about.

This is a very dark film bu then again so too are the comic editions. People have died in the pages of the various Batman titles and so too does many of the characters in this film. Yet, while Batman moves sometimes into those dark areas as well, he seems to be able to pull back from the edge, knowing who he is and what he is trying to represent for the citizens of Gotham.

This Batman is more than a fighter, though. We see the detective side of him as he tries to piece together the various threads of the Joker’s plan. We see his resourcefulness especially on his side trip to the Far East.

This is a superlative film, head & shoulders above all others to date. It is intense, of that there is no doubt. Performances are trult stellar but as you may know, one stands above all others. Heath Ledger’s performance as the Joker will make any one forget that over the top performance by Jack Nicholson 20 years ago. That was a performance where you barely saw the Joker but rather just another wild rendition of a Jack Nicholson character that seems interchangeable these days. But here, Ledger’s Joker is the character we all have come to know for those who read the comics. Terrifying, utterly insane to us but perfectly sane to his own sense of logic. On screen, you see the Joker and not Heath Ledger. It is a shame that he will be unable to repeat that role.

There are many good things about this film I like. The Far East trip took on a James Bond flair even to the sweeping shot of a yacht owned by a billionaire. The Gotham city shots were of a real city and not an architectural fantasy. The effects were real for the most part and seem grounded in reality.

Not too many films I see this days warranted a second viewing while still in theatres but this one does. For now, I have seen the Batman film I have been waiting for all my life.