Salt Lake Tribune Review

As Batman's archnemesis the Joker, played with murderous intensity by Heath Ledger, intones, "Why so serious?"
"The Dark Knight" is as serious as a movie can get. Despite the movie's comic-book origins and popcorn-movie marketing, director Christopher Nolan - as he did with "Batman Begins" and his non-"Batman" conundrums, "The Prestige" and "Memento" - is going to demand your full attention and mental engagement.
It's a dark time in Gotham City. An idealistic new D.A., Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart), and Lt. Jim Gordon (Gary Oldman), the head of the Gotham P.D.'s Major Crimes Unit, are at odds about how to battle the city's mobsters. Gordon has an ally in Batman (Christian Bale), who has to deal with not only the mobsters but an array of wannabe vigilantes.
Enter the wild card in the deck: The Joker. Alfred (Michael Caine), loyal butler to Batman's alter ego Bruce Wayne, describes this character best: "Some people just want to watch the world burn." That fire, as The Joker sweeps through Gotham, threatens not only Batman but Gordon, Dent, and Dent's assistant/girlfriend - and Bruce's former love - Rachel Dawes (played by Maggie Gyllenhaal, comfortably taking over the role from Katie Holmes).
The movie is relentlessly paced, as Nolan (writing with his brother Jonathan, with a story credit for David S. Goyer) constantly pushes the film with nail-biting action sequences and resonant dialogue exchanges. There's little comic relief, save for the occasional wry comment by Alfred or Wayne Industries' head honcho Lucius Fox (Morgan Freeman), as Nolan ratchets the tension so tight that the 2 1/2-hour running time rushes past in a fury.
The returning cast members - Bale, Oldman, Caine and Freeman - are spectacular in reprising their roles, but it's the newcomers to the franchise who add the sparks. Gyllenhaal is tougher than your typical damsel in distress, but still warmly vulnerable. Eckhart manages a disturbing double act as both the idealist and the cynic, sizing up Batman with a prophetic line, "You either die the hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain." (Those who know Batman's history know the hand that fate deals to Harvey Dent.)
The impression that burns brightest in "The Dark Knight" is of Ledger, who should get a posthumous Oscar nomination for this fearless performance. Ledger's prowling gait and licking of his chops, poking his facial scars from the inside, show The Joker as equal parts psychopath and urban terrorist. He's a perfect vessel for Nolan's vision of The Joker as Gotham's Osama bin Laden, powerful not for what he does but for the fear that makes Gothamites terrorize themselves. Ledger, tearing into his last great role, embodies the insane genius of The Joker - and of the movie.

Sean P. Means can be reached at movies@sltrib.com or 801-257-8602.

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