After the tragic passing of Heath Ledger a few months ago, The Dark Knight was always going to be the most anticipated release of 2008; not only did Ledgers death rob us of an amazing talent, it has also burdened the second of the of the modern Batman incarnations with the unfair responsibility of book-ending a career that was set to explode. Luckily, director Christopher Nolan and his amazing ensemble have crafted a dark epic that can carry both itself and Ledger’s memory.

So let’s tackle Ledger’s role first as we’ve been sold the hype and most of us had the little voice asking if the West Aussie may have been receiving more praise than he would have had he still been with us. As Heath’s first few lines cackle across the cinema you realize this would have been the film that set him up for life.

The softly spoken Ledger’s transformation into the deranged Joker is both complete and unsettling. Pitted against the most effective Batman on the modern era in Christian Bale and an equally as impressive turn out from Aaron Eckhart as the white knight D.A, Ledger steals scenes throughout the film and as you laugh and wince you can’t help but feel the loss.

The film is nothing short of tremendously ambitious and it stops short of brilliance, primarily due to the amount of set up and character positioning that must be achieved in what was always going to be a franchise title. There is an amount of fat that could have been trimmed but the film’s aimed high and it has benefited from it’s lofty aim.

As always Morgan Freeman’s moralistic conscience character is solid and endearing while the transplanting of Katie Holmes for Maggie Gyllenhaal kept that whole ‘married to a cult worshipping dwarf’ taste out of a spectacular film.

The pacing is snappy throughout the entire film and in lesser hands it would have buckled under its 142 minute length, but the cast hold you completely. There is nothing particularly ground breaking in the way The Dark Knight is bolted together, it’s magic simply comes from it’s bullet-proof build quality.

A better legacy could not have been left.