It's difficult to separate the movie from its mystique. Even under ordinary circumstances, "The Dark Knight" would have been one of the most hotly awaited movies of the summer blockbuster season. The loss of Heath Ledger to an accidental prescription-drug overdose in January has amplified the buzz around the film — and his crazed performance as the Joker — to extraordinary levels. Nothing could possibly satisfy that kind of expectation. This comes pretty close.

Christopher Nolan's film is indeed an epic that will leave you staggering from the theater, stunned by its scope and complexity. It's also, thankfully, a vast improvement over his self-serious origin story, 2005's "Batman Begins." As director and co-writer with his brother, Jonathan (David S. Goyer shares a story credit), Nolan has found a way to mix in some fun with his philosophizing. Ambitious, explosive set pieces share screen time with meaty debates about good vs. evil and the nature of, and need for, a hero.

Batman (Christian Bale) has been that guy. Now, he's not so sure he should be anymore. He's protected Gotham fiercely but the new district attorney, Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart), seems to be putting a dent in organized crime with help from Lt. Gordon (Gary Oldman). Then the Joker arrives to send the city into chaos — and Nolan was wise enough to give Ledger plenty of room to shine, albeit in the actor's indelibly perverse, twisted way. There's nothing cartoony about his Joker. Ledger wrested the role from previous performers Cesar Romero and Jack Nicholson and reinvented it completely.

PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and some menace. 152 min. Three stars out of four.

-Watch the trailer
-"The Dark Knight" Pictures
-Heath Ledger Pictures

Christy Lemire, AP Movie Critic

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