The Dark Knight (2008)

" I don't want to kill you! What would I do without you? Go back to ripping off mob dealers? No, no, NO! No. You... you... complete me."

Chris Nolan's masterpiece revisited on Blu-ray

This is a densely plotted summer movie. We complain year in, year out that our holiday movies are dumbing down and its all about the bang on screen and to hell with the story (hello Transformers 2), where here, we're made to think, but our socks still fly off!

The way to see this at home is on Blu-ray. The transfer is superb. Not only that, but the scenes filmed specifically for IMAX (for the first time in a major motion picture) fill the frame with all the detail IMAX can give.

As you can the see, the image is a heck of a lot bigger and the detail just jumps right out. There are six scenes, and all aerial shots, filmed this way, seamlessly slotted into the film, and although it proved a bitch to film, it was worth all the trouble.

The film, from its Heat inspired opening to the closing shots of the Batman riding off on his Batpod, is a joy to watch unfold. A lot has been said of Heath Ledger as the Joker. All the praise is earned, and then some. From his self applied make-up, to the decision to lick his wounds with a flick of his tongue, this is Ledger at his finest. We can't forget Christian Bale, whose Bruce Wayne and Batman are more fleshed out in this instalment. Michael Caine plays Alfred just right, again building on the previous film.

Nolan's decision to film most of the film during daylight, and let the Batman out of Gotham, also expand the visuals of the story and build the world in ways no other Batman film has. The script, while there are holes on closer inspection, is impeccable from a story standpoint and while being Nolan's most linear film is also his most complicated.

I can't wait to find out who was behind the Joker in the third film, which really can't come soon enough, but in the mean time I'm gonna be enjoy this a lot on my PS3.

10 out of 10