Article: The Dark Knight (15A, general release) HHHHHgotham horror: Christian Bale on his Bat Bike, above, and right, Heath Ledger as The Joker.

When Christopher Nolan revived the Batman franchise in 2005 with Batman Begins, he seemed to be doggedly returning the character to his roots in 1930s pulp fiction as a vigilante crimefighter motivated less by justice than revenge. His film's visual style evoked Frank Miller's disturbing Dark Knight comic of the mid-1980s and made Tim Burton's till-that-point definitive 1989 movie look like The Bat And The Beanstalk.

But if Batman Begins was dark and brooding, it's not a patch on its magnificently grim successor, which pushes the Batman story to its psychological limits by creating a film that is not for kiddies or even fainted-hearted grown-ups.

At two ...

Related newspaper, magazine, and journal articles:

 
 
Newsweek Harper's Magazine The Washington Post Chicago Tribune Crain's Chicago Business PRNewswire Pediatric News The Nation Advertising Age The Economist (US) A FREE trial gives you access to over 80 million articles! Access over 6,500 publications with a FREE trial!