irst let's talk about Heath Ledger. The late Australian actor is the genius of "The Dark Knight," giving a performance that is both outrageous and lip-smackingly creepy. British director Christopher Nolan wanted his sequel to 2005’s Batman Begins to be stuffed with as many meaty, sophisticated ideas and depressingly timely concerns into its 152 minutes as possible. He can thank Ledger for accomplishing that.

Then there's the technological milestone, with Nolan filming the first quarter - mostly hard-muscled fight scenes and wicked-cool Bat-vehicles snarling through the streets of Gotham - with IMAX cameras, marks the first time such a technique has been used in a mainstream movie, resulting in shots that are expansive, deep, and immersive.

Now the movie itself is as rich and epic as his origin story, but there are problems. Namely that with the exception of the iconoclastic Joker, unnervingly played by Ledger, there’s not a character in this film you really care about. That shouldn't annoy filmgoers, however, as from the film's first moments onward, The Dark Knight is fast, furious and fascinating.

Heath Ledger's performance is outrageous and lip-smackingly creepy

As the bleak, black story begins, Gotham struggles with lawlessness while we get established with Batman/Bruce Wayne's (Christian Bale) crime-fighting brand. Wayne is secure in his secret identity as the playboy billionaire and has a loyal support group with tech wizard Lucius Fox (Morgan Freeman), police Lt. Jim Gordon (Gary Oldman) and butler Alfred Pennyworth (Michael Caine) in a fine selection of bow ties.

Wayne/Batman doesn't trust many people in the corruption-riddled halls of justice, and is wondering if it isn’t time to hang up his cape and retire his ethically ambiguous alter ego. But he does take a chance on Gotham's White Knight: crusading new District Attorney Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart), and ponders letting him take over the war on crime.

Still, criminals have Gotham City in a tizzy, beginning with that riveting bank heist, and Wayne’s brutal nocturnal exploits spawning a wave of copycat vigilantes. Behind that bank robbery is the Joker, a disfigured arch-criminal less interested in the money and more in unmasking the caped crusader. Teaming up with the city's mobsters, his sole mission in life is to reveal the man in black’s identity.

He doesn’t really care about the money, though, which actually belongs to the mob. He’s not motivated by money or power or sex or politics or hate. The Joker's only pleasure is to create chaos and to devise fiendish plots that leave Batman, Dent and even Gotham’s citizens in dire consequences.

As the movie progresses, Batman's behavior increasingly puts the "dark" in "Dark Knight, giving the story more of a crime drama feel than a superhero movie. With his crisp editing and magical command of pace, Nolan has eliminated almost all the pulpy, comic-book aspects of Batman.

Minor characters - paramour Rachel Dawes (Maggie Gyllenhaal, replacing Katie Holmes) and the squeaky-clean, tough-on-crime DA, Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart) add little to the table. Gyllenhaal particularly doesn't connect emotionally with either Bale or Eckhart, both seeking her affections.

Bale delivers a solid, brooding performance that helps define the suavely perfect Bruce Wayne and the consummately heroic Caped Crusader. But it's Ledger that gives a career-defining performance of terrifying, yet mesmerizing intensity, made all the more poignant in light of his untimely death. Caked in mascara, flashing a weapon at every turn, and with a horrifying maniacal laugh, his Joker is flat-out scary, an anarchist who believes he represents the truth “civilized” people would rather ignore.

Clocking in at 2 hours and 32 minutes, "Dark Knight" is a lot of film, but it moves right along (Lee Smith was the editor, Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard collaborated on the driving score). With atmospheric Chicago locations representing Gotham City, The Dark Knight is indeed ahead of the curve, and Ledger's performance is every bit as inventive and freaky as rumors have led you to believe.

But it's an intensely dark saga, punctuated with powerful moralistic themes of duty and friendship, personal rights and revenge. Hype aside, this is a backbreakingly ambitious epic with mythic overtones for the darkest of comic book heroes - no joke.