The Dark Knight

'The Dark Knight' was always going to be the summer's top earner, but with the death of Heath Ledger it attained attention under the most unfortunate of circumstances. There is undeniably a morbid curiosity attached to 'The Dark Knight', but if you thought Heath Ledger's performance would be grossly romanticized in the aftermath of tragedy, prepare to drop your cynicism. Ledger's Joker eats every one of his scenes alive; the physical mannerisms, the attention to consistencies, the delivery and the wonderfully re-appropriated image all render Ledger free from topical subtext. He is simply The Joker and you are engrossed - incapable of taking your eyes off his anarchic but strangely sympathetic madman. His performance is majestic where as Jack Nicolson's in 1989's 'Batman' was comic, camp and lacking the same relevance (though still wildly entertaining), surely the Oscar should reside with his memory.