As I slipped into my black armoured jacket, pulled on my mask and fired up the ignition, I had to remind myself that I am not, in fact, Batman and that my bike is not, in fact, the Batpod and does not come equipped with missile launchers with which I can blast cars out of the way as I speed back home to the Batcave - err, my flat.

The Dark Knight is fucking awesome. There, I’ve said it. I don’t really need to say anymore because that’s all you need to know and all I can get my head around to tell you. Ah, what the hell - here’s some more (surprisingly spoiler free) thoughts.

First up: is Heath Ledger as good as they say? Yes, yes he is. His take on the Joker really is a pleasure to behold.

Secondly: the minor criticisms I had about Batman Begins revolved around the slightly ham fisted nature of script in dealing with the theme of fear and the action sequences. This time around, the Nolan brothers took on the writing and quite frankly knocked it out of the ball park. There are plenty of themes but rather than smack you in the face until your eyes bleed, the thematic elements are ever so subtly played and work in context. There are some great character moments and it’s entirely true that the supporting characters also get enough time to actually be more fleshed out than you’d otherwise expect. This is a comic book film where none of the characters actually feel like comic characters. With regard to the action sequences, Nolan still can’t really do close up and intimate action sequences (like fist fights) but seems to have accepted this and worked with it so that you don’t notice as much.

It is a far better film than the first (and I take back what I said about Katie Holmes’ as Rachel Dawes because subsequent viewings have made me regret saying that. Maggie Gyllenhall is so much better in comparison). It takes the characters to a new place while being careful to not retread what has already gone. I said originally that Batman Begins was intelligent and I stand by that remark. The Dark Knight makes it look like a cheap, tacky popcorn movie. Direction is excellent (and I was most impressed at the Hong Kong scenes because they gave a damn good indication of how impressive that city is) and Nolan demonstrates that he’s qutie capable of doing epic blockbuster as well as - if not better than - anyone else.

If I have any criticism it’s that Nolan has dug a great big hole that is going to be difficult for either him, or anyone else, to get out of. Of course there’s going to be a third part of this reboot but it’s difficult to see how they’re going to follow this up. For a star, what villain do you follow Ledger’s Joker with? Comparisons are inevitable and quite frankly it’s difficult to concieve of a character that will a) fit into Nolan’s realist vision of Gotham and b) provide half as much menace or intensity as the Joker and that’s even before you get to a casting decision. (If anyone dares mention The Penguin, I will slap the backs of their legs.) I know I’m too close to this to feel it but I almost feel that they should just draw a line under this and move on. On the other hand, I think if anyone can follow this, it will be the Nolans and they’ll find an interesting way of keeping it going and new themes to explore.

If you’ve got this far. Well done. More fool you though because really, all you need to know is that it’s a fucking awesome film and you should go and see it.