Starring Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Aaron Eckhart, and Maggie Gyllenhaal. Rated 14A.

Christopher Nolan’s moody Batman Begins (2005) swooped upon its bat-film predecessors and their signature elements—that prancing-clown criminal, the campy one-liners, the cartoon-gothic city, and a certain codpieced, nipple-tastic bat suit—and effectively shoved them to the back of the bat cave. The gripping, enthralling entertainment that is The Dark Knight, on the other hand, wires the whole lot with explosives, presses the detonator, then runs over the remains with the monster-truck tires of a supersouped bat bike. Oh, and hey: get a load of the new clown in town.

It’s part two in Nolan’s visionary, pitch-black reimagining (cowritten with brother Jonathan) of the comic-book–based series about “the Batman” and his billionaire alter ego, Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale). Despite a better suit and cooler toys, courtesy of Wayne Industries’ gearhead Lucius Fox (Morgan Freeman), the caped one’s soul is increasingly tortured.

He’s karate-chopped criminals galore into the slammer (Batman’s martial artistry is one of the film’s low-tech pleasures), yet Gotham City remains a cesspool of evil. And cleft-chinned district attorney Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart) is snagging the heart of assistant D.A. Rachel Dawes (Maggie Gyllenhaal), Bruce’s sort-of girlfriend.

There’s an intricate plot involving mounds of dirty cash, an array of gangsters (with large, slavering dogs), and cops (including Gary Oldman’s Lt. James Gordon). Thanks partly to IMAX–camera virtuosity, there are stunning action sequences—with gun and large-vehicle violence tautly reminiscent of Michael Mann’s crime-thriller Heat—and electrifying aerial manoeuvres.

Things blow up. But the abundant scary moments—this big-bang summer movie is kiddie-unfriendly, but adults will tense up too—belong to the clown.

With his sliced visage, enough knives to supply a steak-house chain, and makeup that makes Courtney Love’s bad days look pretty, this Joker (Heath Ledger, who has since died) is the picture of pure evil. As the bad clown, Ledger is gloriously deranged—part wacked performance artist, part A Clockwork Orange punk sadist, part foxy psycho Anthony Hopkins–style—sometimes sounding exactly like Al Franken. Everyone else (all the actors are strong, including Michael Caine as manservant Alfred) must play by moral codes—Bale’s dark hero is particularly conflicted—but the Joker just wants to play. True to his name, he delivers some hilarious one-liners, such as telling Batman, í  la Jerry Maguire, “You complete me.” Just the sort of inspired silliness to drive away that lingering sense of nightmare menace—almost.

Read more: Dark Knight scoops up Maggie Gyllenhaal from indies.

Also check out: Inside Batman's heart of darkness.