Batman and his chief ally, Detective Jim Gordon (Gary Oldman), see a savior in heroic District Attorney Dent, Gotham’s White Knight, and the current boyfriend of Wayne’s lapsed inamorata, Rachel Dawes (Maggie Gyllenhaal, replacing Katie Holmes). Looking at a photo of Dent, Wayne concedes that “this is the face of Gotham’s future,” realizing that it may be time to hang up his cape. Unfortunately, the Joker recognizes this as well, and he’s willing to scar that face — the man and the city along with him — in Nolan’s relentlessly paced crime thriller, which pushes the limits of its PG-13 rating. (This isn’t your kids’ Batman.)
Not all is perfect. Too much time is spent setting up a third film, with the audience (and the Joker) left dangling as Dent is rushed toward his, and indeed all of Gotham’s, fate. Still, a few scars are to be expected in the grotesque face of Nolan’s batty genius.
