by Manda Carr

Created on: August 19, 2008   Last Updated: August 29, 2008

Killing off in a main character in a successful series is a gutsy move. The death knell was there, chiming quietly in the background of 'Batman Begins'. The most recent cinema release from Director Chris Nolan, 'Batman: The Dark Knight', sees the deed through. Gotham has gone.

Wayne Manor was blown to bits at the end of 'Batman Begins', but what happened to the rest of Tim Burton's beautiful pantomime? The truth is, Tim Burton had to give us a twisted version of the Adam West camp TV show; we wouldn't have been able to re-buy into the brand if he hadn't. However, while I think most viewers would agree that the 1989 'Batman' release gave a new lease of life to screen versions of Batman, the nipples on subsequent bat-suits and the silliness of green-lycra'd gurners were only a stones throw away from a 'KA-POW!' and a 'Holy Nacho, Bat-boy!'

After Christopher Nolan (Director), rescued the dying market with the 2005 release of 'Batman Begins', 'Dark Knight' assured his place back in the directors seat. A great decision to see the next chapter in the Batman universe though. The cinematic/visual decision to forgo such a familiar backdrop as Gotham City could have been disastrous. In Nolan's examination of what makes a hero a hero, it ended up being genius.

This is a film of many layers. A film where sub-plots thicken the soup of story and big ideas are explored. This is excellent writing; in no short part due to original graphic novel story threads, but also one that Christopher and Jonathan Nolan, must have had a field day with as screenplay writers. The theme of 'superheroes', and what they mean to a modern metropolis in the face of violence and terror, is explored with several story threads. And if a picture tells a thousand words, then the camera direction is worthy of accolade: gone are the familiar images of Gotham's 'street to sky' shots of wet, black, streets with steamy sewers. In Dark Knight, we are given the roof tops and beyond. We look down at a generic metropolis; sunsets glint off windows, and free moving helicopter camera mounts are par for the course. Gotham isn't Gothic and brooding; it's modern, corporate and internationally economy driven. Terrorism isn't pantomime and comic book in the cities or our minds these days; reality can lend our imaginations far more horror. We go to China and are treated to a new skyline to compare with the one back home. But where is home? Gotham is just a city. Just a city where people make the best of the choices in

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