THE DARK KNIGHT

The latest retelling of the Batman story came out with little fanfare three years ago when “Batman Begins� debuted. As I said then, it was a pleasant surprise and one of my favorites that year. I was reminded again how good it was, and why it received so little attention, when I turned on the TNT network last night and there was the last incarnation of the Batman story, “Batman and Robin�, with George Clooney and Arnold Schwarzenegger. That was a stinker – no wonder they gave up the franchise for eight years.

Well, three years ago Director Christopher Nolan reinvented the comic book “hero� by going back to the story’s roots. Since it was a fine film, and made a fair amount of cash, there had to be a sequel. How do you top yourself?

If you believe all the hype, he has. Me, I’m not so sure. But I’ll say this – plenty of thought went into this storyline, beginning with the concept that because Batman is so successful beating back the bad guys invading “Gotham City�, it’s time for a whole new class of criminal. Enter “The Joker�, who is really far more of a madman than a criminal. (more. . .)