The Dark Knight is one of the occasions in which you won't be disappointed and, if you're anything like the film geeks in the cinema last night, you will come out buzzing about the experience.

Going in, one couldn't help but wonder whether anything could match up to the excitement surrounding both the film and Heath Ledger's performance as The Joker.

Believe the hype.

Ledger is THE Joker. His performance is exceptional and the acclaim is deserved. Oscar worthy? It would be nice to think the Academy can put past their predilection to ignore films like this, but I'm not convinced.

It would be deserved, however, and not just as a sympathy vote because Ledger died after the making of the film.

His delivery is pitch-perfect throughout the film, and (without spoiling it for you) his utterance of a solitary word in reply to a question asked of him by a crime-boss was mind-blowing. It was as close to perfection as I've seen in the cinema.

Christian Bale, as the eponymous hero, is also fantastic, barring a couple of mumbled lines which were hard to pick up.

Bale made the role his own in Batman Begins, and frankly it's hard going back through the previous films and watching anyone else in the batsuit.

He brings believability to the story of a multi-millionaire who could live the easy life, but has a dark side which drives, nay compels, him to seek justice and rid Gotham City of crime.

Bale, by his continued excellence, cements his place as one of the best actors in the business at the moment.

The supporting cast are equally good, with the gorgeous Maggie Gyllenhaal playing a much better Rachel Dawes than Katie Holmes did, despite the lack of depth in the character.

Michael Caine (Alfred Pennyworth), Morgan Freeman (Lucius Fox) and Gary Oldman (Lt. James Gordon) provide the stellar performances cinema-goers have come to expect from them with only Aaron Eckhart, as District Attorney Harvey Dent, being slightly short of fantastic.

This says nothing of Eckhart's acting abilities, but probably more about the Harvey Dent story arc which didn't quite get as much out of him as the story did for the other characters.

The storyline itself is generally impressive. It picks up at some point after Batman Begins (not immediately, but soon, after as Wayne Manor hasn't been rebuilt) and you sense immediately the caped crusader is struggling to cope with the level of crime in the city.

New DA Harvey Dent comes in as the white knight of Gotham, a good guy who can't be intimidated or corrupted, and immediately starts striking out at organised crime in the city.

He may just be Batman's escape to a normal life in the arms of his beloved Rachel.

But nothing is as simple as it seems, and the Joker's madness, his lack of morals, his willingness to endure (and inflict) pain, brings the suffering of Gotham City to a whole new level.

For those who may shudder at the though of another super-hero film, you should know The Dark Knight is as much a crime story as it is a super-hero story.

It can legitimately be placed at the level of other supreme crime films such as The Godfather and Goodfellas, so don't let the setting dissuade you from seeing it.

The story has been supremely crafted by Director Christopher Nolan and his brother Jonathan, who have yet to deliver a bad film after also writing The Prestige and Memento.

But one word of caution. Despite my love for The Dark Knight, it isn't the perfect film some reviewers would lead you to believe.

It has its flaws, although they're pretty minor given the two-and-a-half hour running time.

The biggest one for me was the initial shock at how normal Gotham City looked. Shot in Chicago it looked just like. . . Chicago.

Gone are the overly gothic dark sets from the Burton-era, and even a fair portion of Batman Begins.

In it you get the more realistic feel of a city that could represent any major city in the world, albeit with a criminal undertone that's soon going to bring the city to its knees.

It works, and makes the film that much more believable, although it took a little while to get over.

The Batman sonar project also left me underwhelmed in both its use as a plot tool and the apparently Machiavellian undertones of overwriting personal freedoms. It could have been cut without affecting the film.

Nevertheless, the flaws are minor quibbles that cannot detract from Nolan's masterpiece. It's the cinema event of the year and anyone who has any interest in the art form needs to see this film.

As you would expect, the ending leaves the story poised (without sacrificing the feeling that the film has a proper ending) for another Batman film in the future. It just can't come quick enough.

The Dark Knight is entertaining, thought provoking, emotional, outstanding. Put simply, it's how cinema should be.