The performance is also the most interesting thing in the film, and when the Joker is absent, "The Dark Knight" loses most of its energy and dynamism.

Yes, Batty and Laugher do go at it, against a situation engineered by the Joker: two ferries, one full of criminals, the other of normal citizens, are rigged to explode, each with a detonator to light off the other －the question being, who will commit multiple murder in order to survive? But the big fight is not nearly as mythic as it should have been, giving the movie an ending that felt more anti- than climactic.

The effects and stunts are first-rate, and the opening bank robbery was the most powerfully done. Batman's ability to ride the thermal columns between Gotham shafts downward to safety is very cool. So is the magical way the Batcar becomes a motorcycle with the purring of some electric gizmos. A lot of the time this Batman seems more like Marlon Brando in "The Wild One" than anyone named Keaton, Kilmer or Clooney who came before.

to dominate  (v.)   主宰；支配to be absent   缺席；不在dynamism  (n.)   动力；力能to be rigged   装备；配备detonator  (n.)   引爆装置；引信to light off   点燃；引爆mythic  (adj.)   神话的；虚构的first-rate   一流的；顶尖的thermal  (n.)   热气；上升暖流gizmo  (n.)   东西；装置