The Dark Knight is a 2008
superhero film directed, produced, and co-written by
Christopher Nolan. Based on the
DC Comics character
Batman, the film is the second part of Nolan's
Batman film series and a sequel to 2005's
Batman Begins, starring
Christian Bale,
Michael Caine,
Heath Ledger,
Gary Oldman,
Aaron Eckhart,
Maggie Gylenhaal and
Morgan Freeman. With the help of police lieutenant
James Gordon (Oldman) and newly elected
district attorney Harvey Dent (Eckhart), Batman (Bale) raises the stakes on his war on crime by setting out to dismantle the remaining mafia groups that plague the streets. The partnership proves effective, until the mob draw Batman into combat with a criminal lunatic known as "
the Joker" (Ledger), whom he must stop from unleashing a reign of chaos that would plunge
Gotham City into
anarchy.