Christopher Nolan’s grim, brooding, and very nearly brilliant follow-up to Batman Begins is perhaps the most scintillating and incisive film about our current state of affairs to hit the big screen since the “war on terror” began. While numerous filmmakers have attempted to make films that address the dark minefield of the American psyche via the war in Iraq, their over-earnest and literalist approaches have driven audiences away and underwhelmed critics, which is why Nolan’s metaphorical approach feels so right. The war for the soul of the fictional Gotham City—waged by a madman who “wants to see the world burn,” a conflicted self-made hero whose attempts to inspire the people are continually backfiring, and a “white knight” whose steadfast belief in the inherent functionality of the justice system causes his ultimate undoing—is a frighteningly effective mirror for the world today. Nolan’s philosophical poetry is given heft by the late Heath Ledger’s stunningly creepy turn as the ghoulish Joker, who is absolutely monstrous because he cannot be explained. (Hollywood Jewel 16, Waco, TX)