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FOR once, you can believe the hype.

The Dark Knight has just smashed US box office records, and I have the great pleasure to inform you, our readers, that yes, it is completely brilliant, worth every line of pre-coverage and build-up.

The London IMAX, where I was lucky enough to see the film, has even had to schedule screenings for 2am and 5am, so great is the demand from the public to see its majesty for themselves.

It's an epic that creates a new genre - the superhero thriller. Think Michael Mann's Heat, only concerning comic book characters who you already know and love, and you're some way to understanding what sort of two hours and 32 minutes await you.

And, as that comparison might already have led you to conclude, The Dark Knight is not for kids. This is a completely adult film, its every scene shrouded in death even before you consider the actual passing away of key cast member Heath Ledger as the Joker.

It opens with a pared-down, pulsating heist showcasing the latter's ingenuity and mania. And for the rest of the film's duration, he leads Bruce Wayne/Batman (Christian Bale), crusading District Attorney Harvey Dent (a fantastic Aaron Eckhart) and Lieutenant Gordon (Gary Oldman) a merry, and apparently pointless, dance of death.

Even key characters are up for the chop, and there's a sense that literally anyone, and everyone, could end up obliterated.

Every single element of this film is accomplished, from the tremendous score onwards. And its performances are faultless across the board, from Eric Roberts' scuzzy baddie to Maggie Gyllenhaal's able assumption of the role (thankfully) vacated by Katie Holmes.

There's even a lovely strain of dark humour, predominantly due to Alfred (Michael Caine) and moments of genius when, say, the new Batmobile changes its own status from "loiter" to "intimidate". Some great Bond/Q-esque exchanges, where Bruce is presented with his new technology, do much to lighten the mood, too.

Yes, Ledger's Joker is worth a Best Supporting Actor Oscar - people have won in the past for doing much less, and it's hard to see anyone who'd be able to top his work. His performance is malevolent and genuinely unhinged, right down to the way he walks and the way he moves his horribly scarred mouth. Just wait until you see his chilling disappearing trick with a pencil.

Modest British director Christopher Nolan has yet to make a bad film, and The Dark Knight - which he co-wrote with his brother Jonathan - is the perfect Batman for our era, just as Tim Burton's version was an end product of the 1980s.

This Joker, who's a million miles away from the camp histrionics of the past, is the consummate modern terrorist. How can you stop someone who has no cause, no motive, and no name, someone who deliberately changes his own back story, and who will literally do anything to achieve his demented ends?

Preview screenings of The Dark Knight, which goes on general release this Friday, take place tomorrow in Basingstoke's Vue and ODEON cinemas. Further details are available from www.myvue.com or www.odeon.co.uk

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