WHEN Heath Ledger was initially named as the actor who would be stepping into the shoes of Jack Nicholson as The Joker in new Batman movie, The Dark Knight, there were a few sniggers of disbelief. Well, the joke could well be on them if early footage of the movie is anything to go by.

Excitement levels have reached fever pitch ever since the trailer appeared online, showing an altogether different Joker pitting his wits against Christian Bale’s superhero. Where Nicholson played it to maximum pantomime effect, displaying a devil-may-care flamboyance to match his psychopathic madness, Ledger appears to be playing things more intense, low-key and calculating. His Joker appears to be a man of few words: but thoughtful ones.

He’s a loner with a ferocious reputation. Or, as co-star Sir Michael Caine has put it: “Jack’s Joker was a very nasty old uncle, this Joker is a maniacal, murderous psychopath. And when you see the make-up – he looks like he’s mentally gone.”

The Dark Knight opens in UK cinemas on July 25 and it’s shaping up to become the second most keenly anticipated film of the year after (and only just) the new Indiana Jones. But fans need not wait too long to get really excited, for six minutes of the blockbuster will shortly be viewable in IMAX format, when footage precedes the IMAX version of Will Smith’s I Am Legend.

We’ve been lucky enough to see it and we can agree that it is something special. Opening with a breathtaking daylight shot of the Gotham cityscape, the prologue then follows a heist masterminded by The Joker and carried out by a team of masked men, all of whom moan about their job description, before systematically taking each other out once one part of the job has been completed.

Inside the bank, meanwhile, a gunfight is triggered when the manager (played with relish by William Fichtner) refuses to give over the loot easily, taking to the masked men with a shotgun before being injured in the fallout himself. By the time it’s clear that only one man can be left standing, the realisation begins to mount that the one man will be The Joker. And hence, once the job has been completed, the lone survivor takes off his mask to reveal the maniacal genius in all his warped glory before fleeing the scene in a yellow school bus.

The sequence may only last six minutes, but there’s plenty of tantalising possibilities set up within that time frame. It’s clear, for instance, that The Joker is a calculated figure who will provide a worthy nemesis for Batman, more than just a pantomime villain. The silent alarm in the bank doesn’t go to the police, but to a private residence: could it be Bruce Wayne’s, or something more sinister – the Mob’s perhaps? As Fichtner’s bank manager certainly seems to be referencing a darker possibility.

There also appears to be more going on in daylight hours, and there’s even a very brief glimpse of Batman away from Gotham city (it’s rumoured that a big set piece will take place in Hong Kong).

Nolan, for his part, has expertly created the best bank heist sequence since Michael Mann’s Heat, and imbued the action with a gritty realism that might – just might – suffer against the idea of a caped crusader fighting back. But right now, he has succeeded in putting jaws on the floor, and leaving audiences baying for more.

If you fancy seeing it, then the same six minutes will be screened before the IMAX run of I Am Legend, which opens at London’s Waterloo cinema on January 25. Trust us, you won’t be disappointed (even if you have already seen Will Smith’s movie).

Find out more about January’s IMAX programme or view early b>Dark Knight photos

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