Three years ago, Batman Begins introduced us to a darker, grittier Batman (Christian Bale) than most of us had ever met before. And in this summer's The Dark Knight, he returns, along with his similarly-retooled nemesis the Joker (Heath Ledger), to continue exploring not only the evil underbelly that humanity cannot seem to escape, but the questions of how we are to face that evil, what it means to be a hero in its presence, and what kind of hero we actually need.

As a whole, the story of The Dark Night is much darker than Batman Begins. While I wouldn't say the first ended happily, it had more of a sense of triumph, hope, and a separation of evil from those it sought to enslave. In The Dark Night, however, the progress of its story only emphasizes how close to us the forces of evil actually are. With some of the strongest/most "righteous" characters falling victim to the destructive forces that surround them, the message is that none of us are immune to either the harm and/or influence of evil. And almost even more difficult to swallow is that the Bat, in and of himself, may not be enough to save us.

Part of why I like the new Batman series so much is that instead of constructing a reality based on the logic of superhuman deliverance, its story points to an ordinary man stepping up and taking that deliverance upon himself. To me, it is a reminder that we all have it in ourselves to make the world a better place. And in The Dark Knight, it is not only the human ability to fight evil but our need to believe in some sort of human power over evil that takes center stage.

But before you start thinking that The Dark Knight is some rejection of divine salvation (or that I believe deliverance from evil to be a purely human-powered enterprise), let me assure you that that is not the case. In The Dark Knight, Batman actually becomes more of an "other," more a divine Christ figure than an ordinary man with cool contraptions. As he becomes less of the everyman, those around him become the hands of human choice, power, and action. But although Batman's role changes throughout the course of the movie, it remains that his power is still needed. In the end, what we are left with is the truth that as flawed humans, we do need a savior greater than us; but if we are to truly see our world as one of hope, we also need to believe that we have the power to make a difference as well. Think of it as the difference between Batman as a god whose power only acts over us versus a god whose power and inspiration also act in and through us all.

Throughout the movie, the driving force of the Joker is essentially the perpetuation of powerlessness. He is all about chaos, chance, and lack of control.

"I try to show schemers how pathetic their attempts to control things really are," says the Joker. "It's about sending a message... everything burns."

And by everything, he means everything. He burns money, he burns public servants, and he burns free will. His message: they are all expendable, they are all easily destroyed, and in the end, none of them have any value.

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