It's not often you see a giant bat-shaped car driving through central London, unless perhaps Batman is in town.

The caped crusader's famous Batmobile was here for the European premiere of new Batman film The Dark Knight, a film which has already been making waves at the US box office.

It has set a box office record for best openingweekend ever, taking $155m (1.1bn yuan) in the US alone in its first three days in cinemas.

But while it is not unusual for summer blockbusters to make a lot of money, what is less common is for such films to receive good reviews from critics.

"An epic that will leave you staggering from the theatre, stunned by its scope and complexity," was how Associated Press described the film, one of many reviews which sung the praises of the latest Batman film.

The movie, which stars British actor Christian Bale in the lead role and the late Heath Ledger as his arch-enemy the Joker, has already been voted the number one film of all time by users of the website imdb.com.

The story follows the superhero Batman as he battles the criminalunderworld in the fictional Gotham City.

One particularly stunning part sees Batman leap from the top of the International Finance Centre in Hong Kong; and even features a cameo role for controversial star Edison Chen.

Many critics have singled out Heath Ledger's performance as the maniacal Joker, who wreaks mayhem as Batman tries to stop him.

Anglo-American director Christopher Nolan described his performance as breathtaking, complex and "hard to pin down". Co-star Sir Michael Caine called him "one of the greatest villains you've ever seen."

Ledger died earlier this year from an accidental prescription drugs overdose. It now looks likely that he will receive a posthumous Oscar nomination.

• european [juərə´pi:ən]   a.欧洲的 n.欧洲人   (初中英语单词)
• opening [´əupəniŋ]   n.开放；开端 a.开始的   (初中英语单词)
• unusual [ʌn´ju:ʒuəl]   a.不平常的；异常的   (初中英语单词)
• criminal [´kriminəl]   a.犯罪的 n.罪犯   (初中英语单词)
• international [,intə´næʃənəl]   a.国际的，世界的   (初中英语单词)
• finance [´fainæns]   n.财政；金融 vt.资助   (初中英语单词)
• performance [pə´fɔ:məns]   n.履行；行为；工作   (初中英语单词)
• director [di´rektə]   n.指导者；....长；导演   (初中英语单词)
• complex [´kɔmpleks]   a.复杂的 n.综合企业   (初中英语单词)
• knight [nait]   n.骑士；爵士   (高中英语单词)
• nomination [,nɔmi´neiʃən]   n.提名(权)；任命(权)   (高中英语单词)
• weekend [´wi:kend, ,wi:k´end]   n.周末休假   (英语四级单词)
• accidental [,æksi´dentl]   a.偶然的；附属的   (英语四级单词)
• taking [´teikiŋ]   a.迷人的 n.捕获物   (英语六级单词)
• underworld [´ʌndəwə:ld]   n.阴间；下层社会   (英语六级单词)
• edison [´edisn]   n.爱迪生   (英语六级单词)