Stunning

Rating: 10/10 (1 August 2008)

Tonight I went to see the movie for the 2nd time. I do this with every movie I highly enjoy seeing the 1st time: this way I can see whether it was just a whim of excitement that got me, or the movie really was that good. This second time around, I had a good view of the acting, but most of all the story itself and the way it's directed.
Enough has been said about Heath Ledger in other comments, and my opinion is these comments are right. The other characters in the movie are overshadowed by him, but certainly do perform excellently. Eckhart sublimely works up to his performance of Two-Face and does that well too, while Bale shows us a Batman who's more and more becoming aware that maybe he's not the hero Gotham needs. The rest of the characters were cast very well; I always enjoy Caine, and Gyllenhaal replaces Holmes in a very good fashion.
The story itself is so fast-paced I felt like the movie had just been running for 15 minutes when the half-time break arrived. The run-time of 2.5 hours is certainly not too much for what the screen gives you. This is of course promoted by the way it's directed: the scenes are woven into each other in such a way that you'll never get bored. I can't see how the scenes could fit any better than this.
The excellent story combined with amazing pacing and directing, and the presence of this wonderful array of actors all a perfect match for their roles results in what I think is the best movie I've seen so far in my life.
As a final note to this movie, I'd be surprised if this one doesn't receive at least some nominations for the academy awards. Seeing it win a couple would be fair the way I see it.