This Film Entertains, Big-Time!

Rating: 10/10 (17 November 2008)

This was extremely entertaining all the way through, which is quite a statement for a film that is two-and-a-half hours long. There are absolutely no dry spots in this fascinating film. Does everything make sense? Of course not; there are a lot of holes in the story, but it's a superhero action film and it's not meant to be dissected for credibility. It's just supposed to entertain, and that it does.
A large part of the credit for that goes to Heath Ledger for his "The Joker" portrayal. Every scene in which Ledger appeared was riveting. His speech, mannerisms and his dialog were fantastic. For the latter, I have to commend the screen writers who gave Ledger some great lines!
Actually, he and Aaron Eckert, who played "Harvey 'Two Face' Dent," were most of the show, character-wise. Maggie Gyllenhaal was good, too, as "Rachel Dawes," the woman of both Bruce Wayne and Harvey Dent's affections. Otherwise, the familiar good guys - Christopher Bale as "Batman," Michael Caine as "Alfred," Gary Oldman as Inspector/Commishoner Gordan" and Morgan Freeman as "Lucius Fox" were okay but all more interesting in the previous film, "Batman Begins." Speaking of Fox, his high-and-mighty attitude toward Wayne's surveillance system was disappointing to hear. I had thought he had trust in Bruce Wayne. Also, I was sorry to hear the language deteriorate in the final half hour with some unneeded profanity by some inconsequential character.
Overall, however, this latest Batman movie ranks among the best of any I've seen, at least on the first viewing. I'm looking forward to watching it again when the Blu-Ray disc comes out next month. This is a great film to enjoy visually and audibly with some fantastic action scenes and excellent dialog.
I had heard that Batman was a "dark" and almost unlikable figure, himself, in this film but I did not find that. Hey, he did what he had to do to stop a maniacal killer (which "Fox" didn't understand., nor some of the other main characters.) For a guy who has provided nothing but good deeds for the fickle citizens of Gotham over the years, this hero certainly doesn't appear to be appreciated......except by his fans of comics and film.
In fact, that's the only main thing I would dispute with the writers of this movie: their conclusion at the end that Batman is "not a hero, but a dark knight." No, I would say someone who continually risks his life to save others is quite a hero!