Not bad...not great, either...

Rating: 8/10 (27 December 2008)

I was terribly torn between liking this movie and not, but it was so hard to shut out the hype surrounding the whole Heath Ledger performance. It WAS an incredibly nuanced performance and quite creepy to boot, but I did have a problem with the script a time or two.
CONS: Apparently anyone can move untold numbers of large barrels filled with explosive materials with ease into hospitals, ports,...etc. Many of the characters seemed to be clairvoyant; knowing exact movements and reactions of everyone. The whole bullet/fingerprint scenario made absolutely no sense. The Joker was an incredible accidental planner. Too little time spent on Two-face. The soundtrack was downright annoying at times. You have to really strain to hear some of the dialogue but the action sequences bordered on too loud. (when watching at home, I have to keep the remote in hand so that I don't bother my neighbors). Bruce Wayne seemed very one-dimensional. Car chases are becoming so routine that it's hard to get excited about them anymore!
PROS: Maggie Gyllenhaal was quite an improvement over Mrs. Cruise. The tone and pacing were right-on and the film looked gorgeous. The mob heads were very well cast, especially Eric Roberts. The whole Hong Kong sequence seemed contrived just for the action sake but was very well done. Great supporting cast all-around. All in all, it was a very entertaining film, but while I completely bought into "Batman Begins", here I couldn't fight the feeling that Christopher Nolan was just trying too hard to wow everyone and went a little too far. I couldn't quite figure out if it was supposed to be gritty and realistic or fanciful fantasy. I certainly hope that the next installment goes back to a character-driven piece like the first one.