Good, but what's with the mass hysteria?

Rating: 8/10 (25 July 2008)

Me and my buddies (aged about 28) just saw this movie yesterday. We love superhero movies so this one was anticipated greatly. Like many, when we heard of the casting we assumed it was going to suck and after the first trailer we started to suspect it might actually be gold.
And then... we certainly saw a very good movie, but nothing that could justify the ridiculously high average score right here on IMDb (9.5 as of now). We don't always agree but in this case, we all gave it a fat 8 out of 10.
Why not a 10, like all these teenagers and twenty-somethings seem to vote? Let me explain.
Personally I use my feelings a a grade meter. The best movies affect me so that when the credits roll, I need time to catch my breath. I need some to process the awesomeness/sadness/beauty/inspiration that I just saw. The best movies keep my in another world for some time, not wanting to leave.
While entertaining, this movie didn't do that for me. I just got up right away, saying: 'nice movie, what's next?'
Somewhat similar movies that I totally was affected by: V for Vendetta, Lord of the Rings, Spiderman 2, The Matrix. Maybe it's because these movies had heart.
The Dark Knight didn't really effect me in any way. Neither was it super-exciting or really creepy or anything like that. It was just good entertainment, nothing more. While spectacular, I didn't really feel for the characters.
What's great: - The main bad guys are what make this film. The Joker and even the other guy (no spoilers here) are very nice. - Some spectacular scenes. A few scenes with nice tension (especially later on in the movie). - sparse but nice glimpses into Bruce's playboy lifestyle. - very little CGI / noticeable blue-screen (in your face, Indy 4!) - quite realistic and believable atmosphere. - nice bat-gets though a bit far-fetched sometimes.
What could be better: - no convincing romance. - sad moments aren't very sad. - Batman himself was too over the top (the voice) (summarizing these arguments: acting could be better here and there) - the cinematography a bit bland at times (like with all Christopher Nolan movies). Not as smooth, stunning or atmospheric as some other directors pull off (Tim Burton and Sam Raimi for instance). - some thriller-scenes could have been more effective (script/direction-wise) to be really immersing. - emotion/character motivation doesn't come across that well (not talking about the joker, more about Bruce Wayne/Harvey Dent).
So why the mass adoration for this decent, but flawed movie? My guess: There already was some kind of hype surrounding director Christopher Nolan because of his 'arsy intellectual' past ('memento')... I felt the former batman movie was way overrated as well. Also Christian Bale can do no wrong for a lot of people. Then there's the Heath Ledger thing. He surprised all the people that suspected he was going to suck in the role, receiving much adoration all of a sudden, then goes out and die. Now the sympathy vote's off the charts. Right now this movie is #1 in the IMDb top charts, towering over everything else with a 9.5 - I wonder what people will think of this in a couple of years, when the hype is completely gone. Maybe IMDb will even start to sabotage democracy...