Great film- will there be a longer version (director's cut)??

Rating: 8/10 (19 July 2008)

Although this film packs in a lot in 2 1/2 hours- and no doubt you get your money's worth- certain elements suffer that would've made it not merely very good but great. The relationships that become so pivotal- Harvey Dent & Rachel Dawes most importantly, are breezed over. Plus, we knew the why about the Joker but not the how. Just 20 minutes more could've added what was needed to make the film more important.
Without Heath Ledger's joker, I think the film would've been much less than it is. It's a performance that is no doubt inspired. Gauging the audience, I got the sense that they, like I, were captivated by the thrills and action, and enjoyed the other major performances, but were emotionally unaffected. It was the Ledger scenes that elicited the intense reactions- gasps, anger, laughter. He was brilliant. Rather than shoot for humor like Nicholson, Heath Ledger was intense, upsetting, unsettling. He wasn't just "evil" but rather he was a studied psychopath. Bar none, the best villain in comic movie history.
Very good film (8 of 10) but could've been just a little better.