Has its unique aspects, but ultimately disappointing

Rating: 7/10 (21 December 2008)

I am aware this is a highly-regarded film and that knowledge perhaps added to my disappointment by raising my expectations. I found it had unique elements (the energetically sadistic Joker instead of earlier "kid stuff" incarnations) and - SPOILER - was surprised that two "good guys," Dent and the love interest, got killed off, a very un-Hollywood twist. The positive surprise was the unusual nature of the extreme crisis that needed averting - the "game theory" played out on two cruise ships. I found this unique compared with the usual menaces posed by super-villains. But on the negative side, I found the film confusing, choppy, with discontinuities, full of pseudo-philosophical mumbo-jumbo, and with unexplained motivations - SPOILER - the thing with Dent at the end seemed contrived, merely an opportunity to display house-of-horror special effects - it did not convey what he was trying to accomplish and why. I see merit in the review by Stephanie Zacharek of Salon who was apparently not as taken with it as other reviewers.