Too dark, too long and far too violent

Rating: 3/10 (15 August 2008)

OK--this review will be FULL OF SPOILERS so please read it at your own risk.
Batman (Christian Bale) is trying to clean up Gotham City with Police Chief Gordon (an unrecognizable Gary Oldman) and crusading D.A. Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart). However a psychotic madman named the Joker (Heath Ledger) wants to take over Gotham (for no discernible reason) and kill the Batman. His plans get increasingly more diabolical, many people die and Batman starts to wonder if he can stop the Joker...and if he's responsible for him.
OK--I realize the Batman movies are supposed to be dark--but THIS dark??? This movie is chock full of violence--people are casually shot to death left and right(but there's no blood so I guess that makes it OK). There are some spectacular stunts here but all the violence and dark tone rob them of any of the wonder they might have had. There's next to no light moments and the movie gets increasingly depressing as it goes on. And the Joker casually hurts or kills people with no warning. There's also a thoroughly despicable scene where a little child is threatened with a gun. This deserved an R--NOT a PG-13.
The needlessly convoluted story doesn't help. The movie goes on far too long (lots of people in my theatre were checking the time during the last hour) and gets confusing. Characters appear and disappear with alarming infrequency and one character (the guy who was going to reveal Batman's secret identity) disappears completely with no resolution to his story! The Joker here is rightly played as a psychotic madman but Ledger is NOT good in the role. His speeches sound stilted and he's not really acting at all. His character isn't frightening--just incredibly annoying. I found it hard to believe that all these characters were stupid enough to buy his "explanations". Also he plans some explosions and plots that are just impossible--even in a comic book movie.
Acting does help. Bale is just excellent--he's not getting enough praise for his acting. He manages to show Batman's anger and pain even in that padded suit and mask! Eckhart is just superb as Harvey Dent--and Two-Face later on. Maggie Gyllenhaal (taking over for Katie Holmes) and Michael Caine (as Alfred) were also good. Surprisingly Morgan Freeman and Gary Oldman aren't that good. They seem to be phoning in their performances. Ledger--what can I say? He's WAY over praised. He was OK but all this talk of an Academy Award is just ridiculous! He wasn't that good. His death was tragic and I can't imagine what his family is going through--but a tragic death does not automatically make you a great actor.
I basically found this movie too dark, too violent and even dull! Some of the acting and fantastic special effects can only work a little. This gets a 3 from me.