Heath had Oscar-worthy Performance, but Nolan's Direction w/ Bale - C minus

Rating: 7/10 (18 August 2008)

The cast was great, the script a bit too majestic, so it's yin versus yang, not the Tao.
Heath Ledger's performance of 'The Joker' really is the best acting job in 2008 (he probably would have been in that class of the greats like Olivier, Brando, etc), so it's really sad he died. But since we all have to die, let's move on to Bale's Batman. When did Batman develop a speech impediment? The voice thing was just bad, bad - it killed an otherwise great film. This one thing takes it from a 9 to a 7, because it's all about the bat, baby. Unfortunately, Maggie Gyllenhaal (why is she famous?) had a forgettable role that she did a good job with, and Arron Eckhart was excellent as Mr. Dent. Morgan Freeman is always an A, Michael Caine has finally mastered his craft, and nails the part with flair. Oldman's Gordon - wow, first time I've been fooled in awhile. Eric Roberts and the rest of the cast - really damn good.
Without the voice effect, a 9.2, but with the director dropping the ball on this, a 7.5.
The View from Another Armchair Director