Good - but not great

Rating: 7/10 (2 August 2008)

**spoiler alert** I watched this tonight and had very high expectations for it - I watched Batman Begins and expected more of the same. Unfortunately I cannot say this movie delivered (sorry, with all the hype I expected a lot more!).
I should start off by saying that I do think that Heath Ledger did a phenomenal job. As to who was the better Joker, Ledger or Jack Nicholson, all I can say is that they were played differently - Nicholson was great in a over-the-top comic book way and Ledger played it more menacingly "real" (what you would think a real serial killer might be like). Of the two, if I had to take my chances in a dark alley, I'd more likely survive if I met Nicholson's character.
I found the movie far too long and there are entire scenes that were unnecessary (Hong Kong, the long Dent transport/carnival truck chase...). Personally, I didn't mind Katie Holmes in the role of Rachel and I just didn't think replacing her with Maggie Gyllenhaal was worth the disruption to the character. For consistency, I thought it would have been better to keep Holmes. If they had to change who plays Rachel, which really is just a screen "fluff" role, it might as well have been stunning "fluff" (let's not forget Rachel attracts not just one powerful man, but two and her death drives one of them to turn to crime - takes a smart AND stunning woman to do that - sorry Maggie fans).
As for Christian Bale, I really liked him in Batman Begins and think he is great as Batman. He is quite possibly the best Batman to date, but his role in this one was mediocre at times. I found it laughable and annoying when he tried to disguise his voice and the lack of any real emotion when the love of his life died left me a bit baffled. I found it odd that he who supposedly grew up with Rachel was not an emotional wreck and Dent, who didn't know the real Rachel at all (hey she was supposedly in love with two men and he never clued in???) changed everything about himself and turned into a (not so believable) monster within hours of her death, even going to the extent of trying to murder a child to get revenge for her...
Aaron Eckhart, who I loved in Thank You for Smoking, was good but I felt his whole performance began to slide once he had to start playing Two Faced. His anguish over Rachel's death was passable, but not totally believable and it should have been considering that was supposedly the catalyst for change. Quite possibly the whole Rachel role could have been removed altogether from the film and they could have used another causal event - why not stick to the original acid/bad guy thing or if they had to, why not use something even more traumatic and character changing, like killing off his wife (Rachel?)/kids? Would have been more believable. I don't know if introducing two evil characters in one film was even necessary. He could have been introduced here and explored more fully in another movie, at least it would have kept this one shorter! I loved Michael Caine as Alfred and thought he suited the role superbly and I also thought Morgan Freeman was great. Neither really had big roles in this film.
Even though I have a whole lot to criticize, the special effects were superb and overall the movie was well acted, especially by Ledger. Definitely worth going to watch, but come on people, it is not the best movie ever and personally I do not think it is the best Batman!