Good movie,

Rating: 7/10 (24 July 2008)

Not a bad movie, genuinely enjoyable.
Batman was well acted by Bale. Ledger was fine as the Joker, but the raving some are giving about his performance borders on masturbation. It looks like he enjoyed the part. Maggie Gyllenhaal was slightly disappointing. She didn't show any particular chemistry with either of her love interests.
I'm surprised that the Nolan brothers didn't subscribe a better musical score for this movie. The Dark Knight wasn't nearly as gripping as their previous movie, The Prestige (also starring Bale).
TDK isn't without its plot holes. What was the fate of the businessman Lau? What did The Joker do to the hostages after Batman jumped from the window to save Dawes? The cell-phone sonar seemed daft. It was unnecessary and could easily have been cut from the movie without damaging the script in any way. It only seemed to provide Freeman with an opportunity to behave in a corny, self-righteous manner. Weak.
The fight scenes were *much* better in Batman Begins. All the mêlée in TDK seemed dark and confusing. Perhaps that was the point, but the fighting in BB was really fun to watch. I could make similar comments about the Batmobile scenes which were also much better in the first movie.
Still a good movie though, got me genuinely excited at some points, but not worthy of a 10/10 rating by any stretch of the imagination.