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Rating: 10/10 (20 July 2008)

This is a great movie. Joker was spot on, very scary and funny, I love the editing in the suspense scenes. But to be honest, the main character is Harvey Dent. This is his best version since in Batman TAS. A full story, the greatest character development he could have been given, as we see the potential in him when he tosses the double headed coin and so on, with great foreshadowing (You either die a hero or live long enough to become the villain) and there is a great payoff. The acting was amazing too. Very menacing. I mean, you can't possibly complain he got shafted. In Batman Forever he got shafted. Just a Joker ripoff without any sympathy, and we didn't want him on screen. Here, though, he has genuine pathos. We see the greatest of men, the most honorable and honest man who had a real chance to make things better, fall. He really didn't deserve it, and we all feel for him. He loses everything, and he has done nothing wrong. He isn't even insane in the end. He's just torn and defeated. And when he aims the gun at the kid, we really think that he can kill him. And when he is defeated (I won't say dead, he might be in the sequel... why kill the goose that lays the golden eggs?), we realize that he is a victim. A victim of the Joker on the outside, and a victim of himself on the inside. That is why I think he is the greatest character in this film. Also, he looked great. Was the scarring CG, prosthetics, or both? Surely, though, with all that open skin, he would contract some kind of disease and get infected? Doesn't matter. If Heath hadn't died, both him and Eckhart would be praised as equals. But now that I'm done with that, let's get on with the Joker. Before I saw the film, I heard that he was great, but I wasn't convinced. The trailers did seem second rate to me, I admit. He wasn't scary enough there. So when I heard how great he is in the role, I took it with a grain of salt... until I saw the film. I was literally TERRIFIED of him. Even when he was funny. I really thought he would kill everybody who mattered. And he did, I guess. He played a psychopath who wasn't really insane. In fact, the more I think about it, the more I realize that he wasn't a psychopath. He was a sociopath. He only cared about his own well being... Wait a minute. He didn't. We need a new word for this guy. Maybe he had a sort of super-sanity. On first glance, you think him completely insane. But he's actually a genius, using Gotham as a petri dish to do his social experiments. Why? Because, deep down, he wanted to prove that everybody was like him. I remember reading a comic about the Joker where psychiatrists in Arkham find an essay about how the Joker isn't really insane. If he was insane, he wouldn't have been able to pull any of his crimes off. It concludes by saying that with this as proof, the Joker should not be charged as insane and locked away, but be put to death. The psychiatrists then learn that it was written by Harley Quinn before she went insane. That means that this file would not be taken seriously by a judge and Joker would still be classified insane. That comic never convinced me. He always seemed batty to me. But this film... he isn't crazy. He is probably more sane than anybody else, actually. Just cold and uncaring.There are times that he does seem insane, like when he goes nuts laughing while jumping on Batman. But he is really a calculating genius with incredible foresight. And I think it's a shame that we can't have Heath back. He showed complete acting skill when doing his rants and monologues with a straight mind, if not a straight face. The scene where the hospital doesn't blow up, and he keeps hitting the button until it does, is unscripted. I've also been hearing that there's a (false) rumor that he was on drugs while doing the scenes. If his eccentric acting can start rumors like that, an Oscar nomination would not be out of pity. It would be justice. His character can probably be written off with a death penalty in the sequel and it would make sense, but I would take that over a replacement (unless an obsessed fan named Harley decides to continue his work.) As for Batman himself... I never believed that you can hide your identity from your friends with a mask until now. Bale played two people. They can't possibly be the same person! Also, we finally realize in this film that Batman is not a hero. He does very immoral things in this, like eavesdrop on everyone in Gotham. And you just can't make an excuse for that. He is clearly in the wrong, even if it's the only way to do his job. And with the almost complete lack of CG in this, everything Batman does seems possible by human standards. And, of course, he gets attacked by dogs. Of course he would. It was delightful when he gets attacked by dogs again and his suit keeps them from killing him. Gary Oldman's Gordon was incredible in this movie. He had such a big role, and it was pulled off perfectly. He had better be in the sequel. I give the Dark Knight... A+, or 10/10