Had very mixed feelings about it but still, not easy to dismiss

Rating: 7/10 (12 August 2008)

This is a very twisted film. Yes, it's far better than the campy franchise of the Batman tale that Joel Schumacher churned out, but the movie has a decidedly downbeat spin on the Dark Knight and also its villains.
Here we really feel that being Batman is a curse, something that was sort of explored in Batman Forever. It is also weird to see something that is essentially pure fantasy turned into something so close to realism.
The message of the picture is pounded in your face. On one hand you get pure evil in the form of the Joker, played to exhaustion by the late Heath Ledger, but as the plot moves on, we are lead to believe that given the circumstances all people are selfish and could easily be every bit as evil as the Joker.
That evil is rubbed off on Harvey Dent, aka Two-Face. Aaron Eckhart almost puts Heath Ledger to shame as the crusading district attorney. Sorry, that his character explores only the dark side of his face.
One thing that did bother me was Rachel Dawes. Please forgive me but what happens to her didn't really feel as a big loss. But for plot purposes it was a great twist. I also missed Michael Caine, he was hardly present in the movie or for that matter, neither was Morgan Freeman.
As for Christian Bale, he handles Batman's conflict pretty well. Bruce Wayne's fate is wisely downplayed because we all know by now what he is and which one of the characters knows who he is.
So as far as the plot goes, very hard to sit through but the drama is excellent.