Very good - non comic book non-fan comments; Ledger scores

Rating: 8/10 (6 August 2008)

I finally saw this last week, I would have waited for the DVD except for the ENORMOUS hype, so a whole group of us checked this out, none of who were "comic book fans".
I'm a huge big budget fantasy movie fan (POTC, Star Wars, LOTR and even Burton's "Batmans") so I agree with those who say this movie is "epic" - it's a big, big, movie, richly done. Yes, there are inconsistencies and confusion here and there, no movie is perfect, but it wasn't anything that threw me off track. And to me here and there it got a little slow, but not where I lost interest.
Then there's Ledger, and for me he just stole the movie - there are some priceless scenes with him - I agree that this portrayal is the successor to Hannibal Lector as a pure (complicated) move villain and one of my annoyances is that he wasn't on screen more - what can I say? In a way I ended up rooting for the Joker more, although he is such pure chaotic evil he is terrifying, the best Stephen King bad guys haunting your mind - chilling. Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman truly shine, totally classy and easy in their parts. I didn't have any problem with the casting, Bale does a very serviceable job as Batman - but as Batman in costume and without I am not sure what anyone could expect - he is a believable Batman. (OK, the suit doesn't do anything for his cheeks, makes them look fat a la John McCain, but the hoarse voice didn't bother me.) I thought the Batman toys, outfits, special effects were pretty cool, it is definitely worth seeing on a big screen. Where it fell off for me without picking it to death was the longish 20-minute ending where the film seemed to get lame with the ferry boat "stand-off" and the threat-to-the family thing. Somewhat cheesy and corny. I wasn't moved at the end, just faintly irritated.
But. A companion with me loved it, overall the whole diverse group thought it was a good/great film, and I can really see why many Batman fans feel this is a cinematic landmark. It is a film made with a LOT of care. I haven't seen enough comic book movies to really compare, but based on the ones I have seen (Spiderman, Superman, etc.) TDK is NOT a comic book movie - it is as the critics say a gritty dark epic crime drama. There are a few funny moments, but you don't enjoy this the way you do "Iron Man", because it's a completely different road. I'm not a fan enough to care, but if I were for this one I would be counting the days to the DVD, and for the rest of us - yes, this one is well worth the ticket price. 7 or eight for the movie overall, 10 for Ledger......