entertaining but not great

Rating: 7/10 (26 July 2008)

They could have cut about 40 minutes from this movie and made it much more enjoyable. There seemed to be at least two other points where the movie appeared to have wrapped up and it made me a bit antsy when it continued past the first logical ending.
The Scarecrow was completely wasted in this film. His appearance added little to the film.
The Batcycle was just plain silly. It looked completely unmaneuverable and ungainly. Is it too much to ask to have someone with at least a cursory knowledge of physics involved in the design of such gadgets? That being said, the movie had a nice dark feel to it. The casting was excellent. Heath Ledger gives a slightly unhinged performance which made the Joker more believable than he had been in past films. Aaron Eckhart makes a great Two Face though I found his makeup a bit gruesome for my tastes. I would have preferred something closer to the way Two Face was portrayed in the comics. Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman both give great performances as always. Bale is definitely the best Batman to date.
I still find I prefer Batman Begins to this film and I liked Iron Man more than both.