This review is unnecessary.

Rating: 10/10 (19 February 2012)

Everyone knows about it. Everyone's seen it. Almost everyone raves about it, and the ones that don't have to work hard to pick at it.
It's almost unnecessary to go into the details, but I will say a couple of things: Both the cinematography and Christian Bale are slightly overrated, workmanlike rather than passionate or tremendously innovative. The pacing feels nearly contrived in how it alternates between action and calm in such a way as to prevent the audience's interest from slipping. These things are so minor that no stars need to be deducted for them. The pacing and the cinematography and Bale all do the job, which in some cases is to stay the hell out of the way for the two stars of the show.
One is Heath Ledger. You can watch the movie for him alone and be blown completely away by how he embodies everything scary about humanity outside the boundaries of social control. The kid from 'Ten Thing I Hate About You' does not exist, instead having been replaced by a daemon of such menacing empowerment and sophistication that you can't help but to think: In the real world, we wouldn't stand a chance in hell without resorting to scorched-earth tactics against such madness.
Which brings us to number two: The philosophical edge of the movie can creep up on you and stun you for one reason: The Joker may not be THAT insane. The Joker understands power. The Joker knows how rules and morality are constraints that prevent the individual from overpowering the world, and he knows precisely how to use it to turn whatever place he wishes into a chaotic playground for the sake of his own amusement. The vulnerability of civilization comes into contrast when placed in front of him. You can only beat him by breaking the rules, which is the purpose of Batman to begin with. And Batman, empowered and without constraints, can become him all to easily, judging the world however he likes. Scary stuff, and only resolvable by allowing our trust in people, in Batman and in the people on the boats, to be rewarded.
It's tempting to look at that boat scene sometimes and say, "They would have been fighting over the trigger on both ships, clamoring for the chance to survive at the cost of strangers. Too Disney for a movie so dark." Maybe, maybe not. But it's endlessly interesting to wonder about it. Not bad for a summer blockbuster in this lowest-common-denominator world.