Good but over-hyped

Rating: 7/10 (25 July 2008)

First off, this isn't as good as Batman Begins. The story isn't as tight and the characters aren't as strong within the story. We are lead around rather haphazardly. Sure you could argue that this reflects the Jokers chaos, but the film doesn't particularly characterise him as all that chaotic. For every plan, the Joker has a backup plan, and as he spells out his and Batman's polar relationship, its quite clear that Nolan has chosen to depict the Joker, not as a crazy lunatic, but as a psychopath that has chosen chaos over order. The chaos of the plot simply leads away from the characters, and fills us with unnecessary schlock; the guy revealing Batman's identity (why? and if it was this easy to figure it out, why doesn't everyone know?), Gordon's death (again why? and isn't it plainly obvious that no-one is particularly grieving, and that he hasn't even made Commissioner yet?), the mobile phone sonar (pointless, included to keep Morgan Freeman in the movie, show off that they can think of gadgets, and include some special effects, get rid of it and have Batman figure out who is a hostage the old fashioned way), and so on. Nolan should have chosen to extend other scenes, focusing on enriching the main characters, such as Joker's taunting of the detective in the MCU before his escape.
For all this, the film is enjoyable, and you don't feel the length. The action scenes are as exciting as you would expect and don't fail to deliver. Ledger's performance as the Joker is good, in my opinion only lacking in the characterisation provided by the plot. His movements are natural while remaining corrupt and psychotic. He could have been more menacing, or even aloof, the only real depiction of which comes in after he blows up the hospital in his dance away.
This isn't Nolan's masterpiece but maybe next time!