character development falls short of bar set by Batman Begins

Rating: 7/10 (28 July 2008)

While I really enjoyed the film, I don't think it deserves the near-perfect rating it's currently receiving here. My main gripe is the overall lack of character development, and the somewhat anti-climatic ending.
In the previous film, an insightful dual time line showed the protagonist's development. In this installment, we're left in the dark (no pun intended) about the two main characters who steal the show from Bruce Wayne: Harvey Dent and the Joker.
For Dent, we're mainly treated to foreshadowing lines about faces and heroes becoming villains. At his fund-raiser, get a hint of just how good he truly is: while totally uncomfortable socializing with the city's elite, he still sparkles because it's a necessary evil. This scene left me wanting to see much more about how he came to possess such strength. His fall would be so much more poignant if we knew more about his rise, but we met him a the top. There's story to be told there that is only hinted at, and mainly from the standpoint of his career, that would enrich our understanding. We know how he came to be the hope of the city, but we don't know how he became the person capable of being that hope.
For the Joker, we receive contradictory stories of his past. The Joker's vague past actually works for his character, unlike Dent. It makes him all the more terrifying (and he WAS terrifying) that he so effortlessly spins a new tale about his past that will most resonate with his selected victim. Enjoyable as that was, it would have been nice to be thrown a real tidbit about his origins.
Despite a stunning performance, I did tire of his elaborate traps. The psychological puzzles leading to someone's death started to smack of Jigsaw in the Saw series, and while the Joker's chicken came before Jigsaw's egg, this torture shtick is something that's been played out in B movies over recent years.
The citizens' resistance to his final act was a moving plot point, but, as part of the film's culmination, it seemed misplaced. It was an interesting and appropriate way to thwart the Joker's planned chaos, but ultimately it was people not acting: people doing nothing as a climatic moment. The pace of the movie, which had been almost dizzily fast until this point, suddenly went a bit limp.
Though it lacks its predecessor's character development, cohesive story arc, and great pacing, it is still a great watch due to incredible performances from the full cast.