Mr Bale is being short-changed though Mr Ledger is UNFORGETTABLE

Rating: 9/10 (23 July 2008)

As far as I'm concerned Heath Ledger's performance is probably the best performance by any screen actor in the last decade. I've no idea where he drew the inspiration from but it's almost beyond belief. But Christian Bale is being shortchanged. His work cannot be denied. There have been several to attempt to make Batman seem real or awe-inspiring but only Christian really succeeds. He's taken a comic book concept and breathed real depth and character into it far more successfully than any other live action lead ever has. He really deserves a huge amount of the credit and I can imagine his role in Dark Knight was cut back after Heath's death. That was an error if I'm right. I'm quite sure someone as phenomenal as Heath would have wanted Christian to shine as much as possible.
This is hardly a perfect film but it's satisfying on several levels. Some of the more spectacular parts are the lead actors performances, but also some of the effects like those with Aaron Eckhart and some of the crash scenes are sheer magic. I would have liked a few changes but I'm just quibbling. If I were a filmmaker I'd be lucky to achieve a tenth of what's on the screen here. There's so much skill in evidence here you can't help wondering what these people could do with REAL problems.