I just couldn't do it. I couldn't give 10/10 stars.

Rating: 9/10 (29 July 2008)

I could not bring myself to give this movie 10/10 stars. The story worked for me, as did the acting, score, and cinematography, but something held me back. I think it was little things that simply added up. Don't get me wrong, this is a great film, and will probably be the first BluRay disk I ever buy, but a few little things here and there just kept The Dark Knight from being perfect.
So anyway, here's what I think those things are.
Was this really a movie about Batman? Seemed to me a lot of other characters, even minor ones, got as much or more screen time than the title character.
Rachel Dawes. Was an annoyance in the first film, and is really no better in this one. ***SPOILER*** At least we won't have to worry about her in the next one.
Was the whole Coleman Reese sub-plot really necessary? I mean come on, some sniveling bean counter is going to potentially ruin the whole thing? I just didn't see it fitting into the scope of this picture.
Batman (when he finally did show up) and his "I'm going to talk in a deep raspy voice to sound scary" voice. For some reason, this didn't bother me in Returns, but here it was over the top. I don't see the point of it.
That being said, what did I like? Heath Ledger truly did a great job here. Is it Oscar-worthy? we'll have to wait and see, but a nomination would not surprise me a whole lot, even if it unfortunately is posthumous. I like to think that had he lived, he still would have been nominated. At times channeling Brando's Col. Kurtz, Cruise's Jerry Maguire, and even a little bit of Jack Nicholson, his performance is one of a kind.
Gary Oldman, Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman. These are classy guys who brought it all out for this. They weren't in this movie. Jim Gordon, Alfred, and Lucius Fox were. Amazing performances.
Two-Face's look. No pink & purple Tommy Lee Jones here. Great work here, but I wish they could've gotten away with a good practical effect rather than CGI.
Like I said, a great movie but not quite perfect. 9/10.