Heath Ledger as the Joker is brilliant, and anytime he's on the screen this action film seems elevated. It also gets the nihilistic insanity of the character right, as Alfred (Michael Caine) so correctly puts it, "Some men just want to watch the world burn." I was less of a fan of Christian Bale's performance as Batman, with his toneless, gruff voice, and if I'm honest, even the concept of the Dark Knight, with Batman sans Robin viewed as an evil vigilante by the citizens of Gotham. I also thought the film tried to pack too much in, with the love interest/triangle (Maggie Gyllenhaal), rise of Two Face (Aaron Eckhart), and extraneous characters (e.g. Morgan Freeman). It could have also used a breather in between all the action scenes, though some of the elements, like that batpod with the extra fat tires, were pretty cool. It goes on way too long at 152 minutes, and if it had been pared down and more focused on the Joker's sadistic psychological cruelty, could have been a masterpiece. All in all it's a good, entertaining film, but not worthy of the extraordinary high praise and ratings it's received.
Review of The Dark Knight
