Just got back from it. Don't really want to read the whole thread, so I will probably repeat a lot of things that have already been established a few days ago. Oh well.
I've been looking forward to this movie for at least 2 years and it did not disappoint. It was a great sequel to a series of films that might go down as new Batman Classics. I'm really having a hard time deciding which movie I liked better, this or Batman Begins, because they really are like reading chapters of a book. The story continued and the quality didn't let up from one movie to the next.
There was so much fun to be had here but I first want to talk about the Joker. Frankly, while I loved this portrayal as the Joker (Much more than Nicholson's I think), I find Ledgers performance somewhat overrated. Not to say that is a bad thing since he did a terrific job, but I wonder what kind of praise he would have gotten if he hadn't tragically passed away earlier this year. It would have been good, but I'm not so sure if it would have been epic as others claim it is. Still, this movie was about Batman vs The Joker, and Bale and Ledger played off each other really well.
I also liked the inclusion of Harvey Dent and Eckhart is slowly becoming one of my favorite actors. He was great as the White Knight, and his transformation into two-face was handled really well.
Nolan has created something here that is much more epic than I could have thought. We get a great character study on what it means to be a hero, and how this movie ends was only appropriate to what the theme was. Harvey says something in this movie that I think summarizes it very well, "You either die a hero, or you live long enough to see yourself the villain."
I'm glad they changed actresses for Rachel, even though both times she seemed more like a distraction than adding anything to the plot. Other than that complaint, Nolan has really done a great job rejuvinating Batman and I can't wait till Number 3. I'm saddened that Ledger won't be part of it because Joker just won't be the same.
Excellent or A