This movie was incredible. Easily the best Batman ever made, and definitly the best comic book movie adaptation. Yeah, I know its all been said already, but its true so I'm saying again louder.
The plot was great. Started off a bit slow, but after the first 15 minutes the pacing balanced out and the plot flowed along. Loved the symbolism, character parallels, and foreshadowing in this movie. All were deftly handled.
Really enjoyed the White Knight/Dark Knight dichotomy to Dent and Wayne. Also loved that Joker's ultimate goal was merely to test Dent's "heroism". Dent's evolution into Two-Face was quick, but made sense. Eckhart's portrayal of Dent was noteworthy. Overshadowed by Ledger's Joker, sure, but still a nice job done.
And here's the basic point to the Rachel Dawes character...her death helped turn Dent into Two-Face, and keep Wayne as Batman...forever. I'm glad she was given some justification in this mythose besides merely a love interest/damsel in distress. Gyllenhall pulled off the role much better than Holmes did in Batman Begins, but I just can't get past her "but-her-face". She's an ugly woman, and trying to believe she'd be the focal point of a love triangle between Bruce Wayne and Harvey Dent was tough. However, getting past bad looks, she's an incredible actress and did a worthy job in the role. Brought a lot more to it than Holmes did, anyway.
Bale, Oldman, and Caine all did great in their respective roles (as expected). But of course, Ledger's performance as the Joker outshines just about every other brilliant aspect of this truly brilliant film. His performance will go down in cinema history as one of the great film villains, and I'd honestly be surprised if his influence on the character doesn't leak into the comics themselves some. Loved how at the end, as it looks like he's falling to his death (before Batman saves him), he's laughing his *** off. Thats the Joker in a nutshell. The guy truly made that role his own. It should NOT be recast for a sequel. Ledger is the Joker, he owns it, and no one else can have it.
The ending...beautiful. A perfect ending for this movie: dark, brooding, suspenseful (we're all looking forward to a third)...Batman making the ultimate sacrifice, becoming a villain in the eyes of the public to preserve the lie of Dent's heroism was perfect. It showed that his true motivation is whats best for his city. That is Batman. Lucius no longer works for and supplies him, the police are hunting the Dark Knight, and Bruce lost his one chance at a normal life (Rachel). In that sense, this movie set his path as Batman more than Begins did.
Phenomenal, this one deserves a 10/10.