Although I am not an expert, still I am no stranger to Batman. This has to be the first time that Batman/Bruce Wayne was ever captured as a supporting character. Everyone was so much MORE than him that the character fades and becomes a vehicle for the other charaters to build upon. Don't get me wrong, you couldn't have a Batman movie without him, but he still was used as a plot device. the characterization was on the nose for Ledger's Joker (as the orignal writers must have envisioned all those years ago-before they decided to censor the character). The one character that suprised and impressed me was Aaron Eckhart's Harvey Dent. How this major character slipped under the radar of many critics astounds me. It was exactly what I would expect for a Dent slash Two-face rendition. It makes Tommy Lee Jone's version seem like a sad and disrespectful nighmare. I recommend seeing it just for that, even if the whole movie stank. (thankfully it didn't)