Having read the books, and all of the awful reviews, I was worried about hating this movie. While I was glad to have been warned about the low budget this film used, you can only really tell when he's jumping through the trees. Yes, it's a 500 page book condensed into 2 hours and yes, you will miss out on some scenes but the characters are well played out and it's a good starting point. Maybe little more emphasis on their undying love for one another but all in all it was very very good.
I saw it last night at 11, lines were long, long wait, all worth it to see Ledger shine. I can't imagine them trying to replace him for any future batman movies. His performance is unparalleled to any other performance i have seen in a long time. This is not only action packed in the good city of Chicago but it's easy to get sucked in by the intricacy of the joker's games. The comedy is smart and the overall performance was just out of this world.