Heath Ledger really did stand out in this film. His portrayal of the Joker was truly scary in tune in a more horrific Joker that I've seen in animated version and the comic book. Ironically it seemed many of the other characters dominated the screen more than Christian Bale did. Aaron Eckhart was a good Harvey Dent, and Maggie Gyllenhal was a great Rachel Dawes (better than Katie Homes). Overall great movie that will be hard to match with Heath Ledger gone. I think follow-on sequels will have a hard time finding characters to match the terrifying portrayal of the Joker. In a perfect world I'd give Jim Carrey carte blanch to come back as a much darker Riddler, the rest of the evil doers just don't meet the bar set by this portrayal of the Joker.