Just came back from TDK- It ******* rocked. Hard. Quite possibly one of the best comic booked based movies I've seen. My thoughts and nitpicks below...
Spoilers Below
Heath Ledger easily deserves at least an Oscar nod. He stole every single scene he was in. From his vocal and facial nuances to the way he walked, he was amazing. I loved how he kept changing the story of how he got his facial scars. Kind of like how in Batman: The Killing Joke he has a bit about how he likes his past to be "multiple choice". I think he surpassed Nicholson's Joker, and definitely brought his own unique spin to the character. I was however disappointed in the lack of Joker Venom. I know that wouldn't really fit with Ledger's take on the character, but I still would've liked to see it. My favorite Joker bit from TDK? "Magic trick!"
Two-Face was handled really well. When he turns all bad-ass vigilante, he kind of reminded me of Doc Ock in Spiderman 2. The burns were done very well, a couple girls in my theater even screamed when he was revealed.
Bruce Wayne, Alfred, Lucius, Gordon, and the rest of the guys from BB pulled in solid performances. Alfred had some nice refreshing funny bits, and Bale was as good as ever.
Gyllenhall, IMO, was a better Rachel than Katie Holmes, and really gave a good performance.
My only nitpicks are the editing. It seems like the Joker had a whole bag of plots that he just weaved in and out of the film, and it was kind of hard to tell what the characters current motivations were.
Overall I thought it was fantastic, quite easily the best film of 2008. I'll definitely try to see it again in the theaters.