After seeing it two more times, I have to amend my comment on the length of the film. I think it's a fine running time, given all that Nolan is presenting. That's a problem with a first-time view: sometimes it's hard to digest everything all at once.

I noticed that some scenes from the trailer are not in the film, or they've been altered. Where was the scene where the Joker tosses a knife into his right hand? Why was the scene of him shouting "Come on, Hit Me!!" a different shot than the one in the trailer? The one from the trailer was way better, way more demented and psychotic. And the scene where he says to the gangters "Kill the Batman"- he says it totally different than the way he does in the trailer.
I guess Christopher Nolan felt other takes were better for the movie than the trailer promoting it?
With Batman I don't miss much, man.
The film still destroys, and picking it apart is not cool.
You don't pick a Masterpiece apart unless you're studying, unless you love the Holy Hell out of it.

Aaron Eckhart is damn good here.
His transformation into Two-Face is excellence in character development. His scenes with the rage at what's happened to him is just plain awesome. I cared about him as a character- more than Batman or Bruce Wayne (and that's saying a lot, brother!).

The Joker is just all over the map here, all over the movie with wild brutalities and psychotic mania. This is a performance for the Ages. Heath Ledger delivered beyond my or anyone else's conceivable expectations. Simply put, they found the best actor on the planet to play The Clown.
He's almost like a pixie, a fucked-up pixie.
He's absolutely awesome in his final role, and yes Chris, it's a damn fucking shame he won't be in any more films.
He's cast the die on the Joker for all time.
I kept thinking to myself that even Jack Nicholson must tip his hat to Ledger for what he did here.
Even the Great Seducer must admit that Heath drove it home.
Cuz he DID, muchacho. He fuckin' did.
I really don't have any more to say about the film.
I'm kind of in mute awe of it, and there's so few films that have ever done that to me. I gab a lot about movies, but the best ones have a way of making me shut my trap. I'm stunned by the greatness of The Dark Knight.
I thought for a while that maybe Hollywood was past the point of delivering something more substantial than a "blockbuster", but we're dealing with a filmmaker who is a Genius, who takes inspiration from the greatest of sources, uses the best actors he can assemble, and genuinely aims for Art. Plus his marketing couldn't have been any better.
And Warner Brothers? Best studio on the planet.
They were custodians of Kubrick's legacy, and they are custodians of much by the way of pop culture icons.

Again, a huge sincere Thank You to all who worked on this one.
You got a devoted fan for as long as I live.