I am about to become a pariah amongst my friends. I am a fan of movies in general, a fan of comics overall, and a big fan of comic movies. Having just returned from "The Dark Knight," I can now say that this movie is not worthy of the absolute obedience and hype that has surrounded it since Heath's unfortunate demise.

Make no mistake, Heath's performance was brilliant and suitably creepy and zany--as the Joker ought to be. This is, in my opinion, his finest role and portrayal, and he will no doubt receive a best supporting actor Oscar (and had he lived, I'm sure he still would receive this award.) Mr. Bale's performance was....well, the same as "Batman Begins," that is to say: gruff and gravely while in-costume, and idle playboy when not...which a touch of golden heart. More of the same of what we have previously seen. Nothing new to report.

The rest of the cast was as good as could be hoped.

People are giving this movie a very high score, and to be utterly honest, this isn't worthy of such praise. Heath was absolutely wonderful, other than that this is pretty much a wash for average.

I was entertained, which is great; but this isn't the be-all of cinema and most certainly does not deserve the #1 spot. There are better movies out there.

I give this a "6", which isn't a bad score to give; but it isn't as high as what many have given. This means only one thing: they are deluded. They're giving the score out of remorse for the loss of Heath, not for the film as it is.

In the end, "The Dark Knight" is good, but just not great.