Like most 20-something college graduates of today, I've seen most of the 20th and 21st centuries' darkest and most violent films (though they really aren't my favorites).  I've also seen most of the films that are considered true classics, whether they be film noir, westerns, musicals, theatre adaptations, epics, whatever.  On top of that, I'm a girl, and I enjoy chick-flick fluff whenever possible.  Tldr= I've seen a lot of movies.

Warning: do not take your children to see this movie.That being said, this is what it can offer to adults: high-intensity entertainment, jaw-dropping stunts, breathtaking visuals, and the kind of complex emotion and depth that simply aren't seen in not only comic book blockbusters, but almost any movie you'll see these days.

This movie isn't perfect.  The director, Christopher Nolan, was aiming for a highly-realistic interpretation of the Batman story, so that is how I'll judge it.  Batman's growl of a voice sounds like he has strep throat and clogged sinuses.  There are some unexplained and implausible situations, and there were some overly quick edits of violent scenes in order to keep the PG-13 rating, and while these cut-aways were artfully done, they made those scenes a little confusing and spastic.   The resulting film pounds the viewer's brain with its constant noise and intensity. 

Now that I've gotten the criticism out of the way, allow me to gush about this movie.  I've seen it twice now, once in IMAX and once in a regular theater.  See it in IMAX.  It's still good without the huge screen, but if there's any film to see in IMAX, this is it.  Your mouth will be hanging open half the time.

As a million other critics have raved, the acting is superb.  You will see top-notch performances from Christian Bale and Gary Oldman, a heart-wrenching performance from Aaron Eckhart, and a dramatic turn by the late Heath Ledger that will simply take your breath away and run with it, laughing maniacally.  While the performances from the whole cast simply make the movie, it was Ledger's character that I couldn't stop watching. 

Every time he appeared on the screen, my face lit up with an incredulous grin--not because I have the hots for him (never thought he was particularly attractive), but because I was literally enraptured with his performance.  I didn't see Heath Ledger on the screen; it was only the Joker, in one of the best performances I've witnessed in a movie. 

This was supreme method acting, for every nuance of Ledger's performance betrayed the consistent inner monologue of pure Joker in his head.  He did not resort to movements and expressions that you've seen in his previous roles or other actors' performances; everything was reimagined.  The most interesting aspect of this was that we as an audience liked him. 

We wanted to see him bring terror upon Gotham because it was so damn interesting.  He played a psychopathic agent of chaos, but in many aspects he was simply a dog, as referenced by the quotes "I'm like a dog chasing a car--I wouldn't know what to do with one if I caught it!" and "The Joker's just a mad dog; I want whoever let him off his leash", the image of him leaning out the back window of a stolen police cruiser, shaking his greasy mane in the wind with primal pleasure, and his use of dogs as allies in the climax.  Most Americans happen to rather like dogs, so how could we truly hate him?