The Dark Knight: thumbs down

I am definitely in the minority in this, but I did not enjoy the Dark Knight. It just lacked that atmosphere and characterization in my opinion. First of all, the Gotham City of Nolan is all wrong. Gotham is supposed to be like one of the noir cities from the 1940's with those old decaying streets and buildings, and dark shadows in every corner, giving it that gloomy depressing atmosphere (the batman animated series got this right). Nolan's Gotham is too hip and modern. My biggest beef with the film however, is the characterization of the Joker. Heath Ledger was a great actor (God bless
:)) and he probably worked well with the script he was given. Part of the Joker's appeal in the comics is his appearance. He has bright intense colors (his face, his lips, his eyes) and is dressed in a slick way. It gives him that visual presence that the Heath ledger Joker is sorely lacking. Heath ledger looked like a homeless man with some powder smeared on him and looks very dull. Joker is a character that exudes evil and sadistic intense glee in every step, every action that he does. His eyes itself are supposed to have that crazed, violent look reflecting his character. Ledger's Joker just seemed like a petulant brat pretending to be crazy. He looked dull and tired. His dialogue and mannerisms lacked any real psychological depth that shows the extent of his evil and hatred for society, how scary and ruthless he can really be. The comic Killing Joke understands this: It shows the extent of Joker's trauma, and the true depth of pain and misery. He shot and crippled barbara Gordon, raped her, took pictures of her raped, crippled body and showed them to the father, to drive him crazy. The Dark Knight completely misses out on what makes the Joker tick. The extent of the pain and misery he underwent, and is willing to inflict on others. Ledger just spouts corny dialogue and becomes a caricature. Anyways, I think i've ranted long enough :D . For those of you who have the patience to read through this any feedback would be appreciated on whether any of what i wrote makes sense.

Later.