I prefer "Batman Begins" over "The Dark Knight", but I'm a sucker for origin stories. I called a friend, a huge Batman fan, from the theater parking lot opening night, to tell him to drop everything and go see it. I never understood the hating on Katie Holmes as Rachel; I think Maggie Gyllenhall did a better job, but Katie did the role justice.
I'd read that Bowie played Tesla in "The Prestige", so I wasn't surprised, but the friend I saw it with was surprised, very pleasantly so. :-)