Well, I watched it. I have to say, this is the first Batman dtv film that I was excited about since... I don't know when. I always thought that this story had a lot of potential, even though it's a classic example of the "comic book death" syndrome that I loathe.
Anyway, the film is good. Not GREAT, but good. Solid and cool. I think that the story was told well, although it's heavily geared towards an audience that already knows about what's going on and who's who. I don't think that a kid with a generic knowledge that there's a Batman, a Robin and a Joker would get all of it.
I think that the actors and the characters were okay.
The villains were cool. I think I liked most Black Mask who was pretty funny to me (I lol'd at the "You can't trust anyone..." moment when he was in the truck with the rest of the mobsters). The Joker was nice too, and he had cool lines, but somehow I think that something was missing - in that particular story you have to hate him, you have to want to see him die, he has to be as despicable and disgusting as possible in that particular story; however, he still came off a bit likeable here. I suppose that it's just hard to make an unlikable Joker, no matter how evil his deeds are. Ra's was... I dunno, I didn't really cared for him and he didn't have much of a role anyway. Red Hood was cool as the main baddie. I liked his suit, he looked really badass. I always thought that the post-resurrection Jason was one of the few characters in Gotham who had common sense. I mean, sure, he's insane and immoral, but you can't deny that he's right, that those scumbags that plague this city have to die if you want things to get better. That fact, that his motivation is a very reasonable one, makes him a great villain IMO.
The heroes... I dunno, I can never relate well to Batman's One Rule, and it is a crucial part of this story, so I can't really say that I rooted for him. It's hard for me to root for a main character with whose ideology I disagree to the point when his stubbornness annoys me. Nightwing was cool, but IIRC, he just disappeared after a point. I would have liked to see either more of him or nothing at all; here he appears out of nothing without explanation and disappears into nothing without explanation.
The animation and the style were good. I liked the looks of almost all characters (without the Riddler's in that flashback). The animation was fluid and nice enough I suppose.
So, overall, yay or nay? I'd say yay. It's about at 7 out of 10.
But even that wont bring me down of my excitement for this movie. Can't wait! 
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