tark i feel you. the gothic architecture in teh two tim burton batmans was awesome and gave it a comicy feel but not really. more of the time era it was suppossed to be in. ie the 40's.
it felt more like chicago to me though h:

as for heath not being able to pull of joker, I had my doubts.
and yes i noticed a lot of similar things that heaths joker said compared to nicholson's joker. i was like wait. jack said that too!
but i also liked they never explained his origins, it was just some crazy guy who insisted he wasn't a freak and f'ed stuff up.