Holy Sequel, Batman!

I saw Dark Knight last night. For those of you who haven't seen it, I will do my best not to reveal any spoilers, but if you don't know who Harvey Dent is, and who Two Face is, I would suggest you don't read any further.


ok, they gone now?

Alright, here's the thing. We all know that originally Harvey Dent is a good guy, and a friend--or at least acquaintance--of Bruce Wayne. He has some terrible accident that affects half of him, and ergo becomes Two Face. As villains, pairing Two Face and Joker is practically kismet: both are obviously psychotic, bent on destruction, and motivated by reasons we aren't always clear on. (And, in case you hadn't heard, Heath Ledger's Joker is truly frightening and brilliantly portrayed. He really is not firing on all cylinders here, and the effect is so creepy it makes your skin crawl.)
Admittedly, and like all superhero movies, they have some issues with physics and technological probability; this is almost unavoidable, but, like the first entry in this saga, they do try to off-set a good deal of it, which I personally appreciate. The acting is impeccable from all, the plot takes several unexpected twists, and some of the psychology involved is rather advanced for an action flick.
Here's my only real complaint.
Harvey Dent's transformation into Two Face is, in this interpretation, realized through a terrible burn. Burns, especially those chemically accelerated, can be truly horrific. Beyond just the sheer physical damage, the destruction of skin, nerves, etc., they are agonizingly painful, and once the skin barrier is gone, leave the victim extremely vulnerable to infection. The scarring, even with skin grafts, is awful, and can often lead to restricted motion, depending on where the burn is located. As a way to make an otherwise good man lose his final grasp on sanity, it does its job well, but...well, here's the thing. Dent's injuries are bad: really, really bad. As in, no more cheek or lips on the left side of his face. No eyelid, and from what I could tell, no tear duct either. Chin bone showing through skin, jaw bone visible as well. There are a few muscles left so he can move his jaw, but not really.
Seriously? I don't want to be too picky, but burns being what they are, wouldn't you think that the real thing would be more horrific that taking it so completely over the top? There is mention of his refusing painkillers (which would have left him in shrieking agony) and skin grafts (which with those injuries, I think the doctors would have overruled him on that)--and then gets up, starts running around and killing people.
And I swear to god, the only thing I can think is, "Huh. Well, aside from being blind in that left eye since its getting no moisture at all, he's gonna be dead from infection in about 12 hours at this rate."
This didn't ruin the movie, but it did annoy me.