I'm with you. I just couldn't stand the first movie because it isn't just the police who are hopelessly incompetent -- it's every single person in the entire world from the janitors on up. I lost all suspension of disbelief when I realized that the Joker was able to stuff a bajillion barrels of boom juice in the basement of a busy hospital without anyone stopping and saying: Hey wait a second, who the fuck are all these people we don't know hauling big ass barrels we didn't order down our corridors? No you can't put that shit there!

Haven't bothered with the next two movies because I haven't heard that they are better thought through.