I anxiously awaited the opening of this film and have to say I was really disappointed with the finished product. First of all the action was at a minimum. The gadgetry that made the first film was also not in the sequel. I really like Heath Ledger and have watched some movies just because he was in the film. Christian Bale was once again convincing as Batman and did a good job with the script he was given. Maggie Gyllenhaal as Rachel Dawes did nothing for me. It is hard to fail when casting Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman in any role and they did well as usual.

With that said, the film was too long and the action was far from what we have seen so far this summer in Iron Man and The Hulk. The film spent too much time on the relationships between Bruce Wayne, Harvey Dent and Rachel Dawes. The character development far outweighed the sensationalism and bang that is expected of a summer action movie. I grew up reading DC and Marvel comics and rush to see any film made about comic book heroes and villains and this did not make the grade.

If there is a third installment of this Batman series, I will go again to see it and hope for the best. I doubt I will be able to get me better half to go because she simply hated the film and could find nothing redeeming in the film. Her critique was that the film was awful. I will not go that far but it did not meet the expectations I had after seeing the first film of this series.

Sorry but it does not live up to the hype and will only be best known for Heath Ledger. An actor who was so talented and taken away before his time.