I'm shocked that so many people are rating this 9 or 10 out of 10 stars.

I'm amazed that so many people are calling this the best movie of 2008 and the best super hero movie of all time.

This was an "OK" movie. Not a great movie, not even a great super hero movie.

As far as the plot is concerned, it was mediocre, a bit scrambled, and didn't really offer anything new. And did I mention it was too long? As a rule, I love long, epic movies, but this just exhausted me. I walked out of the theater thinking it was too long. It just went on and on. And not in an adventurous way, which probably would have made me appreciate the longevity. No, it just dragged on...just when you thought they were wrapping things up, you realized that a whole other part nine was just getting starting to get greased up. If someone who loves long epic movies is sitting there thinking "oh my god, it's not over *yet*?!", there's a problem.

As far as Heath the Joker is concerned:

No.

I mean "no", as in No, it was not a Oscar performance. Cool, yes. Different, yes. Understated in a good way, yes. But Oscar-spellbinding? No. I wouldn't even have minded seeing more of the Joker, because just like the the first Tim Burton Batman, the directors of both managed to make the main character, Batman, about as interesting as wet paper bag (sure, the actors didn't help much), so more wacky Jack Nicholson or surreal and twisted Heath Ledger would have been very welcome.

Which brings me to Batman himself...I couldn't understand half of his dialogue because of this over-played bassist growl that Christian Bale emoted in all of his Batman lines. What the hell was that? Could anybody understand a word he was saying? I thought it was me, but I would turn to my girlfriend and ask "what did he say?", and she would shrug, and I noticed others doing the same.

Far and away from being the best super hero on screen, light-years away from X-Men, Spiderman, and dare I say it...even the first Ang Lee Hulk, which I still think gets a bum rap.

Should have been titled Batman Unmemorable (because I really can't remember much about it all or what happened.) 6 of 10.