The movie lives up to the hype. I was thoroughly entertained for two and a half hours. There was less back story and more action in this one. It is assumed you know the Batman story and they make no effort to bring newbies up to speed. Heath Ledger’s Joker carries the movie throughout. I was worried that his last role was being built up as a tribute, but he creates maybe the greatest movie villain of all time. Yes, it rivals Xavier Bardem in No Country for Old Men.This is an Oscar worthy performance. Everyone else is a supporting actor and they are pretty good. Christian Bale as Batman is arguably the weakest link. He suffers from the Batman costume curse. He spends most his screen time in the cumbersome costume and uses the annoying ‘Dark Knight’ voice (I guess to keep us from guessing he’s Bruce Wayne, who he is?). Maybe it was too long. They could have cut it down a bit, but you’d have to sacrifice some Joker moments, and that would be a waste. With the money this is going to pull in, there will be another installment in a few years. It will be very difficult to top this one.