Overall it was very overhyped. A good movie, not a great movie. and certainly much longer than it needed to be. There were times it felt stale and boring during the talking scenes between Bruce Wayne/Harvey Dent/ Rachel Dawes but certainly it picked up steam during the appreciated and rare non-CGI action sequences that were explosive and original to say the least. Heath Ledger created a unique and demented version of the Joker that certainly stood out among screen villians but Oscar worthy? Christian Bale is good at keeping the serious look on his face but I was looking to be more emotionally involved in his character than I was. Great movies usually have you thinking about them long after you left the theater and analyzing them in your mind, good ones like this give you brief periods of thrill that you soon forget and find yourself thinking about the next super-hero movie on it's way. Watchmen anyone?