It's good, but let's not get carried away

Rating: 7/10 (13 August 2008)

The second Christopher Nolan batman movie marks an improvement on the first but only just. The film, like so many other comic book adaptations and action movies just tries to pack too much in. And also suffers from the same Achilles heel of a lot of modern films conscious of sequels: it doesn't know where to end. What ever happened to two guys having a fight and one of them dying? The Heath Ledger performance rightly gains all the plaudits, but his was the easiest part. The supporting cast are strong, with Gary Oldman particularly strong. The film tries to introduce too many villains, the original Tim Burton movie got it right, one film = one bad guy. As a result all scenes without Heath Ledger seem like a distraction from the main attraction. And for some reason Christian Bale puts on a Dirty Harry-esquire rasp while donning the black cape. The real same of the movie is that we don't see more of the Bruce Wayne character, when Mr. Bale puts on the stiff rubber suit his acting becomes stiffer. Great comic book movie, yes. Great movie, no.