Christopher Nolan is a man of many talents. He has written and directed some of the finest achievements in cinema in the past decade. With the Dark Knight Rises currently burning up the box office and sending fans into split opinions, I figured that I would take some time to look at what it is exactly about Nolan that captivates me to enjoy his work. In order to do this, I have decided to try and rank all of his efforts from best to worst.
I will admit that I am of two minds of Nolan's efforts. I really enjoy his early efforts like Memento and Insomnia. I felt that he provided well established capers in a quest to challenge how we understand mental processing. However, he has also made some of the more intriguing superhero films with the Dark Knight trilogy that features a high caliber cast and an equally competent production. He makes big action movies look smart, even if they are somehow a little flawed. While I enjoy these elements, I sometimes wish for the man to return to his indie roots, if just for one film, to remind me that he isn't just all flair.
With that said, he does have one of the more impressing resumes of modern directors. They are confident and have a style. Very few other movies can be mistaken for his. There are elements that have even become cliche, like Hans Zimmer scores and confusing plot lines. This may be detracting from praise for some, but having such a realized and competent vision is impressive.
Here is how I would rank his movies in order from best to worst:
Inception
While the more favorable choice in his catalog is the Dark Knight, I find myself perplexed and thoroughly entertained by Inception a little bit more. It may be a little hazy on a competent through line, but it does feature Nolan at his most ambitious, with a narrative that takes us into uncharted territory deep inside people's minds. It may now have been done to death by parody and countless ridiculous analysis, but it still is a fun watch and hard to really compare with any other modern film. Few directors could competently make these many twists work so perfectly.
Memento
Another thing that I miss about Nolan is his edge. While he manages to keep a story strung together nicely nowadays, you rarely get the grittiness that comes with his earlier work. He broke out onto the scene with Memento, and he hasn't left since. If anything, this movie showed a director that could have been promising, budget or none. The choice to reverse the story manages to blindside the audience and makes for an interesting analysis of solving a murder. Also, the tattoos of clues has become so iconic. This is just great storytelling and it is a shame that he hasn't made too many ambitious narratives on par with this.
The Dark Knight
This is easily his most beloved, and it is easy to see why. The Oscar-winning performance by Heath Ledger is enough to create menace out of bad jokes and amp up the stakes in the more bizarre action sequences. It questions morals and places some of the more interesting obstacles in a superhero film to date. This isn't really a film about saving a city so much as it is a human study of a man trying to do what's right as his world collapses around him. While Christian Bale's performance is easily overshadowed, he proves himself to be one of the better actors to don the Batman outfit. This is when Batman became transcendent of comic books, critics, and general audiences. He was now one of the most respected properties in cinema.
Insomnia
I have this theory that Robin Williams is a better dramatic actor than comedic actor. If you need proof, check out his recent string of comedies. Then, check out his dramatic roles and you'll see what I mean. Many of them possess humorous moments, but he has an energy to him that makes it work. He feels balanced. Insomnia isn't very different in that regards. In fact, alongside Al Pacino, this caper set in Alaska is one of the more underrated gems of Nolan's catalog. It is also one of his best, and made me wish he had stuck a little closer to character stories. He hasn't abandoned his roots, but enhanced them with explosions. There's pros and cons to both sides, though I would love to see no budget Nolan back, if for one more film.
The Dark Knight Rises
His latest film brings to an end the journey of Batman, featuring a showdown with Bane. It may be at times too jam packed with moments, ideals, and characters, but it works in relation to the other two films. Almost everything is conveniently wrapped up despite many plot holes. It is easy to dissect this movie's flaws, but easier to enjoy the spectacle element as Tom Hardy manages to provide a character that controls the screen almost as much as Heath Ledger did in the previous film. This is a loud, aggressive film that at times feels tiring, but manages to satisfy those looking for a good action flick. With an impressive supporting cast that includes Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Anne Hathaway, this may not be the strongest in the series, nor the most coherent, but it is still a great thrill ride.
Batman Begins
This is where the phenomena all started. While Memento established him as a promising new talent, this was the beginning to what would become Nolan's calling card. He took a property that was once ridiculed with terrible movies and turned it into a dark, intriguing new origin story that paved the way for all future superhero origin stories. It features one of the more solid hours in the trilogy, but shows cracks when Batman takes to the streets. He still has some great moments, but the Blade Runner scenery meets a Chinatown-esque plot just felt like an indie director with more ambition than money. It is definitely worth it, if for a promising performance from Christian Bale and an equally loony turn by Cillian Murphy. This would be higher, but the second half is just maybe a little too ridiculous in fitting tonally with the first half and the rest of the series.
The Prestige
This is not to say that this film between Batman Begins and the Dark Knight was necessarily a bad film, but in comparison to everything else, it lacks the muster. It shows Nolan continuing to find his voice, and even explores the ideas of a twist ending. There are plenty of solid moments, and the results continue to show his ability to throw together a solid story. This is a film that I may be underrating because I don't remember it too well and have only seen it once. Maybe this is all a trick and maybe I am being fooled into thinking it is bad when it isn't. Bravo, Mr. Nolan.
Following
Another film that could benefit from rewatching. Nolan's debut definitely shows him to be an ambitious storyteller, especially on a very low budget. This movie doesn't have any big names or set pieces, though it does manage to feature an intriguing story about what stalking can lead to. Like Darren Aronofsky's Pi, this is more of a necessary viewing for those that want to see how far a director has come since their first film. It is also a way to see just how ambitious Nolan has been all along.
And that is my order for the films. What do you think? Am I wrong for rating the Prestige so low? Is Inception not really that good of a film, even though the pointlessly complicated factors make it more rivetting? Is Nolan overrated? Feel free to write me and let's get a dialogue going. Overall, Nolan is a director whose work I like, though not really admire on a level like David Fincher or Martin Scorsese. This could be that I generally favor his earlier efforts, which were more about characters. However, he is like Steven Spielberg in that his ability to turn spectacle into artistic commerce is just impressive and is why I will continue to flock to his movies when they come out.
Check out more of my work at www.nevpodcast.com where I post every Wednesday and have a podcast called Nerd's Eye View.
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