The Good, The Bad & The Badass: Christopher Nolan

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

Last week, we took a look at the career of legendary director Alfred Hitchcock, the "master of suspense." This week's director is another maestro on the verge of opening his most ambitious film to date.

There's a danger when a director gets on a hot streak. With success comes the ability to pick and choose whatever kind of films they want to do. For some, like say M. Night Shyamalan, too much early success was the worst thing that could have happened to him as hubris seemingly blinded him to the kind of movie audiences wanted to see. But then, there are directors like Christopher Nolan, who started off with an indie – MEMENTO – would could have easily been a one-off with it relying so much on a gimmick (the reverse chronology) but everywhere Nolan's taken us since then has been a trip audiences were more than willing to go on. A dueling magicians movie (THE PRESTIGE)? Sure! A dark, epic reboot of Batman (before such a thing was in vogue)? Hell yes! A surreal, sci-fi thriller that takes place almost entirely in dreams (INCEPTION)? Natch! Nolan's made some big swings, but all of them have paid off.

This week, Nolan's putting out what's likely his most ambitious film to date – INTERSTELLAR – a sci-fi epic that seems to owe more to Stanley Kubrick than any other big-budget director would dare. Will it pay off? Hopefully yes, but even if it winds up being divisive, that's not such a bad thing (after all – 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY got mixed reviews when it came out). Whatever it winds up being, Nolan's clearly made exactly the film he wanted to make, and it can't be denied he's a director at the very height of his prowess.

I'm tempted to go with INCEPTION considering how daring it is (it plays out like a James Bond movie as directed by Stanley Kubrick and features arguably Hans Zimmer's best-ever score), but I give the edge to THE DARK KNIGHT. As much as I love BATMAN BEGINS, for me THE DARK KNIGHT is still the greatest superhero movie ever made. People often say superhero movies are like this generation's westerns, and if this is true THE DARK KNIGHT is like Nolan's THE GOOD, THE BAD & THE UGLY. It absolutely changed everything we thought a superhero movie was capable of, being action-packed, epic and also one that got a lot of critical respectability as well (its failure to get an Oscar nomination for best picture is rumored to have been the catalyst for the number of nominees being upped to ten the next year). And of course, one also can't forget the iconic performance by the late Heath Ledger. While he sadly passed away shortly after filming wrapped, it was such a phenomenon that Ledger will always be remembered.

Following the one-two punch of THE DARK KNIGHT & INCEPTION, the fact that THE DARK KNIGHT RISES wasn't quite as good as those movies resulted in it getting a huge backlash which hasn't really diminished over the last few years. While yes, it's not perfect, the fact is it's still one hell of a strong wrap-up to Nolan's Batman saga, and beautifully photographed largely in IMAX 65MM (seemingly Nolan's preferred format, being a dedicated celluloid guy). I've always been a fan of this movie and I think over time people will come around to it.

I'm such a Christopher Nolan fanboy it's tough for me to ever call any of his movies overrated. If there's one, it's probably INSOMNIA. But wait, isn't this a good movie? Yes, it is and Robin Williams gave one of his all-time best performances as the bad guy, but the fact is it's a remake and a close one at that to a far superior Norwegian film (with Stellan Skarsgard in the Al Pacino part). In some ways this felt like just a way for Nolan to practice making larger-scaled movies on a Hollywood budget. In that way, there would probably be no BATMAN BEGINS if it wasn't for INSOMNIA.

I remember how everyone was sure Heath Ledger was a disastrous choice to play The Joker, with many predicting THE DARK KNIGHT would be a flop. People changed their minds big-time when Nolan, in a really smart move, released the opening bank robbery sequence from the film to IMAX theaters six months before it opened, giving us our first glimpse of Ledger in the part. It's a set-piece that has since become a classic.

5. THE PRESTIGE
4. MEMENTO
3. BATMAN BEGINS
2. INCEPTION
1. THE DARK KNIGHT

Obviously I can't wait to see INTERSTELLAR, and hopefully it'll be another raving success for Nolan as he's one of the few tentpole directors that tries to do more with his movies than impress with eye candy. He seems to have a real gift for making large-scale movies with the stamp of an auteur. I hope he gets to keep making them.