The Dark Knight Rises: 20 Blunders in Chris Nolan’s Trilogy

There are a lot of reasons to dislike Nolan's Bat-franchise. Here are just 20 of 'em.

By Stuart W. Bedford /

Haterz be hating. Such a lazy way to brush off criticism. I wanted to love Christopher Nolan€™s Batman franchise, I really did. And after Batman Begins, I thought I was going to. But as each film thereafter was released, I felt myself feeling more and more alienated. Let me just explain my stance a little more. Growing up, I didn€™t always have a clear role model. I€™m not going to launch into a blow-by-blow account of my upbringing, but it wasn€™t always roses; sometimes it wasn€™t clear exactly who I could and should look up to. Then I found Batman. Batman never changed his mind; he never let me down. If I opened a book, or flipped onto the Animated series, he was there, a symbol of what I could achieve if I dedicated myself to it. He was Batman and I could always count on him to give me something to aspire to. Of course I never knew that back then, I just knew that he was beyond awesome and I wanted to know everything I could about him. I€™ve always had a love/hate relationship with comic book movies, and with Batman adaptations in particular. On the one hand, the very fact that they exist at all validates how important he is to me €“ that someone is willing to invest that much money, time and effort into bringing the character to the greater masses. And for that I salute every single movie (even Batman and Robin believe it or not). I€™m not suggesting for a second that The Dark Knight franchise was awful. I didn€™t hate it and it€™s far from the worst set of Batman movies I€™ve sat down to watch. It was entertaining. But that€™s it. And when I read Batman comics, I€™m more than entertained. I€™m inspired; I€™m motivated to push myself, to help others even if it means inconveniencing myself. I want to be a better man. I want to be more like Batman. So without further rampant fanboyism from yours truly, allow me to discuss with you 20 of the reasons I just can€™t back Nolan as the definitive Batman director.