First things first, this article isnt out to say that Chris Nolan wasnt right for Batman. Of course he was. He took Batman to somewhere new for superheroes in cinema. He made the world of superheroes more serious, more credible and pulled in a much wider audience than just teenagers and comic book guys. He made a man dressed as a clown win an Oscar and he made the Batman franchise feel like the antidote to the endless origin stories and city in peril plots that come out of the superhero genre every summer but hes leaving the franchise now and we have to accept that. I have no doubt in my mind that Christopher Nolan will continue to deliver great movies but maybe the fact him leaving Batman on a high (well at least were all hoping so with Dark Knight Rises anyway) is a good thing for the franchise and of course with Batman movies, theres always room for improvement. The following points highlight elements to be happy about post-Nolan Batman.
1. Hes Enabled Other Directors To Break The Mold
Christopher Nolan set a new standard in comic book movies and everyone followed. The Amazing Spider-Man looks desperate to be "Spider-Man Begins". The Dark Knight made serious bank at the cinema, so all the other studios bettered their games and stopped mucking about with stuff like silly Fantastic Four movies and went down the build up to Avengers routes and making the X-Men more X-Men-y. Nolan changed the landscape and in turn should prevent the next director being someone wholl deliver a Batman Forever or a Batman and Robin and take us back three steps. Now whether Warner Bros. will reboot, use the eight years between The Dark Knight and The Dark Knight Rises as the playground or have something different to pull post-The Dark Knight Rises is up for debate but whoever comes along should be given the chance to bring their own thing to the table. No more of this dictated story stuff from the studios. Nolan proved that a good director, given the chance to create something special works and in turn made Batman the comic book character any director wanting to tackle comic book heroes wants a piece of. Nolan leaving Batman, leaves the franchise at a high and whoever follows should be aiming to continue that with the studio aiming to do the very same thing. Click "next' below to read the next entry...