The Movies: Batman Begins (2005), The Dark Knight (2008), The Dark Knight Rises (2012) Well, who else was it going to be? Christopher Nolan's name has since become synonymous with that likes of Batman, but the British director started out his career about as far away from comic book adaptations as possible, crafting tight, moody thrillers such as Following, Memento, and Insomnia, before Warner Bros. plucked him up and put him in charge of making the Caped Crusader cool again. Mission successful. Single-handily, Batman Begins breathed new life into an ailing popular cultural icon, and brought the character back into the mainstream. Nolan's approach - to ground Batman in a more realistic world - changed the way that comic book movies were made from then on in, and with his magnus opus, the brilliant, gritty, Michael Mann-like The Dark Knight, showed movie-goers that it was possible to blend comic book aesthetics with a lifelike grittiness. Nolan's skills as a blockbuster technician are near unparalleled - even if he didn't manage to cap off the saga with a great film in The Dark Knight Rises, the man still deserves maximum credit for all his bold and innovative work in the subgenre. Like this list? Agree or disagree with our picks? Anyone we should have included but didn't make the cut? Let us know in the comments section below.
Sam Hill is an ardent cinephile and has been writing about film professionally since 2008. He harbours a particular fondness for western and sci-fi movies.
