3. The Dark Knight (2008)
Fan-boys the world over salivated when Batman Begins was released in 2005. The most popular comic book character in history was in a film packed with great actors and directed by Christopher Nolan. It swiftly and utterly erased the memories of Batman's previous two outings, gone was the Bat credit card and close ups of backsides, in came 'gritty' and 'realism'. When the Dark Knight was released, it redefined what a comic book film could be. It wasn't just life-like; it became real and thrillingly visceral wrapped up in a technically brilliant production. Every actor brought their A game with special mention to Bale and Aaron Eckhart but the film, of course, belongs to Heath Ledger. From the very first moment we see him in full joker get-up performing a magic trick he achieved the impossible. He made everyone instantly forget Jack Nicholson had ever played the Joker. After the success of the Dark Knight, the salivation of expectation turned into a full-on tsunami of drool for the finale of Nolan's trilogy. Predictably, it failed to live up to the expectation but the Dark Knight Rises is by no means a failure. It manages to do what many trilogies don't; provide a fitting and satisfying conclusion to a trilogy considered one of the best of any genre.
Trilogy Low Point: Difficult choice but with Batman Begins launching the whole trilogy we have to go with The Dark Knight Rises. Yes, it was in exceptional in places but it was also slightly bloated and turned Tom Hardys lethal Bane into a glorified Hench man in the last act.
Did you Know?... Bruce Wayne drives a Lamborghini Murcielago in one scene. Why? Because Murcielago means Bat in Spanishand, you know, because it looks really cool.