10 Things Christopher Nolan Got Wrong About Batman
Almost the hero Gotham deserves.
Christopher Nolan's seminal superhero masterpiece The Dark Knight is almost 10 years old, and if that fact doesn't prove to you that time goes nowhere, nothing will. Much has changed in the comic book movie space since the late Heath Ledger put a smile on our faces, but Nolan's second Batman offering has stood the test of time.
Together with Batman Begins and The Dark Knight Rises, the visionary filmmaker's 2008 offering delivered what some consider to be the definitive take on the Caped Crusader. The trilogy is dark, gritty and grounded, and it single-handedly rebuilt the DC hero's reputation in Hollywood after the Joel Schumacher era left it in tatters.
Nolan got so much right about the character, yet even his biggest fans admit that the three films when viewed as a whole are imperfect. Rises is arguably the weakest of the trio but there are aspects of the other two which could have been improved.
There have been many different takes on Batman across multiple mediums over the years, and while it's certainly true that you can't please everyone, there are key elements of Gotham City's guardian that Nolan got plain wrong.
10. The Lack Of Detective Work
Christopher Nolan depicted Batman as a dark vigilante, a watchful protector lurking in the shadows and a symbol that the everyday people of Gotham City could get behind, but there's an important part of the character's legacy he overlooked.
Traditionally, Bats is hailed as the world's greatest detective and is often seen using his sharp investigative skills to solve crimes with Sherlock Holmes-esque brilliance, or unravelling the Riddler's most taxing conundrums when others have failed.
This aspect of Batman was barely explored in the Dark Knight trilogy. Granted, the Caped Crusader carries out ballistics tests in the second instalment, but other than that, he relies on brute strength and gadgets to defeat Gotham's criminal element.
To make matters worse, Nolan's Batman hardly passes for a detective at all. Both Ra’s and Talia al Ghul were able to dupe him until they saw fit to reveal their true identities, and Bane proved a more capable investigator by working out the hero's secret identity.