15 Incredible Blockbusters That Ruled The Last 5 Years

9. The Dark Knight Rises

A massive superhero epic with ambition matched by few other films, The Dark Knight Rises didn't quite meet its outsized expectations upon its release. Fortunately, movies are not divided solely into masterpieces and failures, so we can enjoy a film like this simply on its own merits. The Dark Knight Rises is a staggering work of old-fashioned action filmmaking, having an almost utter lack of CGI and featuring a broken down hero who must learn to summon up the energy and abilities needed to survive. Facing him is a classic movie villain in Tom Hardy's Bane, one of the film's triumphs who dominates the screen whenever he appears. Many of the films best sequences revolve around Bane and he remains the films most underrated aspect. Nolan's final foray into the Batman universe is not perfect however, and it is probably the most flawed great blockbuster of the decade, plot holes run rampant, characters have inconsistent motivations, scenes that begin in daylight turn to night minutes later, and the climax turns into a derivative race against the clock scenario seen in countless lesser films. Although The Dark Knight Rises feels almost like a rough draft to an all-time great movie, its flaws are largely overshadowed by its impeccable technical attributes, a feeling of size and importance modern blockbusters rarely conjure, and impeccable performances from its cast. It remains an impressive piece of filmmaking, even if it wasn't quite the movie we hoped for.