15 Most Underrated Movies Of The Decade (So Far)

2. The Dark Knight Rises

There was no way that The Dark Knight Rises could have topped The Dark Knight. Heath Ledger's Joker had already ascended to the level of myth and the genius twist on the superhero movie - that these weren't just realistic adaptations of the comic books, but regular dramas that just happened to feature some characters wearing masks - was no longer ground-breaking; no matter what came next, The Dark Knight Trilogy had undoubtably peaked.

That didn't stop everyone getting swept up in the pre-release hype and expecting it to be the third coming of Batman, making a backlash all but inevitable. Although even the biggest cynic wouldn't have expected things to go quite the way they have. Now, almost two years on, the film is regarded in fan circles as a series low; an incoherent mess made by a director working on a studio mandate.

OK, let's get this straight here and now. The Dark Knight Rises isn't as good as The Dark Knight - that's pretty undebatable - but it really doesn't fall too far from it. Everything that worked in the first sequel works here, and there's an escalation to the realism that befits the entire series' ethos.

Frankly, that it's undeserving of the hate should be obvious from the pettiness of so many of the arguments around the film. The Dark Knight Rises does have its fair share of legitimate problems, for sure, but most of the common complaints or "plot holes" are unique to most blockbusters; apply the same level of anal thinking people do to this film to The Avengers and it'll be revealed as equally flawed.