Why The 8 Biggest Criticisms Of Christopher Nolan Are Wrong
4. He Cant Frame Action
The Criticism: This is particularly aimed at The Dark Knight Trilogy, although the criticism has spilled over into discussions of his other films. He may be behind some of the most successful action movies of all time, but when actually directing action Nolan leaves some glaring holes behind him; the spatial awareness of fight scenes seems to fluctuate as they unfold, while the high numbers of extras means there's some more than questionable choreography. The Defence: There's no denying that the editing hides some curious issues (in The Dark Knight's truck sequence things fly in directions that make no logical sense) and the backgrounds of shots features some clear stage fighting, but the fact that for the most part this doesn't get picked up on by general audiences shows how these micro-issues have little impact on the overall effect. Action is all about creating the feel of the fight. That's why the fast-cutting shaky-cam style from the Bourne movies has become so prevalent and also why the logical inconsistencies within Nolan's individual fight sequences aren't movie-destroying issues. He may be going for a generally wider scope to his action, framing things like traditional Hollywood epics rather than modern spy movies, but the idea is the same.
