Ranking Every Christopher Nolan Film From Worst To Best

The Dark Knight Rises is easily Christopher Nolan's weakest Batman film, but that still makes it head and shoulders above most of the hero's screen outings.

Christian Bale's Bat swansong does a lot of things right - Wally Pfister's immense cinematography gives it visual punch and we get a real sense of the broken Bruce Wayne's helplessness when he's forced to watch Gotham obliterated from afar.

But there are niggling issues even the most avoid Bat fans struggle to ignore, like the way Bane's mask saps every ounce of charisma from the character, whose motivation is never really fleshed out.

The occupation of Gotham City also feels half-baked after a strong first act. It's difficult to buy the notion of a maniac with a bomb holding an entire city hostage for all those months, and the speed of Batman's recovery requires a leap of faith.

Fortunately, Rises redeems itself at the death by reinforcing the concept of Batman as a symbol, but it was always going to feel like an anti-climax after Health Ledger's outstanding performance in the Dark Knight.