Christopher Nolan

A pretty neato new director.

Following (1998) -- In many ways better than Nolan's breakthrough movie Memento. A pretty interesting story. B

Memento (2000) -- Yeah, it's told backwards, but luckily the movie is good beyond this narrative trick. B

Insomnia (2002) -- At first it looks as if Christopher Nolan has given up his interesting styles for a pretty straightforward movie, and in a way it is, but it actually becomes a pretty good straightforward movie. B

Batman Begins (2005) -- One of the most interesting things about this movie is that, for the first half of the movie or so, it doesn't feel like Batman at all. It's not until he gets his Batgear, puts on his suit, and starts zooming around in his Batmobile that we're reminded that this is based on a comic book about a superhero--and, for me, the movie begins suffering at that point. The first half of the movie was an extremely realistic (even with the unbelievable ninja stuff) character movie about revenge and brooding. It's so different from the Burton and Schumacher versions: not too much humor, no Danny Elfman hero theme, no camp, not even too much stylization. It doesn't fit with the series at all, and that's a good thing. It's a fresh start after the we've-hit-rock-bottom Batman and Robin. The worst bits of this movie is when those old dumb things interject themselves for no reason, like Gordon seeing the Batmobile and saying, "I gotta get me one of those!" Christian Bale is probably the best Bruce Wayne / Batman yet (Michael Keaton's was still good), Michael Caine is in full Alphie mode as Alfred, Liam Neeson does a good job, and Gary Oldman did such a good job as Gordon that I didn't even know it was Gary Oldman (that happens to me a lot with Gary Oldman roles). Katie Holmes was her usual smirky stupid self, and Morgan Freeman played himself (not necessarily in a good way), but they didn't get in the way too much. Like every Batman movie so far, this one is flawed, but it's the one you can be most proud of. (See Joel Schumacher for the predecessor, Batman and Robin.) B