Christopher Nolan is an overrated director
Posted: Fri Apr 05, 2013 12:27 pmIn Nolan We Trust.
Hmmm. I'm not one to say he's a terrible director, far from it, but am I the only one that finds the universal geekdom circle jerk over his work a little galling? Granted, some of his work is very good but a lot of it is massively flawed too. Let's have a look at his films...
Memento: There's not much I can really say against this film as it is a fantastic body of work that put Nolan on the map, and deservedly so. The only thing I would say is it's probably too good a start and has thus made it hard for him to follow it up to the level that many would have hoped.
Insomnia: I found this film to be pretty poor in all honesty. It felt like a made for TV film, and with actors of the calibre of Al Pacino and Robin Williams you would expect a movie that leaves you with a real sense of belief and bit more of a lasting effect than this. I haven't seen the original Norwegian version but I would guess that it is a more tangible end product, as is usually the case with foreign films that are remade by Hollywood.
Batman Begins: I like this film, I really do, but I still wouldn't say that it is the definitive way to make a Batman film, even though it is the best of the trilogy imo. Yes, Nolan made it believable and managed to draw together a stellar cast, barring Katie Holmes (which is an obvious downside) but he still didn't nail the essence of Batman for me. A film halfway between this and Burton's original Batman with some additional actual detective work would be on point for me. Oh, and the Sarecrow was criminally under used, and I don't feel Cillian Murphy was a good choice for the role, but that's just... like... my opinion, yeah? I would have loved to have seen Aronofsky's take on Year One.
The Prestige: I would say this is up there with Memento as one of Nolan's best works. Many people complain about the clone aspect of the film but when it's an integral part of the original book then I can't see how he could have avoided it. Yep. There's nothing I can say against this film. David Bowie as Tesla is an inspired piece of casting too.
The Dark Knight: Ok here's where I think things start to go a tad awry. Of course Heath Ledger's performance goes down as one of the greats of the silver screen, but on repeated viewing I think the whole film loses it's magic having viewed it a few times. I seriously believe that Ledger's performance carries the whole film and without it we'd be looking at quite a drab and uninspiring movie which undoubtedly drags on far too long than it should. The showdown with the Joker pales in comparison to Burton's Batman too. I won't lie and say I wasn't in awe when I first saw it, but upon reflection I really don't believe it deserves the mantle of "Best Superhero Movie Evar" that many entitle it with as it doesn't have the endless watchability that a film with that title would have.
Inception: This is a film to make thick people feel clever. It's really not hard to understand. For a mega-budget blockbuster based on dreams it also doesn't have the aesthetic wonderment one would imagine. I watched it at the cinema, thought "it's ok", watched it at home - fell asleep. See my sig for a more definitive review of this film.
The Dark Knight Rises: I won't go into all the plotholes because they've been done to death but Bane's downfall was criminal and I really disliked the way he was made to be Talia's lapdog. The one true great scene in this film is the Batman vs Bane fight midway through, but other than that it's not really that memorable and like the Batman film that preceded it, suffers from repeated viewings. Oh and Talia's death scene made me do a lol.
Anyway, I'd love to go into further detail with each but I'm using my phone to type this (laptop has carked it) and it's a pain in the arse, so apologies for any misspellings or fucked up word replacements. Anyone agree or disagree?
Hmmm. I'm not one to say he's a terrible director, far from it, but am I the only one that finds the universal geekdom circle jerk over his work a little galling? Granted, some of his work is very good but a lot of it is massively flawed too. Let's have a look at his films...
Memento: There's not much I can really say against this film as it is a fantastic body of work that put Nolan on the map, and deservedly so. The only thing I would say is it's probably too good a start and has thus made it hard for him to follow it up to the level that many would have hoped.
Insomnia: I found this film to be pretty poor in all honesty. It felt like a made for TV film, and with actors of the calibre of Al Pacino and Robin Williams you would expect a movie that leaves you with a real sense of belief and bit more of a lasting effect than this. I haven't seen the original Norwegian version but I would guess that it is a more tangible end product, as is usually the case with foreign films that are remade by Hollywood.
Batman Begins: I like this film, I really do, but I still wouldn't say that it is the definitive way to make a Batman film, even though it is the best of the trilogy imo. Yes, Nolan made it believable and managed to draw together a stellar cast, barring Katie Holmes (which is an obvious downside) but he still didn't nail the essence of Batman for me. A film halfway between this and Burton's original Batman with some additional actual detective work would be on point for me. Oh, and the Sarecrow was criminally under used, and I don't feel Cillian Murphy was a good choice for the role, but that's just... like... my opinion, yeah? I would have loved to have seen Aronofsky's take on Year One.
The Prestige: I would say this is up there with Memento as one of Nolan's best works. Many people complain about the clone aspect of the film but when it's an integral part of the original book then I can't see how he could have avoided it. Yep. There's nothing I can say against this film. David Bowie as Tesla is an inspired piece of casting too.
The Dark Knight: Ok here's where I think things start to go a tad awry. Of course Heath Ledger's performance goes down as one of the greats of the silver screen, but on repeated viewing I think the whole film loses it's magic having viewed it a few times. I seriously believe that Ledger's performance carries the whole film and without it we'd be looking at quite a drab and uninspiring movie which undoubtedly drags on far too long than it should. The showdown with the Joker pales in comparison to Burton's Batman too. I won't lie and say I wasn't in awe when I first saw it, but upon reflection I really don't believe it deserves the mantle of "Best Superhero Movie Evar" that many entitle it with as it doesn't have the endless watchability that a film with that title would have.
Inception: This is a film to make thick people feel clever. It's really not hard to understand. For a mega-budget blockbuster based on dreams it also doesn't have the aesthetic wonderment one would imagine. I watched it at the cinema, thought "it's ok", watched it at home - fell asleep. See my sig for a more definitive review of this film.
The Dark Knight Rises: I won't go into all the plotholes because they've been done to death but Bane's downfall was criminal and I really disliked the way he was made to be Talia's lapdog. The one true great scene in this film is the Batman vs Bane fight midway through, but other than that it's not really that memorable and like the Batman film that preceded it, suffers from repeated viewings. Oh and Talia's death scene made me do a lol.
Anyway, I'd love to go into further detail with each but I'm using my phone to type this (laptop has carked it) and it's a pain in the arse, so apologies for any misspellings or fucked up word replacements. Anyone agree or disagree?
