The Christopher Nolan Retrospective Part 6: The Dark Knight Trilogy

The Christopher Nolan Retrospective continues! Last time, we delved into the many dream-layers of Inception to see how it provides insight into the director's mind itself. Today, in the final installment of the Christopher Nolan Retrospective, we take a look the trilogy that made Nolan an icon to thousands of movie fans: His Dark Knight Trilogy.

As always, I'm going to mention that there will be major spoilers in this discussion, except for The Dark Knight Rises since I know that not everybody has had a chance to see it yet. I will definitely be going into some plot details in The Dark Knight Rises that aren't necessarily spoilers, but I know that plenty of people have been trying to know as little about the film as possible so that they can have a clean experience with it, so be advised on that regard. If you haven't seen the other two movies (But seriously, who hasn't?) they're available wherever DVDs are sold or rentable.

With that being said, let's glide across Gothan to analyze Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight Trilogy...

The Dark Knight Rises Movie Review

[The Dark Knight Rises
Written & Directed by Christopher Nolan
Starring: Christian Bale, Anne Hathaway, and Tom Hardy
MPAA: PG-13 - For Intense Sequences of Violence and Action, Some Sensuality, And Language]

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[The following review is free of major spoilers, but I still discuss a few plot-points and details that can be considered spoilers to some, so if you still want to know absolutely nothing about the film then I'd still suggest not reading this review until after viewing the film.]

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[Also, this review was written before hearing of the news of the tragic Colorado shooting at a midnight screening in Century Theaters. The review is left unedited, but still worth noting that certain things have changed for some people's viewing habits because of the horrific incident. Please keep in mind that it shouldn't stop anyone from seeing the film. My thoughts go to the families and friends of the victims, and anyone else who was affected by the incident.]

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The Christopher Nolan Retrospective Part 5: Inception

The Christopher Nolan Retrospective continues! Last time, we examined how The Prestige was the key to understanding the films of Christopher Nolan. Today, we're skipping The Dark Knight to look at what many consider to be Christopher Nolan's magnum opus: Inception.

As always, I'm going to point out that the Batman films are being saved for a special Batman trilogy installment at the end of the retrospective; which, coincidentally, is going to be the next one. This will coincide with my review of The Dark Knight Rises, so that we get to look at the ways the three films work together as a trilogy. Another thing to point out is that there will be major spoilers in the following discussion, so if you haven't seen Inception (Which isn't really likely) then you can rent it anywhere discs can be rented, or even buy it anywhere on DVD or blu-ray.

If you would like to read the other installments of this retrospective, click on the following links for Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4.

With that being said, let's dive right into the many different dream layers of Inception...

The Christopher Nolan Retrospective Part 4: The Prestige

The Christopher Nolan Retrospective continues! Last time, we analyzed what made Insomnia so very different from the rest of the Nolan filmography. Today, however, we skip Batman Begins (Saving it for a later installment) and move straight on to the exact opposite of Insomnia in what many people argue to be the Nolan-iest film in the Nolan catalogue: The Prestige.

As always, I'm going to point out that I'm skipping the Batman movies and saving them for a special Dark Knight Trilogy installment to close this series off with, which will coincide with my The Dark Knight Rises review; and I'm also going to warn you that this will contain some major spoilers. So if you haven't seen The Prestige yet, I'm sad to report that it's not on Netflix Instant, but you could still rent the disc wherever discs are available.

If you would like to read the other installments of this retrospective, click on the following links for Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3.

With that being said, let's dive right into The Prestige...

The Christopher Nolan Retrospective Part 3: Insomnia

The Christopher Nolan Retrospective continues! Last time, we examined the film that put Christopher Nolan on the map: Memento. Today, we look at his anticipated follow-up Insomnia and see how this one out of all of them seems to differ the most from the rest of Nolan's filmography.

Just as before, I have to mention that I will be skipping the Batman films for now and save them for a Dark Knight trilogy special (Which will include The Dark Knight Rises) at the end of the retrospective. Also worthy of note, this article will feature major spoilers of the film being discussed. Thankfully, Insomnia is on Netflix Watch Instantly at this very moment so if you'd like to catch up with this marathon, you can watch along.

And if you're just tuning in, you can read Part 1 on Following and Part 2 on Memento.

With that being said, it's time to see Christopher Nolan's first foray into Hollywood filmmaking...

The Christopher Nolan Retrospective Part 2: Memento

The Christopher Nolan Retrospective continues! Last time, we delved into the twisty potential in Nolan's debut feature Following and how it contains the themes that would eventually become benchmarks in all his work. Now, we move on to one of Nolan's most lauded films, said by many to be his masterpiece, Memento.

Before we begin, a few notes: Again, I'm going to be skipping the Batman movies for now and I'll be saving them for a special Dark Knight Trilogy special at the end of this retrospective that also ties into The Dark Knight Rises, so we'll get to those much later.

Secondly, I did my best to avoid spoilers in my analysis of Following but it's pretty much impossible to really delve into the themes and structure of Memento without getting into incredibly major spoilers. So if you, for some reason, haven't seen Memento yet and you're just delving into this marathon, do yourself a favor and see it before reading this.

With that being said, let's dive right into The Christopher Nolan Retrospective Part 2: Memento.

The Amazing Spider-Man Movie Review

[The Amazing Spider-Man

Directed by Marc Webb
Starring: Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, and Rhys Ifans
MPAA: PG-13 - For Sequences of Action and Violence]

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The Christopher Nolan Retrospective Part 1 - Following

The Dark Knight Rises is coming in just about two weeks, and like everyone else on the internet, I'm getting more excited the closer it gets. Like it or not, Christopher Nolan's Batman films are one of the defining pictures of the superhero genre and having their grand finale is kind of a big deal. It's especially a big deal for Christopher Nolan himself, who has become one of the most influential and important filmmakers of our generation. The way he's able to get mainstream audiences into seeing some very dark, mature, and intellectual material in an age of whiz-bang pacing and fireworks is a testament to his propulsive pacing and imaginative storytelling.

Christopher Nolan pretty much has every director's dream trajectory: He started out with two very small independent films, got noticed, slowly got bigger and bigger actors and projects, built his reputation, and before you know it BAM, he's become one of the most lucrative auteurs in the business. It's fascinating to see such an evolution from his small thrillers to his epic blockbusters, and it's especially interesting to see all the themes that connect all of his work.

So interesting, in fact, that I've decided look back at that trajectory from the very beginning and go film by film viewing the evolution of Christopher Nolan. Starting today is my Christopher Nolan retrospective, where we analyze that evolution and see how his stamp starts to form over the course of his career, starting from his first indie films all the way up to my review of The Dark Knight Rises when it releases.

But do take note that I won't be doing the Batman films until after The Dark Knight Rises, mainly because it will be more interesting to compare those two films with the conclusion that they ultimately build up to. However, expect me to talk about the rest of your favorites, including Memento, The Prestige, Inception, etc.

Without further ado, our marathon starts with Nolan's debut, the black-and-white noir thriller Following.