#11. Tenet
In a film that's sole purpose seems to be mind fucking it's audience, Tenet feels as if Nolan is actually the one who's in over his head most. The confounding narrative structure paired with an overly dramatic synth score and over the top performance from Kenneth Branagh feel like a desperate attempt in overcompensating for the film's lack of excitement and surprisingly flat action sequences. Instead, you're left with a loud, jumbled mess which even when pieced together; doesn't quite make up for how taxing taking it all in can be. The construct is so dense that it collapses in on itself. Nolan is simply trying to imitate his former self here and if this film were released by an anonymous writer/director, it'd be getting dragged as a b-level Inception wannabee. Tenet is to Inception what Swordfish is to the Matrix. A hollow exercise in logistical gymnastics posing as something much deeper than it actually is, hoping the audience will power through for a pay off that never comes based on a trust earned from previous accomplishments.
#10. Dunkirk
There's plenty to like about Nolan's World War II tale of survival but after the brazen ambition displayed with Interstellar, I couldn't help but feel like this was a bit of a conceptual retreat for the prolific director. Just playing it a bit safe. And it's one of the only films on his resume that doesn't do much to reach outside of the 4th wall and make you feel like you're experiencing a film rather than just watching it. As far as war films go, it doesn't really do anything that we haven't already seen before, outside of providing a British perspective to World War II. The overarching theme of Dunkirk is merely survival, when the rest of Nolan's work invites you to explore the unknown and dares you to dream a little larger.
#9. Memento
With the complexity of concepts explored in his films, one of the biggest pitfalls they tend to suffer from is that it takes a considerable amount of exposition to lay out the cerebral road map for the journey ahead. Which tends to hinder repeat viewings fairly significantly. And none of his films suffer more from this than his breakout feature, Memento. A clever noire thriller told in reverse narrative from an amnesia riddled narrator, Memento delivers a fairly simplistic mystery in Nolan's trademark immersive atmosphere that puts you uniquely in the mindset of it's unorthodox protagonist. But once you know how this puzzle gets put back together, it's not incredibly entertaining to revisit.
#8. Insomnia
Much like Memento before it, Insomnia takes a fairly by the books police procedural and enhances it with a dense and dizzying atmosphere that envelopes you in the narrative as it unfolds. Despite being the only film directed by Nolan that he didn't have a hand in writing, Insomnia still has the filmmaker's stylistic finger prints all over it. The disorienting fog of constant sunlight makes the unnerving environment the most dynamic character in this film - which is saying something given Robin Williams' stellar turn as the antagonist here. But don't sell Hillary Swank or Al Pacino short here either. The entire ensemble makes for an outstanding thriller.
#7. The Dark Knight Rises
Living up to the high expectations The Dark Knight set before it was seemingly an impossible task, but Nolan comes just about as close as you could expect him to with the close to his Dark Knight trilogy. The absence of Heath Ledger looms over the film quite a bit but the introduction to new characters like Talia al Ghul, Blake, Bane, and Selina Kyle help to fill the void as best they can while giving a phenomenal send off to Bruce Wayne; despite whatever pacing issues and plot holes we hit along the way. And Nolan's worst Batman is still better than the majority of the MCU or DCEU's best any day.
See where The Dark Knight Rises falls on our list of the Top 10 Best Three-quels of All Time
#6. Oppenheimer
In the wake of the fallout from the polarizing reception of Tenet and his very public divorce from Warner Brothers, Christopher Nolan's bounce back biopic about a genius being used for his groundbreaking creation and summarily cast aside feels strangely autobiographical. Oppenheimer successfully merges the two eras of Nolan's career in presenting a methodically detailed historical account in a perception bending tailspin of hallucinogenic remorse. And although I wish it leaned a little more heavily into it's surreal imagery, Oppenheimer's an incredibly well made film from one of our generations finest director's proclaiming that he's far from finished. And Cillian Murphy is absolutely spectacular conveying the crippling guilt constituted in contributing to the downfall of humanity. This feels like Nolan's most likely shot at an Oscar.
#5. Batman Begins
Before we were bludgeoned over the head with endless MCU origin stories every 4-5 months, Christopher Nolan perfected the recipe with his inaugural trip to Gotham City in Batman Begins. And while Scarecrow fills the traditional villain slot, Ra's al Ghul and the League of Shadows' place in Batman's creation makes for an incredible reboot for the Dark Knight. Personally, I still prefer Burton's gothic aesthetic for the character but the stories Nolan infuses with his iteration of the caped crusader are what make it one of the best comic book adaptations out there.
#4. The Prestige
You wouldn't think a movie about rival magicians could be so insistently riveting but Christopher Nolan has a way of bringing out poignant themes from unlikely sources. It also gives the filmmaker another chance to play with one of his favorite themes - perception. Nolan himself is a bit of a modern day illusionist, so it's easy to see why he identifies with these entertainers of yesteryear and their incessant competition to create a timeless legacy. Driven home by another phenomenal performance from Christian Bale, the film portrays an incredible feud between two men at the peak of their craft trying to assemble a masterpiece while simultaneously sabotaging one another in the process. This is definitely Nolan's most overlooked and underrated film.
#3. Interstellar
Upon it's release, the reception of Interstellar was a bit polarized but I for one count it among the director's biggest achievements. One of the most prevailing criticisms of Nolan's work is that it lacks emotional depth but Interstellar shatters that narrative entirely. Matthew McConaughey delivers a career best performance and his relationship with his daughter Murph is what anchors the film. Also, in a career littered with iconic soundtracks, frequent collaborator Hans Zimmer turns in his most prolific score to date which makes Nolan's space odyssey all the more grand to take in. A sci-fi journey on the surface, a spiritual exploration underneath; Interstellar is Nolan's most passionate and personal work to date.
#2. The Dark Knight
At the dawn of the MCU engulfing the cinematic superhero landscape, Christopher Nolan took a comic book sequel and morphed it into a pseudo heist-political thriller that became one of the biggest summer blockbusters of all time. A commentary on our post 9/11 war on terror, an in-depth examination on the mythology of heroic icons, and the (re) introduction of one of the most prolific villains in modern cinema - The Dark Knight truly has it all. With the groundwork laid by Batman Begins, The Dark Knight hits the ground running and seemingly never lets up for the entirety of it's 150 minute runtime. In true Nolan fashion, it's an action film that's as intellectually rewarding as it is visually. Conceptually challenging and relentlessly entertaining, The Dark Knight is tent-pole film making at it's absolute pinnacle.
See where Heath Ledger ranks in our list of the Top 20 Batman Movie Villains of All Time
#1. Inception
Christopher Nolan loves to alter an audience's perception and there's no better way to experiment with altered reality than by taking someone into a dream. Or better yet, creating one. Inception is one of the best original, high-concept blockbusters of all time and utilizes Nolan's signature abilities as a filmmaker to their highest degree. The immersive world building, profound symbolism, high octane action pieces and mind bending atmospheres round out Nolan's crowning achievement and most complete film in his catalog. An incredible ensemble cast and iconic score from Hans Zimmer highlight this masterpiece of modern storytelling that covers every base imaginable.
See where Inception ranks in our Top 20 Films of the 2010s
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