The best Christopher Nolan movies, ranked (including Oppenheimer)

9. Batman Begins

Superhero fans have no doubt watched Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy, which started back in 2005 with Batman Begins. As the title suggests, the movie kickstarts a new iteration of the classic Bruce Wayne story, which follows the character as he pursues a life of fighting crime after his parents are murdered. Bruce trains with Ra’s al Ghul and the League of Shadows before returning to Gotham City to take on his alter ego as Batman.

Like the other movies in the trilogy, critics absolutely loved Batman Begins when it premiered. Taking a much darker tone than adaptations we’d seen before, the movie succeeds in carefully setting the scene and laying the groundwork for what’s to come. Christian Bale is one of the best actors working today, so it was no surprise that he’d fill the shoes of Batman nicely.

The supporting cast of Batman Begins is particularly strong — a pattern you’ll notice with all Nolan movies — which includes Michael Caine as Alfred Pennyworth, Cillian Murphy as Dr. Jonathan Crane/Scarecrow, Liam Neeson as Henri Ducard/Ra’s al Ghul, Katie Holmes as Rachel Dawes, and Morgan Freeman as Lucius Fox.

It’s great to see Batman’s psychological journey in Batman Begins, which is really highlighted through the moral dilemmas he faces. Visually, the practical effects and stunts throughout the movie are awesome.

One criticism of Batman Begins that I have is the pacing, which gets a bit slower in the second half and kind of drags on. But even though I consider this the weakest of the Dark Knight trilogy, it’s still a great movie.