Christopher Nolan is one of the few filmmakers who have successfully treaded the line between blockbuster and auteur cinema. Nolan’s filmography is filled with unique and exciting films, including the extremely popular The Dark Knight trilogy.
According to Nolan, The Dark Knight Rises, the finale of his trilogy, is his most underrated film. Nolan revealed why he felt the film deserves more love and fans seem to be in agreement with the acclaimed director. At the same time, Nolan compared the film to a classic novel by author Charles Dickens, and here is what he had to say.
Christopher Nolan Compares His The Dark Knight Rises to Charles Dickens’ Classic Novel
Directed by Christopher Nolan, The Dark Knight Rises starring Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne / Batman, was released in 2012, and went on to gross $1.085 billion at the global box office. However, it did not receive the same critical acclaim as its predecessor.
In the book The Nolan Variations written by Tom Shone, Nolan discussed his filmography and singled out The Dark Knight Rises as a particularly underrated film. Nolan is quoted in the book saying:
“I don’t have a favorite of any of my films, but I think The Dark Knight Rises is an underrated movie.”
Nolan revealed that the film was difficult to conceive because the stakes had to rise from the previous installment. Therefore, he decided to explore the complete destruction of Gotham City, after having touched upon it in the earlier two films.
“There are things in there that we did that are pretty subversive and pretty shocking. It’s as close as I’ll get to adapting A Tale of Two Cities.”
Nolan made the above statement, comparing The Dark Knight Rises with Charles Dickens’ classic 1859 novel, which explores class struggle in France during the late 18th century. In a separate interview, Nolan also cited the novel as an inspiration for the film, which features Gary Oldman’s James Gordon saying lines from the book.
Fans Agree With Christopher Nolan Calling The Dark Knight Rises Underrated
Christopher Nolan’s comments about The Dark Knight Rises being underrated in comparison to his other films made their way onto social media. As a result, fans joined in on the conversation and debated whether the film actually deserved more recognition.
Here is how fans reacted to Nolan’s comments about The Dark Knight Rises on X (formerly Twitter).
The reason he calls it underrated because he had the script planned for the third movie during the shooting of The Dark Knight. Unfortunately, the untimely death of the Health Ledger, made him change the script drastically. I absolutely loved The Dark Knight Rises.
— Vivek Naskar (@vivek_naskar) April 9, 2024
the batman vs bane fist fight scene alone is amazing.
— Doge Gawd (@DogeGawd) April 9, 2024
One of my unpopular opinions is that “The dark knight rises” > “The dark knight”
— Matteo De Vito (@MatDeVito) April 9, 2024
He's not wrong. As a an individual film and trilogy finale, its excellent. CB fans might not like the treatment of Robin and Talia al Ghul in the film. pic.twitter.com/4scTrYxIc4
— Ryan Paul (@RyanPaulZ95) April 9, 2024
The best film of the series is Batman Begins, but my overall favorite to watch is The Dark Knight Rises. I think it gets unfairly maligned next to the more popular The Dark Knight, but I really do think it’s the superior movie.
— Michael Gendron (@Mike_Gendron484) April 9, 2024
As the tweets indicate, fans seem to agree with the Academy Award-winning director‘s words and poured some love on The Dark Knight Rises. Fans praised the film for being a fitting conclusion to the overall trilogy, while also being an entertaining and rewatchable movie individually.
Most fans felt that the film was underrated, but some thought The Dark Knight Rises was one of Nolan’s weakest films. Fans pointed out several plot holes in the film and took issue with the idea of Batman retiring in the end. Therefore, it seems The Dark Knight Rises continues to be a divisive film even almost a decade after its release.
The Dark Knight Rises is streaming on Max.
