How Christopher Nolan Broke The Genre

We all know Christopher Nolan‘s Batman trilogy is one of the best movie franchise to grace the silver screen, but there’s one thing that everyone forgets… they’ve ruined the superhero genre. Now, before all of you starts bashing down the doors of UTF in a murderous mob, let me explain…

Before Batman Begins, there weren’t any realistic comic book movies. Sure, Marvel had made modern attempts here and there with films like X-Men (and that god awful Punisher. Yes, all three of them), but at the end of the day, how realistic is the concept of a band of mutants with insanely unique and bizarre powers, masquerading as vigilantes in the middle of the night? There’s only so much you can attribute to the very realistic notion of evolution, as Patrick Stewart so eloquently outlines in the movie’s opening…

Mutation: it is the key to our evolution. It has enabled us to evolve from a single-celled organism into the dominant species on the planet. This process is slow, and normally taking thousands and thousands of years. But every few hundred millennia, evolution leaps forward.

After a few of those mutie flicks (and several other Marvel properties) saturated the market, DC was ready to unleash its most popular hero in Batman Begins. This was the signature reboot of Warner Brothers’ much beloved franchise, and it was meant to ignite a new fan frenzy, just like Tim Burton’s 1989 classic Batman. Well, I think it’s safe to say that it succeeded, but at the expense of the richly detailed comic book mythos that we’ve all come to know and love. Not only that, but it reshaped the entire perception of superhero movies, and I think it’s for the worse.

Nolan’s films are inspired by Batman, rather than being adaptations of the classic hero.  Sure, BB and The Dark Knight (and The Dark Knight Rises for that matter) feature a billionaire orphan jumping from rooftops in a ridiculous Bat suit.  Hell, Bruce Wayne’s oath to rid Gotham of crime in Batman Begins is almost taken word for word from the comics, but that’s where the similarities end.  Nolan crafted his hero in realism, or as much realism as you can get out of a man in a bat suit.  But for all of his efforts, he’s forgotten the core of Batman’s existence.  One of the most egregious crimes is the fact that Wayne isn’t really a detective in these movies.  He’s an action star… like Jason Bourne but far less convincing.  He’s a marauding cowboy, unconvincingly draped in the lore of the Caped Crusader.

Just look at The Dark Knight for one moment.  It’s such an unbelievably great film, but is it REALLY about Batman?  I don’t think so.  It’s a thriller, a pulse pounding heist film, borrowing heavily from flicks like Michael Mann’s Heat.  Now, I know that seems like a pretty callous comment, but just think about it.  You could easily exchange Batman for a generic protagonist and you’d have the same terrific film.  Batman is just an inspiration, a light coat of paint that Nolan’s put over his genius work.

By watering down the source material, some of the greatest parts of these superhero films are left hanging in the wind… most importantly their absurdest nature (and their terrific, colorful villains… except for Joker, of course.  Nolan got that right).  I can’t help but compare Nolan’s efforts to Tim Burton’s original Batman.  It was so incredibly absurd and bizarre.  Realistic?  Absolutely not.  But was it believable?  In the context of its characters and their world… absolutely.  The movie was faithful to the Batman mythos (minus the whole gun slinging fiasco) and still managed to connect with the audience.

All of this wouldn’t be so bad, if it weren’t for the fact that Nolan’s films have been marked as the paramount of comic book adaptations.  But how can a movie that’s so earnestly invested in its comic book legacy, like Captain America or Iron Man (even Superman Returns for that matter), ever compare to a genre bending behemoth like The Dark Knight?  Critics and fans alike confuse Nolan’s work for honest superhero films, and it’s such a sad truth.  For all of these reasons and more, I think Nolan has broken the genre.