Mr. Nolan, do you remember making movies?

Rating: 7/10 (22 April 2007)

The first half of this film is pretty good. The Tibetan Monastary scene is a rip from the Baldwin "Shadow" movie of 1994; but that was probably a rip from another film, so, what the hey. The second half of the film is pretty much of a redoing of elements from the first Tim Burton Batman film, and it really never lived up to the promise of the first half. The first half almost finds the real human beneath the Caped Crusader's cowl - an almost impossible feat, for any comic book movie, but Nolan nearly pulls it off. The second half, although a well-made action story, never gets back to this level of insight.
But here's the real problem: Director Christopher Nolan made what is unquestionably, to my mind, the finest English language film yet made in the 21st century, "Memento". what the hell is he doing directing cartoons? Well, he made a lot of money and moved to Hollywood; that'll do it, I guess.
On the DVD of "Memento' there's a special feature interview with Nolan, in which he says that he much preferred looking through the camera lens while filming, to using a video recorder for instant playback. Given all the CGI in this bloated comic book movie, one could never imagine it made by the same director.
Well, Chris? What happened? And when are you going to make a real film again? I'm sick of Hollywood buying out people of talent and turning them into 'blockbuster' fodder.
Nolan, get real.