Ranking Every Christopher Nolan Movie
This may see random, but I promise it’s not. Regal Cinema has decided to rerelease five Christopher Nolan movies. It started on April 10th with The Dark Knight, on April 17th they showed Interstellar, and every week after is Inception, The Dark Knight Rises, and Dunkirk.
In my mind, Nolan is the greatest filmmaker of this generation, and he keeps putting out hit after hit. This will be a long list because it has eleven movies so I will keep my reviews brief for the most part. With all that said, here is my ranking of every Christopher Nolan movie.
11. Insomnia—92% on Rotten Tomatoes
Starring some superstars with Robin Williams and Al Pacino, Insomnia follows a detective who was sent to Alaska to investigate the murder of a teenage girl. Critics praise the performances from both leads in Williams and Pacino, but that isn’t quite enough to turn me around on this movie. It has some twists and turns but ultimately it is a predictable, and disengaging story. At this point, Nolan isn't the famed, award winning director we know and love today, and for that, I give Insomnia a 75. Not bad by any means, but there is definitely room for improvement.
10. Tenet—69% on Rotten Tomatoes
Full honesty here, this movie will not make sense the first time you watch it. The first time I watched it was back in 2020 when it came out, and I did not know if I liked it or not because it made no sense. This movie has great visuals, good action and an original idea like no other. Through some rewatches, Tenet delivers more and more. When it clicks, it clicks. However, Nolan has stated that he doesn’t care if you understand the movie. Yes, right away that makes him sound like a douche, but he is just happy with you watching the movie. It pushes the bounds of science fiction and what we can do with action movies. For that, this movie gets an 87. It’s a movie I’ll recommend, but certainly with a warning attached.
9. Batman Begins—85% on Rotten Tomatoes
The start of one of the most influential and iconic superhero trilogies of all time, Batman Begins heightens the expectations for superhero movies. Like the title implies, we see Batman’s origins, his training, and everything that comes with that. This movie does a very good job at making Batman seem like a myth. The crooks begin talking about him, the police don’t really know if he’s real, and it oftentimes seems like he even flys. Even so, this movie does under deliver in some cases. The hand to hand fights are not up to par with what they should be for a superhero movie, and the villain is very underwhelming. Thankfully, that changes with the next two movies in the Dark Knight trilogy. This movie gets a very solid 88 from me.
8. The Prestige—77% on Rotten Tomatoes
Through twists and turns and a very satisfying ending, The Prestige is one of Nolan’s most entertaining movies. Two magicians put up against each other to see who can come out on top. With a cast like Christian Bale, Hugh Jackman, and Scarlett Johansson, who would want to miss out on a movie like this? One of Nolan’s shorter movies, this somehow gives you time to live in the world of magic, and to really feel the final act. Good performances mixed with a mesmerizing twist, this movie gets a 92 from me.
7. The Dark Knight Rises—87% on Rotten Tomatoes
The conclusion of The Dark Knight trilogy does not disappoint. This is the closest thing we’ll ever get to mixing a superhero movie and a war movie. Bane holds the city hostage as he wants to finish what was started in Batman Begins. I won’t lie, I don’t read the comics so this version of Bane is Bane to me. He doesn’t need the extra steroids to make him bigger, Tom Hardy is good enough. Even without the extra steroids, Nolan did a fantastic job on making Hardy’s version of the character much larger and intimidating compared to Christian Bale’s Batman. To accompany the amazing villain, Hans Zimmer delivers what I think to be the best score in any superhero movie. This movie does have some slow parts, but that is to be expected since it is 2 hours and 45 minutes. Those slow parts also have very good payoffs and for that, I give The Dark Knight Rises a 95.
6. Memento—94% on Rotten Tomatoes
Nolan quickly introduced us to his two biggest themes in his movies: time and dead significant others. Memento is so unique in the fact that it works its way backwards. It starts at the end, and ends at the beginning. Now, the subject matter may not be for everyone since it is about a man trying to find the person who raped and murdered his wife, but the way the story is told has you completely engaged the entire time. At the end of the movie, you will be sitting there thinking to yourself, “Wow, that was amazing.” This is the first movie on this list that I would consider “elite” so with that, I give this movie a 96.
5. Dunkirk—92% on Rotten Tomatoes
Nolan’s first nonfiction movie does not disappoint. The story of getting the British and French troops to safety through a long and grueling process has never been told so well. Like in many of Nolan’s movies, time plays a huge factor. There are three stories being told at one time, but they all take place through different amounts of time, and they all overlap each other. I really hope that makes sense and if it doesn’t, please don’t let it discourage you from seeing the movie. There is very little dialogue in the 1 hour and 49 minute movie and I think that helps with showing the hopelessness and desperation the soldiers on the beach had. There is even a shot in this movie that acclaimed director Quintin Tarantino calls the best shot in a war movie. Now, who’s to argue with someone like that? Also, Harry Styles is in this movie. A very good rating of 97.
4. The Dark Knight—94% on Rotten Tomatoes
The superhero movie of all superhero movies. This has a dark and twisted spin on the iconic villain, the Joker, makes this impossible to forget. Heath Ledger delivers what I believe to be the best performance in any superhero movie as he plays the Crowned Prince of Crime. With a horrifying laugh, smile, and plan, Joker stops at nothing to make a villain out of Gotham’s one true hero, Harvey Dent. Hans Zimmer delivers again with a phenomenal score that is wrapped up perfectly with the song “A Dark Knight” as Batman runs from police after he saves Jim Gordon's son. One thing I noticed the last time I watched this movie was how good of a character Alfred is. Bruce Wayne’s butler give us memorable lines that even my professors will quote. I do have some recency bias since I just watched this movie in theater but I don’t care, this movie gets a perfect 100.
3. Oppenheimer—93% on Rotten Tomatoes
The 2024 Best Picture winner at the Oscars deserves all the praise it gets. It is an impactful story that will lead you to question the world around you and what needs to change. Led by Cillian Murphy’s spectacular performance as the famed physicist, Oppenheimer shows the internal struggle of a brilliant man whose life’s work was killing between 129,000 and 226,000 people. The composer, Ludwig Göransson, brings us into the mind of Oppenheimer as he delivers a phenomenal soundtrack. With the score being based in violins, it allows us to feel the violence of an atom bomb, but also see the peace between everything that happens. While this movie is made for the biggest screen possible, it hits a home run no matter where or how you watch it. Another perfect 100 for Oppenheimer.
2. Inception—87% on Rotten Tomatoes
You ever feel like your dream is telling you something but you don’t know where it came from? It was probably Leonardo DiCaprio and Joseph Gordon Levitt sneaking into your brain. Time and dead loved ones show up again in this movie. Nolan does something wonderful with unique and original ideas, and this movie is no exception. There is an incredibly complex world that we see in this movie and you don’t really know where it starts and where it ends. People still debate the ending, even though I think Cobb is not in a dream. Science fiction is where Nolan shines the most and this movie is no different. Accompanied again by Hans Zimmer, the score for this movie is great. His song “Time” wraps everything together so wonderfully. Same as the last two movies, Inception gets a 100.
1. Interstellar—73% on Rotten Tomatoes
You may be thinking, “This is such a filmbro take,” and quite frankly, I don’t care. This movie is close to three hours and it is amazing from start to finish. A dying human race is in dire need of a new planet and Coop is the one to take them there. Right away, this has my favorite score of all time. Hans Zimmer wrote this score has it’s not an epic sounding score, but a loving and intense one. Zimmer was told to write a song about a relationship between a father and child; this actually helped Nolan figure out where he’d put the heart of the movie. On top of a loving story about a father saving his daughter, this movie has maybe the best visual effects out there. A very well done performance by Matthew McConaughey brings everything together so well. With all of that said, the coolest thing about this movie is how much it got right. Nolan worked with physicist Kip Thorne to get the most realistic depiction of time, space and a black hole. This movie was so accurate that it accurately depicted what a black hole looked liked five years before NASA released the first image of a black hole. Because of all that, Interstellar gets a stellar 100.
Christopher Nolan is one of the best filmmakers of this generation and he doesn’t seem to be slowing down any time soon. Appreciate him while he’s at the top of the game, and go see his movies at Regal Cinemas when they are being rereleased the next few weeks.
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