Then came this past summer and the release of The Dark Knight Rises. It still stands as one of the best comicbook movies of all time a near-perfect culmination of everything the genre has fought so long to achieve. In 2008, The Dark Knight arrived to thunderous applause, smashed records, earned more than a billion at the box office, and mounted an equally impressive run on home video. It remains a thrilling introduction to Nolan's brave new Gotham. In 2005, Batman Begins was a critical, creative and financial success. Seven years of appreciation, seven years of hindsight. few were willing to go on record with any certainty as to how Batman Begins would resonate or perform.

Warner Brothers and DC Comics executives, Hollywood insiders, journalists, critics, audiences, even the filmmakers themselves. And yet seven short years ago Batman Begins was a risk, and not just in the eyes of short-sighted box office analysts.

It's hard to imagine a time when a Christopher Nolan-helmed Batman film wasn't a sure thing. Reviewed by Kenneth Brown, November 20, 2012 'Oh boy, you are in for a show tonight, son!'

Instaling The Dark Knight Rises