The conclusion to Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy hits theaters this weekend, so it’s only fitting that we take a look back at the journey Nolan’s Batman has taken since 2005 Batman Begins.

What Nolan has done is transform a comic book character and grounded him in reality, inhabiting this world we live in, and making him believable.  Not only that, but his films have also had a profound effect on both the industry and cinema as a whole. 

It’s been awhile since I last did a Flash Friday review, and what better way to bring it back than reviewing a series of films leading up to one of the year’s biggest releases, The Avengers.

With a movie that was years in the making — five separate installments building up to it — let’s take a look back at each of those film’s starting with 2008’s Iron Man after the break.

Directed by: J.C. Chandor
Stars: Kevin Spacey, Zachary Quinto, Paul Bettany, Jeremy Irons, Penn Badgley, Simon Baker, Mary McDonnell, Demi Moore, Stanley Tucci 

It’s really hard to say you’d go out of your way to watch a financial thriller. That is exactly what Margin Call is, and despite the subject matter of the film, I was interested in the movie.

Having been loosely based off the actual events surrounding the Lehman Brothers and Bear Stearns firms during the financial crisis back in 2008, I decided to check this out. 

Directed by: Will Gluck
Stars: Justin Timberlake, Mila Kunis, Woody Harrelson, Richard Jenkins, Patricia Clarkson, Andy Samberg, Emma Stone, Rashida Jones, Jason Segel 

To be honest, 2011’s roster of comedies didn’t particularly appeal to me at all. There were a couple I saw purely for the cast members involved, while I avoided others for their plots and cast.

A prime example of the latter would be Friends With Benefits. I’m definitely just jaded towards romance comedies, but I finally gave the film a shot and checked it out.

Directed by: Glenn Ficarra & John Requa
Stars: Steve Carell, Julianne Moore, Ryan Gosling, Emma Stone, Marisa Tomei, Kevin Bacon

As much as I liked what I saw in the trailer when this film was out, I decided to pass on this during the summer.

It’s been months since the film’s initial release and I finally got to check it out. I have to say, I’m pretty glad I skipped seeing this movie while it was in theaters.

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Directed by: Danny Boyle
Stars: Cillian Murphy, Chris Evans, Rose Byrne, Cliff Curtis, Michelle Yeoh, Hiroyuki Sanada, Mark Strong 

I really didn’t know what to expect going into this movie. Sure it’s directed by Danny Boyle and does have a great cast actors behind it, but for a science fiction film about a mission to re-ignite the sun, there wasn’t a lot that sounded interesting about it.

So when my friend came to me and highly recommended it I felt compelled to check it out. 

Director: Lee Tamahori
Stars: Dominic Cooper, Ludivine Sagnier, Raad Rawi 

The Devil’s Double came out around August of last year and I was sad that I missed out on watching this it in theatres.

Fast forward to the present. I just recently purchased the film on DVD and, to say the least, I wasn’t disappointed one bit. The Devil’s Double was one of the best films of 2011. 

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Directed by: Neils Arden Oplev
Stars: Michael Nyqvist, Noomi Rapace, Ewa Froling

I’m a huge fan of the Millennium series of novels. To think that I only took an interest in them after hearing Hollywood would be remaking the original Swedish-adaptation is quite something.

Now Hollywood is infamous for making poor remakes of European films, so after reading the novels I decided to check out the original Swedish film before watching David Fincher’s American adaptation.

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Directed by: Guy Ritchie
Stars: Robert Downey Jr., Jude Law, Mark Strong, Rachel McAdams

Back when this movie was announced, it was hard for me to grasp at how I would feel about this adaptation of the famed detective from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Sure, Downey was coming off great performances in Iron Man and Tropic Thunder, but I wasn’t all too sure about Jude Law as Watson and the direction by Guy Ritchie. Thankfully, those worries were put to rest quickly as I saw one of the best films of 2009.

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Directed by: Doug Liman
Stars: Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, Vince Vaughn, Adam Brody, Keith David, Michelle Monaghan

The movie that brought together the power couple known as “Brangelina.” The one film that Brad Pitt says he wants to be remembered for. The one that Jennifer Aniston hates with all her passion.

So many stories tied to this film and, to say the least, it was interesting and fun.

Directed by: Mc G
Stars: Christian Bale, Sam Worthington, Bryce Dallas Howard, Common, Moon Bloodgood, Helena Bonham Carter, Anton Yelchin, Michael Ironside 

Being the fourth installment in the Terminator franchise, Salvation had a lot riding on it being well recieved. Prequel/sequel reboots are generally tricky to pull off, especially if the franchise already has an avid fan base. Sadly, it didn’t fulfill fan expectations (to a point), but that’s not to say this isn’t a good movie. It just wasn’t what people expected. 

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Directed by: The Wachowski Brothers
Stars: Keannu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Hugo Weaving, Carrie Anne Moss

A conglomeration of so many influences, there’s no way other way to describe this film other than as a phenomenon. Forget about the sequels; this is one of the defining films of the 90’s. 

“No that’s not Shia”

Directed by: Rob Minkoff
Stars: Michael Angarano, Jackie Chan, Jet Li, Yifie Liu, Li Bing Bing

With a martial arts adventure film that boasts both Jet Li and Jackie Chan, it’s bound to be an easy sell. I remember back when the film came out, that my friends and I were eager to see it opening weekend, and we didn’t care about what to expect from a film starring the two martial arts film legends. All we knew back then was that it was going to be fun.

“That ain’t no mummy”

Directed by: Rob Cohen
Stars: Brendan Fraser, Jet Li, Michelle Yeoh, Maria Bello, John Hannah

This film is a case of an unwarranted and unwanted sequel to a fairly decent film series. Of the original cast, only two return — Brendan Fraser and John Hannah —who in turn only make this sequel a laughable excuse to an end of a… trilogy.

“What’s Kraken?”

Directed by: Louis Letterier
Stars: Sam Worthington, Liam Neeson, Ralph Fiennes, Gemma Arterton, Luke Evans 

It’s been more than a year since I last saw this 2010 remake of the classic 1981 film of the same name. Though I wasn’t crazy about it back then, looking at it now, it’s not as bad as I thought it was.