Nolan Defends Fan's Reactions to "Dark Knight Rises" Negative Reviews

Batman-ophiles are a loyal, rabid fanbase. Such was evident on Monday when the movie rating site Rotten Tomatoes shut down the comments section on reviews for "The Dark Knight Rises." Fans (who hadn't even seen the movie yet) lambasted critics who posted negative reviews, some users going so far as to make physical threats against reviewers. 

Rotten's Editor in chief Matt Atchity said of the decision to shut down the comments, "The job of policing the comments became more than my staff could handle for that film, so we stopped the comments altogether...It just got to be too much hate based on reactions to reviews of movies that people hadn't even seen."

Enter "Rises" director Christopher Nolan, who said of the fans defense of the film, "I think the fans are very passionate about these characters the way a lot of people are very passionate. Batman's been around for over 70 years and there's a reason for that. He has a huge appeal, so I think you know people certainly respond to the character."

I'm a huge Batman fan like any other, and while I can't say I'm surprised at fans' reactions to critics, I do think it's a little silly for fans to defend a movie they haven't even had a chance to see yet. Thankfully, we won't have to wait much longer. "The Dark Knight Rises" opens across the country tomorrow, and I for one, will be waiting until viewing before I critique or praise the film. I hope it's the latter.