TDKR getting some love really warms my heart, especially now that it's been a while. I've always felt that it is basically falls somewhere between the Return of the Jedi/King of the Dark Knight Trilogy. Once you get past some of the flaws, there's a really epic and emotionally satisfying movie there. And it's an incredible achievement technically. Also has one of the most memorable villains of the decade, which was no small feat following Heath's Joker. Calling it a CGI-fest also doesn't hold up. It has like 650 vfx shots (with a lot of those being minor touchups and rig removals) compared to the norm of 2000+ for modern blockbusters (Endgame had 2700). The opening plane sequence is all practical, mixed with miniatures for the wings breaking off. They raced a lifesize scale Batplane through the streets of Pittsburgh for the climax. The few CG shots of The Bat there are look great and pretty darn photo realistic, as it was created from a 3D-scanned physical model. TDKR went bigger for sure, but how Nolan tackles scale feels different and more grounded anything else is being done in modern blockbusters. And it was/is VERY refreshing to see.
I am still processing how I feel about Joker, there was a lot I liked there-- but I feel like there's definitely a case to be made that it's an even more obvious example of a movie that thinks it's smarter than it is. I think you could argue both Joker and Rises explore the "haves vs have nots" theme about the same exact amount. Which is to say not very deeply really, but it's left there in the backdrop of the story for you to chew on. Which I'm actually fine with, in both cases. I always have said it's unreasonable to expect a movie to come up with "the answer" for an issue that has plagued humanity since the dawn of civilization.
I can certainly concede that Rises is obviously a bigger, arguably more bloated movie that is cramming a lot into its runtime and probably takes a narrative shortcut too many to get where it's going. While Joker very hauntingly and effectively tells a pretty simple story, while leaving a lot of openings for interpretation. The difference-maker for me personally, is that TDKR offers a really thrilling emotional rollercoaster with a lot of heart. For me, the scene of Bruce escaping the pit and the entire ending are priceless additions to the Batman lore.
In a lot of ways its a case of apples and oranges, but with Joker is more of a niche, R-rated, downard spiral film in the vein of Taxi Driver, it can't help but invite the comparisons to the movies its trying to evoke. Which makes me a bit less forgiving of its thematic shortcomings and muddled messaging.
I do like Joker, it's a very beautifully crafted film, and it's a movie that I do think will be worth revisiting in the future. But currently I find myself thinking that if I have to go with the interpretation that none of it actually happened in order to derive something more interesting than what the film presents at face-value, it gives me a lot of pause over whether the movie is really as clever as it thinks it is. Like I said though, still processing it.
It's hard for me to make my list, because I think Joker is definitely in the top 10, probably top 5, but it's tricky for me to rank it at this moment cause I'm still sorting out how I feel about it. It's not an easy one for me to give a knee-jerk reaction to.
