I think that that Nolan's sets out to put "(sm)art film" and "blockbuster" together. To do that, he needs to water down the intellectual ideas so that they can be more accessible. Because they still have everything that a blockbuster needs (attractive actors, explosive action, quotable lines), they succeed as blockbusters. But, as "(sm)art films", they fail, because the ideas are watered down too much, and they usually feel a little thrown together. So people see his films and feel smart because they think they saw something smart/artistic, but what they really saw was a blockbuster. He tries to have it both ways, and I don't think ANY director can, so it just ends up falling short.
Think about it this way: with Inception, he couldn't get too deep into Freudian Psychology and Dream Theory, because it would have alienated the blockbuster audience. The same is for Authoritarian/Fascist Theory and Anarchism for The Dark Knight. He's stuck in a very difficult place.
BTW, comic books can be sophisticated pieces of contemporary thought.
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