Ranking The Major Batman Movies
From Burton to Reeves and everything in-between, which big-screen Batman movie is the greatest?
In 1989 Tim Burton changed the mainstream’s perception of Bob Kane’s Batman. Wiped from memory were images of Adam West’s campy escapades, replaced with grim and gothic visions of darkened streets and troubled heroes.
Unsurprisingly the smash hit of that year, Burton followed up with an equally dark and madcap sequel in 1992. Batman was firmly and forever entrenched in pop culture. Nine movies by five directors have followed since, each a slight variation on the dark and brooding baseline established in the first. Some have been great. Others have been decent. A couple are borderline unwatchable.
So with Matt Reeve’s bold new vision of the caped crusader still fresh in the memory, I thought it appropriate to review it, and reassess its predecessors. How do they stack up, and which is the greatest Batman movie of them all?
11. Justice League
Too much interference from a back-pedalling studio in crisis mode, or simply the wrong person to complete the vision?
There are a couple of widely circulated theories as to the stunning failure of what should have been DC’s answer to the MCU’s triumphant first Avengers team-up, but the harsh reality was this: DC’s scrappy, hastily produced expanded universe was never going to succeed where Marvel had. Not at this point, anyway.
Bought in at the eleventh hour, Joss Whedon added comedy and color to Snyder’s original vision. No one was happy with the final product; a hodgepodge of ideas haphazardly thrown together and tied up with shoddy CGI, and a joke-cracking Batman whose portrayal felt a million miles from what we’d seen in the universe previously.
But by far the biggest issue with this expensive misfire? For all its added “fun” and slender runtime, it felt more of a slog than its eventual final-cut successor.
10. Batman & Robin
Nearly two and a half decades later and Batman & Robin remains easily one of the worst superhero movies ever made. Its only saving grace is its unapologetic campiness, a throwback to West’s sixties adventures, that makes it a must-have on any “So Bad It’s Good” watchlists.
It’s just bad on almost every level. George Clooney adds nothing but ham to his one and (thankfully) only outing as the titular character, but it’s still boring. Supporting performances, such as Chris O’Donnell’s career-ruining Robin, are equally as poor. Entire sequences are included to justify lines of toys. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s performance is essentially one big meme. And bat nipples. Nope, not even going there.
Famously bad, this Batman movie tanked the franchise, doing what Mr. Freeze failed to do in the movie, and putting Gotham on ice for eight long years.
9. Batman Forever
Restyled following parental backlash that marred the release of Burton’s sequel in 1992, Joel Schumacher’s first Batman movie was a lighter, pulpier take on the character, but one that still retained some semblance of what made the first two movies so appealing. Some.
With Val Kilmer assuming the famous cowl, Forever retained some of Burton’s darker themes, as well as its zanier villainous portrayals. But there was a clear leaning towards commercialism, as well as the introduction of new characters to make the movie, and the franchise more accessible to wider audiences.
It wasn’t quite Batman & Robin levels of disaster, but it was a significant downgrade on what had come before and for some fans too much of a departure to reconcile. The decline, however, had only just begun.
8. Zack Snyder’s Justice League
A considerable improvement on the theatrical release, but don’t let the fanboys pull the wool over your eyes: This was still pretty disappointing.
The most obvious issue, one cited by almost every critic is, yes, its insane 4-hour runtime. It never feels properly justified, padded with scenes that feel overly indulgent and designed to accommodate a wider universe that will likely never be realized.
But, when viewed alongside Snyder’s other DC contributions, this Justice League works much better. Ben Affleck’s Batman is far more on-brand and consistent, although there are still some moments that feel a little out of place — probably the result of a chaotic production and lack of quality precision editing.
Far from perfect, and far too long for enjoyment, Zack Snyder’s version was still a vast improvement, one that, for the most part, actually did its heroes…justice.
7. Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice
Overly long, far too dour and devoid of color and any sense of fun. I hated this, the ludicrously titled Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice on its release in 2016. What was supposed to have been the biggest on-screen pairing of all time at that point was just another bloated failure from a cinematic universe rapidly losing steam.
But time can do wonders. So, too, can a director’s cut.
Despite still, and probably forever at this point, disliking Snyder’s style and apparent disdain for a proper editing process, Batman V Superman has grown in my personal estimation, mostly due to its largely relatable depiction of a more weary, battle-tested Batman, realized wonderfully by Ben Affleck.
Unveiled to a very mixed reception initially, Affleck won many fans over with his gritty, take on the Dark Knight. The performance alone couldn’t completely save the movie — the Martha scene remains simultaneously hilarious and cringe to this day — but the film’s Batman is one of the franchise’s more unique takes on the iconic character.
6. Batman Returns
If you were one of the few who didn’t like Tim Burton’s bold big-screen Batman reimagining, the chances were pretty high its sequel wasn’t going to be up your alley either.
Upping the ante with an expanded rogues gallery this time featuring Penguin, Catwoman, and Christopher Walken’s Max Shreck, Burton also continued to build upon his freak-filled vision of a Gotham more akin to a darkened fairytale. More gothic architecture, a noticeable increase in exaggerated and outlandish citizens, and this time a squadron of rocket-strapped penguins. Yes.
The performances were memorable and the story serves as an adequate follow-up to the first, but it was also a tad overlong, definitely overstuffed, and very, very violent.
I liked that, but the parents buying the film’s never-ending line of merchandise for their children definitely didn’t.
5. Batman
For the longest time, the original big-screen realization of Batman was the best. While the comics had long featured a darker, more serious version of the character, the mainstream had yet to move on from the lighthearted sixties series.
But it wasn’t just the visuals that helped cement Burton’s new Batman vision. The story placed considerable emphasis on the tragic background of Bruce Wayne, and the almost symbiotic relationship between Batman and his greatest enemy, the Joker; bought to life in a show-stealing performance by Jack Nicholson at the peak of his mad powers.
It certainly wasn’t for everyone. It may have put a little too much emphasis on Nicholson’s Joker, and that dodgy Prince soundtrack has aged like milk, but its legacy cannot be denied. The instigator of the first Batmania, its successors, and the franchise as a whole, owes much to this dark and twisted world, ripped from the nightmares of its unhinged auteur.
4. The Dark Knight Rises
It was almost universally accepted that the final installment would never come close to the bar set by its predecessors. Nevertheless, the pressure was still on for Christopher Nolan to close the book on his acclaimed, franchise-redefining trilogy.
And he certainly couldn’t be accused of playing it safe, instead delivering the franchise equivalent of an epic war movie; pitting an aged Batman against Tom Hardy’s powerhouse Bane and wrapping up several lingering threads from across the series in the process.
Rise was also highly allegorical, with themes reminiscent of the classic novel A Tale of Two Cities, and plenty of not-so-subtle winks to real-world events such as the Occupy Wall Street movement.
A lot of it worked. Some didn’t. Rise’s ambition and attempts to at least come close to the quality of previous movies did result in several plotholes and unanswered questions. But it remains an excellent, worthy, and ultimately essential part of Nolan’s brilliant series. An A-grade superhero movie that remains the subject of intense study and discussion more than a decade after its hugely anticipated release.
3. The Batman
There was an audible groan when another version of the caped crusader was announced, a disquiet that only intensified with the controversial casting of former sparkle vampire-turned arthouse darling Robert Pattinson in 2019.
What could Matt Reeve’s version offer that we hadn’t already seen? Quite a lot, it turns out.
Taking inspiration from Burton and Nolan and throwing in a nod to David Fincher’s rain-drenched Seven, Reeve’s vision gave us a dark, complex and completely enveloping version of Gotham. A grey city where crime is rife and hope is in increasingly short supply, a place where heroes are hopelessly outnumbered by an overwhelming army of rogues and the corrupt.
Blowing away any pre-release negativity, Pattinson proved a revelation under the cowl. Although a little less focused on his public persona (hopefully sequels will build on that), what we got this time was Batman in full detective mode, a side of the character that previous movies were always reluctant to fully commit to.
While initially dismissed as “just another reboot”, Reeves and Pattinson’s rich Batman was an instant hit. A delightful new addition already bedded in as DC’s great cinematic hope for a new generation of fans.
2. The Dark Knight
There are few films in history that have enjoyed the same levels of cultural impact and consistent critical acclaim as The Dark Knight. Released in 2008, mere months after Heath Ledger’s tragic passing, the film has assumed an almost mythical reputation as the superhero movie that can never be surpassed.
Drawing inspiration from Michael Mann’s crime epic Heat, serial crime thrillers from the ’70s, and America’s war on terror, Nolan crafted a Batman film that transcended the genre; a prodigious and previously unthinkable marriage of popcorn action flick and highbrow arthouse release.
Its deft handling of so many different components remains astounding to this day. The conflict of Wayne, the tragedy of Harvey and Rachel and the desperate maneuverings of the mob are all woven around memorable sequences orchestrated by Ledger’s unbeatable take on the Joker; the scarred and grungy agent of chaos who instantly became a cinematic icon, not to mention the Halloween cosplay of choice for about a billion jocks.
But the real triumph of The Dark Knight, arguably above all of this, is its positioning of Gotham and its population. Here, Gotham is a living, breathing protagonist; its citizens are the heartbeat of the movie. The scope is all-encompassing, and the stakes and implications of failure and a hopeless future permeate throughout the film’s entire two-and-a-half-hour duration.
A true cinematic titan of a movie.
1. Batman Begins
The Dark Knight is undeniably great, a masterpiece even. But Batman Begins remains unequaled as the greatest Batman movie.
It’s weird to think now, but there was once a time when Christopher Nolan was considered quite the risk. No one really knew what to expect when the emerging director took the reigns of a Batman reboot, but questions were met with resounding answers in the summer of 2005. Memories of the embarrassing previous movies were erased; the Batman was back.
In stark contrast to Burton and Schumacher’s movies, Nolan’s new Batman was firmly grounded in reality. The world expanded to include tangible new environments. Politics and the inner workings of Wayne Enterprise were refreshed and used as subtle remarks on the corrupting excess of capitalism. Danny Elfman’s iconic score was replaced by Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard’s equally memorable notes.
Everything felt new and fresh, and, crucially, it all worked.
But the reason Begins tops this list, is its deep rumination on its principal character. Both of them. In the form of a chameleonic Christian Bale the titular character found renewed energy, Bale realizing the disparate fragments of Wayne’s complex psyche in a way none had quite managed before or since.
With all his pain and motivation laid bare, Batman had never felt so real, so completely relatable. An iconic character with so much history had never been so understood and empathized with, and yet somehow still shrouded in mystique and intrigue.
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