By Today marks Batman day, an annual event organized by DC Entertainment that began a decade ago and this year marks the 85th anniversary of the first appearance of Batman in Detective Comics in 1939.
As a result, I’ve decided to look back and offer a ranking of the Batman films. The list is restricted to theatrical releases and solo Batman films, no direct-to-video titles and no ‘Batman in an ensemble’ films like “Justice League”.
Everyone has their own takes on the Caped Crusader. I didn’t read the comics until adulthood, but I was a kid when Burton’s first “Batman” film arrived on the scene and helped usher in my love of film. The 1990s animated series was also formative for me in a way that none of its successors has been able to match.
Here’s my take on the best of the Bat. Let me preface it by saying those top four are nearly interchangeable for me and all I consider classic films:
1. The Dark Knight
Still the best single comic book film since Donner’s “Superman,” Nolan’s crime drama steers into epic filmmaking across the board whilst never forgetting its comic book origins. Stunning score, cinematography, design and strong performances make it a grand piece of filmmaking regardless of genre.
2. Batman: Mask of the Phantasm
The 90s animated series remains the quintessential adaptation of the comic, and it rarely got better than this – a fully fleshed-out period drama with action, thrills and laughs but also more emotion, personal stakes and large-scale set pieces than the series. No single film perfectly encapsulates the character and comic quite like this.
3. Batman Returns
Burton’s second Batman is a wonderfully misanthropic psychosexual masterpiece. It’s a dark and snowy Christmas fable about class struggle and carnal frustration as a group of broken misfits in animal guises work through their personal traumas via urban warfare. It’s morbidly funny, heartbreakingly tragic, and unique — something rare in this genre.
4. Batman Begins
The film that really sent the template for grounded re-invention of a character, it’s also the most comic book-esque Nolan’s trilogy which is a pleasure in and of itself as he seems to have lost those genre sensibilities that defined his earlier work. Bale commits to a performance here, and the design and style are strong across the board.
5. Batman (1989)
Burton’s first foray into Gotham City still holds up relatively well. Its anachronistic blend of 1930s gangster movies, art deco gothic stylings, and 1980s technology gives the whole thing a specific kind of atmosphere. It is all helped along by Nicholson’s showman performance, Keaton’s understated work, and a welcome grimness at times.
6. The Dark Knight Rises
Nolan sheds almost all of the comic sensibilities in favour of a straightforward large-scale drama that never quite holds together, even as certain sequences really shine. Performances are mostly strong even as character motivations are muddled, and its still gorgeous as hell to look at and listen to.
7. The Batman
Though welcomely embracing a noir sensibility and a return to the detective aspects of the character, Reeves’ first foray into Gotham City is an unrelentingly dour and overly long affair more concerned with its style than breaking new ground. There’s a welcome groundedness to it all though, and fine work from Pattinson.
8. Batman Forever
Schumaker’s first Batman film remains a weird neon-soaked fever dream and a script that remains 80% catch phrases, Kilmer’s work here is under rated, as is Kidman who delivers as an interesting romantic prospect for Bruce. Not good by any means, but there’s small pleasures to be had.
9. Batman (1966)
Now here’s a Batman film that can get away being campy because that’s a core element to its enjoyment. This mostly bland film take on the classic 1960s show brings back four key villains, substituting Julie Newmar with Lee Meriwether in a solid femme fatale performance and joined by the wonderfully silly Cesar Romero, Burgess Meredith and Frank Gorshin just going for broke as Joker, Penguin and Riddler respectively.
10. Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice
Snyder’s film is still an ambitious mess, a chaos of visual flare and strong drive that desperately needs direction, objectivity and restraint. The far too bombastic narrative is all too often lacking engagement, but at times it goes for broke in ways some comic fans will find breathtaking. Affleck’s decent, it’s just a shame there’s not a better film to support him.
11. Batman & Robin
What more can be said? An embarrassing disaster of a picture, this is an attempt to deliver the 1960s campy Batman with a more modern sensibility, resulting in the worst kind of self-aware campiness as opposed to the effective dark camp of ‘Returns’ or more recently “Gotham”. No-one is spared here, it’s a shame we never got the Patrick Stewart as Mr. Freeze and Demi Moore as Poison Ivy incarnation that was once rumored.
What’s your ranking? Have your say in the comments below.
The post Ranking The “Batman” Films appeared first on Dark Horizons.
