Funnily enough, I had done this on my facebook a couple of months ago, so now I get to post it here! I haven’t seen BvS, though… But at any rate, aside from that, here are all the Batman theatrical releases.
- The Dark Knight-Fantastic. Wonderful psychology of the characters. Best Two-Face ever.
- Batman Returns-Visually fantastic. My favorite Batsuit. My only complaints are that Gotham Plaza looks very much like a soundstage, and that Bruce starts lecturing about killing when he’s been fine killing people this whole time. Just a little tweak would’ve been all that was needed to make it character development instead of just out-of-character.
- Batman Begins-Probably the only live-action Batman film where Batman is the most interesting thing about it.
- Batman (1989)-Great noir atmosphere, which would influence the animated series. Michael Keaton is always a fantastic Batman, and I love the idea of keeping his character in the shadows and intimating his psychology rather than spelling it out.
- Batman: Mask of the Phantasm-Deserved much more credit than it got. Great tale of Bruce Wayne’s what-if life that never was. And it has Abe Vigoda.
- Batman The Movie (1966)-Hard to rank these with the others due it being so different and purposely silly. I love it. And if you asked me another day, I’d probably put it somewhere completely different.
- Batman (1943 serial)-My ongoing review has forced me to confront a lot of flaws in it, but I still love it. The atmosphere is great. Lewis Wilson makes a wonderfully sociopathic Batman, and he and Douglas Croft’s Robin have great chemistry. I even love the costumes.
- The Dark Knight Rises-Suffers from third part in a trilogy syndrome, where its predecessor set up things this movie could never have pulled off with aplomb. But it still has a lot of heart, and I do enjoy a franchise finally giving Batman some rest.
- Batman Forever-Could have been much higher if they hadn’t cut out the key scenes of Batman’s character development. As it stands, I like the relationship between Bruce and Dick. Otherwise, fairly forgettable.
- Batman & Robin (1997)-Silly and ridiculous but not unwatchable. For me, it definitely falls into the So Bad It’s Good territory. Had a good idea with the Alfred dying plot. And I actually like George Clooney as Batman.
- Batman and Robin (1949 serial)-Dial up all the problems in the previous serial to 11 but counter it with a heavy dose of blandness, and you get this. Also, I hate Vicki Vale.