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Rank The Batman Movies
- Thread starter arkhamguy123
- Start date
arkhamguy123
Banned
wearing lipstick…? What?
Badlucktroll
Member
I will say it again, F Warner Brothers for not letting Tim Burton make his Batman 3.
My top five is almost identical to Rival's above, so I'll go into some detail as to why:
Batman Begins: The first film in Nolan's saga juggles a lot of disparate elements but does so without feeling overstuffed or overplaying its hand trying to feel 'epic'. Setting out Bruce's path to becoming Batman gives him more depth as a character and affords his first appearance in-costume a hugely potent build-up. The mysticism adds a touch of otherworldly mystery to the drama without suffocating it, Batman does a little detective work rather than just punching people, and the cast is uniformly outstanding. Liam Neeson brings enormous gravitas to his Ra's Al Ghul while Cillian Murphy counterbalances his seriousness with the mandatory lunacy, making for a pair of villains well-matched to Bale's formidably established hero.
The Dark Knight: Heath Ledger obviously steals the show and the movie offers a lot more thematic depth than Begins in its battle between Batman and Joker for Harvey Dent's soul. Zimmer's score is tremendous, the cast is once again fantastic and the stakes are kicked up a gear without slipping into the excessively over-the-top territory that DKR found itself in. It loses out to Begins because its climactic showdown is rather underwhelming, it is about ten minutes too long and doesn't have the visual variety which helped Begins feel fresh (this is effectively all cityscapes, all the time). It's still as strong a sequel to that film as anyone could ask for, however.
The Batman: The movie's emphasis on Batman as a detective give this one a very distinct flavour to the other films, much to its credit. Pattinson is better than expected in the title role and it is hugely atmospheric despite being a little overcooked at times. The rest of the cast is a mixed bag, with Zoe Kravitz and Colin Farrell standing out but the others either not getting enough screentime or not quite finding the right tone (Paul Dano's 'Riddler' is neither unsettling or scary enough). At 176mins, the movie is vastly too long and bloated and the final act is a real mess. When it works, it really works though, and there's plenty to like even if it feels like it is getting high off its own sense of artsy self-importance at times.
Batman Returns: Cards on the table, I think Batman '89 is complete crap and like neither Keaton or Nicholson in it. Returns is far from a flawless movie - the tone and pacing are all over the place - but nevertheless represents a massive step up on its predecessor by doubling-down on the Gothic grotesque, the nastiness, and in DeVito and Pfeiffer finds two actors who fill their villainous roles more convincingly and idiosyncratically than Nicholson - who was just playing himself in bad clown makeup - and consequently make a more lasting impression, both visually (the costume design is top notch) and characters in their own right. Having Christopher Walken as a secondary villain adds even more devilish charisma and while Keaton's interpretation of Bruce/Batman still doesn't quite land, he's given more interesting material in his romance with Selina and his performance is more settled. If the first Batman often seemed a misguided half-measure between Burton's dark sensibilities and studio commercialism, this is Burton's game every step of the way and all the more fascinatingly twisted for it.
The Dark Knight Rises: Nolan's third entry is completely overwrought and often incoherent without being compelling enough to keep the plot holes from becoming distracting. The movie strains to make itself big and epic without integrating its myriad parts as comfortably as Begins or having the thematic clarity of Dark Knight: the movie seems like it wants to say something about the Wall Street protests but doesn't know what. That said, if the movie as a whole is a bit of a shambles, its devotion to non-stop operatic bombast means that when individual scenes hit their mark, they linger longer in the memory than they probably deserve to. The cast is again fantastic, with another genuinely iconic villain in Tom Hardy's Bane and Anne Hathaway making a surprisingly terrific Catwoman. Joseph Gordon-Levitt does nice work with the only grounded character in the film, offering a welcome breather from the cacophony surrounding him. Bruce's scenes in the pit are plenty atmospheric if you don't think about them too much (read: at all) and back surgery by punching will never not be funny. DKR is an almost even mix between the terrific and the terrible, but goodwill from previous movies and complete dedication to its ridiculous material just about carry it through on the right side.
As for the others, Batman ('66) is an extended episode of the TV show and pulls out some fantastic jokes in playing up its ironic innocence ("Some days you just can't get rid of a bomb!"). At 104 minutes it is dragged out at least quarter of an hour longer than can be sustained but is still a delight if you're in the mood for its very specific style. Batman & Robin is objectively terrible but chock-a-block with stupid puns and dad jokes so I can hoot my way through it and have a grand old time. It's flatulently stupid, knows it's stupid, and everyone on-screen knows it's stupid, so I'm completely unashamed of laughing my way through it, particularly when it gave us the visual masterpiece that is Bane in a driver's hat. Batman Forever is sort of fun, sort of annoying, not being as committed to its idiocy as B&R and Tommy Lee Jones' Two-Face is just exhausting where Arnie and Uma's hamminess is giddily idiotic. Jim Carrey works in his Jim Carrey way, but Val Kilmer is miscast and Nicole Kidman offers nothing in a nothing part. Chris O'Donnell, like Tommy Lee Jones, is just irritating. Finally, for reasons previously described, Batman ('89) is a stinker. I can appreciate its lasting cultural impact, particularly for fans who saw it in cinemas, but there's really very little about it that doesn't feel jarring or compromised or try-hard. I've rewatched it a few times in hope of seeing what others see in it, but aside from the score, nothing really lands for me.
Batman Begins: The first film in Nolan's saga juggles a lot of disparate elements but does so without feeling overstuffed or overplaying its hand trying to feel 'epic'. Setting out Bruce's path to becoming Batman gives him more depth as a character and affords his first appearance in-costume a hugely potent build-up. The mysticism adds a touch of otherworldly mystery to the drama without suffocating it, Batman does a little detective work rather than just punching people, and the cast is uniformly outstanding. Liam Neeson brings enormous gravitas to his Ra's Al Ghul while Cillian Murphy counterbalances his seriousness with the mandatory lunacy, making for a pair of villains well-matched to Bale's formidably established hero.
The Dark Knight: Heath Ledger obviously steals the show and the movie offers a lot more thematic depth than Begins in its battle between Batman and Joker for Harvey Dent's soul. Zimmer's score is tremendous, the cast is once again fantastic and the stakes are kicked up a gear without slipping into the excessively over-the-top territory that DKR found itself in. It loses out to Begins because its climactic showdown is rather underwhelming, it is about ten minutes too long and doesn't have the visual variety which helped Begins feel fresh (this is effectively all cityscapes, all the time). It's still as strong a sequel to that film as anyone could ask for, however.
The Batman: The movie's emphasis on Batman as a detective give this one a very distinct flavour to the other films, much to its credit. Pattinson is better than expected in the title role and it is hugely atmospheric despite being a little overcooked at times. The rest of the cast is a mixed bag, with Zoe Kravitz and Colin Farrell standing out but the others either not getting enough screentime or not quite finding the right tone (Paul Dano's 'Riddler' is neither unsettling or scary enough). At 176mins, the movie is vastly too long and bloated and the final act is a real mess. When it works, it really works though, and there's plenty to like even if it feels like it is getting high off its own sense of artsy self-importance at times.
Batman Returns: Cards on the table, I think Batman '89 is complete crap and like neither Keaton or Nicholson in it. Returns is far from a flawless movie - the tone and pacing are all over the place - but nevertheless represents a massive step up on its predecessor by doubling-down on the Gothic grotesque, the nastiness, and in DeVito and Pfeiffer finds two actors who fill their villainous roles more convincingly and idiosyncratically than Nicholson - who was just playing himself in bad clown makeup - and consequently make a more lasting impression, both visually (the costume design is top notch) and characters in their own right. Having Christopher Walken as a secondary villain adds even more devilish charisma and while Keaton's interpretation of Bruce/Batman still doesn't quite land, he's given more interesting material in his romance with Selina and his performance is more settled. If the first Batman often seemed a misguided half-measure between Burton's dark sensibilities and studio commercialism, this is Burton's game every step of the way and all the more fascinatingly twisted for it.
The Dark Knight Rises: Nolan's third entry is completely overwrought and often incoherent without being compelling enough to keep the plot holes from becoming distracting. The movie strains to make itself big and epic without integrating its myriad parts as comfortably as Begins or having the thematic clarity of Dark Knight: the movie seems like it wants to say something about the Wall Street protests but doesn't know what. That said, if the movie as a whole is a bit of a shambles, its devotion to non-stop operatic bombast means that when individual scenes hit their mark, they linger longer in the memory than they probably deserve to. The cast is again fantastic, with another genuinely iconic villain in Tom Hardy's Bane and Anne Hathaway making a surprisingly terrific Catwoman. Joseph Gordon-Levitt does nice work with the only grounded character in the film, offering a welcome breather from the cacophony surrounding him. Bruce's scenes in the pit are plenty atmospheric if you don't think about them too much (read: at all) and back surgery by punching will never not be funny. DKR is an almost even mix between the terrific and the terrible, but goodwill from previous movies and complete dedication to its ridiculous material just about carry it through on the right side.
As for the others, Batman ('66) is an extended episode of the TV show and pulls out some fantastic jokes in playing up its ironic innocence ("Some days you just can't get rid of a bomb!"). At 104 minutes it is dragged out at least quarter of an hour longer than can be sustained but is still a delight if you're in the mood for its very specific style. Batman & Robin is objectively terrible but chock-a-block with stupid puns and dad jokes so I can hoot my way through it and have a grand old time. It's flatulently stupid, knows it's stupid, and everyone on-screen knows it's stupid, so I'm completely unashamed of laughing my way through it, particularly when it gave us the visual masterpiece that is Bane in a driver's hat. Batman Forever is sort of fun, sort of annoying, not being as committed to its idiocy as B&R and Tommy Lee Jones' Two-Face is just exhausting where Arnie and Uma's hamminess is giddily idiotic. Jim Carrey works in his Jim Carrey way, but Val Kilmer is miscast and Nicole Kidman offers nothing in a nothing part. Chris O'Donnell, like Tommy Lee Jones, is just irritating. Finally, for reasons previously described, Batman ('89) is a stinker. I can appreciate its lasting cultural impact, particularly for fans who saw it in cinemas, but there's really very little about it that doesn't feel jarring or compromised or try-hard. I've rewatched it a few times in hope of seeing what others see in it, but aside from the score, nothing really lands for me.
arkhamguy123
Banned
I don’t know where you got the lipstick thing from but he’s not wearing lipstick and nothing indicates that he is lol
The interrogation scene is cinema royalty
Badlucktroll
Member
Then Keaton almost stayed on for Batman Forever, turning down $15 million and dropping out. Then he made bullshit like Multiplicity. I bet if Keaton had stayed on he would have been able to get Joel Schumacher to bend on some things. Would have been a better movie, not just the same movie with Keaton in Kilmer's place.