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[SpaceWolf]

Yes, you heard.

Batman Begins

Pros:
-Story more tightly focused on Batman, making it inherently more of a Batman story.
-Set in a Gotham City that actually looks like Gotham City, aesthetically.
-Tom Wilkinson hamming it up like there's no tomorrow.

Cons:
-The scene where Bruce kills all those ninjas after refusing to kill a criminal is really kind of weird.
-Batman can fly for some reason.
-Story is resolved by Batman fucking killing a man.

The Dark Knight

Pros:
-Heath Ledger delivering one of the greatest screen performances of all time.
-Richer, more thematically complex story.
-Aaron Eckhart and Gary Oldman turning in great performances.

Cons:
-Christian Bale's guttural snarling.
-Rachel Dawes subplot. No-one cares "when you can finally be together", Bruce. For god sake, man.
-Story is resolved by Batman fucking killing a man.

Personally, I think I'm of the opinion that Batman Begins is the better, more enjoyable film, although that wasn't always the case. The Dark Knight used to be one of my absolute favourite films, I used to think it was the bees-knees when it first came out....but on subsequent re-watches...I think I've come to be of the opinion that it's only Heath Ledger's performance in The Dark Knight that really managed to elevate it into something special, finding the story for the sequel a little less enjoyable in comparison to Begins.

But what do you think, Gaf? Something, something, film we deserve?

 

[Mesoian]

Dark Knight.

 

[Theorry]

Easy. Dark Knight.

 

[Haloid1177]

Dark Knight is the better film, Batman Begins is a better comic book/Batman movie.

 

[Chumley]

TDK and it's not close. Also the best superhero film full stop, transcended the genre to be discussed next to classic crime films.

 

[Jawmuncher]

Dark Knight easily. Didn't have to carry the baggage of "setting up" the character.

 

[autumnleaf]

I find Begins much more rewatchable.

 

[FrontalMonk]

Batman Begins : The Dark Knight :: A New Hope : Empire Strikes Back

 

[HStallion]

Mask of the Phantasm

 

[Doctor Decimate]

Batman Begins up until the Scarecrow stuff is the best of the trilogy.

But there's a lot of movie left after that so The Dark Knight takes it.

 

[Inceptional]

Batman Begins is a great Batman origin story.
TDK is a masterpiece that will be remembered alongside the all-time greatest films ever made.

 

[Redd]

Batman Begins. Story was better and I preferred Ra's Al Ghul with the League of Shadows and The Scarecrow as villans.

 

[LosDaddie]

Dark Knight

It and Avengers (and possibly Civil War) are the pinnacle of what CBMs should be.

 

[Hyun Sai]

The Dark Knight, easily.

Begins was still very good though.

 

[Transistor]

I fucking LOVE Batman Begins, but the Dark Knight is easily the best

-Story is resolved by Batman fucking killing a man.

He didn't kill him.

But he didn't save him.

 

[Triggerhappytel]

I think The Dark Knight is probably a better film, but I prefer Batman Begins slightly more. It's almost a perfect superhero origin story and I prefer its focus on Batman. The Dark Knight is obviously great, but at times it feels like a Michael Mann crime film and it's less about Batman so much as all these other characters.

 

[31GhostsIV]

Batman Begins. TDK was bollocks apart from the Joker performance and scenes.

I don't think any of the Nolan Batman movies are great though, and TDKR was a dreadful mess.

Also, I there's tonal differences I don't like. The gold-tinge filtered Gotham from BB is glaringly different in TDK for example.

 

[Fancy Clown]

The Dark Knight is better. It's a more complex look at Bruce's character, is better shot, has a way better antagonist, has a more interesting emotional arc, has better action, is structured and paced a lot more interestingly (it's at a near constant state of climax which keeps the tension at an all time high for most of the movie, whereas Batman Begins has a very traditional 3 act comic book movie structure and scene breakdown).

Batman Begins is kinda eh shortly after Bruce becomes Batman tbh. The first act and a half is great though. The Dark Knight is great for almost all its run time outside of stupid sonar eyes, moralistic boat choices, and occasional hokey line by some bit part.

 

[Vanillalite]

Dark Knight is the better film, Batman Begins is a better comic book/Batman movie.

I'm down with this.

Also I felt both movies went too long for their own good.

 

[Scientist Supreme!]

Even though I think TDk falls apart in the third act it's easily a better movie than begins.

 

[Lupercal]

Batman Begins is still the best Origin story to date.

 

[this_guy]

Begins. I can always re-watch it and enjoy it.

Dark Knight was amazing on first watch, but I felt it was a little long. Re-watching it confirms that it really is too long, but Heath Ledger's performance is amazing. He captures every scene.

 

[M.W.]

Begins by a long shot.

 

[Ultra Numb]

They're both amazing comic book live action adaptations, but one is also an amazing movie in general but the other is still pretty good.

TDK is the former.

 

[Jawmuncher]

Mask of the Phantasm

The real answer. Still waiting on my blu-ray

 

[Poimandres]

TDK is legendary. Great film. Batman Begins is... Decent.

This is the view of most people who aren't really comic/super hero aficionados (I identify with this). Batman is easily the most popular super hero with this group as an additional observation.

 

[DontBeThatGuy]

The Dark Knight is messier, and always starts to lose me near the end. I'm leaning towards Begins because of that, even it lacks some of the more spectacular elements of Dark Knight.

(My Begins theater experience was also better, which is only relevant to me, but yeah..)

 

[Zvonimir Boban]

Begins.

Ledger and Eckhart were fantastic but Dark Knight is too long.

Rises is complete garbage of course.

 

[Randy Lanzarote]

Begins has a great origins story, any future Batman films should just assume its been done and not bother. The final third gets a bit too Hollywood, with the MacGuffin Microwave device and especially with the narrator in the pump control room.

TDK is fantastic, but that boat scene.... one set-piece too far.



I'm going to have to lean towards TDK. But only just.

 

[Glass Rebel]

Begins is better paced and doesn't have any rushed arcs or that stupid ship scene like Dark Knight but Dark Knight has the higher highs than Begins thanks to Ledger's Joker. I give it to Begins because it's more even and "whole" but it's not much better.

 

[8-Bit Sunset]

Is this a joke question?
Easily The Dark Knight!

 

[Chumley]

Rises is complete garbage of course.

Wouldn't be one of these threads without hyperbole like this.

 

[JoJo UK]

The Dark Knight, why are we discussing this?

 

[Hatefilled Vengeance]

I don't think either holds up particularly well (loved both at the time), but Begins is probably funner/more watchable.

 

[Haloid1177]

Wouldn't be one of these threads without hyperbole like this.

It's really not that hyperbolic though when you compare it directly to the other two films in the trilogy.

 

[matt360]

I think the Dark Knight was objectively the better film, but Batman Begins is my favorite of the three. Begins is infinitely rewatchable for me whereas TDK is too emotionally draining to watch every day.

 

[jelly]

I'm not a great fan of the third act in either film but Begins is a better story and more focused, stands up better on repeat viewings. The monorail is still crap. Katie Holmes was not bad.

Dark Knight, great Joker, set pieces, moments here and there but it's all over the place, has more in common with Rises, it's just the Joker and set pieces elevate it so much that it's easy to forget it's basically a better Rises.

 

[Chumley]

It's really not that hyperbolic though when you compare it directly to the other two films in the trilogy.

Complete garbage? Yeah, it is hyperbole. Those Bane fights left me rattled in the theater in a way I never was in the first two films. It's by far the weakest and the least memorable but it has moments of extreme darkness and power.

 

[MattKeil]

Dark Knight is the better film, Batman Begins is a better comic book/Batman movie.

Yeah this is about right.

Shame they didn't cap the trilogy off well at all. Could have been one of the all time greats.

Complete garbage? Yeah, it is hyperbole. Those Bane fights left me rattled in the theater in a way I never was in the first two films.

Bane's the only good part of the film, and that's mainly due to Hardy's performance. Rises is a pure David Goyer garbage script from beginning to end, and the whole movie suffers from it. People just don't want to see it that way because it's so heartbreaking to go from Begins and Knight to Rises.

 

[Rockandrollclown]

TDK. Begins isn't terribly good once Bruce comes back to Gotham imo.

 

[Theonik]

Thor 2: The Dark World

 

[m23]

I prefer Begins just ever so slightly.

 

[Premium Quality]

BB is rewatchable. TDK might be a better movie, but it can be a slog to watch it to the end.
BB>TDK

 

[Vanillalite]

Despite which one you prefer it seems GAF generally agrees both movies went to long with shaky 3rd acts.

 

[Strangelove77]

Begins. Dark Knight seems to get worse on a rewatch while Begins gets better.
I just can't watch the entirety of The Dark Knight anymore. I don't really care about Two Face, I don't care about the romance with Rachel, and in general unless Joker or Batman driving around recklessly are onscreen I just don't care. Its just too long and bloated.

Plus - train ending beats Deebo ending.

 

[Certinty]

Batman Begins.

The Dark Knight never did much for me. Probably the most overrated comic book movie in my eyes.

 

[autumnleaf]

Begins doesn't have that stupid scene with the two boats so that's a big plus in its Pro column.

 

[HvySky]

Batman Begins.

 

[beyond_death]

TDK.One of my most hyped films and it delivered in spades.Bale wasn't the strongest as Batman (great Bruce though) but Ledger was fucking legendary as Joker. Pacing was great, it really knew how to build up the tension. Nolan brought his A game.

 

[Sir_Crocodile]

Neither of them are particularly amazing, but I suppose Begins is better.

1989, Returns and Mask of the Phantasm were all light years better. ROTJ too, but that never got a cinematic release.