Bat Dude
Ok, I just recently rewatched all of the Batman films, from Burton to Nolan. I realized that my rankings had been based on vague memories I had of the films. So I rewatched them to make my decision. I'll be ranking them based on PLOT, VILLAINS, ATMOSPHERE, BATMAN, and OVERALL. Note that these are my personal opinions, so don't flame me based on it. But if you insist, I won't stop you from trying... Anyway here we go:
PLOT
1. The Dark Knight
2. Batman
3. Batman Begins
4. Batman Returns
5. Batman Forever
6. Batman and Robin
This is what I came across: Joker terrorizing Gotham just makes for an intense movie. Whether it's trying to prove that chaos can corrupt even the most noble (TDK) or just that he's the better of two "freaks" (B89), Batman vs. Joker is the definitive Batman tale, and the top 2 plots prove it.
VILLAINS
1. The Dark Knight
2. Batman Returns
3. Batman
4. Batman Begins
5. Batman and Robin
6. Batman Forever
Is the first choice surprising? No. The rest? Maybe. I just felt like the characters in Returns were better than Begins or B89. The plot was in the bottom three, but the reason that was a good film is because of the characters. Penguin was a lonely man who was driven to crime by a society who didn't accept him. It made the character relevant again. Catwoman was everything Catwoman should be. Shreck was a seedy industrialist looking to drain the life out of a depressed city. If the plot were better, then Returns might have been the best of them all, and I truly believe that. Forever is at the bottom (instead of B&R) because Two-Face is the worst character out of all of the movies. He's literally the worst villain in Batman movie history. At least B&R had Poison Ivy to save it somewhat.
ATMOSPHERE
1. Batman
2. Batman Returns
3. Batman Begins
4. The Dark Knight
5. Batman Forever
6. Batman and Robin
Say what you will about Tim Burton's films, but he and Anton Furst made, for me, the definitive Gotham City. I LOVE the atmosphere of the first Batman movie. Everything works. The city, the car, the buildings, the modern-40s hybrid, it all just works. Hats off to Burton and Furst for making Gotham City real. Begins felt more "Gotham-like" than TDK, which felt like New York City, to me. It didn't feel like Gotham at all.
BATMAN
1. Batman Begins
2. Batman Returns
3. The Dark Knight
4. Batman
5. Batman Forever
6. Batman and Robin
This one may surprise you. I felt like Christian Bale's performance in Begins 100% tops his performance in TDK. No question, imo. And his Bat-voice was better, too. I also felt Keaton's 2nd performance was better than Bale's TDK performance. If Keaton had gotten a couple more scenes in both films (Returns, especially) maybe he'd be the best of them all. I felt like Bale in TDK was boring and didn't bring much to the role. TDK would have soared above the rest if Bale had given a performance comparable to his Begins one. Kilmer played a terrible Batman, but his surprisingly good Bruce Wayne saved him here. Clooney had the misfortune of having a terrible director and script. I think he'd have been ok if he were given even the Forever script to work with. He's a good actor being put in a bad situation. Like Ahnuld and Uma Thurman.
OVERALL/FINAL
For this one, I tallied up scores from the previous 4 categories. 1st place gets 5 points, 2nd place 4, 3rd place gets 3, 4th place gets 2, 5th place gets 1, and 6th place gets 0. Here is the overall rankings now that I've rewatched the films:
1. The Dark Knight (final score = 15)
T2. Batman/Batman Returns (final scores = 14)
4. Batman Begins (final score = 13)
5. Batman Forever (final score = 3)
6. Batman and Robin (final score = 1)
No surprise here, The Dark Knight is the best of the best in Batman film land. However, 2nd place is shared by Burton's movies, which still hold up as great films in their own right. Begins comes in 4th, showing that despite it's ranking, it's still a great movie (shown by it's high score). Forever is a distant 5th, proving that despite it having the WORST villain, it's not the worst film. And no surprise, Batman and Robin is the worst of the worst in Batman film land.
Thoughts?
PLOT
1. The Dark Knight
2. Batman
3. Batman Begins
4. Batman Returns
5. Batman Forever
6. Batman and Robin
This is what I came across: Joker terrorizing Gotham just makes for an intense movie. Whether it's trying to prove that chaos can corrupt even the most noble (TDK) or just that he's the better of two "freaks" (B89), Batman vs. Joker is the definitive Batman tale, and the top 2 plots prove it.
VILLAINS
1. The Dark Knight
2. Batman Returns
3. Batman
4. Batman Begins
5. Batman and Robin
6. Batman Forever
Is the first choice surprising? No. The rest? Maybe. I just felt like the characters in Returns were better than Begins or B89. The plot was in the bottom three, but the reason that was a good film is because of the characters. Penguin was a lonely man who was driven to crime by a society who didn't accept him. It made the character relevant again. Catwoman was everything Catwoman should be. Shreck was a seedy industrialist looking to drain the life out of a depressed city. If the plot were better, then Returns might have been the best of them all, and I truly believe that. Forever is at the bottom (instead of B&R) because Two-Face is the worst character out of all of the movies. He's literally the worst villain in Batman movie history. At least B&R had Poison Ivy to save it somewhat.
ATMOSPHERE
1. Batman
2. Batman Returns
3. Batman Begins
4. The Dark Knight
5. Batman Forever
6. Batman and Robin
Say what you will about Tim Burton's films, but he and Anton Furst made, for me, the definitive Gotham City. I LOVE the atmosphere of the first Batman movie. Everything works. The city, the car, the buildings, the modern-40s hybrid, it all just works. Hats off to Burton and Furst for making Gotham City real. Begins felt more "Gotham-like" than TDK, which felt like New York City, to me. It didn't feel like Gotham at all.
BATMAN
1. Batman Begins
2. Batman Returns
3. The Dark Knight
4. Batman
5. Batman Forever
6. Batman and Robin
This one may surprise you. I felt like Christian Bale's performance in Begins 100% tops his performance in TDK. No question, imo. And his Bat-voice was better, too. I also felt Keaton's 2nd performance was better than Bale's TDK performance. If Keaton had gotten a couple more scenes in both films (Returns, especially) maybe he'd be the best of them all. I felt like Bale in TDK was boring and didn't bring much to the role. TDK would have soared above the rest if Bale had given a performance comparable to his Begins one. Kilmer played a terrible Batman, but his surprisingly good Bruce Wayne saved him here. Clooney had the misfortune of having a terrible director and script. I think he'd have been ok if he were given even the Forever script to work with. He's a good actor being put in a bad situation. Like Ahnuld and Uma Thurman.
OVERALL/FINAL
For this one, I tallied up scores from the previous 4 categories. 1st place gets 5 points, 2nd place 4, 3rd place gets 3, 4th place gets 2, 5th place gets 1, and 6th place gets 0. Here is the overall rankings now that I've rewatched the films:
1. The Dark Knight (final score = 15)
T2. Batman/Batman Returns (final scores = 14)
4. Batman Begins (final score = 13)
5. Batman Forever (final score = 3)
6. Batman and Robin (final score = 1)
No surprise here, The Dark Knight is the best of the best in Batman film land. However, 2nd place is shared by Burton's movies, which still hold up as great films in their own right. Begins comes in 4th, showing that despite it's ranking, it's still a great movie (shown by it's high score). Forever is a distant 5th, proving that despite it having the WORST villain, it's not the worst film. And no surprise, Batman and Robin is the worst of the worst in Batman film land.
Thoughts?
