The Batman Retrospective

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You know, I find it kind of ironic that for someone that loves to read comic books, I generally don't like comic book movies. I've talked about this plenty of times, but most comic book movies don't really satisfy what I'm looking for as a fan. And I know that it sound super elitist when I say that I don't like comic book movies because it lets normies follow it and it's a super precious hobby of mine, but rather because I just like reading stories about super heroes than watching them. I'm always aware that it's some actor in a suit fighting against other actors in suits. I'm always thinking "Well that's a good interpretation of this character." Hell, more often than not, people will talk about who's playing the character more than the actual plot.

Enter Batman, the premiere superhero ever according to most people. I've said before that I don't really like Batman as much as others. Oh sure, he's a cool hero with an amazing rogue's gallery, but Batman is also the least important person in a Batman story. Hal Jordan defines Green Lantern, Superman defines his whole staple of stories, and Wonder Woman defines hers. I can't imagine a Superman story with any other character. I can however imagine a Batman story without Batman. Hell, that usually happens plenty of times with his extended family. Plus DC has this idea that Batman is the only superhero that matters in their lineup, so they'll do anything to promote him and make him relevant to the detriment of other heroes. Why do we have four Batman video games, outstanding as they are, when we don't have a single Green Lantern game or even a remotely good Superman game?

This extends to film also. I haven't crunched the numbers specifically, but I'm almost certain that Batman has had the most superhero feature films ever. Compared to Superman, Iron Man, and even Spider-Man, Batman has had more films. They'll even shove him into films where he doesn't belong in order to make it more marketable to audiences. What? You thought Batman V. Superman was always meant to be a Batman movie and not a sequel to Man of Steel that became a Batman movie because DC wanted their own little shared universe franchise like Marvel?

So that got me to thinking that with Justice League coming out in two weeks, I should take a look at every Batman movie hat ever hit the big screen. Regardless of how Justice League turns out, it's at least an interesting exercise to see what led us to this moment. How we went from a campy 1966 movie to a grimdark, ultra serious Batman in 2017. Since Batman has had a lot of animated films, I'm only going to count those that are theatrically released. So no animated movies with the exception of Mask of the Phantasm, which did have a run in theatres. But because of that, I just want to say that one movie not featured in this list, Batman: Return of the Joker, is actually really good and you should totally check it out because it's easily one of my favorite superhero movies. Also, I will talk about Batman V. Superman and The Lego Batman Movie even though I already talked about them. It's just easier to put all of my opinion on the subject in one place and my opinions on those movies have changed since I originally saw them. So let's dive right in since we have 11 movies to talk about!

Batman: The Movie (1966)

I know a couple of people are horrified at the mere existence of this movie and how it makes a super serious character like Batman into a joke, but two things. One, shut up, Batman was never always a super dark and edgy hero. Just look at Bat Baby, the Batman of Zur-En-Arrh, and that one time he watched tentacle sex with Superman. Two, have a sense of humor. The Adam West Batman TV show was never meant to be super serious, but we look at this movie over half a century later and think of how embarrassing it must have been. In the contrary, this is actually a pretty fun movie, and arguably the most fun Batman movie until The Lego Batman Movie.

This was the movie that gave us the Bat Shark Repellent, a classic gag that we still have a good laugh at today. But outside of looking at the hokey sets and over the top acting, it actually had a pretty fun plot all things considered. We had a major team up between the Joker, Penguin, The Riddler, and Catwoman, who took possession of a machine that turns people into dust, and it's up to Batman and Robin to save the UN Security Council.

All of the classic Batman moments are here. The cheesy music, the word balloons that pop out when Batman hits someone, the over the top acting, and all of it is still enjoyable. It's like watching a cartoon come to life in the best ways. I love to read goofier and sillier comics, and Batman: The Movie is in the same league as Superman as being a feel good superhero movie.

Batman (1989)

But if you want a true classic superhero movie, you need to watch Tim Burton's Batman. While I think Batman: The Movie has a cheesy charm equivalent to Superman, Batman rivals Superman in terms of overall quality. This was the Batman movie that defined a generation, and it still holds up fairly well today.

We get Jack Nicholson's classic take on the Joker, a gangster turns criminal mastermind that causes chaos and anarchy because he can. Batman has to stop him, and it all leads to one hell of a great climax. This was first Batman movie where we actually got to take a look into his psyche and see what makes him tick. There are tons of moments in the movie dedicated to Bruce Wayne, which is pretty rare all things considered. In most Batman movies, we spend a ton of time with Batman and not Bruce Wayne. I think there's only one other movie where we spend the majority of the time with Bruce Wayne, and that took a very different approach. But it works here. We get a Bruce Wayne that feels suave, mature, and is comfortable in his role as Batman.

My one gripe with this movie is its length, since it does feel like it can go on a bit too long. That normally wouldn't be a problem, but the movie's incredibly dark sets just make it feel like a drag to sit through the duller moments. There are a ton of blacks and grays that litter the world, and after a while it just gets visually boring when not much is happening. But that's a minor gripe, since I still enjoy sitting through Batman whenever I decide to put it on.

Batman Returns (1992)

And now we get... weird. Batman Returns is a bizarre sequel to Batman in that it takes what works from the original and keeps it, but then forces other aspects in that don't fit with this world. So in Tim Burton's Gotham City, Batman was fairly practical, as was the Joker. They had a few comic book like actions and items, but for all intents and purposes, it was the world that was filled with style, not the characters. I feel like Tim Burton tried to put too much style into his characters and we get... weird results.

I know that this is still the same universe as the previous movie, but you cannot tell me that Penguin fits into this world. An overweight, small bird guy with an army of penguins that live underneath Gotham and he looks like a nightmare spawn just doesn't fit with this world. Catwoman would, but her character is clearly insane and looks more of like a Joker-lite than anything else. But like the Penguin, you only remember her for one thing; their design. People remember how the Penguin looks and people 1000% remember how Catwoman looks. But the actual plot? Did you remember that Christopher Walken was in this movie as a somewhat major villain? Do you even remember what the overall plot was? Chances are, you don't.

That would be fine in any other movie, since Batman movies really aren't focused on their plot, but the style is so strong that it supersedes everything else. I remember things about Batman. I remember Bob, Bruce Wayne sitting in his dining room, the Joker's parade, I remember all of that. I couldn't tell you thing one about Batman Returns besides Batman killing people (yup, he still does that) and Catwoman putting a bird in her mouth. This is just a mess of a movie. Not bad, but definitely not good.

Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (1993)

So here's an odd entry. Between the live action Batman movies, we actually got a feature film from Batman: The Animated Series. It had a theatrical release, and it apparently made $5.6 million at the box office. And all things considered? It's a great Batman movie.

It's pretty much an elongated episode of the TV show, but that is hardly a strike against the movie. A mysterious figure called The Phantasm comes to Gotham City and starts killing off mobsters, and it's up to Batman to figure out why and stop the Phantasm, as well as deal with a surprise Joker appearance. It's everything that worked in the animated series on the big screen, and it's done perfectly. Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill are still the best Batman and Joker's respectively, and the plot actually takes a lot of time to look into Bruce Wayne, which is always a nice little touch. It shows him trying to live a normal life and the decisions that eventually led him to become Batman and sacrifice a normal, happy life. But the movie keeps on bringing up the idea of "Is this what his parent's really want for him? To stop criminals in the night to avenge them?"

The movie is just as long as it needs to be, and the action is really top notch for the animated series. Bottom line, if you like the animated series, you're going to love Mask of the Phantasm from beginning to end.

Batman Forever (1995)

Enter, Joel Schumacher. I know that name is like a Banshee wail to Batman fans, and justifiably so as we'll see in a bit, but Schumacher's intention from taking over the Batman franchise from Tim Burton was to make a goofier, make Silver Age take on Batman, alla the old Adam West series. The problem is that he tried to mesh that style with the Tim Burton universe to make something that didn't really belong in either. It was too serious to be goofy and too goofy to be taken seriously. Now that would be a problem very, very shortly, but for Batman Forever, it was kind of a nifty change of pace. I wouldn't say it was great, but it definitely was enjoyable for all of its flaws.

I'm discovering as I write this that there's little value to talking about significant story beats, but if you wanted to see this movie for one reason, it would be Jim Carrey as the Riddler. Jim Carey just as a ball as the Riddler, being incredibly over-the-top and manic in a way that only Jim Carrey can be. Now that may make this a movie you have to see, or a movie that you would avoid like the plague depending on how much you like him. Everyone else though is just okay. Val Kilmer is probably the most forgettable Batman and has a distinct lack of personality. There's a reason he was only in this one Batman movie is all I'm saying.

But your enjoyment of this movie will tie solely with how much of Schumacher's style you can stomach. I didn't think it was too grating, but it definitely didn't work out as well as it could have. To be fair to him though, I don't think he could have won no matter what he did. He had to make the movie dark like the previous ones, and if he deviated too far from it no one would see it. It was a tricky situation to navigate, and he succeeded... kind of. So Batman Forever is passable at best, harmless at worst. But then we would get...

Batman & Robin (1997)

So remember how I said like a paragraph ago that Schumacher tried to make a a Batman movie that was both serious and goofy and it kind of worked in Batman Forever? That wouldn't happen again. Not only did Batman & Robin fail to be a sequel to Batman Forever, but it's also arguably one of the worst movies of the 90's, if not one of the worst superhero movies period. It tried extra hard to be like the Adam West Batman, but the problem was that the Adam West Batman was always at least somewhat self aware of how silly it was. You don't seriously try to make Bat Shark Repellent a thing. But Batman & Robin took all of it's silliness with deathly seriousness to make a jarring, ugly, and just plain bad movie.

And I kind of think it's fun to sit through at times.

Now let me make myself clear, Batman & Robin is not enjoyable to sit through, but so much went wrong here that it's hard not to laugh at it. George Clooney is just terrible as Batman, Bat Nipples, Bat Credit Cards, Uma Thurman being what I can only describe as subtly over-the-top, Bane being nothing more than a ridiculous looking henchman, Robin being so teeth gratingly annoying, and of course, Arnold Schwarzenegger as Mr. Freeze. Mr. Freeze will throw out ice puns, use ice henchmen, make them sing Christmas songs, and is somehow to worst and best thing about the movie. I can't really describe why it all failed so much without going into a massive analysis over every second of this movie, but I would say that this is a Terribad movie in the same league as The Room.

Is this movie still godawful? Oh, you better believe it. I would never watch this movie again if I had a choice in it, but if I ever did, I could at least laugh my way through it when I'm not bored to tears by it. Batman & Robin could have worked as a movie with a few changes, like wouldn't it be interesting to see if it was completely animated? Like if this movie was done in the same style as Brave & the Bold, I think it might actually be halfway decent. But because it tried so hard to be taken seriously even though it's trying so hard to be campy, it just doesn't work in the slightest. Too bad, so sad. Actually, not sad at all.

Batman Begins (2005)

Goodbye Schumacher, enter Christopher Nolan. His Batman trilogy is, for me at least, not only the trilogy that made my generation aware of just who Christopher Nolan was, but was also the first time that we got a modern superhero that felt modern. Oh sure, X-Men and Spider-Man were kicking around at the time, but nothing felt more serious and dramatic as Batman Begins as far as superheroes were concerned. Christopher Nolan took a character that was shamed by Batman & Robin and redeemed them over the course of three movies, and it all started out with Batman Begins.

And I think it's one of the most boring superhero movies I've ever seen.

I know that I said that some of my favorite parts about earlier Batman movies was that there was a strong focus on Bruce Wayne over Batman, but that doesn't apply here because of one simple reason; Christian Bale is a boring Bruce Wayne. When I see him outside of the Batman suit, all I can see is a Patrick Bateman without anything that made Patrick Bateman stand out. He's just a dull character, and with the majority of the movie dedicated to him and him learning to become Batman, it just feels like a slog to sit through. Even villains like Ra's Al Ghul seem dull and lifeless here, while the Scarecrow, as interesting as he is here, feels like more of an after thought than anything else.

Now when Batman actually appears and Batman is left to be Batman, we get some legitimately cool scenes. But it takes about half of the film's run time to even get to this point, and even then he only appears four or five times. For a Batman movie, Batman Begins has the smallest amount of Batman out of any Batman movie.

Some people do love this movie and think it's great, and I think it's fine for an introduction to a trilogy, but as a stand alone movie, it just doesn't work. It's too slow, the characters are dull, and there isn't anything to make this movie stand out looking back on it over a decade later. Nearly everything this movie does is done better by the following movies, both of which are significantly better than Batman Begins.

The Dark Knight (2008)

So if you're a longtime reader of the site, you'll know that my favorite comic book movie is Zack Snyder's Watchmen. I think it's a near perfect adaptation that actually addresses some of the flaws in the original series and fixes them for a modern adaptation. I bring this up because, if I had to choose a second favorite comic book movie, it would have to be The Dark Knight. Chances are, a bunch of people are mad that it isn't #1. It's that good of a movie.

To say that The Dark Knight is lightning in a bottle is an understatement. This movie spends a majority of its time following Batman instead of Bruce Wayne, and that easily one of the smartest things about this movie. But it doesn't stop there. It adds some great character moments for Batman, shows a truly believable rendition of Two Face, and it just feels like a massive war between Batman and the Joker.

Oh, Heath Ledger's Joker. He's the best live action Joker, plain and simple. Every scene is instantly compelling the second he appears and he just makes the movie that much better. Heath Ledger won a posthumous Oscar for his role here, and it was completely well deserved. He's terrifying and offered a completely unique take on the Joker; the anarchist. This Joker just lives for destruction and chaos, and it became so popular that now pretty much any Joker that appears in comics or movies pays homage to it in some ways. Heath Ledger made the Joker into a genius force of nature, for better or worse. I think that it was a perfect fit for this movie given the themes and ideas that it tackled and this felt like a Joker that could truly challenge Batman and push him to his limits.

I adore this movie, and it's not going to be surprising to see where this movie ranks overall. It's one of the best movies of the past decade, and it's the movie that catapulted Batman into the popularity that he's experiencing now. Just think about that. The hype surrounding Batman has endured for nearly a decade because of how good this one movie is. I can't think of any other reason.

The Dark Knight Rises (2012)

I remember that when this movie came out, people were split down the middle about it. Some loved it, some were disappointed by it, but the overall sense that I got was that it was merely good. It could never recapture the success of The Dark Knight, but it still tried to be somewhat bold and interesting.
When it first came out, I didn't really like the movie, but after rewatching the Nolan trilogy, I would say that it at least went up a little bit in my opinion. At least it wasn't as dull as Batman Begins.

Nolan tried to raise the stakes with The Dark Knight Rises, making it into an all out war by the end of the movie between Bane, who is so dumb he's fun here, and Batman, who actually comes across as a legitimate badass in fight scenes. There are a bunch of superfluous elements in it, like remember Catwoman? Yeah, she was in this movie! And she was a big push in the trailers! And she was going to effect the movie in a major way only... she didn't. Like, at all. And remember Joseph Gordon Levitt? He was in this too! That's all I had to say about him.

At least Rises does a couple of things right though. Bane, goofy voice aside, is pretty entertaining when he's being a villain, and him "Breaking the Bat", is done spectacularly here, as is the finale fight between him and Batman. But the entire middle section just feels like a mandatory break in the action because the movie needed it. The beginning and the ending are easily the best part of the movie, but the middle section decides to tie back into Batman Begins around this point, making the movie dull just by proxy. Thankfully, the supporting cast of Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman hold the movie together while Batman gets his groove back.

I guess time has been more favorable to this movie than Batman Begins because it holds up surprisingly well all thing's considered. The action is solid, it's a great culmination of Batman's character over the past three movies, and it just gets the ending right. Okay, maybe not the actual final scene and the really weird way that Batman gets his happy ending, but there's actual closure to a Batman story! How rare is that?

Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016)

So remember when I wrote a gigantic review about how terrible this movie was and how I called it the worst movie of 2016? Yeah, all of that still holds up. I could explain why again, but since this is a Batman, retrospective, let's focus on him only just to vary it up from the usual "This movie is awful, why is this now a cinematic universe, dear God make this stop".

So I get that DC was trying to make Batman into a "Dark Knight Strikes Again" figure where he's older, more jaded, and completely mistrusts Superman, and that's all well and good, but Batman is just so joyless and unpleasant to be around. Ben Affleck is a grump here and he somehow makes his Batman voice even worse than Christian Bale's meme worthy voice. Batman is just a brute here that is easily manipulated by Luthor to the point where some of Batman's actions don't even make sense? Plus his whole 1% analogy about how Superman can destroy the human race makes Batman sound more like a villain than Luthor does during the entire movie.

And let's talk about Batman's murder streak, shall we? So I can buy that Batman maybe killed a few people in the Apokolips inspired dream sequence, because it's a dream sequence and it had Parademons in it, but when batman outright murders goons in a warehouse and wields freaking guns? You don't need to be a Batman fan to know that Batman doesn't kill and especially doesn't use guns because of what he experienced as a child. These are basic facts about the character that every other film gets right, and it's not a hard fact to do right.

The movie is still joyless, confusing, cynical, dark, bleak, and just a depressing sit. People loved Wonder Woman because it was everything that this movie wasn't! It was fun, entertaining, filled people with hope, and it just did justice to its title character. There was no justice done for Batman or Superman here, and it's easy to see why so many people vehemently hate this movie.

The Lego Batman Movie (2017)

Well this is awkward. I gave this movie a 5/5 rating earlier this year praising how fun it was and made Batman into a more comical figure and pointed out the various flaws I have with the Batman mythos. That's all well and good, but after rewatching this movie again, I just thought that the movie was fine. It lost a bit of its luster and I simply don't think it's as good as it was when I first saw it. Now it's still a good movie, but it's not as phenomenal as it was when I reviewed it back in February.

I love the creativity on display here and the relationship between Batman and the Joker is perfect for what this movie is trying to go for, but The Lego Batman Movie has a very limited pool of tricks. It has Batman acting like a badass, making fun of his badassness and pointing out its flaws, and then the movie rinses and repeats the same shtick for its runtime. Some of the jokes are still funny, but as the movie goes on they become "been there, done that". It honestly just comes across as a Lego Movie-lite, if that makes any sense. It has the same sense of humor and animation style, but The Lego Movie had heart and a pretty compelling narrative behind it. I can't help but feel though that this movie only gets by because it's just a Batman movie. It exists because people know Batman, Batman is profitable, and we can make some good money off of a kid's Batman movie.

Now that still is pretty interesting to see, since there has never really been a real PG Batman movie aimed for kids (yes, the Tim Burton and Schumacher movies were really popular with kids but they weren't intentionally made to be kid's movies), and it's a fun movie for the whole family because of that. You don't need to be aware of Batman's intricacies in order to enjoy The Lego Batman Movie. It's accessibility is its strength, and it's a unique strength at that. So I still had fun and will easily recommend this to anyone looking for a good kid's movie, but it's not as good as I once thought it was.

FINAL RANKING

So this was certainly a major look that went on for a lot longer than I thought it would, so here's my overall quality ranking for every Batman feature film!

#11 - Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice - It's just not fun to sit through. I'm not entertained, I'm just mad when I watch it.

#10 - Batman & Robin - As bad as it is, and believe me it's bad, I can't help but crack a smile at how stupid it can get.

#9 - Batman Begins - It's a dull Batman movie without much Batman in it. What more needs to be said?

#8 - Batman Returns - It's a confused movie that's too dark for its own good, but does have some elements that make it stand out in an... interesting way.

#7 - Batman Forever - It may not be for everyone, but if you want just a little bit of silly in your Batman movie, this is the right flick for you.

#6 - The Lego Batman Movie - Who would have thought that a Lego Batman movie would be good, but lo and behold, it's a pretty solid ride.

#5 - The Dark Knight Rises - The Nolan Trilogy concludes on a good note with some aspects that work, some that don't, but it still holds up today.

#4 - Batman: The Movie - Say what you will about the Adam West Batman and how goofy it was, this was a great little film that I had a blast revisiting.

#3 - Batman - Tim Burton gave us the definition of a classic superhero movie that had style, substance, and a whole lot of action that still holds up today.

#2 - Batman: Mask of the Phantasm - It's a microcosm of everything that the animated series does well and even gives us a truly memorable subplot about Bruce trying to be happy and not be Batman.

#1 - The Dark Knight - I mean... come on. Come on.