1a) Anton Furst - Batman 89
1b) Matt Reeves - The Batman
GAP
2) Chris Nolan - TDK Trilogy
3) Todd Phillips - Joker 2019
GAP
4) Zack Snyder - BvS / JL
5) Burton / Welch - Batman Returns
6) Joel Schumacher - Batman Forever / Batman and Robin
Labeling it just Burton's Gotham and lumping the two films together is tremendously out of touch. There is such a clear distinction from Gotham in 89 to Returns that it's almost KNIGHT and day hehe
Furst designed that first batsuit, batmobile, batwing, and Gotham City. Dude is a legend, with great taste. It's rude to his work by lumping it in with the Bo Welch look of Gotham from the sequel.
Especially considering how immature and devious Burton did away with Furst, who brought such visual prominence to his first major big screen blockbuster bringing the character to the big screen. Which also apparently as I've heard tossed around that contributed to Furst's suicide when he was heart broken how he got ditched for Batman Returns. But also how he got dumped by Burton. Refusing to take his calls, and sending producers to let him go, etc.
They did keep Furst's batmobile though. SMH.
But Returns is an entirely different city. It's so stage play like. Claustrophobic, and not in an unsettling or good way. It just looks so super fake in retrospect. Also introduced the naked men statues around Gotham before even Schumacher got his hands on the franchise. Just very overrated amongst Bat cinephiles fans, IMO. Like it was filmed in a Walmart. Pass.
Furt's Gotham from 89 is basically perfect. Not near as stage like. Filming on an outdoor set at least gave the illusion they were in an actual city to accompany all the dripping with character, mood and atmosphere. Batman and the Joker fit seamlessly into that world. It set the template for BTAS, and just people's perception of Gotham period. It never was a grimy Gothic Atmospheric wonderland to that point in the source material.
Nolan and Phillips Gotham while filming on location, makes things have more gravitas, believability and reality. But they're also missing the uniqueness that makes Gotham itself a terrifying character in it's own right, with all that mood and atmosphere. Very real, to match their themes and approach. Which is unsettling in it's own way, when you see a Batman, Joker, Bane, Scarecrow type in that type of relatable scenery. But ultimately they are missing that precise pizazz to truly make it Gotham City, and not just Chicago, NYC, Pittsburg with the comic book namesake. Phillips was a little better in this regard besides elements from BB with the Narrows, etc. These two similar takes are pretty good, but not great.
Schumacher's Gotham? Like Bo's Batman Returns, but instead of snow and blank ink blanketing the city, it's drenched in neon lighting, and even more inexplicably stupid male physique statues built in through out the entire city. Pass.
Snyder's Gotham? We don't get to see too much of it, but besides a trap house with human trafficking, like much of Snyder's visuals, everything looks all too green screen and video game-ish for my tastes. Pass.
Now, Reeve's Gotham? Much like Furst's, but modernized, basically perfection. It has the real world on location filming, giving scale like Nolan and Phillips. It has the stylization, mood, atmosphere, and grittiness of David Fincher's Seven and Furt's Gotham from Batman 89. Reeve's verse feels alot like the Arkham game series, in that it is like the best amalgamation of the best iterations of the mythology.
