It's so hard for me to rank, honestly. Like I have a hard time even pitting Nolan's films against Burton films as they all mean so much to me, are entirely different and represent different parts of my life. I've put off even attempting it, but what the heck...I'm in the mood to give it a go.
Gun to my head.....sticking only to the live action films...
1. The Dark Knight
Yeah, this just represents the pinnacle of a "Batman MOVIE" for me. The line between "great comic book adaptation" and "great movie" blurs completely and you're left with a what ends up being a piece of pop art for the ages. Not flawless, but nothing is. The movie grips you tight from the opening seconds and never lets go until the credits hit. Nothing I could add that hasn't been said a million times over. And yeah, it's an ensemble piece and Harvey's rise and fall is the backbone of the story-- but Batman is still the main/central character even if Harvey is more of a protagonist. There's a difference and the two aren't always the same:
When the Main Character is NOT the Protagonist. It's just a monster of structure, pacing and dense but efficient storytelling. I also think it's damn near definitive as "the" Batman/Joker story, in terms of really capturing the essence of their eternal battle within one film.
2. Batman 89
I do take historical significance into account, and if this movie doesn't happen then I don't know what this franchise/character even looks like today. Keaton is inspired casting. Legendary art direction. Burton had just the right sensibility to bring the audience out of 60s camp for Batman. Quirky, fun, but still full of some real menace and danger. The fact that Jack Nicholson played the Joker still kind of blows my mind. For all the liberties it takes, it gets so much right in terms of establishing the FEEL of modern/darker Batman. It established the musical vocabulary that all the composers since have done their spin on. My appreciation for it has steadily grown over the years. Just a wonderfully entertaining movie and a unique vision to this day. It's undeniably iconic.
3. The Dark Knight Rises
Criminally underrated. Makes me love it more. This is the one that from a personal standpoint moves me the most emotionally. It's really the one Batman movie that breaks you ALL the way down to build you back up and takes you on that full journey with the character to hell and back. The extremely rare true conclusion in this genre. The ending is everything. Scale is unmatched in the franchise. Bane is somehow the perfect follow-up villain for Joker and strikes an impossible balance between genuinely terrifying/badass and endlessly memeable/quotable. Hathaway is a treat as Selina, adding so much to the tapestry of the film even with a smaller supporting role, while Bale gives his best performance of the trilogy. The story isn't as tight as TDK, but Nolan is now fully in his element as a maestro of scale, spectacle and visual storytelling and the result is a movie that actually lives up to the promise of "epic". Sometimes I wonder how post-Interstellar/Dunkirk Nolan might approach a Batman movie differently, but I figure this is the closest we'll get as I think he needed to make this film in order to make those films. I also think this is the most "comic booky" of the trilogy and I mean that in a good way. Hans’ score absolutely CRUSHES.
4. Batman Begins
The first hour alone probably keeps this in the top 5 permanently, even if it moves around a bit for me. It's so good that we very well may never get another Batman origin film in our lifetimes. And like 89, I have to give points for the historical significance. The idea of rebooting a franchise just wasn't a thing, and Nolan was able to lend such a credibility to the character with his take on the material, his commitment to practical effects at a time when CGI was taking over, and the incredible cast he assembled. The Bruce/Alfred relationship here is a franchise-best and established the emotional backbone of the whole trilogy. While I think Nolan fully comes into his own as a filmmaker with the two sequels and I think Jonah Nolan’s touch helps elevate them too, watching Begins is very much like watching seeds of greatness being planted and it's frickin’ beautiful. It kicked off the modern era of Batman that we’re still living in, IMO.
5. Batman Returns
This is the one that started it all for me at the ripe age of 5. Kinda hilarious given it's easily the most f***ed up movie in the franchise.
. I still love it so much. It's held up really well in a lot of ways, and if nothing else it deserves the distinction of setting a precedent in this franchise for directors to
really put their creative stamp on this character. It's SO Burton-y that I really have to be in the right mood to watch it these days, I always kind of feel like I need to take a shower afterwards...The Penguin is really that grotesque of a creation...but man-- Keaton, Pfeiffer, DeVito...all brilliant in their roles.
Really though, 2-5 shift around a lot depending on my mood.
The Batman is currently 6th for me, but I should point out that I still lack the context of what Reeves' series will ultimately become, whereas with the existing films I can more clearly evaluate their relationships with each other and the franchise as a whole. So it's a bit more "TBD" for me as I want to give my feelings more time to evolve and I just hold these 5 very to my heart.