Post-Battinson: Rank Your Top 5 Batman Movies

[Gothamsknight]

I've been thinking about it more and more, and with The Batman being out a couple of weeks along with hype settling down post release, I've changed my ranking slightly. I still think The Batman is great overall, but certainly not perfect.

The Dark Knight
Batman Begins
The Dark knight Rises
The Batman
Mask of The Phantasm

 

[Doctor Jones]

I've been thinking about it more and more, and with The Batman being out a couple of weeks along with hype settling down post release, I've changed my ranking slightly. I still think The Batman is great overall, but certainly not perfect.

The Dark Knight
Batman Begins
The Dark knight Rises
The Batman
Mask of The Phantasm

 

[BatLobster]

I've been thinking about it more and more, and with The Batman being out a couple of weeks along with hype settling down post release, I've changed my ranking slightly. I still think The Batman is great overall, but certainly not perfect.

The Dark Knight
Batman Begins
The Dark knight Rises
The Batman
Mask of The Phantasm

 

[Gothamsknight]

 

[MagnarTheGreat]

The Batman and Rises are fairly close in my book. They each have advantages over each other and are both a bit too long. It's not worth raising too much of an eyebrow over.

 

[Rick190293]

This is the first time I'm using the ''better Batman movie'' concept haha, cuz for me, TB is a better Batman movie with more bat-elements on it. Rises, otherwise, is a better movie in general (and a pretty great Batman movie.)

 

[Filmfreak]

I put all the Nolan films above The Batman, as well.

 

[Doctor Jones]

I have to draw a line in the sand here and say The Batman is the better movie. The Batman's biggest problem is how it handles the Thomas Wayne stuff, but is still functional and solid and doesn't undermine the rest of it. It's a bump in the road. Now The Batman could have handled the structure of its mystery better, but for what it is, it's still a very solid and functional story.

In TDKR, the execution of the nuke element and trapping all the city's cops underground and the trigger man just made things convoluted. I do love how Nolan tried to tell a disaster movie story, but it's like there's two movies in one. You have a disaster movie but half baked themes of economic unrest. If a Tale of Two Cities was the inspiration and given the themes of economic unrest and revolution, and where it goes with Wall Street battle, with Bane occupying Gotham and there's being uprising, wouldn't have it made more sense to just make it a war film?

Once that stadium scene hits, it becomes a slog because the two threads crash into each other. I could at least enjoy this if Nolan's occupied Gotham wasn't boring. Nolan's insistence on practical effects becomes self defeating to the point where for a guy whose philosophy is making things on the grandest scale possible, he contradicts himself by half filling a football stadium and using IMAX cameras to film a war scene where a couple hundred extras just run into each other on a cramped street. He should have went full No Man's Land. Those empty half an inch snow covered streets are really exciting!

 

[flickchick85]

I still love TDKR, but from a pure filmmaking standpoint, it is definitely much clunkier than The Batman, imo. Same with BB, for that matter. The only Nolan film that matches it on that front is TDK, but I prefer TB on a stylistic level, which is why, after 5 viewings, it remains firmly at the top of my rankings and is likely to stay there for the foreseeable future unless dethroned by its own sequel.

 

[BatLobster]

TDKR has a stronger emotional pull for me. It's that simple. I wouldn't go as far as to say it's a "better" film (and if someone puts The Batman at #1 it doesn't bother me in the slightest), but like @MagnarTheGreat said I don't think the two films are that far apart. I also take into account that it had the unenviable job of directly following TDK, and closing out a trilogy is never an easy task. And I think it's a banger of a conclusion for that trilogy and an incredibly underrated film. I absolutely love the scale of it. I think Hardy's Bane is a much cooler villain. The climb, I can literally just watch any time and still get goosebumps. The ending is one of the most satisfying endings to a film I've ever seen, and the finality that ending-- for a superhero series is exceedingly rare and special.

You could argue TDKR's plot was too ambitious for its own good, but I still think when it comes to the most important thing-- the central journey for Bruce Wayne, it tells a clearer story where the culmination of the arc feels huge and it feels earned. The Batman takes a hit for me in this regard for me, where I still am questioning whether the growth for Batman was told in the best or clearest way it could've been. There is also the fact that I respect the hell out of TDKR trying to tie up as many loose ends as possible and give a definitive conclusion for the story. A lot of my reservations with The Batman, I have to go "Well let's see how they develop that in the sequel". Just kind of part of the conundrum of comparing a concluding chapter to an opening chapter, I guess. Especially where you have one that it such a definitive conclusion, and another one with such a strong emphasis on world-building and contains things you know will be expanded on in future spinoff shows. Just entirely different things.

End of the day, TDKR just means more to me personally, and I find it to be underrated as hell. The Batman is great, Fraser's cinematography is astonishing, Pattinson is a phenomenal Batman, the tone is deliciously noir, Reeves deserves all the credit in the world for what he was able to achieve and the sheer clarity of his vision for this world...it just doesn't quite match the emotional highs of the trilogy for me. Part of that may absolutely be my own biases and nostalgia influencing me, but I think we're all entitled to those feelings.

 

[Gothamsknight]

Yeah, as @BatLobster said, TDKR is a more emotional movie for me. It's bold, and it does things without hesitation, and for that I just love it so much. Plus it's wrapping up a trilogy, which is always extremely difficult. I'm not denying there's flaws, but the best parts of the movie are so good that they don't affect my enjoyment of it overall. A phenomenal villain, gorgeous cinematography, another iconic score for the 3rd time in the trilogy, and beautifully symbolic scenes such as the constantly mentioned prison escape, the scenes between Bruce and Alfred, the sewer fight, the opening, etc. There's so much there honestly. Batman's not even in the movie that much, and a lot of our time is spent with Bruce. I admire those creative choices.

The Batman is an emotional movie, but I'll be honest, there's a lot that I predicted happening which slightly hinders parts of it for me. The ending of the film was fantastic, but I was like "well of course this is what's gonna happen". I think Reeves has a lot of room to do the unexpected with a sequel, so I'm very excited to see what ends up happening. I'm not trying to say that I NEED this trilogy to reinvent the genre again, because it's just a different time, but I want something that ends up being different or not so predictable in some ways. Aside from that though, I do love The Batman and it's still in my top 5, which is high praise. And I can't wait to watch it again!

 

[Kane52630]

 

[Doctor Jones]

 

[Doctor Jones]

I still love TDKR, but from a pure filmmaking standpoint, it is definitely much clunkier than The Batman, imo. Same with BB, for that matter. The only Nolan film that matches it on that front is TDK, but I prefer TB on a stylistic level, which is why, after 5 viewings, it remains firmly at the top of my rankings and is likely to stay there for the foreseeable future unless dethroned by its own sequel.

You think BB is clunky, am I understanding that right? Top of your rankings in what sense? Comic book movies or Batman movies?

 

[Hunter Rider]

1. The Dark Knight
2. The Batman
3. The Dark Knight Rises
4. Batman Begins
5. B89

 

[flickchick85]

You think BB is clunky, am I understanding that right? Top of your rankings in what sense? Comic book movies or Batman movies?

Yes I’ve always said that about BB. Goyer’s script in particular…I just have a lot of issues with it, to put it mildly. It’s always been my least-favorite of the Nolan trilogy. But yeah, considering TDK was not just my favorite Batflick but also my top CBM before this, both those crowns now belong to The Batman.

 

[Doctor Jones]

Yes I’ve always said that about BB. Goyer’s script in particular…I just have a lot of issues with it, to put it mildly. It’s always been my least-favorite of the Nolan trilogy. But yeah, considering TDK was not just my favorite Batflick but also my top CBM before this, both those crowns now belong to The Batman.

Huh, what makes it clunky? I've never really had any problems with it.

 

[flickchick85]

Huh, what makes it clunky? I've never really had any problems with it.

I’m not looking to rehash all the old arguments because I moved on a long time ago but basically like…80% of the dialogue is unnatural and anvillicious as hell to me (a Goyer staple - it’s like I’m actually allergic to the way he makes people talk in his movies ), the constant “fear, fear, fear…did we mention fear yet?” the whole “I won’t kill you but I don’t have to save you” bit, the part where he takes a stand against killing a guy by burning the whole place to the ground, the “It’s not who I am underneath, but what I doooo that defines me” makes me cringe every time, the part where Ducard/Ra’s equates “pulled my unconscious body from a burning building” with “left me for dead” because Goyer thought it sounded cool and snappy instead of finding a better way to write Ra’s’ actual issue with Bruce, Bruce offering to quit being Batman to be with Rachel (in such a perfunctory manner, like it was literally just there for Rachel to tell the audience that Bruce Wayne is the mask)…there’s just honestly a lot, lol. It’s a great story well-shot and acted, but very poorly-scripted, imo. So much of the movie’s dialogue is just like…explaining itself and its own logic, if that makes any sense. Drives me nuts.

 

[Doctor Jones]

I’m not looking to rehash all the old arguments because I moved on a long time ago but basically like…80% of the dialogue is unnatural and anvillicious as hell to me (a Goyer staple - it’s like I’m actually allergic to the way he makes people talk in his movies ), the constant “fear, fear, fear…did we mention fear yet?” the whole “I won’t kill you but I don’t have to save you” bit, the part where he takes a stand against killing a guy by burning the whole place to the ground, the “It’s not who I am underneath, but what I doooo that defines me” makes me cringe every time, the part where Ducard/Ra’s equates “pulled my unconscious body from a burning building” with “left me for dead” because Goyer thought it sounded cool and snappy instead of finding a better way to write Ra’s’ actual issue with Bruce, Bruce offering to quit being Batman to be with Rachel (in such a perfunctory manner, like it was literally just there for Rachel to tell the audience that Bruce Wayne is the mask)…there’s just honestly a lot, lol. It’s a great story well-shot and acted, but very poorly-scripted, imo. So much of the movie’s dialogue is just like…explaining itself and its own logic, if that makes any sense. Drives me nuts.

There's some of Nolan's on the nose dialogue like in TDK, none of those things were an issue to me. I always thought Nolan smoothed over Goyer's script. I guess I always did find it weird after that dude told Bruce he'd tell Ra's that he saved his life, why Ra's still thought he left him for dead.

 

[flickchick85]

There's some of Nolan's on the nose dialogue like in TDK, none of those things were an issue to me. I always thought Nolan smoothed over Goyer's script. I guess I always did find it weird after that dude told Bruce he'd tell Ra's that he saved his life, why Ra's still thought he left him for dead.

Oh don’t get me wrong, you’re right, Nolan definitely improved it - I remember that original leaked draft, and yikes - but it was still too rife with typical Goyerisms for me. Nolan’s not the best with dialogue either, but his on-the-nose dialogue has never bothered me nearly as much as Goyer’s. Mainly because Nolan’s sounds to me like that of an intelligent robot unaccustomed to human interaction, whereas Goyer’s sounds like that of a teenager in his first screenwriting class.

Jonathan playing such a big part on TDK’s script made all the difference for me.

 

[Doctor Jones]

Oh don’t get me wrong, you’re right, Nolan definitely improved it - I remember that original leaked draft, and yikes - but it was still too rife with typical Goyerisms for me. Nolan’s not the best with dialogue either, but his on-the-nose dialogue has never bothered me nearly as much as Goyer’s. Mainly because Nolan’s sounds to me like that of an intelligent robot unaccustomed to human interaction, whereas Goyer’s sounds like that of a teenager in his first screenwriting class.

Jonathan playing such a big part on TDK’s script made all the difference for me.

I agree Jonah was the secret piece to it all as he's the best writer of them. I noticed Chris rewrote Jonah on TDK if we're going by the credits. If that's the case, it's another example of Chris Nolan being at his best when he has his brother to balance him out as his best films came from his brother in some way! He really needed him on Tenet.

 

[AntonGobbs89]

I agree Jonah was the secret piece to it all as he's the best writer of them. I noticed Chris rewrote Jonah on TDK if we're going by the credits. If that's the case, it's another example of Chris Nolan being at his best when he has his brother to balance him out as his best films came from his brother in some way! He really needed him on Tenet.

Agreed, I love it when the Nolan Bros work together. Just a shame that it rarely happens nowadays.

 

[JackWhite]

Jonathan Nolan was the unsung hero of that collaborative team.

 

[Filmfreak]

I think one strengthens the other and they work better when they're a team, because watching some Westworld episodes I can definitely see weaknesses in Jonathan's scripts as well.

 

[BatLobster]

I too am a big fan of Jonah's contributions to the trilogy. And I think of all the films, Rises was kind of his baby. I think that's one reason I may dig it so much. I still would've loved to see his supposed 500 page draft/idea dump for it.

I think the three of them made for a terrific creative trio though. I used to be more critical of the one-liners and stuff in Begins, but I've kinda learned to live with them or I'm just too nostalgic for the film to care anymore. And I do think Goyer was valuable as an ideas guy.