Best to Worst: Batman

The Dark Knight Rises, which was released to tremendous hype back in July, comes to DVD and Blu-ray today (read my full review). How does Christopher Nolan’s third and final Batman film rank among the others in the series? Here’s a look at the Caped Crusader on film (specifically live-action, full-length features; the many animated films could have their own list), from the highs to the lows.

The Best: The Dark Knight 

When it was announced that Heath ledger was playing the Joker, I was a little apprehensive at first, because he was more known as a romantic leading man at the time. My fears turned out to be unwarranted; the late Aussie was absolutely perfect. And so was the rest of the picture, elevating the comic book movie to a level of drama and craft that was unprecedented. This is the benchmark by which all comic book adaptations should be measured.

Batman Begins

Hard to believe it now, but prior to Nolan’s foray into the franchise, the Bat had fallen on some pretty hard times (more on that later). Even just an average flashy superhero action flick would have been an improvement. Instead, Nolan gave us the Batman movie we’d all been waiting for, sticking true to the comics while giving his own modern-day spin on the character’s origin, and casting a plethora of strong actors. Not only did this bring the series back from the dead, it  more or less started the "reboot", and several other series that had past their prime would follow in its footsteps and start fresh.

The Dark Knight Rises

It’s not without its flaws. There are a few too many plot points for even a two-and-three-quarter-hour movie, and some of them don’t work that well (and I personally would have liked to see at least one more movie in Nolan’s arc before he gave us an "ending" story). Also, Batman is out of action for much of it, leaving the hero duties to Gary Oldman's Jim Gordon and Joseph Gordon-Levitt's John Blake (both fantastic performances, by the way). Having said that, the movie is still highly satisfying, if just for the sheer bigger, better, brutal-er spectacle. If The Dark Knight was the series’ The Empire Strikes Back, this is a solid Return of the Jedi of a finale.

Batman Returns

This one seems to get a bad rap from some viewers. I can't explain why, because it’s actually the best of the pre-Nolan movies. True, the storyline about The Penguin (Danny DeVito) running for mayor of Gotham is ridiculous, but the film has more excitement than Tim Burton’s first entry. And while DeVito’s Penguin is quite different from the comics, he still creates a memorably creepy villain (and let’s face facts: The Penguin is a pretty lame character in the comics, anyway). Then there’s Michelle Pfeiffer’s Catwoman.

She's more than twice my age, but still....MEOW!

Batman

To be sure, this movie gets a lot of things about the Caped Crusader right. The look of Gotham City is the best of all the movies, and Danny Elfman’s score will always be the definitive Batman theme for me. There are also some very good individual scenes, such as the hero’s reveal early in the picture and the famous “mirror” scene. Yet, the film as a whole misfires, as Burton seems to be straining for dark comedy, and it just falls flat. Michael Keaton is good as Batman, but his scenes as Bruce Wayne romancing Vicki Vale (Kim Basinger), no so much. And Jack Nicholson seems less like the Joker than just typical manic Jack Nicholson, only in clown makeup.

The other Batman

A lot of people might not know this, but the 1960s TV show with Adam West and Burt Ward actually got its own big screen adaptation way back in ‘66. In this one, the Dynamic Duo takes on the all-star villain cast of the Joker (Cesar Romero), the Penguin (Burgess Meredith), the Riddler (Frank Gorshin), and the second of three Catwomen that this version of Batman would see (Lee Meriwether). If you can tolerate the incredibly campy tone, silly storyline, and bad puns, the picture can be enjoyed as kitschy comedy. Still, it’s more a historical footnote than a necessary entry in the evolution of the character on film. Even the lightest Batman comics were rarely this goofy.

The Worst: Batman Forever and Batman & Robin (tie)

The nipples! The horrible nipples!

Everyone seems to agree that Joel Schumacher’s run is the low point of Batman in cinema (Schumacher himself actually apologized...kinda). And yet, I’ll always have a soft spot for these two, as they were my first exposure to the character on film. That’s not to say they’re good, though; they’re every bit as silly, illogical, and badly acted as you’ve heard (though arguably so bad they’re funny).  

Which one’s worse?  Well, Batman Forever gave the world that Seal song. You can decide how that breaks the tie.