With the arrival of Matt Reeves' latest Batman film, anticipation for the character's next reboot is at an all-time high. Snyder did a good job designing Batman, but he squandered him with rushed and pointless stories. He's not the only one who would have wasted the greatest superhero of all time, while others have taken him to the top and even to the Oscars. Today, we're reviewing all the Batman movies.
Or at least, all the live-action ones. Because the Dark Knight has been portrayed 10 times on the big screen by flesh-and-blood actors, to which we should add one more this year with Robert Pattinson, who donned the helmet and cape on March 4, 2022.
Having passed that moment and seeing how well things have gone for Matt Reeves' proposal, it's time to remember all the Batman films and take a journey full of twists, turns, and turns through the history of cinema and the Caped Crusader.
All the Batman movies in chronological order
First, let's look at the order in which the movies were made, and then we'll look at the best order to watch them. For that, we began the journey through the most colorful Batman, at least until Joel Schumacher painted everything neon in the 90s.
Batman: The Movie (1966)
The TV series makes the leap to film with the same campy , bright style . Adam West is still sucking in his gut as Batman, and Burt Ward is his loyal Robin.
It's practically a long episode of the classic series , in which the most famous villains of the saga: Joker , Catwoman , The Penguin and Riddler join forces to make Bruce Wayne's life impossible.
If you liked the series, it's quite a curiosity, with some much smarter and funnier comedy elements than it seems at first glance. Take a look at the bombshell scene above, it perfectly sets the tone for the movie and the series.
By the way, while the TV series was distributed by Warner Bros, the film was produced by Twenty Century Fox.
Batman (1989)
The expectation for Tim Burton's Batman was beastly. When it became known that Michael Keaton would be Bruce Wayne, a lot of eyebrows were raised, because it was not the face or the body that was expected for the Dark Knight.
Burton does what he does best, painting the character with darkness, which is what suits Batman best , while Jack Nicholson plays a Joker for the ages… until Heath Ledger came along.
The film is highly recommended . Many children eagerly awaited Batman, however, the story was mature and dark. But it was a box office success, so despite their doubts, they decided not to change what worked and repeated the formula. Thus began the first of the four films that would form the first Batman saga in cinema.
Batman Returns (1992)
Tim Burton, legitimized by the success of his previous installment, adds more ingredients to his usual stew.
A Christmas movie with the most terrifying Penguin played by Danny DeVito, the best Catwoman in history with Michelle Pfeiffer and a disturbing Christopher Walken, playing the evil Max Schreck (in honor of the name of the actor who brought Nosferatu to life).
The second best Batman movie , but it didn't convince the studio and was "too much" for a production company eager to undermine the children's, toy and merchandising sector.
Batman Forever (1995)
Warner Bros. dismissed Tim Burton and brought in Joel Schumacher to completely overhaul the franchise . The change in tone, both thematically and in style, is clear and, at the same time, doesn't suit the character at all.
This is a Batman more suitable for children , with colorful sets, characters, and plot. Val Kilmer is a Bruce Wayne with absolutely no charisma, while Jim Carrey and Tommy Lee Jones play the Riddler and Two-Face as the villains. Incidentally, the actors couldn't stand each other, and Lee refused to work with Carrey again or even see him. I don't hold it against him, though.
Additionally, Robin (Chris O'Donnell) returns to the Caped Crusader's side for a film that isn't terrible, but it's not good either . However, it grossed $100 million more than Batman Returns.
Batman and Robin (1997)
The same 90s party style with neon and decorations , the same tendency to include more and more characters.
George Clooney's Batman is best remembered for the nipples on his suit . Schwarzenegger is Mr. Freeze and Uma Thurman is Poison Ivy , while Alicia Silverstone appears as Batgirl.
Its merits include being the worst Batman movie , 11 Razzie nominations , Clooney apologizing, and putting the franchise on hold for almost 10 years by canceling Batman Unchained . Thankfully.
I don't think Chris O'Donnell ever recovered.
Batman Begins (2005)
Nolan reboots the franchise and anchors Batman once again in the darkness that suits him best, as well as in total realism . Goodbye to superpowers for everyone, and a film that breathed new life into the character.
The plot tells us about Batman's origins and how he ends up facing his old master Ra's al Ghul, played by Liam Neeson.
It's a little overrated, but at least it paved the way for…
The Dark Knight (2008)
https://youtu.be/zrXP6TYK8rY
The best Batman movie . The fandom erupted in anger when they learned that Heath Ledger, a regular in teen romantic comedies, would be playing none other than the Joker.
Then, he surrendered at his feet, because his performance was masterful and his legend grew, unfortunately, due to the actor's tragic death.
Ledger took the posthumous Oscar and the film a lot of awards and money, being the second highest grossing. What things.
The Dark Knight: The Legend Reborn (2012)
The trilogy's finale is the weakest . Tom Hardy was a good choice as Bane, it's a shame he was so unintelligible behind the mask.
Aside from that, not much. It has the honor of being the highest-grossing Batman movie and of having the most ridiculous death scene in history.
Overall it is unsatisfactory , especially given the impossible task of following in the footsteps of the Dark Knight.
Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016)
Ben Affleck is a more mature (and cycled) Batman, in Zack Snyder's reinterpretation of the character.
This crossover is loosely inspired by Frank Miller's legendary comic The Dark Knight Returns and the fight between the two superheroes.
To say that Batman is the most redeeming thing about the movie and the fight with Superman is very good.
The rest would have to be burned. And, hey, it's not just us saying it: the film has the "honor" of accumulating 4 Razzie Awards -yes, the anti-Oscars-, including Worst Screenplay and Supporting Actor for Jesse Eisenberg, who plays Lex Luthor. Seriously, a nonsense.
Justice League (2017)
A complete disaster . What should have been DC's equivalent of Marvel's Avengers is instead a pointless and incredibly boring movie.
An animated villain straight out of a 90s video game and a convoluted plot, butchered by studio cuts and Josh Whedon's reshoots . It ended in disaster and is remembered more for the controversy between the actors and director, as well as Henry Cavill's digitally removed mustache.
Snyder redeemed himself with his Snyder Cut , at least in the eyes of his fans. The four-hour film, available episodically on HBO Max, went from bad to less bad.
Aside from all this, Affleck's Batman makes a brief appearance in Suicide Squad . It doesn't matter if you're the biggest Batman fan; it's not worth the torture to see him for two minutes.
Batman (2022)
When it was announced that Robert Pattinson would don the Batman suit , the fandom once again erupted in outrage. However, effective promotion (and hype-building) and the fact that Ledger's memory was remembered helped calm opinions, and fans of the Dark Knight gave him a chance. The film features an emo Bruce Wayne , Zoë Kravitz as Catwoman , an unrecognizable Colin Farrell as the Penguin, Paul Dano as a disturbing Riddler—a performance that delighted critics, and deservedly so—and Matt Reeves at the helm of what has quickly become one of the defining films of the character and a fan favorite.
The reasons? There are several: the interpretations of the actors, the enigmatic but attractive gloomy tone that he manages and his focus on the more detective side of the superhero. And beware that it not only has good support from critics. The good work of Reeves' proposal was also reflected at the box office, managing to sneak into third position in the ranking of Batman's highest-grossing films.
Other Batman movies
Although we've focused on the live-action versions , of course, we also have the LEGO Batman movie, released in 2016: The Lego Batman Movie (known in Spain as Batman: La Lego pelÃcula ). Many people liked it; I found it passable, bordering on boring, but what do I know? What is certain is that the film was supposed to have a sequel, announced in 2018, which ultimately never materialized because Universal Pictures bought the rights to The Lego Movie franchise and canceled it.
Even so, there are many more animated proposals to watch: up to 26 titles (at least for now), which collect, with varying degrees of success, some of the most famous story arcs from comics, such as Hush or The Killing Joke.
There is also one with the Ninja Turtles that, paradoxically, is not the worst.
In what order to watch the Batman movies
Good question. The order depends a lot on personal taste, since the main thing to keep in mind is to watch Burton's and Nolan's films back-to-back . Everything else is optional.
Thus, the ideal order would be:
- The Batman (2022). Without a doubt, and with the permission of Christopher Nolan, she is the most revealing and surprising version of the character in the last decade.
- Batman (1989)
- batman returns (1992)
- Batman Begins (2005)
- The dark knight (2008)
- The Dark Knight Rises (2012). You could stop here, but if you're very, very batmaniacthen continue with...
- Batman v superman (2016) for the fight and the successful reinterpretation of Batman. Given this, I would tell you to stop, which you'll probably want to do yourself. But just in case, take a breather from Zack Snyder's almost monochromatic color palette.
- Batman: The Movie (1966). If you haven't seen the series, at least you have to live the experience of a colorful Batman with a costume of those sold on Halloween in Chinese stores. Exotic and histrionic.
- Batman Forever (1995). Which if you haven't seen, you'll think, "It's not as bad as that guy from The Output said it was." If that's the case, you can continue with the two worst ones in any order you like.
- The Justice League (2017). If you can and you don't have a life like me, better the snyder cut extended that is on HBO Max.
- Batman and robin (1997). This is how you put the last nail in the coffin, your sanity and the franchise.
As you can see, the Batman movie saga is vast. Now that we have a new Batman among us, we think it's a good time to review the entire franchise of the best detective in the world.