The Favorites - 13 Favorite Batman Movies

Well, it’s 2022, and we have yet another live-action Batman film. Yeah, we had Ben Affleck in the previous DCEU movies, but this is the first solo film in about a decade. Not only are we getting Rob Pattisson in the role, Michael Keaton (along with Affleck) is supposed to be returning to the role in the Flash movie. By the way, why is this movie constantly pushed back? Maybe that slo-mo from the Snyder Cut carried over onto that movie’s production.

This did get me thinking about what my favorite Batman films are. I mean, the Dark Knight has had a crapton of films released in over the years, live-action and animated. He’s been on his own, hanging with teams, fighting Joker, flirting with Wonder Woman, teaming up with reptiles, fighting Superman, fighting Joker, sleeping with Batgirl, fighting Joker, in Victorian era Gotham, and last but not least, FIGHTING THE JOKER. I think I sense a bit of a pattern. So, here are my favorite Batman movies. Even though he has a lot, I’m stopping at 13-ish. I’m mainly including primarily solo Batman films here, but I do have a couple of exceptions. First, here are some honorable mentions:

• The Dark Knight Rises – Yeah, this didn’t make it to the main list, so take that, Nolanites! Now, this isn’t a bad movie, but I can’t throw it on the list. While it was the ending of Nolan’s trilogy and had good things with it, I couldn’t vibe with it. Heck, it took me almost eight years to see it again! I’ve seen the other two many more times than that! It just felt phoned in at times. Whatever spark those first two movies had wasn’t here. I also wasn’t a fan of some plot points and other things (those dang hilarious voices). Overall, it’s not bad, but it’s not that good.
• Batman and Robin – This one goes without saying. It was the first Batman film I saw in theaters. While I can find a lotta joy in Batman Forever, I can’t with this one. While I do like a little camp with Batman, this one took things too far for me. It’s not one of the worst movies ever though. It has a couple of good things like the subplot with Alfred. Also, Alicia Silverstone looked nice in that costume… hey, it’s true! As for everything else, meh. I can accept it as a comedy, but nothing more.
• Batman (1966) – I wanted to at least mention the original 1966 Adam West movie. It’s one that I honestly haven’t seen a lot of. I do need to see it in its entirety one day, but even if I did,  it would probably still be in the mentions.

1. Batman: Mask of the Phantasm – You know this has to be up top. While BTAS wasn’t my first foray into Batman, it was the one that stuck with me. This movie is just one example. In it, Batman is tracking down a mysterious figure for a slew of murders that involve a former love.  Not only do we get to see this Bruce Wayne in his younger years, we have possibly the best romance in any of Batman’s movies. Yes, this even beats Catwoman out. We even get Mark Hamill’s Joker in an interesting role here. Also, the Phantasm was a cool villain. When you add the great animation, good music, and great voice acting into the mix, you get an iconic movie. Pure and simple.

2. Batman Begins – Yes, this beat out the Dark Knight for me. Yeah, TDK’s one of the best comic book films, but BB is my favorite of the bunch. It’s Batman’s origin story. It got so much about Batman and his world right. A lot of the casting worked, and I think this had Christian Bale at his best as Batman and Bruce Wayne. It even had the better suit too. The action scenes worked, the mood worked, and that soundtrack rocked. Yes, some of the fight scenes aren’t well shot, and having an Irish dude portray a Middle Eastern is a bit of a turn-off. Still, that doesn’t stop this from being one of the best.

3. Batman: Under the Red Hood – Back when DC animated movies weren’t coming 18 times a year (seriously, slow down WB), we had this tasty treat. Here, we have Batman going up against a new vigilante called the Red Hood. Not to spoil anything, but it turns out that this figure is much more tied to Bruce than he knows. So much works with this movie. The voice acting is on point with Bruce Greenwood, Jensen Ackles, and John DiMaggio doing good jobs. The designs and animation are good, and the action is awesome. The scene where Batman just unloads on Red Hood still excites me. It’s also one of the few movies that talks about Batman’s no-kill rule. It’s just one of the best of DC’s animated films, and a good Batman film in general.

4. Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker – Yeah, we got another film where Batman goes up against the Joker, but it is a little different. Instead of Bruce Wayne, it’s Terry McGinnis who’s going up against the seemingly resurrected clown. It’s a story that’s part-action and part-mystery because we never learned what became of the Joker on Batman Beyond until now. What we got was one twisted story and a new take on the Batman/Joker dynamic. Even if you’re not a fan of Batman Beyond (seriously, check this show out), it’s a must-see.

5. The Dark Knight – Yeah, The Dark Knight ain’t #1 on the list. Come at me again, Nolanites! It’s safe to say that TDK is one of the best comic book movies. We got Batman going up against… the Joker, which is something you’ll see a lot in this list. The story, the action, the cinematography, and acting is so on point. Yes, Batman’s voice is grating, and the ending could’ve been better. It’s not a perfect film, but it’s close.

6. Batman (1989) – And now, we have the movie that probably got most of us into the Caped Crusader.  I know it played into my fondness for the character. Here, we got Batman facing the Joker… again. Tim Burton came in and really added that Goth look to Gotham and Batman too. That suit is iconic for a reason. For a long time, Michael Keaton was my favorite Batman, and he’s still in the top five. Nicholson’s Joker is classic. While it didn’t do everything from the comics justice, it’s still a good movie. Also, that score from Danny Elfman kicks so much butt.

7. Batman vs. the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles – You know I had to throw this on the list. Even though Batman isn’t the only hero sharing the screen, I had to add this one.  We got two worlds colliding as the Batman teams up with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. This movie takes everything that works about Batman and the Turtles and has fun with it. We even got Batman in the classic blue-and-gray with the oval Bat. Not only was it a good Batman movie, it’s also a good TMNT movie. It’s got good action and good voice-acting.

8. Batman Forever – That’s right, folks. I enjoy Forever over Returns. That’s not to say that Returns is bad, but I’ll touch on that later. I just thought that Forever was a better Bat film. The action was awesome and the new look for Gotham works for me. Val Kilmer is good in the role, Chris O’Donnell was a good Dick Grayson, and I like Jim Carrey as the Riddler. Yeah, he’s overdoing it, but it’s Mask-era Carrey, okay? Also, Nicole Kidman as well as Drew Barrymore looked nice… what? You know it’s true! Anyway, the only thing that really doesn’t work for me here is Two-Face. It’s one of the worst renditions for the character. Also, it can be a little too campy at times, and the story isn’t perfect. Still, it’s a underrated comic book film.

9. The Dark Knight Returns Parts 1 and 2 – I thought I’d combine these two since I actually saw this as a full feature. This is an adaptation of the Frank Miller classic. It’s the book that changed Batman in the public eye for good and (unfortunately) ill. A lot of things about the movie worked.  The voice-acting was good. We had Robocop as Batman… now, that’s a crossover that should happen one day! The designs and animation looked pretty good. It also did its best to adapt the story and succeeded at it. Yes, I do still prefer part 1 to part 2 (they did my man Superman wrong here and in the original story), but as a Batman film, it’s good.

10. Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice – Yeah, I see you looking at me, Matches Malone… whoever that is. Even though it’s a team-up movie, most of it does revolve around Batman. While BVS isn’t a perfect movie, I did think it did some good things with our heroes mainly Batman. We see a Batman who’s at wit’s end, lost allies, and has gone off the deep end. Heck, he thinks killing Superman may be a necessity. While it’s not a Batman most folk like, I did like seeing this even darker side to Bruce. Thankfully, he doesn’t stay there and does try to redeem himself in the end and in Justice League. I though Ben Affleck did a tremendous job here and he may be my favorite live-action Batman. The Jury’s still out on Pattisson.

11. Batman Returns – Next up is Keaton’s second outing. This time, he’s going up against the Penguin and Catwoman… that sounds familiar. Anyway, while I’m not the biggest fan of Returns, it’s still a fun time. Michael Keaton, Michelle Phifer, and Danny DeVito were good in their respective roles. This probably had the best romance in all of the live-action movies. It even beat the Nolan Trilogy. While the movie is good, Burton just had to go the extra mile and just be overly weird with it. I can only take so much of weird Burton.

12. Batman: The Long Halloween Parts 1 and 2 – This recent two-part feature is an official adaptation of the Long Halloween. Instead of being referenced or influenced by other movies, the story gets its own feature. The movies do a good job in adapting the story and even the changes they make within the movie aren’t too bad. I thought Jensen Ackles did a pretty good job in the role of Batman… yeah, the Red Hood gets to play Batman. The rest of the voice acting (the late Naya Rivera as Catwoman, Josh Duhemal as Harvey Dent, and Troy Baker as Joker) was pretty good. The animation was quite nice. Even though it has a couple of pitfalls (I need to talk about in full one day), both movies were pretty good.

13. Batman: Bad Blood – Finally, we have an entry from the DCAMU. I gotta say that it really hasn’t done Batman all that well. I didn’t like Son of Batman, but Batman vs. Robin was much better. I gotta say that Bad Blood is the best of the three. In it, Bruce Wayne disappears, so the rest of Batman’s allies have to step up. Bruce is found, but as usual, things go awry. One thing that makes it cool is that it tries to show off most of the Bat-family. We get Nightwing, Batwoman, Robin (the Damian variety) and Batwing. If anything, it showed that Batman’s world is fun when he isn’t the only one running around kicking butt. Take note, Warner Bros.

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And this is where I gotta step off. Where Matt Reeves’ new Batman movie will end up is a mystery to me. From what I’ve seen and heard, it may be one of the best. I’ll have to see for myself pretty soon.  I don’t know if Liz would be up for a 3 hour movie, but we have sat threw a few hours of stuff at home. That being said, it may be cheaper to wait. Anyway, I’m off. If you have a list of your own, let me know. Until then, Peace, God Bless, and be careful out there.