Batman Movies, Ranked

Four different cinematic Batman pose in a photo montage.

Unless you spend your time in a cave with flying nocturnal animals, you're probably aware that a new Batman movie is in theaters this week. If you can believe it, The Batman is the first live-action Batman film in a decade. Lego Batman got his own movie in that time as well as Ben Affleck playing the role in a few other films. There is more to The Batman than a solo Batman movie and it is both of those things.

Where is it compared to the other films? In our Batman ranking post, that is what follows. All 13 feature-length, theatrical films starring Batman have been pitted against each other. There are no direct-to-video films, no cameos, etc. What is the first thing? Click through to find out.

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Was it ever in doubt? The second Batman movie might be colorful to look at, but it is beyond silly. Everyone is in on the joke. No one is taking this seriously or everything is taking this way.

The biggest problem with Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is that it is the first time Ben Affleck is playing Batman and he has to juggle a story with Superman. There is so much going on that you don't care. Don't get us started on that one.

Justice League is a better Batman movie than Batman v Superman. He is the main character and brings everyone together. The movie itself is not good, but it is the better Batman movie.

The original version of the film was used in this list of theatrical releases. The Snyder Cut jumps up the list at least three to four times.

The Dark Knight Rises would be a better movie if it stood on its own. It came after Batman Begins and The Dark Knight. It is the third part of the trilogy. The lackluster third act has its moments, but it doesn't enrich or satisfy like the other films that came before it.

Jim Carrey and Tommy Lee Jones are both in the third film in the Bat trilogy, Batman Forever. When Batman Forever was released, it was fun to see Nicole Kidman and Val Kilmer hamming it up, even though they still had some restraint. Kiss From a Rose by Seal? It was perfect.

One of the great things about Batman is his flexibility. The next two entries on the list show that he works in both serious and campy ways. The Lego Batman Movie has a lot of fun with its place in Bat-history. It probably has too much fun, which makes it less emotional and hurts it a bit. There are a lot of great Batman movies, so it falls a little lower on the list.

From one end of the spectrum to the other. The new film is Batman at his most grounded, while Lego Batman is at his most irreverent. You don't believe the version of the character you don't believe. The story digs into its comic book roots. We think it's missing a bit of the superhero swagger other film versions have, so it's ranked here.

An officially licensed Batman film from Mondo and artist Martin Ansin.

Batman: The Movie is celebrating its 55th anniversary. It is silly but also serious. Dumb but also interesting. It is the only Batman movie to have all of the Bat-villains in one scene. Generations of Bat-fans found the character through this iteration.

It was hard for Tim Burton to find actors to create villains like the ones in Jack Nicholson's movie. He did that with both Catwoman and Penguin. He told a story as dark and rousing as the original Batman movie.

One generation of Bat-fans found the character through the old TV show, while another found it through Batman: The Animated Series. Batman: Mask of the Phantasm is the crown jewel of the entire endeavor, bringing together all of the pathos and excitement of the TV show into an epic big-screen adaptation.

Each Batman franchise starts on its own terms. It's important to have your own distinct tone and feel. Christopher Nolan's version decided to spend more time on the origin, digging deeper into the hows and whys of Batman. The film became much more exciting and rousing because of the raised emotional stakes. The final scene of this film is my favorite Batman scene, and I never said thank you.

Batman straddles the line between serious and camp in a lot of this list. The person who got that right is Tim Burton. There are parts of Batman that are ridiculous. Parts are very exciting. The combination of the two, as well as the perfect two-hander between Joker and Batman, makes this a near- perfect Hollywood blockbuster. It has the best poster.

Was this ever in doubt? Christopher Nolan hit that impossible bullseye of huge, rousing excitement and deep themes with Batman Begins, after all of that character development in his pocket. The highlight of The Dark Knight is the performance of the actor, but it's not the only thing that shows what a Batman movie can be.

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