Before the MCU dominated big and small screens all over the world, comic book movies used to focus on popular superheroes and their villains: Spider-Man, Superman, and Batman (usually). Batman, also known as wealthy Gotham playboy philanthropist Bruce Wayne, was created by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted on March 30, 1939, in the 27th issue of Detective Comics telling the story of a masked vigilante with a craving for justice in his crime-riddled city after he witnessed his parents murder as a boy.
Since its release way back in 1939, Batman has become an easily recognizable pop culture icon that has produced films, shows, and merchandise. When compared to the other popular DC hero, Superman, Batman makes $494 million in retail sales, over $200 million more than the Man of Steel (according to Entrepreneur). Although the debate of which DC hero is better can go on forever, it’s undeniable that Batman is one of the most popular superheroes in comic book history and because of this has spawned some of our favorite movies.
The first actor to play Batman was Lewis Wilson, who starred as the character in the 1943 15-part serial, Batman. Over the years, many others have stepped up to the plate to play the hero, including Michael Keaton, Christian Bale, Ben Affleck, and, more recently, Robert Pattinson, with just as famous directors. Some of those movies went on to become some of the best comic book films to ever be created (The Dark Knight) while others were…not so well-loved (Batman & Robin). And while every comic book fan has their favorite Batman film, we’ve made a list of the best, ranked by Rotten Tomatoes score.
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5 Batman Begins — 84%
Warner Bros.
The beginning of Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight trilogy was released in 2005 and introduced the gritty Gotham and brooding Batman we know today. Nolan’s blend of action and detective thriller was what did it for critics, who praised the film for its psychology, realism, and characters. The film also received a nomination for Best Cinematography at the Academy Awards. Despite all the praise it received, it was the least favorable of all the films in the trilogy, with some critics claiming that the film failed to achieve what it was going for, such as Batman’s trauma. Batman Begins is still, of course, adored by fans, and began a trilogy that is often seen as the standard for Batman films that all the others try to attain.
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4 The Batman — 85%
Warner Bros. Pictures
When it was announced that Robert Pattinson would be taking on Batman, many people were skeptical. It was reminiscent of the skepticism that met Heath Ledger as the Joker. But much like how Ledger proved the naysayers wrong, so did Pattinson when The Batman debuted in theaters in March 2022 and proved to be one of the most realistic portrayals of the DC hero yet. The film gained an impressive 85% on Rotten Tomatoes, and to show that any doubt anyone had about Pattinson washed away after the film was released, it also gained an 87% audience score, with some reviewers calling Pattinson’s Batman their Batman. The only drawback, in audience reviews, seems to be the length of the film being too long and some parts being a little underwhelming, but it was still enough to show the future of Batman is in good hands.
3 The Dark Knight Rises — 87%
It’s hard to follow up on such an amazing, well-received, and a heavily praised movie as The Dark Knight, but Nolan showed how to handle not just a trilogy series, but a franchise with his final film in the trilogy that followed Batman going up against Bane, played by Tom Hardy. Now, while this movie gained more positive reviews from critics than the first installation of the trilogy, and still had a high amount of fan praise, it’s often seen as a forgotten film compared to the others. Nolan himself even said he feels fans never fully appreciated Tom Hardy’s Bane, which was incredibly impressive based on his performance when most of his face is covered and unseen but still fully readable. Not to mention that Anne Hathaway’s Catwoman received massive amounts of backlash for the film for no real particular reason. With all that aside though The Dark Knight Rises still made a solid landing for the franchise that reimagined for the world what a superhero movie could be.
2 The Lego Batman Movie — 90%
Who would’ve thought that a film made as a marketing ploy to sell Lego to children would turn out to be a pretty good Batman film? For starters, the film, released in early 2017, was the first time audiences saw Batman and Robin together since 1997’s Batman & Robin film, which, if you’ve ever seen it, you know why it was the last time we saw the duo together. Despite the film being a kids’ movie (technically, although it can easily be enjoyed by anyone of any age), it doesn’t shy away from emotional character arcs and the journey to get there. Some fans even go as far as saying it is the best adaptation of the caped crusader. For many critics, it was a refreshing change from the dark and gritty hero to something much more lighthearted much like Adam West’s 1960s campy Batman. Josh Goller from Spectrum Culture reviewed the film and said, “The LEGO Batman Movie not only good-naturedly subverts Gotham and the wider DC universe, but also pokes fun at pop-cultural good-versus-evil duality at large.”
1 The Dark Knight — 94%
Now for the Batman film that is the end all be all of Batman films: The Dark Knight. Most likely, if you chose to read this article, you’ve definitely heard of The Dark Knight and its massive success as more than just a comic book film. The film not only features our beloved hero, Batman, but probably his most iconic and thrilling villain, The Joker. Unlike The Lego Batman Movie, it’s not surprising to see The Dark Knight at the top of this list. Not only did it go on to be the blueprint for comic book films we have today, but Ledger’s performance as The Joker left a mark on the film industry and on Batman films that have actors still trying to recapture that magic. A performance that was able to earn the actor a posthumous award at the same Academy Awards that infamously snubbed The Dark Knight for Best Picture. The best way to describe the film and its praise is to use a quote from Zaki Hasan’s review of the film on Zaki’s Corner: “Not just a perfect comic book movie, not just a perfect Batman movie, but darn-near a perfect movie, full stop.”
