Top 10 Batman Movies – From Worst To Best

'Batman & Robin' is so bad that it should not be missing from any list for that reason alone. The film has a poor IMDb score of 3.7 and was of course not forgotten with 11 nominations at the 'Razzies' of 1997. Alicia Silverstone won the Razzie for worst supporting actress as Batgirl and carried that bad reputation for years to come. Small boost: the young American viewers voted her best actress at the 'Kids' Choice Awards' that same year. No 'Batman & Robin' review without the 'bat nipples'. Because ad nauseam, film websites are citing Joel Schumacher's infamous batsuit upgrade. A fine example of falsification of history. Two years before George Clooney, Val Kilmer also wore a batsuit with rubber nipples in the much better received 'Batman Forever'! At 25 million dollars, almost a fifth of the production budget went to Arnold Schwarzenegge r's salary. In return, his grotesque villain Mr. Freeze no less than 27 painfully unfunny puns on 'ice'. Both George Clooney and director Joel Schumacher have apologized extensively in recent years for the crazy madness that was 'Batman & Robin'. Warner Bros. wisely canceled the planned sequel ' Batman Unchained '. Batman hid in safety for the next few years until Christopher Nolan gave him a whopper of a reboot. Perfect film to watch with friends and a case of beer. Then again, yes.

The titanic battle between 'The Caped Crusader' and 'The Last Son of Krypton' was supposed to be the film event of 2016. Ben Affleck would play a superhero again 13 years after the arch-bad 'Daredevil'. Although the internet made fun of 'Batfleck' beforehand, his Batman portrayal was better than expected. The actor even portrayed a particularly intense Bruce Wayne who swears revenge on the 'Man of Steel' after the destruction of Metropolis. Unfortunately, that says just about everything positive about 'Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice'. Zack Snyder's noisy misfire is a long ride that leaves you numb for all the wrong reasons. That that weak-minded 'Martha' plot twist could have flowed from the pen of a thorough professional like David S. Goyer? You can't get your head around it. Rare highlight of the film? Gal Gadot's Wonder Woman, accompanied by her epic signature tune, appears in the final battle with Doomsday and thus saves not only Batman but also the exhausted viewer from certain death at the last moment.

'Batman Returns', Tim Burton's second Batman film, did not turn out to be the hoped-for family blockbuster that Warner Bros. had in mind. Hollywood's strangest bird flew away, after which Joel Schumacher took over the helm of the third modern Batman film. A somewhat wooden Val Kilmer succeeded Michael Keaton. That woodenness was partly due to the very heavy costume. Val Kilmer lost several pounds from all the sweating during the action scenes. As is so often the case, the vigilante title character is outclassed by the costumed supervillains on duty. In this case: Tommy Lee Jones's carnivalesque Two-Face and especially Jim Carrey's outrageous Riddler. The rubber-faced actor scored an unprecedented hat trick a year before 'Batman Forever' with 'Ace Ventura: Pet Detective', The Mask' and 'Dumb and Dumber'. The studio gave the comedian carte blanche and it shows. The colorful and playful 'Batman Forever' became a must for Jim Carrey fans and an exciting horror trip for just as many opponents.

Long before Frank Miller introduced his tough Batman in now classic graphic novels such as 'The Dark Knight Returns' and 'Year One', Batman was still quite a cheerful Frenchman. In the TV series that ran between 1966 and 1968, the speech bubbles with 'Pow!', 'Bam!', 'Blap!' and other obvious campy nonsense piled up. After a very popular first season, a full-fledged feature film was inevitable. Batman (Adam West) and his dashing sidekick Robin (Burt Ward) clash with four familiar villains in their first film adventure. The Joker (Cesar Romero), Penguin (Burgess Meredith), Riddler (Frank Gorshin), Catwoman (Lee Meriwether also played Bruce Wayne's sweetheart Miss Kitka) give the 'Dynamic Duo' busy days. But the scene that is etched in everyone's memories is of course Batman swinging on a rope ladder to fend off a snapping shark with his 'Shark Repellent Bat Spray'.

After the monster commercial and critical success of 'The Dark Knight', numerous filmmakers tried in vain to copy Christopher Nolan's approach. The London director himself did not fall into that trap. 'The Dark Knight Rises' became a very different film than its predecessor. 'Batman Begins' elaborated on Bruce Wayne's childhood traumas, Heath Ledger's Joker created chaos in 'The Dark Knight' and now Bane (Tom Hardy) showed a retired Batman (Christian Bale) what pain was, and how. Tom Hardy pumped 15 kilos of extra muscle mass into a weight room and acquired a very striking voice, to say the least, for the role of terrorist Bane. Tom Hardy's characteristic sheep's wool-lined coat, designed by costume designer Lindy Hemming, unleashed a real fashion trend. Anne Hathaway flickers through the film as a devilishly charming Selina Kyle – the name Catwoman is never mentioned. Yet the final piece of Christopher Nolan's trilogy feels needlessly long at 2 hours and 44 minutes, the numerous plot twists are uncalled for and Oscar winner Marion Cotillard produces one of the most miserably acted death scenes in the history of the moving image.

There are so many good Batman animated films that they actually deserve their own list (and that's what we did, see here). Just think of 'Batman: Mask of the Phantasm' from 1993 or the grim 'Batman: The Killing Joke'. The latter came in 2016 with an R rating from the MPAA, so say again that cartoons are for children. The most famous and child-friendly animated Batman adventure is of course 'The Lego Batman Movie.' Dent from Tim Burton's 'Batman', villain Two-Face and the Batmobile honks the theme song of the 1966 cult film. Yet the Academy did not even award 'The Lego Batman Movie' an Oscar nomination in 2018. An incomprehensible decision in the year in which lesser gods such as 'The Boss Baby' and 'Ferdinand' did compete for the statue for best animated film.

Everyone knows the story. The young Bruce Wayne watches helplessly as a common street thief shoots his parents in cold blood after an opera performance. Faithful butler Alfred takes care of the orphan boy until the time is right to step out of the shadows as the vigilante night watchman Batman. Yet it wasn't until 2005 that Christopher Nolan became the first director to work on a solid origin story for Gotham City's protector. 'Batman Begins' was a much-needed fresh start after Joel Schumacher's dismal 'Batman & Robin' from 1997. After George Clooney's career nadir as Batman, Christian Bale gave the dark superhero the necessary gravitas that the comic book hero had lacked for so long. Liam Neeson provides excellent counterbalance as the mysterious Ra's al Ghul. Cillian Murphy initially aimed for the cape. An impressed Christopher Nolan gave the 'Peaky Blinders' star the role of Scarecrow as a consolation prize. But Batman's absurdly low baritone? It still remains terrible.

The last time a vampire successfully transformed into a bat man was… never. And yet Robert Pattinson, the former 'Twilight hunk', managed to amaze friend and foe as a brooding, tormented young Bruce Wayne in Matt Reeves' The Batman. In this pitch-black neo-noir we get a Batman who doesn't rely on gadgets or muscles, but on deduction and determination. 'The World's Greatest Detective' can finally do some real detective work. Gotham is not a comic city here but a gloomy swamp city that seems to float somewhere between Se7en, Zodiac and Blade Runner. Paul Dano channels his inner serial killer like a Reddit version of The Riddler, Colin Farrell is unrecognizable as Oswald Cobblepot and Zoë Kravitz sprinkles fragments of tenderness in her role as Selina Kyle. Michael Giacchino's score sounds like a menacing, lumbering locomotive that just won't stop. Is it all a bit too heavy-handed? Maybe. But The Batman brings a side of the Caped Crusader that we've rarely seen so intensely. A Batman who is not yet a symbol, but is just trying to become one. And that's damn fascinating.

23 years after Batman's first rogue film adventure, Tim Burton gave his gothic interpretation to the masked crime fighter. Tim Burton's 'Batman' was a gamble for many reasons. The raven-haired director cast Michael Keaton in the dual role of Batman/Bruce Wayne. The actor was then best known for comedic work such as 'Mr. Mom', 'Night Shift' and 'Beetlejuice', which made the fans scream bloody murder. It even resulted in a petition that angrily shouted: '... he's definitely not the sort of imposing figure needed to define the ultimate creature of the night, the BATMAN!' The critics were proven wrong. Tim Burton conjured up a truly glorious Gotham City. Employees Anton Furst and Peter Young deservedly won the Oscar for art direction and set decoration in 1990. Jack Nicholson commands every sliver of screen time as The Joker. The iconic role earned Nicholson an impressive bank account. In addition to a check for 6 million dollars, the grinning actor also included a fixed percentage on box office profits and sales of derivative merchandise in his contract. The lucrative deal ultimately earned him a cool $60 million and is still ticking over happily.

For many fans, 'Batman Returns' is the ultimate Batman film. And don't blame them. After the monster success of 'Batman', Tim Burton and lead actor Michael Keaton teamed up again for 'Batman Returns'. This time Burton demanded all creative freedom and he used it masterfully. The sequel is a gothic spectacle spiced with the pitch-black humor on which Tim Burton built his entire career. Michelle Pfeiffer reincarnates an irresistibly sensual Catwoman. Danny DeVito is clearly enjoying his role as The Penguin – he stayed in the role between takes. And who else than the always nasty Christopher Walken was perfect for the tailor-made suit of villain Max Schreck? Or as Tim Burton stated: '... that man scares the hell out of me!' The audience thought differently. 'Batman Returns' did not live up to the high expectations. Warner Bros. aimed for a child-friendly blockbuster. The end result was so dark and violent for the time that McDonalds, which put derivative promotional toys in its Happy Meals, was bombarded with angry parental letters.