The Batman Rankings

Batman and Robin (1949)

Score: 01/10

Mouse said: “Take it from me, the gap in quality between The Batman (1943) and Batman and Robin (1949) is on par with that between The Batman (2022) and Batman and Robin (1997).”

Batman versus Superman: Dawn of Justice

Score: 01/10

Mouse said: “This is just the most miserably drab, cheap, cold, washed out looking three hours of film I can remember seeing. I felt depressed after I watched this. It’s a movie about superpowered circus acrobats having a fight before they team up to beat a mad scientist and it has the colour palette of a Holocaust drama.”

Batman & Robin (1997)

Score: 02/10

Mouse said: “Yup. I was wrong. I dunno what I was thinking. Conventional wisdom is always right and independent thoughts are weird and stupid. Batman and Robin really is that goddamn bad.”

The Batman (1943)

Score: 03/10

Mouse said:  “If fans even know about it it’s usually as “that weird old Batman movie that’s super racist”. And you know what? That’s unfair. It’s not just racist. It’s also very boring.”

Batman Returns

Score: 05/10

Mouse said: “Dark, sexy, atmospheric. Often hilarious. Sometimes intentionally so.”

The Dark Knight Rises

Score: 05/10

Mouse said: “It’s not a bad film. In fact, parts of it are downright great. But you can definitely see the flop sweat on the pilot’s brow as he brings this trilogy in to land. And, unfortunately, it’s about to get real bad from here on in.”

Batman Forever

Score: 06/10

Mouse said: “In fact…I’m just going to say it, Joel Schumacher came closer to capturing the feel of Bronze Age Batman than just about any other live action director.”

Batman (1989)

Score: 07/10

Mouse said: “By no means perfect, and it kind of collapses into nonsense by the end. But think of what this movie gave us; the definitive onscreen Gotham, fantastic versions of the Batmobile and Batwing and Danny Elfman’s iconic Batman theme. Not too shabby.”

Batman Begins

Score: 07/10

Mouse said: “At once an incredibly influential movie and something of a rough draft, Batman Begins is a solid opener for an exciting new chapter in the bat’s cinematic journey.”

Batman (1966)

Score: 07/10

Mouse said: “The Adam West Batman series is just the tops. It is genuinely one of the best tv comedies of its decade. It’s smart, it’s funky and it just captures the vibe of the sixties so well.”

The Dark Knight

Score: 09/10

Mouse said: “But it’s the fact that every single speaking role is cast with a fantastic actor is what makes this movie so special. Every scene has great acting work, it’s just pure quality from start to finish.”

The Batman (2022)

Score: 10/10

Mouse said: “This is the Batman movie I’ve waited for my whole life.”