On June 15, 2005, Christopher Nolan’s Batman Begins arrived as a hard reset for the character on film. To mark its 20-year legacy, here’s a best-to-worst ranking of major Batman films, guided primarily by broad critical consensus and long-term reputation.
1) The Dark Knight (2008)
A rare superhero sequel that works as a full-scale crime thriller, with towering performances and tension that still holds up.
2) The LEGO Batman Movie (2017)
A comedy that’s sharper than it has any right to be, while also showing real understanding of Batman lore and character psychology.
3) The Dark Knight Rises (2012)
Ambitious and uneven in places, but it lands its themes and delivers a sense of scale and finality that few trilogy-enders manage.
4) The Batman (2022)
A committed noir detective take—moody, meticulous, and confident in its slow-burn approach.
5) Batman Begins (2005)
The blueprint for the modern grounded reboot: focused on fear, training, identity, and the logic of becoming Batman.
6) Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (1993)
Animated, but emotionally mature and tightly constructed—often cited as one of the best Batman stories in any medium.
7) Batman Returns (1992)
Stylized, darker, and unapologetically strange; it’s Burton at his most singular, with a Gotham that feels mythic.
8) Batman (1966)
Peak camp with total commitment—silly on purpose, and it succeeds because it never winks at itself.
9) Batman (1989)
A landmark blockbuster that reshaped pop culture Batman; iconic atmosphere and villain energy carry it.
10) Zack Snyder’s Justice League (2021)
Not purely a Batman movie, but the expanded cut gives Batman clearer purpose and stronger narrative weight than the 2017 version.
11) Batman Forever (1995)
A bright, cartoonish pivot that has fun moments, but the tonal whiplash and uneven character work keep it mid-tier.
12) Justice League (2017)
A compromised theatrical cut that struggles to balance tone, character arcs, and story coherence.
13) Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016)
Big ideas and strong visuals, but the storytelling choices and pacing divide audiences and critics sharply.
14) Batman & Robin (1997)
A loud, chaotic misfire—more toy-commercial energy than movie craft, and it’s widely viewed as the low point of the live-action series.
