Ranking every live-action Batman movie from worst to best

Photo: Batman (1989) Courtesy DC Universe PR

2. Batman (1989)

Tim Burton’s take on Batman was transformative with the controversial and now iconic casting of Michael Keaton.  In this dark tale of Batman, Burton and writer Sam Hamm told a different, albeit effective, tale of Batman — tossing aside the reference points that existed in the comics in a unique style that contrasted with the 60s take.

A city run by corrupt politicians and crime lords with the GCPD in their pocket, Gotham needed hope. The hope they received wasn’t in the form of shining beckon, but in the form of a “bat-like” man who struck fear into criminals. Bruce Wayne as Batman was a mad man in the mad world of Gotham.

There was no Commissioner Gordon to aid in this fight or stop this murderous hero. Yup, Batman’s no killing rule didn’t exist in Burton’s film, but that wasn’t the only change. The person responsible for his parent’s murder, wasn’t Joe Chill. Instead, Burton opted to intertwine the lives for mortal enemies, making it so that Joker (pre-acid bath) killed Bruce’s parents.

This version of the Joker set the bar, but doesn’t have the same ideologies of Christopher Nolan’s Joker. Jack Nickelson’s Joker doesn’t have any ideologies, rather he truly indulges in the killing. It’s evident by his creepy smile and sadistic laughter.

Unlike the relationship Christopher Nolan develops in The Dark Knight, Batman and the Joker aren’t co-dependent on one another in Batman. There isn’t a moral button Joker can push as Burton’s Batman has none so – leading him to kill the Joker. Burton stripped away the essence of who Batman is, leaving Gotham (and audiences) with a morally gray hero.