Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight trilogy is considered the pinnacle of comic book movie adaptations, but how do each of the Batman films stack up to each other?
Almost two decades ago, Christopher Nolan tackled the most iconic comic book superhero of all time when he directed Batman Begins. In that moment, he changed the course of superhero movies forever.
We all had high hopes for him when we found out he’d be tackling the Batman franchise – especially when Batman & Robin left it in development hell for nearly a decade – but no amount of anticipation could have predicted what he would ultimately go on to do with it.
All three of his films in the illustrious Dark Knight trilogy consisted of incredible star power, with Christian Bale portraying the titular star, Michael Caine playing his faithful butler and friend Alfred Pennyworth, Gary Oldman tackling the grizzled-but-upstanding James Gordon and Morgan Freeman bringing the always reliable Lucius Fox to life. And they were joined in separate installments by the likes of Cillian Murphy, Heath Ledger, Liam Neeson, Tom Hardy, Katie Holmes, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Aaron Eckhart and Marion Cotillard.
But the who’s who of stars takes second place when it comes to the trilogy’s greatest asset, as the writing is nothing short of spectacular – with all three films seamlessly tying together to give us a near-perfect three-act story of one man’s desperate attempts to save the city his parents loved.
With that in mind, as we continue to celebrate Batman Day, let’s take this moment to look back on his legendary Batman trilogy and see which offering reigns supreme.
Honorable Mention: Batman: Gotham Knight
Batman: Gotham Knight is often overlooked when we reflect back on Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy. That might have something to do with the fact that it was an animated companion or that Nolan and the franchise’s cast weren’t involved, but that doesn’t make it any less of an achievement.
Released in 2008, it is set between the events of Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, dramatizing how Batman’s reputation as a hero/vigilante is growing throughout Gotham City, and how various people react to the city now having a watchful protector.
What sets Gotham Knight apart is that each of its six segments are produced by Japanese animation studios, with each one of them having their own styles. It makes each chapter stand out, offering up some powerful visuals as Batman continues to clean up the streets in the Narrows and take down the mob.
From a “Tales of the Dark Knight”-like chat between kids on what they think Batman is really like, to an amazing showdown between the Caped Crusader and Deadshot, Gotham Knight is an incredibly enjoyable animated movie that adds more context to Nolan’s unique world of The Dark Knight Trilogy. It’s not an integral part of the saga, but it’s a fun one nonetheless. And it’s all capped off by the fact that Batman is voiced by the late, great Kevin Conroy.
3. The Dark Knight Rises
The Dark Knight Rises gets a lot of unnecessary flack because it had a few-too-many plotholes, but are we supposed to pretend that a lot of this doesn’t stem from the fact that it had the impossible task of following the critically-acclaimed The Dark Knight?
It’s true that The Dark Knight Rises has a number of shortcomings, but if we’re being completely honest, it’s arguably the most enjoyable film of the three. You might scoff at such a statement, but the truth is that it served us up with the most engaging character arc of all three films: Bruce Wayne’s redemption.
The man who had taken beatings, bludgeonings and even unnecessary blame for the city he loved had to find it within himself to return to save it – not once, but twice. We had to watch a man revered as a symbol of ever-lasting hope struggle to maintain any of his own as Bane’s brutality robbed him of the last remaining shreds of it that he had. It was portrayed in a raw and authentic way – and that‘s an arc this writer would watch over anything else, regardless of its imperfections.
Hardy is brilliant as the physically-imposing Bane, Hathaway serves up a stellar performance as Catwoman, but it’s Bale who truly shines here, turning in his best performance as the broken Bat. And this trio are largely responsible for the film’s stunning final act.
The Dark Knight Rises isn’t a perfect movie, but it is the perfect conclusion to this epic trilogy – and that’s more than good enough for this writer. In fact, it might just be his personal favorite.
2. The Dark Knight
What is there to say about The Dark Knight that hasn’t already been said? The film changed the game for comic book movies, ushering in a new era of realism and grit and proving that the genre is capable of authentic stories built upon loyalty, love, corruption and hate.
Christian Bale was once again masterful as the tormented hero, expertly conveying the character’s turmoil over the lengths that being a true hero entailed (and whether or not he was willing to go to them). But Bruce was overshadowed this time around by an excellently villainous portrayal that has loomed over the film’s legacy ever since.
The film’s grounded variation of The Joker may have been rather different to that of the source material, but perhaps no medium has ever nailed the unpredictable nature of the character in the way that The Dark Knight did. Through every means necessary, the film magnified how it’s virtually impossible to defeat him because he simply doesn’t have anything to lose. He’s an anarchist by design and his plan to destroy Gotham from within would have worked if he wasn’t battling a symbol as incorruptible as The Batman.
Heath Ledger’s electric performance as The Joker is unquestionably among the greatest cinematic portrayals of all time, as he single-handedly redefined everything we knew about movie villainy in the space of two hours.
You might be a little shocked that The Dark Knight isn’t predictably in the top spot and that’s alright. It’s an exceptional piece of film; a masterpiece of theatrical proportions that will live on in history for being an absolute game-changer. However, as a great Batman movie, it was just pipped to the post by its predecessor.
1. Batman Begins
As great as he was (and indeed still is), Christopher Nolan had a tough job bringing the Batman franchise back from the brink of extinction after Batman & Robin all but killed it – and for seven years there, it seemed like it had.
Well, it depends on your outlook really; on one hand, all he had to do was produce a semi-decent movie more in-line with the Batman character than Batman & Robin ever was, but on the other, he had to make sure people would actually go and see it.
Batman Begins was a triumph on all counts; bringing the franchise back to where it needed to be and kicking off what is arguably the most compelling on-screen story the Caped Crusader had ever been part of. Bale instantly placed himself among the all-time greatest to play the iconic role, while Neeson, Murphy and Wilkinson all played the three-act antagonists very well.
Though Nolan’s films are inherently serious, Begins dabbles with the occult a little more than you might remember, with Scarecrow’s gas, the grimy visuals and the League of Shadows giving it more of a supernatural comic book feel that really could have been explored more had the latter two films not gone for the grounded approach.
An excellent film that often feels like it gets unnecessarily overshadowed by its successors, Batman Begins was the rebirth that The Dark Knight needed.
Which movie in Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Trilogy is your favorite? How did you celebrate Batman Day?