All 31 animated Batman movies ranked from worst to best

10. Batman: Gotham by Gaslight

Gotham by Gaslight is considered the first Elseworlds Batman story and it’s still the best of them all. The DC animated movie adaptation in 2018 adds to that story, complementing the original narrative with some world-building that never feels like its doing too much. And when that world is Victorian era Gotham, the more world-building, the better.

Bruce Wayne’s early days as the vigilante crimefighter known as the Batman coincide with the arrival of Jack The Ripper, leading to a violent confrontation between the two with the soul of Gotham at stake. And speaking of violence, the movie is much darker than the vast majority of its counterparts on this list, making it one of the only DC Animated movies to boast an R rating.

It takes a few liberties with the story here and there, but never do they feel like they are desecrating the original graphic novel. Instead, we have a faithful adaptation that excels as its own entity at the same time.

Like other animated movies on this list such as Hush and The Killing Joke, the animation is something of a minor drawback, with the newness and sharpness of it all never quite matching the eerie illustrations of its source material. Nonetheless, it’s an undeniably entertaining watch that lives up to its reputation.