10 Most Bad-Ass Batman Movie Moments

2. SWEAR TO ME! - Batman Begins

Say what you want about the ever-so-slightly comical notes to Christian Bale's Bat-voice, but it added a ferocity to his most animated scenes that wouldn't have happened with a more subtle approach. Him screaming at the Joker wouldn't have been as memorable without the oft-mimicked growling, and neither would this gloriously quotable one-liner from Batman Begins.

Having already made quite the impression on Arnold Flass during the docks scene, the corrupt cop gets his own audience with Batman not long later, getting hoisted into the air for good measure as instant karma for stealing food from a street vendor.

And when the slippery, almost porcine Flass swears to God that he knows nothing about Crane's mysterious drug shipments, Batman's "swear to me" response was instantly irresistible. Not only is this one of Christian Bale's most impressive performance moments in the trilogy, it also says everything about the mythology he wants to establish for his Dark Knight - not just as a man, but as something far bigger and far more powerful. And far more dangerous.