Batman V Superman: Ranking Every Movie From Worst To Best

9. Batman: The Movie

Adam West's Batman may be one of the most misunderstood comic book movies of all time. For decades it has been regarded as as campy misstep, taking a character with innate darkness and turning him into an embarrassment. Heck in the first ten minutes Batman fights off a clearly fake shark using Bat Shark Spray - how dumb were people in the sixties to take this seriously? But that's missing the point - they weren't taking this seriously. Batman 1966 is a comedy first, superhero spectacle second, and pretty much every moment you cringe at now was intended to be utterly bonkers then. What the endless parody in everything from Only Fools And Horses to The Simpsons forgets is that this was rooted in a Batman from a different time - this was pre-Dark Knight Returns and deep in the Silver Age, where Batman was a more ridiculous character and the illusion of darkness almost begged a parodic slant. Watch it through these googles and it suddenly transforms into this awesome little romp full of self-aware gags and an almost retroactive commentary on where the character has gone (expect Will Arnett's LEGO Batman to take a similar approach). West is spot on as the delusional Caped Crusader, Burt Ward captures the Boy Wonder's simplicity perfectly and while it does stretch the joke to a degree, it never lets up long enough to bore. An underrated delight.