Batman vs. Superman: Ranking The Films From Worst To Best

4. Batman (1989)

It's hard to believe that 25 years have passed since Tim Burton's joyously gothic take on the Caped Crusader arrived in theaters. With the Superman franchise having fizzled out two years earlier and the general public's view of Batman guided by the Adam West era, Burton's Batman had a lot to prove to the world that it could deliver a serious take on the character and give audiences a comic book hero that they could root for with the Man of Steel out of the picture. While the existence of Christopher Nolan's trilogy and the critical and commercial success it has received has retroactively tainted the strength of Burton's film in the eyes of some, we'd be nowhere without the work he put forth. From the beautiful production design that makes Gotham its own living, breathing beast to Jack Nicholson's hilarious take on the Joker to Danny Elfman's extraordinary main theme and everything in between, Batman is still a triumph of its time, with Michael Keaton the Bruce Wayne that many who grew up watching this and its sequel still prefer. It has its issues that purists continue to take issue with, like Jack Napier being responsible for the death of the Waynes, but they work so well in the context of the film that they're easily overlooked (and it's not as if Nolan's films didn't take major liberties with the Batman lore). If Superman: The Movie cracked open the door for the potential of comic book films, it's Batman that kicked it down and changed the game forever. It's a rousing, entertaining and solid carnival ride of a film that moved Batman past the "Biff! Bang! Pow!" imagery associated with him by non-comic readers and reveled in his darkness.