Ranking Every DC Comic Book Movie - From Worst to Best

5. Batman (1989)

Quite simply, Tim Burton's Batman is one of the most influential blockbusters ever made. Even though it was another decade before the genre really took off, the serious approach to the subject matter and myriad of merchandising tie-ins provided the template that the superhero genre still follows to this day. As you would expect when you have an A-list star receiving top billing and a $60m payday, Jack Nicholson's Joker dominates the entire movie. Going all-out in the role, Nicholson devours the scenery with the character's signature manic energy, although there are shades of darkness to go with the broad comic strokes of the performance. Michael Keaton makes for a convincingly stoic Caped Crusader, although the Bruce Wayne aspect of his character is a little underwritten and flat despite Keaton doing his best to add in some eccentricities. More than just a tale of two performances, Batman is also as highly stylized and darkly Gothic as you would expect from a Tim Burton movie, and the director handles the action scenes with confidence. Some of the Prince songs seem a little out of place, the movie focuses a little too much on the Joker at the expense of the title character and the stunning production design seems to have been given more care and attention than the narrative, but this mature and more psychological take on Batman definitively banished any lingering memories of the camp 1960s television series to offer a refreshingly adult superhero blockbuster.