Best live-action Batman movie?

[ZE_501]

Where would you put The Batman ZE?

Gotta think.

 

[Wor-Gar]

The Batman has not had enough time to be digested.

 

[Zurdo95D]

Gotta think.

Was just curious about your placement since I know you hold TB in high regard. But yeah, it only came out just last year, and I think it’ll hold up well.

The Batman has not had enough time to be digested.

How long does a movie take to become digested?

 

[Cap'n Cook]

How long does a movie take to become digested?

Not sure but I didn’t go swimming for at least an hour after watching ‘The Batman’.

 

[Wor-Gar]

How long does a movie take to become digested?

Honestly, that's a good question. Some are immediate classics, but everyone recognizes that instantly. But some need time -- time to grow their audience, time to be recognized. Die Hard became much more popular when it started running on cable -- anyone who saw it knew instantly it was a classic, but a lot of people didn't go see it in 1988. The Batman is no Die Hard but time will tell how long it lasts.

 

[Khev]

Back when AFI would do their Top 100 Film lists they had a rule that a movie had to be at least 5 years old to qualify. That works for me.

 

[Wor-Gar]

Back when AFI would do their Top 100 Film lists they had a rule that a movie had to be at least 5 years old to qualify. That works for me.

Probably a good amount of time. If people are still talking about it after 5 years then there's something there.

Another way to tell is "did it affect movies" going forward. Obvious game-changers: Star Wars, Die Hard, The Matrix, etc. I'm not sure The Batman has infected its style into other films as it is derivative already, but again time will tell. Will there be a lot more rainy, bleak Bladerunner-y style super hero movies to come?

 

[Nagoya]

Tbh I'm still digesting The Batman and how its third act felt truly worse than the entirety of Suicide Squad. Almost the perfect Batman movie.

 

[Khev]

Probably a good amount of time. If people are still talking about it after 5 years then there's something there.

Another way to tell is "did it affect movies" going forward. Obvious game-changers: Star Wars, Die Hard, The Matrix, etc. I'm not sure The Batman has infected its style into other films as it is derivative already, but again time will tell. Will there be a lot more rainy, bleak Bladerunner-y style super hero movies to come?

Yeah Infinity War is definitely a movie hitting the 5 year mark that passes the test, Ready Player One and the Tomb Raider reboot not so much, lol.

 

[generalszabo]

I've stolen some of this from ZE, at the moment I'm riding the hype from Matt Reeves' Batman as I'm looking forward to the direction he takes Pattinson in:

• Favourite film: The Batman
• Best Art Direction/Batmobile/Batwing: Batman '89 and Batman Returns
• Best Catwoman: Batman Returns
• Best film: Dark Knight
• Best Bruce: Bale
• Best Batman: Affleck
• Best Batman cameo: Suicide Squad
• Best Marthas: Batman V Superman

 

[a-dev]

Best Alfred: Michael Gough
Best Commissioner Gordon: Gary Oldman

 

[Khev]

Best Rachel: The photograph in TDKR

lol

 

[Wor-Gar]

Best Villain Death: Talia al Ghul

 

[Prime Clone]

Best Alfred: Michael Gough
Best Commissioner Gordon: Gary Oldman

Gotta say I prefer Irons' Alfred. He brings the right amount of sass.

 

[Khev]

Best Detective Work: Michael Caine's Alfred googling the word "Bane" and discovering that he's not one to be trifled with.

 

[Wor-Gar]

Worst Alfred: Gollum (plus, he gets himself blown up)

 

[Zurdo95D]

Best Alfred: Michael Gough
Best Commissioner Gordon: Gary Oldman

I kinda would’ve liked to have seen more of JGL’s Robin

 

[Jay Virtual]

I know I'll get a lot of hate with this post, but I've come to love The Batman far more than the Nolan films, which I was obsessed with back when they came out. I didn't watched The Batman in theaters due to my close friends and family saying it was "boring" and it "sucked" so I thought it was just another Nolan knockoff and once I got the blu ray I was blown away. To me, emo loner Pattinson was far closer to my ideal Batman than Bale, which imo felt like he was a normal dude (that's a compliment btw) who's just waiting to pass that mantle even since Batman Begins.

I guess I always felt like Bale was being Batman because it was a phase in his life, and once he could get married he'd be more than happy to relinquish that role, while Pattinson feels like he needs to put on that stupid costume to make sense of his world.

 

[Zurdo95D]

Not sure but I didn’t go swimming for at least an hour after watching ‘The Batman’.

Honestly, that's a good question. Some are immediate classics, but everyone recognizes that instantly. But some need time -- time to grow their audience, time to be recognized. Die Hard became much more popular when it started running on cable -- anyone who saw it knew instantly it was a classic, but a lot of people didn't go see it in 1988. The Batman is no Die Hard but time will tell how long it lasts.

Good point, some films do grow with the passage of time. And also, if one’s perspective changes/grows, then they can see and approach films they hadn’t thought to consider before or see previous ones with a newfound understanding.

Probably a good amount of time. If people are still talking about it after 5 years then there's something there.

Another way to tell is "did it affect movies" going forward. Obvious game-changers: Star Wars, Die Hard, The Matrix, etc. I'm not sure The Batman has infected its style into other films as it is derivative already, but again time will tell. Will there be a lot more rainy, bleak Bladerunner-y style super hero movies to come?

So in about four more years we’ll get @ZE_501 ‘s answer? That a long wait! Well maybe not given how long it takes for some HT figures to release

 

[user 72759]

I guess I always felt like Bale was being Batman because it was a phase in his life, and once he could get married he'd be more than happy to relinquish that role, while Pattinson feels like he needs to put on that stupid costume to make sense of his world.

Batman was a “phase” in that he knew he couldn’t do it forever and TDK’s Batman is the only one on screen who had a clear mission with a plan to achieve it. He wasn’t fighting criminals for vengeance he wanted to create lasting change that would eventually be handed over to a legitimate authority like Dent.

He was making Rachel his hope for a normal life after Gotham no longer needed Batman, not because he had given up the mantle, but because it would no longer be necessary.

I personally feel like The Batman is a pretty poor Batman film. I watched it at a DC In Concert event and I left the first half at intermission right after the Batmobile chase thinking, “I misjudged this movie, it slaps”.

Then after intermission I got to watch people say “El rata alada” 2740 times, two different 10+ minute long scenes of riddler exposition dumping, Batman never outsmarting the villain once in 3 hours, and a climax that felt completely disconnected from the rest of the film.

Who’s idea was it to have riddler do a giant monologue to Batman in Arkham, then have Batman go to Riddler’s apartment where we get to watch Batman watch a giant monologue from Riddler on a laptop? All within like 30 minutes.

The whole second half needed a rewrite and there were so many obvious narrative choices they missed that it’s unforgivable IMO.

If The Batman was going to be good through and through Batman needed to solve one riddle in time to make a difference. If he figured out what “bring him into the light” meant, saved Falcone (narratively rhyming with Thomas saving him previously), and grappled up to apprehend Riddler just in time to unravel his plan with the sea wall, then you would have had an exciting third act setup directly by Batman’s actions.

Instead we get a side character saying “carpet tucker” being the clue Batman needed to find something that should have been pretty obvious, and a TikTok explaining exactly what Batman needed to know just in time.

I think The Batman is still my fourth favorite Batman movie but IMO it’s all tone and zero substance.