Mike’s Ranking of Every Batman Movie + Movie Review: The Batman + Trailer Park: Bullet Train

00:00:00
Speaker 1: Hello, and welcome back to Movie Mike's Movie Podcast. I'm your host Movie Mike a k A. Mike D. And if you are a fan of Batman, well you've come to the right place. Coming fresh off of seeing The Batman, I'll give my spoiler free review of that, but I want to rank every single Batman movie and let you know where The Batman ranks on my list and in the trailer park. I want to talk about a fun new action movie starring Brad Pitt. So much to talk about on this week's episode. Glad you're here, you already know what it is, So let's talk movies. In a world where everyone and their mother has a podcast, one man stands to infiltrate the ears of listeners like never before in a movie podcast. A man with so much movie knowledge, he's basically like a walking au MTV with glasses from the Nashville podcast Networks Movie Movie Podcast. When it comes to movies, there is no bigger role than playing Batman. I think as Americans would be come kind of obsessed with it, like who's gonna play Batman next? Who is the best Batman? And going into watching the Batman. I think that's what a lot of people have been talking about when it comes to Robert Pattinson, and it's just interesting to see that after seeing first reviews about The Batman, everybody wants to know, well, where does it rank among all the other Batman movies. So that is what I'm here to do today. And I just have to say before I get into all this, we are living in a really great time for movies right now. We just had a major release from a superhero franchise with Spiderman No Way Home, where I did a similar episode, and just a few months later I'm able to do one for another major superhero. So as a movie fan, I'm super excited to be able to do another episode like this. So, without wasting any more time, let's get into this list and getting it right out of the way. At number ten from I'm putting Batman versus Superman, the movie has no substance, and I don't blame Ben Affleck for this. I actually think he was a pretty a choice to play Batman, but he had no fighting chance because the story wasn't there, the design wasn't there. Everything what they tried to create in this whole reiteration of Batman with his chance to play him. Wasn't there And there was absolutely zero substance to this movie. And in my entire life, I've never walked out of a movie. I think if you've paid for a ticket, it's like throwing your money away if you're gonna walk out of a movie. So the only thing I've done in protest or the equivalent of that, is falling asleep during a movie. And about ten minutes into this movie, it was so utterly boring that I fell asleep, but not only fell asleep. Whenever I woke up, nothing had happened, no part of the story had progressed. It was the exact same thing, in the exact same situation. It was just the utter misfire when it came to what d C was trying to do, everything was clunky. I hated the bat suit, I hated the low go. As far as Ben Affleck as Bruce Wayne, I didn't think it was that bad. I think he's actually a pretty good Bruce Wayne. I just can't get past the look and the stylings that they did with the Batman. I just thought he had no real chance to make anything of this movie. So coming in Dead Last is Batman versus Superman next up at number nine, I would put Batman and Robin and it's a pretty bad Batman movie. I think number ten and nine are the only bad Batman movies. And the reason this one is a little bit higher than Batman Versus Superman. When it came out back in seven, I was a kid. I was six years old. I still found it fun to watch a Batman movie, But watching it back as an adult, what I take from it now is that it's so bad it at least has some comedic value. With Arnold Schwarzenegger as Mr Freeze, it's just funny to see him recite the catchy, dumb lines that we kind of know now because they are so bad. But if I was going into this movie wanting like a real depiction of Batman, it is not there. And maybe it was because it was the last Batman film of the nineties and that whole kind of era. They got a little bit more comic bookie as they went along, a little bit more cartoonish that the whole idea of the villains in this just felt like a live action cartoon almost so for no other reason than having some comedic value, I rated it just above Batman versus Superman. And also I just kind of forget that George Clooney was ever a Batman, so we'll leave that one at number nine. Moving on now to number eight, I went with Batman Forever from Val Kilmer himself at the time when he was Batman. He didn't do anything great, he didn't do anything bad in this movie. He's just kind of there. What I do love in this movie is Jim Carey as the Riddler and Tommy Lee Jones as to Face, which Tommy Lee Jones has just like a hardcore demeanor altogether, so it's kind of, you know, interesting to see him in a role like this, and unlike in the other ones I've mentioned from this era, I felt like the cartoony nous of the Batman and the characters in the Villains really worked in Batman Forever. I was into it. I liked the very comedic approach that Jim Carey took. I like the costume design here. I think overall, when you go back and look at this movie, it just feels a little bit more dated and you can tell it came out in unlike the other Batman films of the nineties. So I'm putting this one at number eight at number seven from seventeen one that I feel is very underrated and sometimes people don't even consider a Batman movie, but it totally is, and it's the lego Batman movie. And I don't know what it is about always having to fight for an animated movie because just because something is animated, that means it's geared towards kids. And this one, yes, maybe a little bit more so because it's also based on a child's toy. But what really sets this movie apart is it's able to kind of dig into the fun side of Batman's story and even a little bit inside the Joker story. But the voice acting just really brings this movie to life, and in a world where there's kind of no rules, you don't really have any expectations, you can go into it feeling like a kid again and kind of enjoying that just fun aspect of nothing is serious. And this was also coming off of, you know, the Dark Knight movies, so it kind of existed in this perfect place right before The Batman We got to now and coming off the Dark Night just like a fun animated movie, which is a space that DC does really well in. But I think Marvel just hasn't really got there yet. I mean, they had what If on Disney Plus, but I think they're missing out a little bit on just putting out a fun animated movie geared towards kids, so not like into the Spider Verse, something fun, just like this to have fun with the ranchise, and if you try really really hard, I think you can look past the fact that they are all just animated legos. But overall, I just think it was important for kids to have a Batman movie like this geared towards him, that you don't have to go into it thinking well, is this safe enough for my kid to watch? So at number seven from I'm going with the Lego Batman movie at number six is maybe my most controversial placing out of all this list, but it is two thousand and fives Batman begins, and I rewatched this one leading up to The Batman. Even though you don't have to watch any other Batman movie to enjoy or understand the new Batman movie. I just kind of wanted to put myself and that feeling again, see if all these kind of had the same rewatchability before I watched a whole new undertaking of the Batman story and when it comes to the Batman begins. I remember that this movie didn't really phase me a whole lot when it came out. I don't know if I was just kind of tired of Batman, maybe like some other people at this point, but I just didn't love the origin story, everything going on with the League of Shadows. I get that it had to, you know, explain and flesh out why Batman was such a great fighter, and I think this movie on paper looks a lot better than it is watching it back, I just felt like the whole origin story eats up the first hour of the movie. It doesn't really become a Batman movie to me until sixty minutes in. But what I really kind of took away from watching this movie is that Christopher Nolan, who directed the entire Dark Knight trilogy, had this entire vision from the very beginning that he did just want to make three movies and this movie just had to exist to set up the Dark Knight. To some people, I think this is your favorite Batman movie, But for me, out of the entire trilogy, unless I was watching them all the way through, for that exact same reason, I would not go back and watch this one individually, I think it's okay. So at number six, I'm going with bad Man Begins, and then we'll follow that one up with number five from I'm going with The Dark Knight Rises, and I kind of forgot how good The Dark Knight Rises is. I think it's underrated merely only because of the fact that The Dark Knight came before it, and watching it again it really kind of made me see that vision again of Batman Begins being the rising action, the Dark Knight being that climax of the entire trilogy, and then Dark Knight Rises being that falling action. But I think it's some really good falling action. And I really remember loving Bayne as the villain in this movie. At the time. I thought he was almost a little bit more hardcore than Joker. And the reason that is is because Bayne was this unsinkable force just battling Batman, breaking him down, kind of really challenging him to the point of both mentally and physically breaking down Batman. In this movie also brought back the big visuals and really just put a nice bow on the end of The Dark Knight. I think my biggest criticism with The Dark Knight Rises is that as hardcore as Bayne got, as impossible it looked to defeat him at the end of the movie, he just kind of kicked over and gave up and became a non factor, became a non threat, And I thought that was just the interesting way to take out such a strong villain in the beginning. And what I love about Christopher nolan movies is they always kind of leave the ending up for interpretation, and the ending of this Batman does exactly that, and I almost understood that a little bit more rewatching get here this last time is I kind of felt the same way that Peter Parker did, and you know, and Spider Man, is that Bruce Wayne just doesn't want to be Batman anymore. He kind of wants to leave that behind and just have his normal life and the idol he has trying to be those two people at one time. I think at the root of the greatest superheroes, that is the constant struggle and the biggest question in their life. And the other thing that Dark Knight Rises got me thinking is why would anybody choose to live in Gotham as crazy? If things have happened leading up to this movie at this point, why would you just willingly and also how did Commissioner Gordon not know that Bruce Wayne was Batman. But with all that said, The Dark Knight Rises is still just a great movie, and that's why I put it at number five, and at number four we're going back to it was one year old when this movie came out, and it is Batman Returns, and up until The Dark Night, this was I felt the most rewatchable Batman, and I feel of the two Batman movies that Tim Burton directed, I think this is the one that kind of perfectly walks that line of having his dark, kind of camp be style but still keeping it a fun, hummic book movie. And Batman Returns has my favorite combination of villains Michelle Peiffer as Catwoman and Danny DeVito as Penguin, Like that just made it for me as a kid. And then also in The Batman Returns, I think it's one of the best displays of all the Batman gadgets, with the Batmobile, the cool bat Cave, and just all the other things he uses in the fight scenes. So at the core of it, I just think it's the most fun movie, the most rewatchable and that's why I put it at number four. At number three, this is where I'm going to put The Batman from two, and I'll get into my full review later. But why I'm placing it here. I've kind of mentioned rewatchability, and I watched this movie back on Monday, so I've had about a week to sit with it, and I'll just say that the reason it gets ranked right here, even though I really enjoyed it, I kind of feel like, you watch it one time and for people you won't have to watch it again. But it was made for a fan like me who likes the grittier side of superheroes, and we haven't really fully seen that in a movie yet. I kind of get that more from TV shows like The Boys, Daredevil, Punisher, and when it comes to big screen adaptations of that, I mean, Deadpools are rated superhero movie, but when it comes to just to all out gritty, real live set movie that hasn't been done until now, I feel like if I have a failing. If I have a failing is that sometimes I'll overhype a movie I'm really excited about, especially when it comes to superhero movies, and I think if I would have done this rating right after I left the movie theater. I would have easily put The Batman out of number one, and I see a lot of people online just already rating at the best Batman film of all time. I'm glad I've had some time to reflect on it a little bit more, and I feel great about putting it at number three. I think that's exactly where this movie should land, So we'll leave it that at number three, it is the Batman. Before I get into the top two, I do want to give an honorable mention. I feel sometimes when people talk about Batman movies, we forget about the original Batman one based off the series with Adam West, and some people may not know or just may forget about this one because it came out back in nineteen sixties six there was a Batman movie based on the series. So just a special shout out here to the O G. Batman Adam West. In the nine version of Batman. I just didn't really feel right ranking it with all the other Batman movies, but gave it an honorable mention. Alright, So we have the final two Batman movies, and at number two, I'm going back to nine Batman with Michael Keaton, who I just think is the best Batman overall. I feel like Michael Keaton embodies the character the most. He was great, and Batman, he was great, and Batman returns. And maybe it's a bit of biased of the time I grew up in, and I think sometimes your favorites are always the ones you grew up with. You know, my favorite Spider Man is Toby Maguire, so kind of in that same sense, Michael Keaton is my favorite Batman. And I only think that to Batman. Movies are truly iconic. And that's a word that kind of gets thrown out all the time when it comes to talking about movie characters. But when you think about the original Batman, you think of Michael Keaton, and you think of Jack Nicholson as the Joker, who really made playing the Joker a thing. Jack Nicholson is, you know, a bit of a method actor who got so into the role that he understood that it messes with you mentally. He gave Heath Ledger some advice later down the line when he played Joker, because it's a role that really messes with you if you play it correctly. And Jack Nicholson and Michael Keaton's can Street in this movie is so great as to driving forces battling against each other, and I think it has one of my favorite scenes in any Batman movie when Batman is in the bat Wing and Joker pulls out that really big gun. That scene just stayed with me over the years, and without this movie being a hit, I don't think any other Batman movie that came after it would even be a thing. So I feel like every Batman movie success owes it all to Batman, and only one true movie I feel like totally sets itself apart, and that is what I have at number one. My favorite movie of all time from two thousand and eight, The Dark Knight. And the reason it's the Dark Knight is because how it changed the culture of superhero and comic book movies, and of the two Batman movies that I consider iconic, it really isn't the truest sense because every movie and comic book adaptation wanted to be The Dark Knight after this, not only in movies but in TV shows. It was that idea of taking a comic book like character, putting him into real modern times, and giving it that edge that The Dark Knight was able to do so well. And how this movie really sets itself apart from every other Batman movie is anybody can watch The Dark Knight and know it's a good movie, no matter what level of movie fan you are, because not only did it get just so much praise from fans, but a movie that also got a lot of critical acclaim, and that's a very hard thing to do. There have been very few superhero movies that have done that, The Dark Knight really being the first one, and then Black Panther also being one that just also gets the critical acclaim and was rewatching this movie, I was excited to see that it still holds up and gives me those same feelings. And this is a movie I watched and knew from the very first scene that it was something special. Has the best opening scene in any Batman movie with the bank highest and the Joker's escape from that, and with Batman begins just really setting up this movie, it was able to get right into the action. I think in this movie, Christian Bale does a really good job at not only being the kind of big, somewhat arrogant playboy that is Bruce Wayne, but also being a pretty hardcore Batman. But the reason this movie has really stood the test of time and got to that iconic status is because of Heath Ledger's performance as the Joker. And it's still kind of amazes me to watch how I don't even feel like I'm watching an actor play a role when I watched the Joker in this movie, it just feels like, in some world this really happened and this person actually exists because Heath Ledger played it so well and everything from the mannerisms to the lip smacking, to the voice delivery, to the wardrobe to the makeup, it was truly a perfect casting and one of the only movies that I would say is a perfect movie from start to finish. So that is it. That is my ranking of Batman movies. And you probably don't agree with all those, but if you want to weigh in on that, you can always send me an email movie Mike d at gmail dot com or hit me up on socials at Mike destro. If you forget any of that, it's always down there in the episode notes. But coming up, I'll give my full spoiler free review of The Batman and let you know exactly why I put it at number three. Time now for a spoiler free review talking about The Batman. I just want to get right into this one. You've seen the trailer, I've talked about a little bit already, so let's get into a full spoiler free review. And first I just want to answer some questions I got after I posted a TikTok with my initial reaction, and one is that you don't have to watch any other Batman movie before seeing this. This is a new movie from director Matt Reeves that exists entirely on its own, so in no way connected to the Dark Night and no way connected to any of the other DC movies. He actually, you know, wanted to make a point to be like, I don't want to exist in this DC universe. This is completely its own thing, and I love it. The other thing I see people talking about is the three hour runtime. It's right at like two, and for me personally, it didn't feel like it was that long. I could have probably sat there for longer. But I'm also just so into the Batman story, just a big fan of superhero movies that I was really just highly anticipating going in and having this full experience. So so I don't think you should be scared about enjoying long form movies. I don't think it is three hours long just to get us all in a movie for three hours and had a lot of purpose. And with those three hours, it's really able to flesh out every single character and give every person in that movie a moment to shine. And above all, it's just not a boring movie. There's not a whole lot of scenes to where it lolls in any place, so it uses those three hours with full intent and doesn't waste any of your time. And the other thing I see going into this movie is people saying that I can't see Robert Pattinson as anything else than Edward from Twilight, and for me, I don't even connect him with that character anymore. I feel like the Twilight movies were so long ago, and he's really just proven himself as this really great actor in movies like Good Time, The Lighthouse, Devil all the time, and although I think we all didn't fully understand it, he was great intendant. I just think he's a very underrated actor. So I was very excited to see his portrayal of Bruce Wayne and Batman, And like I was saying earlier, I think if I have a failing is that sometimes I overhyped movies, but that's what I am at the core of everything when it comes to this podcast. I am just an avid movie lover and a film enthusiast. So if I go see a movie that excites me and makes me feel really good and special, I want to tell everybody about it, and I want everybody to see it and feel the same way that I do. Sorry that I love movies, but I'm also not sorry that I love this movie. So let's get into first as Robert Pattinson as the Batman, and it is not the Bruce Wayne that we've all you know, come to know when it comes to watching a Batman movie. While he is still a billionaire, he doesn't have that same playboy persona. He's just a weird dude. He's kind of creepy, kind of weird, and internally just facing some kind of demon that kind of drives him to be Batman. And where this movie takes place is in his second year of being Batman. And what I talked about when I first saw this trailer is I kind of picked up on Batman not being as beloved as you might think, and I love that kind of element in this movie is that if you think about in the real world, if there was a vigilante, the police would not like this person. They wouldn't want to work with this person, they wouldn't idolize this person like they do. And sometimes in the other movies, yes, there's always some people that have a problem with him, but for the most part, the police always cooperate with him because he helps him out. But in the Batman here, he's not really that likable of a character. He really only has a friend in Commissioner Gordon, and everybody else just kind of has it out for him. So there's this other driving force of him trying to establish himself that he's actually doing and trying to do good. But at the core of him being Bruce Wayne, he's just kind of a weirdo and not this kind of sexy Bruce Wayne. We've all kind of come to know, I'm gonna be wrong. He's still a little sexy. But it really creates this grittier version of Batman. And how this movie set itself apart from The Dark Knight. You think, well, the Dark Knight was gritty and dark too. I feel like even more so, you felt the real life consequences of somebody who actually did this in their life. So it took what The Dark Knight did of placing Batman in modern times and was able to ramp it up even more. Some of the other characters in this movie. You have Zoe Kravitz who played Catwoman a k a. Selina Kyle, and I think it's one of the best portrayals I've ever seen of Catwoman because she had so many more dynamics as a character. It wasn't It didn't feel tacked on in any way of like, oh, let's throw Catwoman in this movie, kind of like I felt with Anne Hathaway in The Dark Knight Rises. She really was able to tell her own story here and just felt like the most three D representation I've ever seen of that character before. Have Paul Dano as the Riddler, who was based on the Zodiac Killer in this movie, and he gave such a really great performance as well, a complete one eighty from the Jim Carrey's animated and goofy Riddler. This guy was dark, demented, but not only that, he seemed like such a life like serial killer and play the character so well it felt like you could be watching a true crime documentary and they took that, pulled it apart, and placed it into this movie. I think he was the perfect choice to play the Riddler. You also have Colin Farrell as the Penguin, who is completely unrecognizable, and with all these amazing actors, it would have been really hard to make a bad movie. And with all that, at one point in the movie, I looked over to my wife and said, this is the best movie I've ever seen. Because sometimes you watch movies and as you watch them, you kind of feel yourself changing a bit, and watching The Batman, I realized I was witnessing something that I knew was going to change the way I felt about movies. And I kind of felt like I got a wrinkle in my movie brain while watching this movie and knew it was just something special. And there was so much thought and work put into this by Matt Reeves to make it what I considered to be a masterpiece. And having some time away after watching it to reflect on it and compare it to all the other Batman films, why I ended up putting it at number three and why I don't think it's the best Batman film ever despite having one of the funniest, most captivating, and all out just best times I've had in my entire life while watching a movie. Coming away from it, I realized that once I rode this roller coaster once, I won't have that exact same feeling going back to watch it again. And I think it's because this movie focuses a lot on bat Man as the detective, and you're trying to solve a crime with Batman and you're putting together all these clues, so it's almost part true crime, part superhero. And the story itself is so good in that regard, I almost feel like it doesn't even have to exist in the Batman world to be a good story on its own, Like this would be a great movie if it was just the normal character going through this. But with that said, unlike all the other Batman movies which have a whole kind of higher but comparing it to the Dark Knight trilogy, which had this overarching just character arc throughout the entire thing of it being a trilogy from the start. As fun of a ride as this movie was, and how much I liked all the elements from the Batsuit, how it kind of got away from Batman having all the fancy gadgets I love to score in this movie. Whenever you hear this in the movie, complete with like the scenes and the dark color Ler's it just gives you that feeling. But I also stepped away from it knowing that I might not feel that exact same way rewatching it. So I put it at number three, and compared to any other movie, it would be a five out of five. And even though in my heart as a fan, it's a perfect movie and I wouldn't change anything about it, I think realistically when I come to my rating, I went with a four point five at a five Batmobiles, and there were a couple of things that I will get into. I will do a spoiler review of this movie because there's a lot more that I want to talk about, but I don't want to get into if you haven't seen the movie. And I think the things I will explain in my spoiler review are some of the aspects of it that I thought took a little bit out of the Batman experience and why I ended up rating it just a little bit lower. But even at a four point five, at a five, I don't think there's a better movie you're going to watch in theaters this year, and I was always going to hold this movie up to a higher standard than any other movie. And I think the only true five out of five out of any Batman movie is The Dark Night. And I don't think it's as good as The Dark Night, but it's really close, and I'm excited to see how they move this story along, how they moved this franchise along. I think DC has a big win here, finally having their Batman that works, and I hope everybody else likes. Now it's time for the part of the podcast where I break down a movie trailer of a film coming to you very soon in theaters or streaming, in a segment we like to call it's time to head down to movie Mike, and this week we're talking about a movie called Bullet Train. Its stars none other than Brad Pitt. It's about five assassins who all find themselves on this bullet train going from Tokyo, taking some steps in between, but they're all trying to acquire this same briefcase, not knowing that they're all there for that exact same reason. Before I get into what I think about this movie, here's just a little bit of the bullet train trailery, What am I snatching? And or forever? Take? You said you wanted simple for your first job back, doesn't get simpler. There's something simple about this job. Something else going on here. Yeah, I'm not the only one on this train looking to this case, Kevin, what's the briefcase? So this movie looks pretty good and I haven't really seen Brad Pitt in a role like this in a while, and it looks like a straight up fun action movie. I love the styling that I'm already seeing here in this trailer, from the wardrobe to the fight coordination. And it's coming to us from the same director as Deadpool two, so I think it's also going to have that fun kind of campiness to it and something that just kind of warrnts that big screen. And it's kind of fun to just see Brad Pitt being Brad Pitt, and for an actor like him who seems a little bit more particular of the roles he takes on. You know, before this, I really liked him in at Astro Once upon a Time in Hollywood. He's also randomly in that Sandra Bullock movie The Lost City. But I feel like he really took this one on because of the premise. At least, I'm telling myself that, like I said earlier, though, it's about five assassins. They're on this bullet train. They think they're the only ones on this train, and then encounter all these other assassins. And where I think this movie gets really fun is all the other assassins and cast members here. You also find Sandra Bullock in this movie, so they're in two movies together this year. But then you also have Joey King, and the most interesting cast member I saw on the trailer is none other than Bad Bunny, which is the casting choice that I inc will either make or break the movie, because sometimes when you put in a really big, global, super famous musician in a movie, that's because you want to get more people interested in watching it. So you have that built in audience, and he has a massive global audience, but that could also mean that at the core of the movie it's not that great. I like to believe here that he'd be a little bit more selected with the roles he is taking on. It doesn't look like just the random cameo. So I'm hoping, yes, I'm really really hoping that that means that this movie will deliver all my expectations of being a fun, NonStop action movie with Brad Pitt. But that movie is called Bullet Train and it comes out in theaters on July. This makes adia and that's gonna do it for this week's episode. If you made it to this part of the podcast, thank you for listening all the way through. And if familiar with the podcast, you know what I do at the end of every single episode is give a shout out to one of you guys who listen and tweet in send in your thoughts because this podcast is not only my podcast, it's your podcast too. And the great thing about movies is everyone can give their opinion and no one has to go for each other's throats. So I always love reading the comments after every single episode, and this week's shout out, I'm going over to Twitter to at B four a k a. Brian, who tweeted about the episode with David Morris from The Green Mile. He said, I want to listen to this because of The Green Mile, one of my favorite movies, and when talking about music used in movies, the song Twister was mentioned laughing crying face that is in reference to songs that always make you think of movies, and I stand by that statement. Every time I hear Motherless Child by Eric Clapton, I always go back to thinking of Phillip Seymour Hoffman jamming out in Twister, and it's always funny to me to see how many other people love Twister as much as I do. So appreciate you Brian for that tweet. Thanks everybody for listening to this week's episode all about Batman. I want to give everybody else who hasn't had a chance to see The Batman. I will have a spoiler review of The Batman coming soon after more people have a chance to check it out, so you have that to look forward to as a separate episode here on this feed. I hope you have a great rest of your week. Go out and watch good movies, and until next time, Later