15 Reasons Tim Burton’s Batman Is Better Than Chris Nolan’s The Dark Knight

[Uncanny Web-Slinger]

If you're a Batman fan you'll appreciate both interpretations.

I almost walked out of Returns. I was *this* close to leaving when Wayne did the wiki-wiki CD scratch thing during Penguin's speech.

But I did like the Catwoman/Batman stuff. And the new suit was better.

I forgot about the wiki-wiki. Yeah, I don't know why that was necessary. Im not into Returns but I liked the Penguin and Catwoman.

Oh, and Walken but he's good in most everything.

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[IrishJedi]

If you're a Batman fan you'll appreciate both interpretations.

Agreed. That and you'll acknowledge that, while they're cool and neat interpretations, neither is nearly as good as the modern animated incarnations.

 

[The Iron Koob]

I didn't get past the first point yet but I just had to say that I totally agree about the batsuit thing. Specifically the mouth opening. It made Bale's mouth look like a ****** when he spoke. I miss the Batman "chin." I did like the BB suit except for the cowl. The thing Nolan missed was the scary aspect of the suit. I liked BB as I said, but the next suit was so artificial, you could clearly tell it was a man in a suit. He's supposed to look like a giant bat at first glance.

Edit: Just got to the next point. The fighting was indeed over-choreographed. I'm a fighter and people tell me I'm too critical but I did not think I was being unreasonable about complaining about the fighting in TDKR especially. But those were my two biggest complaints, I'm curious what else they have.

I think Nolan's female casting is strange but he did a good job with Cotillard and Hathaway, even though Talia's death sucked but its not her fault they only had one take. Holmes and Gyllenhaal. Oh dear

Okay, the list is starting to lose me now. Neeson as Ra's was great casting. Not sure why Pfieffer didn't get a mention. This writer is downplaying a lot of Nolan's scenes. The first act of BB boring? We've never seen a superhero get trained before. I love the first act and I think BB is the best of the trilogy. Also, Bruce's scenes were some of the best aspects of Nolan's trilogy.

Both themes are good.

Alright this guy is starting to sound like the Superman fans. It's hard to "prefer" a joker. I think Ledger was better, but he deserved a better batman. He wouldnt be right against Keaton though. They were both good but I never really understood why Napier becomes "The Joker" just because he fell into acid. Did it make him crazy? Either way, they both belong in their own movies and that's that.

The Tumbler is not nice to look at. Okay. But it is a lot of fun to watch right? I bought both of HT's batmobiles. Cool, cool, and more cool. Not a "no-brainer."

Okay, the batwing was way better than the bat.

Ah, Bale was better than okay Bruce but agreed, a "rubbish" batman. Keaton is still #1 to me

Final fights. Okay, did not like Batman vs Bane on the steps. And one thing that always annoyed me is when Batman let's Ra's die. When Ra's asks "Have you finally learned to do what is necessary?" all Bruce has to do is look at the broken controls and say "I don't have to." You get that Ra's did it to himself and Bruce never went down to his level. The line he says "I don't have to save you" kind of makes you feel like Bruce did kill him. Anyway, none of this is anything to complain about compared to Burton. Although Batman returns ending was awesome and Nolan kind of made Two-faces finale a let down. The conversation with Joker at the end of TDK was better than a fight.

Agreed, Burton's Gotham was better.

Okay Nolan's dialogue has always been a little too obvious.

Idk, all this list made me want to do is go out and buy a 1/6 batwing

It would be classy for them to have an opposite list, just because these kinds of things always start fights and its not like Nolan's trilogy was bad.

 

[JonD7]

Whoa, dude shares my exact opinion... I've never liked the Nolan trilogy for all of these reasons.

 

[Uncanny Web-Slinger]

I really liked Gotham in Begins, it had a quasi gothic atmosphere, had a bleak cityscape and populace, it felt like a 100% unique city that had gone to **** over the years and needed a savior.

From TDK onwards it was just some generic american city

 

[ShadowX81]

Interesting. I didn't get a Joker vibe at all from the Penguin.

I think what gave me the vibe was the whole "circus" element that seemed to be factored into all the designs relating to him. All those giant duck boats, the bobbleheaded minions, but most of all that weird arcade car he used to control the Batmobile. That; plus there wasn't a single scene with him that didn't have its tongue firmly planted in cheek. I got a very Joker feeling from all of it.

 

[Mr. EcKo]

Great read , thanks for posting this.

still a fan of both

 

[jonny88]

I really liked Gotham in Begins, it had a quasi gothic atmosphere, had a bleak cityscape and populace, it felt like a 100% unique city that had gone to **** over the years and needed a savior.

From TDK onwards it was just some generic american city

That's because Begins had a comic book kind of feel to it, the other two did not.

I read most of the comparison as well. These movies are completely different, and made in different times.

I prefer Burton's Batman (even then there are things l don't like) and may feel a little out dated, but overall I prefer Burtons to Nolans.

Nolans of course was more epic overall, The Dark night kicked ***, can't say he same or the first and third. Bale ruined batman with that stupid voice, and l hated the bat suit in the last two. TDKR really sucked in my opinion as well, way to many mistakes, and just bad writing all together.

 

[Niltusk]

Good points and I could make similar for either series. Theres alot to love in both. I'd love to see the next Bat incarnation a cross between both. I don't mind the lightly armored Bats, but it would be really cool to see some of the classic color return even if its subtle greys and blues, but I've always been a sucker for any Batman with yellow detailing, but thats just me.

 

[Rugby1970]

Fun article and I think it was written in the spirit of fun and to get people mad and talking.

But reading it does remind me of how divided critics and fans were about the Burton film at the time:

"Too much Joker, Keaton was flat, why prince?, takes itself too seriously, more about production design than character, etc"

Now we can look back and appreciate all the things that made if great.

I loved the Burton films and the Nolan films and I love that the character is flexible enough to encompass so many strong visions AND can still be financially successful.

 

[K07]

I love the love in this thread. Very few people are dissing one group of films and proclaiming another superior.

Interesting fact, B89 was my first "favorite movie" and I remember renting it every week from the library and wearing out the VHS. I didn't own it until many years later. I think I owned BR and BF by the time I finally obtained B89! By then, Star Wars had taken over my life and I watched it less and less. And when B&R came out and the animation style changed in the animated series, I was pretty much done with Batman.

I saw BB out of curiosity despite thinking the Batmobile looked like garbage and the design being such a departure from what came before. I walked out of that theater declaring it my new favorite movie of all time and I went out and bought B:TAS, MotP, B89, BR, and BF on DVD. I attribute Nolan's films to my adulthood interest in Batman that had all but died. I might prefer one series over the other, but I appreciate having both takes and I agree, B:TAS is still the most balanced take on the character we've seen.

 

[Darth Vader]

I love Batman 89 and Returns and Nolan's batman take is great as well, but to me Jack Nicholson is Joker.

 

[rushmore223]

On a side note, Heath Ledger was great as the Joker, I personaly liked him much better than Nicholson, but I think much of the credit for Ledger's performance actually goes to Malcolm McDowell in A Clockwork Orange. Even Ledger admitted that he drew heavily from the character of Alex DeLarge for his portrayel of The Joker.

 

[EVILFACE]

I almost walked out of Returns. I was *this* close to leaving when Wayne did the wiki-wiki CD scratch thing during Penguin's speech.

That scratching bit was as lame as Joker taking down the Batplane with one shot from a revolver.

 

[rushmore223]

Also Tom Waits was a huge influence.

funny thing is we can easily make a blog 15 reasons why Nolans Batman is better than Burtons, but what would the point be? Personal opinions, thats all. And i think they are both great. Its like if your a Batman fan, you want to see different stories. Its like the comic books themselves. There are thousands of stories by many different writers and artists. Some are amazing some are so so, but i think its weird people would have hate for 89 or Nolans Batman. Both are amazing films of there own reasons.

I prefer Nolan's Batman series, but it doesnt take anything away from my enjoyment of the first two Burton Batman movies. They are really very different in every way and comparisons, for the most part, are pointless.

To be honest though, I never really cared for the first Burton Batman, Keaton was fine, but most everyone else in the movie bothered me.

 

[Magpie 7]

Burton and Keaton (specifically) got the whole essence of who Bruce Wayne is, why he is like he is. Their Dark Knight mightn't have been as energetic or as dynamic as Nolan/Bale's.

Who is Bruce Wayne? Bruce Wayne is a man haunted by the experience of his parents murder in front of him, he became a recluse and avoided being in public, he burrowed into himself to the degree that the only way out is through his Batman persona. Bruce Wayne might be the first mentally ill hero, and his medicine is to be the Bat. If Bruce Wayne hadn't the Wayne fortune or Alfred he'd be in Arkham Asylum, or at the very least would have been a patient there for some of his life.

That is the essence of Bruce Wayne from his earliest days and Burton allowed Keaton to capture it perfectly.

 

[Khev]

I listened to a bit of Burton's 89 commentary last night. Kind of funny to hear him referring to the lack of CG allowing his movies to be "grounded in reality" with real suits and practical sets. Apparently that phrase means different things to different people.

He also mentioned that he wanted to bring the city into Batman's world when designing Gotham rather than simply having a guy dressed as a bat running around New York. Obviously he and Nolan had polar opposite approaches to the setting.

 

[DiFabio]

I like both versions, Burton's and Nolan's (well, Nolan's first two any way).

Like Evilface said, what one doesn't have the other does and vice versa.

As far as preferences go, I do prefer the Keaton Batman and Ledger Joker.

 

[TheFiend]

That scratching bit was as lame as Joker taking down the Batplane with one shot from a revolver.

It was one big ****ing revolver though.

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[TheProcrastinator]

That list paints a highly unfair picture of those 15 raised points. Most of these could be very easily turned around in Nolan's favour, showing only strenghts of his approach, while ignoring the postivies of the other one (just like the author here is doing).

It's nice to see though, that this thread hasn't derenged into yet another face-off with contrarguments thrown around. We've all been there, done that

Though not equaly, but I do love both approaches. Both my feet are planted firmly in Nolan's camp, but Burton's Bat-flicks are still the movies that made me totally mesermised as a kid. The sound of the main theme still makes me shiver to this day.

Burton revolutionised the blockbusters of that era with his gothic sensibility and mature content, while Nolan's "The Dark Knight" - despite its imperfections - is still to date the best comic book film ever made, in my opinion. Time for a third guy to take on the Bat formula. Here's a great pitch for a reboot:

(from wired.co.uk) "Hawk moths may be jamming bat sonar signals by rubbing their genitals. The behavior, reported in Biology Letters on 3 July, creates an ultrasonic noise that could be used to scare off an attacking bat and to jam the bat's sonar."


And Khev, You're not the only one who loves "Returns".