15 Batman Animated Movies Every Fan Needs to See
Sat, Dec. 30th, 2023 03:02 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
spiraliciousI planned on reacting to this list for Batman Day back in September, but I never got the chance. I actually agree with this list. There are others I might add to it, but it's pretty solid. That being said, there are three movies I haven't seen and two I haven't seen for quite a long time on the list.
Oh, and there might be spoilers. I avoided them as much as I could.
15 Batman Animated Movies Every Fan Needs to See from movieweb.com
15. Batman: Year One (2011)
While I agree this is a must watch movie for Batman fans, it does fall a little bit flat for me as a movie. It's is an amazing adaptation of the comic and I remember the animation being good, but I just don't remember it being as engrossing as reading the comic. Someone reviewing it, I think Panda Redd, said it's more of a Jim Gordon story than a Batman story, and that is true. While the story is about Bruce returning to Gotham and his first year as Batman, it is also about Jim Gordon coming to Gotham and his first year on the police force there, and more of the focus is on him. I'm really not sure what else to say about this one. Panda Redd has a nearly hour long video about the comic, if you want more details.
14. Batman: Under the Red Hood (2010)
This is the one where Jason Todd shows up in Gotham as the Red Hood. It's probably number one on my must watch list, though more for Jason and less for Batman. Jensen Ackles does a great job voicing Jason Todd. It's an amazing adaptation of the comic. The one thing that bugs me is the biggest change in the movie from the comics, which is how Jason came back from the dead. I totally get why they did it. It is more streamline. The comic book version is too convoluted for a movie. I get it. I just prefer Lost Days version of events. (Also, it had to cut a very large filler arc that has one of my favorite interactions with Batman and Superman, but it was a very necessary arc to cut to adapt it to a movie.) I still highly recommend it. Definitely should be on this list.
13. Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (1993)
I have not seen this movie since it was relatively new and it has blended in my brain with Batman: The Animated Series (which you should watch) too much for me to really talk about it. I had hoped to rewatch it before this, but it was not meant to be.
12. Batman: Bad Blood (2016)
I really like this movie. I'm not sure I like recommending it as stand alone outside of it's larger animated movie universe. While all the movies are stand alones, they all also tie together, meaning they are all enjoyable, complete movies on their own, but the more of them you've seen (in order) the more you get out of the movies, as they are a series and do reference each other. This one in particular is number six of sixteen, and I would personally watch at least Son of Batman and Batman vs. Robin first, as they give context to the dynamics of Damian Wayne, Dick Grayson, and Bruce Wayne in this universe, and Bruce's relationship with and feelings about Damian and Talia and super important to the plot of this movie. It also introduces Batwoman. It's more of a great Bat Family movie, than a Batman movie. Overall, a good movie.
11. Batman: Gotham Knight (2008)
I was a little surprised to see this one here. It's actually a six segment anthology that is semi related to The Dark Knight live action movie trilogy (though knowing those films is unimportant to watch this one). Some of the segments are related. My favorite is actually the first one where the kids are all taking turns describing their individual encounters with Batman, letting the viewer piece together the overall story of events from the wildly different points of view. Though the segment with Bruce studying how to deal with pain lives rent free in my head as well. The movie was made as joint production with a Japanese studio and there is a lot of outsider perspective in the plot, giving it a very different feeling than other Batman movies.
10. Batman: The Dark Knight Returns (2012 & 2013)
This is a two part adaptation of the comic storyline by the same name, and this maybe the only time you hear me say this, but I like it better than the comic. Pretty much all of Bruce's weird internal monologue is gone, which made it a much more enjoyable experience for me. Aside from that, it is a very faithful adaptation, which makes it a great way to experience what is considered to be one of the most important Batman storylines (though not one of my personal favorites).
9. Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox (2013)
I haven't seen this one. It's on my list.
8. Justice League: War (2014)
Also haven't seen this one.
7. Batman Ninja (2018)
I love this movie and think everyone should see it. I am still surprised to see it on this list. Normally, if a "quirky" movie is added to these kinds of rec lists, it's Gotham by Gaslight. Basically, the Bat Family are fighting a group of rogues when a weapon goes off wrong and everyone is transported to Feudal Japan. This includes Alfred and the Batmobile. Despite all getting zapped at the same time, not everyone gets spit out in feudal Japan at the same time. Batman is last and shows up after everyone else has been there at least a few months. The rogues have taken over and are ruling their own sections of Japan and the Bat Family have adapted, waiting for Batman to show up. Damian has been given a personality transplant. When the movie came out, there were a couple fics with variations of the elderly women of the village were secretly drugging Damian to make him more pleasant, and I buy it. Damian also has a pet monkey, I believe. The main plot kind of gets swept up in a chosen one storyline that revolves around Batman, but halfway through the movie, there is an abrupt intermission with a change in animation style and tone, to tell a short, serious side story about Red Hood confronting the Joker and Harley. Then everything switches back to continue the main storyline. I've been told that watching it in the original Japanese, its an entirely different movie. I don't speak Japanese and the sub version matches the English dialogue of the dub. I'm not sure that it wasn't also edited differently. It's a wonderful goofy movie. Did I mention that the Rogues' castles all double as battle robots?
6. Batman: The Killing Joke (2016)
An adaptation of another extremely important Batman storyline. The first half of the film is added content that doesn't really have anything to do with the mail story, feels disjointed from the rest of the film, and adds a certain infamous scene that is generally considered rage inducing across fandom that I am trying to dance around because major spoilers. It feels unnecessary, tacked on, and pointless. The second half of the film is an incredibly faithful adaptation of the comic storyline. It's almost too faithful. It is painstakingly recreated scene for scene, but doesn't have the same emotional impact for some reason. And the comic's ambiguous ending falls completely flat in the movie adaptation. The voice acting is superb with Kevin Conroy as Batman and Mark Hamill as Joker. I get why it's on the list because it's a very accessible way to consume this storyline, but if you can read the comic instead, I recommend it.
5. The Lego Batman Movie (2017)
Love this movie. I recommend all of the movies with Batman in the Lego universe. Someone said that this version of Batman is the more canonically accurate than most of canon, and I kind of agree with that. It is kitchy Batman, which I love. The more I try to talk about the movie, the more it just turns into nonsensical babbling and hearts. It's goofy and amazing. Dick is naive. The Joker is *chef's kiss*. Lessons are learned. Just watch it.
4. Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker (2000)
A very definite must watch. It would probably be better to watch it after you've seen the Batman Beyond series, but I don't think it's necessary. Warning that it's very dark and a certain iconic scene in the movie gave me nightmares for longer than I'd care to admit.
3. Batman: Death in the Family (2020)
I haven't watched this yet. I own the blu-ray and had planned on exploring it Thanksgiving weekend, but other things were happening. It is an interactive movie adapting the comic storyline of the same name. In the 80s, when the storyline was being published, the fate of Robin (Jason Todd) was decided by a fan vote, so making an interactive movie makes sense. It has at least nine alternative story paths and seven alternate endings, with an average viewing time of 95 minutes. I am both looking forward to watching it and hesitant to watch it.
2. Batman: The Long Halloween (2021)
This is actually two movies, parts one and two. Jensen Ackles voices Batman. I am a little extra critical of it because it's adapting one of my favorite comic storylines. It is a very good adaptation and it is very much a must watch. That being said, Part One is a far more faithful adaption than Part Two. Part Two kind of felt like it jumps the rails a bit, as far as adapting the comic plot. I hate how they changed the ending. The killer is still the same, but their motivations are completely different and there is an very important change to the reveal of the murderer. The other thing I dislike is in the movie they frequently tell Batman what an awful detective he is (and I think he even says it himself a few times), whereas in the comic, he is still considered a good detective, but they subtly point out that he still has things to learn. (The storyline takes place early in his career.) There are things I think the movie did better: instead of Catwomoan just randomly being around all the time, they actually gave her a purpose and a plotline and a reason to be around, and the movie's rewrite of the Poison Ivy plotline is a huge improvement over the comic, in my opinion. One thing that I like that feels kind of like a neutral move, is the movie is from a slightly different perspective. Essentially, they take the comic's background plot and turn it into the foreground plot and they take the comic's foreground plot and make it the background plot - You know, the plots going on besides the murders and trying to solve them.
1. Batman: Hush (2019)
This movie surprised me. It's another adaptation of a really iconic storyline every Batman fan should know. However, there are a few changes 1) to make the ending still a surprise because the original storyline is so well known, and 2) Jason Todd doesn't exist in the film universe this is apart of. There are a few other changes, but I think it captures the heart of the storyline well enough and is a very watchable movie.
Oh, and there might be spoilers. I avoided them as much as I could.
15 Batman Animated Movies Every Fan Needs to See from movieweb.com
15. Batman: Year One (2011)
While I agree this is a must watch movie for Batman fans, it does fall a little bit flat for me as a movie. It's is an amazing adaptation of the comic and I remember the animation being good, but I just don't remember it being as engrossing as reading the comic. Someone reviewing it, I think Panda Redd, said it's more of a Jim Gordon story than a Batman story, and that is true. While the story is about Bruce returning to Gotham and his first year as Batman, it is also about Jim Gordon coming to Gotham and his first year on the police force there, and more of the focus is on him. I'm really not sure what else to say about this one. Panda Redd has a nearly hour long video about the comic, if you want more details.
14. Batman: Under the Red Hood (2010)
This is the one where Jason Todd shows up in Gotham as the Red Hood. It's probably number one on my must watch list, though more for Jason and less for Batman. Jensen Ackles does a great job voicing Jason Todd. It's an amazing adaptation of the comic. The one thing that bugs me is the biggest change in the movie from the comics, which is how Jason came back from the dead. I totally get why they did it. It is more streamline. The comic book version is too convoluted for a movie. I get it. I just prefer Lost Days version of events. (Also, it had to cut a very large filler arc that has one of my favorite interactions with Batman and Superman, but it was a very necessary arc to cut to adapt it to a movie.) I still highly recommend it. Definitely should be on this list.
13. Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (1993)
I have not seen this movie since it was relatively new and it has blended in my brain with Batman: The Animated Series (which you should watch) too much for me to really talk about it. I had hoped to rewatch it before this, but it was not meant to be.
12. Batman: Bad Blood (2016)
I really like this movie. I'm not sure I like recommending it as stand alone outside of it's larger animated movie universe. While all the movies are stand alones, they all also tie together, meaning they are all enjoyable, complete movies on their own, but the more of them you've seen (in order) the more you get out of the movies, as they are a series and do reference each other. This one in particular is number six of sixteen, and I would personally watch at least Son of Batman and Batman vs. Robin first, as they give context to the dynamics of Damian Wayne, Dick Grayson, and Bruce Wayne in this universe, and Bruce's relationship with and feelings about Damian and Talia and super important to the plot of this movie. It also introduces Batwoman. It's more of a great Bat Family movie, than a Batman movie. Overall, a good movie.
11. Batman: Gotham Knight (2008)
I was a little surprised to see this one here. It's actually a six segment anthology that is semi related to The Dark Knight live action movie trilogy (though knowing those films is unimportant to watch this one). Some of the segments are related. My favorite is actually the first one where the kids are all taking turns describing their individual encounters with Batman, letting the viewer piece together the overall story of events from the wildly different points of view. Though the segment with Bruce studying how to deal with pain lives rent free in my head as well. The movie was made as joint production with a Japanese studio and there is a lot of outsider perspective in the plot, giving it a very different feeling than other Batman movies.
10. Batman: The Dark Knight Returns (2012 & 2013)
This is a two part adaptation of the comic storyline by the same name, and this maybe the only time you hear me say this, but I like it better than the comic. Pretty much all of Bruce's weird internal monologue is gone, which made it a much more enjoyable experience for me. Aside from that, it is a very faithful adaptation, which makes it a great way to experience what is considered to be one of the most important Batman storylines (though not one of my personal favorites).
9. Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox (2013)
I haven't seen this one. It's on my list.
8. Justice League: War (2014)
Also haven't seen this one.
7. Batman Ninja (2018)
I love this movie and think everyone should see it. I am still surprised to see it on this list. Normally, if a "quirky" movie is added to these kinds of rec lists, it's Gotham by Gaslight. Basically, the Bat Family are fighting a group of rogues when a weapon goes off wrong and everyone is transported to Feudal Japan. This includes Alfred and the Batmobile. Despite all getting zapped at the same time, not everyone gets spit out in feudal Japan at the same time. Batman is last and shows up after everyone else has been there at least a few months. The rogues have taken over and are ruling their own sections of Japan and the Bat Family have adapted, waiting for Batman to show up. Damian has been given a personality transplant. When the movie came out, there were a couple fics with variations of the elderly women of the village were secretly drugging Damian to make him more pleasant, and I buy it. Damian also has a pet monkey, I believe. The main plot kind of gets swept up in a chosen one storyline that revolves around Batman, but halfway through the movie, there is an abrupt intermission with a change in animation style and tone, to tell a short, serious side story about Red Hood confronting the Joker and Harley. Then everything switches back to continue the main storyline. I've been told that watching it in the original Japanese, its an entirely different movie. I don't speak Japanese and the sub version matches the English dialogue of the dub. I'm not sure that it wasn't also edited differently. It's a wonderful goofy movie. Did I mention that the Rogues' castles all double as battle robots?
6. Batman: The Killing Joke (2016)
An adaptation of another extremely important Batman storyline. The first half of the film is added content that doesn't really have anything to do with the mail story, feels disjointed from the rest of the film, and adds a certain infamous scene that is generally considered rage inducing across fandom that I am trying to dance around because major spoilers. It feels unnecessary, tacked on, and pointless. The second half of the film is an incredibly faithful adaptation of the comic storyline. It's almost too faithful. It is painstakingly recreated scene for scene, but doesn't have the same emotional impact for some reason. And the comic's ambiguous ending falls completely flat in the movie adaptation. The voice acting is superb with Kevin Conroy as Batman and Mark Hamill as Joker. I get why it's on the list because it's a very accessible way to consume this storyline, but if you can read the comic instead, I recommend it.
5. The Lego Batman Movie (2017)
Love this movie. I recommend all of the movies with Batman in the Lego universe. Someone said that this version of Batman is the more canonically accurate than most of canon, and I kind of agree with that. It is kitchy Batman, which I love. The more I try to talk about the movie, the more it just turns into nonsensical babbling and hearts. It's goofy and amazing. Dick is naive. The Joker is *chef's kiss*. Lessons are learned. Just watch it.
4. Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker (2000)
A very definite must watch. It would probably be better to watch it after you've seen the Batman Beyond series, but I don't think it's necessary. Warning that it's very dark and a certain iconic scene in the movie gave me nightmares for longer than I'd care to admit.
3. Batman: Death in the Family (2020)
I haven't watched this yet. I own the blu-ray and had planned on exploring it Thanksgiving weekend, but other things were happening. It is an interactive movie adapting the comic storyline of the same name. In the 80s, when the storyline was being published, the fate of Robin (Jason Todd) was decided by a fan vote, so making an interactive movie makes sense. It has at least nine alternative story paths and seven alternate endings, with an average viewing time of 95 minutes. I am both looking forward to watching it and hesitant to watch it.
2. Batman: The Long Halloween (2021)
This is actually two movies, parts one and two. Jensen Ackles voices Batman. I am a little extra critical of it because it's adapting one of my favorite comic storylines. It is a very good adaptation and it is very much a must watch. That being said, Part One is a far more faithful adaption than Part Two. Part Two kind of felt like it jumps the rails a bit, as far as adapting the comic plot. I hate how they changed the ending. The killer is still the same, but their motivations are completely different and there is an very important change to the reveal of the murderer. The other thing I dislike is in the movie they frequently tell Batman what an awful detective he is (and I think he even says it himself a few times), whereas in the comic, he is still considered a good detective, but they subtly point out that he still has things to learn. (The storyline takes place early in his career.) There are things I think the movie did better: instead of Catwomoan just randomly being around all the time, they actually gave her a purpose and a plotline and a reason to be around, and the movie's rewrite of the Poison Ivy plotline is a huge improvement over the comic, in my opinion. One thing that I like that feels kind of like a neutral move, is the movie is from a slightly different perspective. Essentially, they take the comic's background plot and turn it into the foreground plot and they take the comic's foreground plot and make it the background plot - You know, the plots going on besides the murders and trying to solve them.
1. Batman: Hush (2019)
This movie surprised me. It's another adaptation of a really iconic storyline every Batman fan should know. However, there are a few changes 1) to make the ending still a surprise because the original storyline is so well known, and 2) Jason Todd doesn't exist in the film universe this is apart of. There are a few other changes, but I think it captures the heart of the storyline well enough and is a very watchable movie.
