How would you rank the animated movies?
There have been many, but many Batman animated movies over the years, so I thought I would want to hear everyone's ranking of the Batman animated films. My ranking is:
- Mask of the Phantasm
- Under the Red Hood
- The Dark Knight Returns 2-parter
- Return of the Joker
- Year One
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From Best to Worst out of all the ones I've seen:
1: Mask of the Phantasm (9.5/10)
This film features everything that's great about Batman. It has dark atmosphere, dramatic intensity, and an always compelling mystery. Not to mention that the romance with Andrea really added to Bruce Wayne as a character. This is often considered the best animated Batman film and it's easy to understand why. It's just fucking fantastic.
2: Year One (9/10)
People either love or hate this one. Personally, I love it. It's a well understood character study of both Bruce Wayne and James Gordon as well as having a plot that stands out from any other Batman medium focusing more on police brutality and corruption than it does super villains. Not to say plots with super villains are bad by any means, but the plot for Year One felt a lot more grounded in reality than a lot of other Batman films and I give it such high praise for that.
3: The Dark Knight Returns (9/10)
It follows its source material to a tee. While the attempt to replicate Frank Miller's art style didn't really work, it's still a very intense, epic, and always interesting Batman story and a faithful adaptation of Frank Miller's classic graphic novel.
4: Under the Red Hood (9/10)
Dark, gritty, intense, and yet still emotionally poignant, Under the Red Hood is a stand out installment of the Batman franchise and attempts to make out Jason Todd as more than just a whiny and pretentious asshole that everyone sees him as.
5: Return of the Joker (9/10)
Faithful to the original Batman Beyond series, Return of the Joker is both a solid superhero story and continues to develop Bruce Wayne and Terry McGinnis as characters.
6: The Batman vs Dracula (7/10)
It still succumbs to some of the dumb moments that plagued the series, The Batman, The Batman vs Dracula is still smarter than it has any right to be by returning to Batman's darker roots and delivering a decently entertaining romp.
7: Mystery of the Batwoman (7/10)
While it doesn't reach the highs of Mask of the Phantasm, Mystery of the Batwoman is still a decent flick with a lot of entertaining action and a story that keeps you guessing (even if it isn't quite as strong as other Batman movies.)
8: Assault on Arkham (7/10)
I'm giving this a 7/10 for now, but honestly, this was always a mixed bag for me. While the action is entertaining, I've always had mixed feelings on the plot and the banter between the members of the Suicide Squad. Maybe I just need to watch it again.
9: Batman: Gotham Knight (6/10)
Boasts some very beautiful animation, but the storylines of each anthology segment never quite left that much of an impact on me.
10: The Killing Joke (6/10)
The first half is boring and only exists to add depth to Batgirl's character. Which would've been fine if she wasn't portrayed as a whiny and obnoxious twat whose sole purpose was boning Batman. I felt like I was watching an episode of One Tree Hill during her scenes. The last half, however, is a lot better and follows the source novel very well. Some scenes come off as rushed, but others are actually done better in the film than in the comic. So my recommendation is to watch the second half of this movie and just skip the first half entirely.
11: Son of Batman (6/10)
Damian Wayne is obnoxious and unsympathetic and the plot is so generic, you could probably guess how everything is going to go down in the first five minutes. Granted, it does have some decent action and the plot itself isn't terrible. It's just predictable. So take it for what it's worth I guess.
12: Superman/Batman: Apocalypse (4/10)
Focuses more on Superman and Supergirl than it does Superman and Batman. Batman is completely underutilized, the plot is messy as all hell, and they spend more time sexualizing Supergirl rather than developing her as a character. Not a fan.
Under the red hood is all the way at the top. It was so good and I just love Jason Todd's character, he's member of the bat family. Though to be fair I've only ever seen that and the movies involving Damien Wayne. The Son of Batman, Batman VS Robin and Batman Bad Blood.