The 37th Best All-Time Film

(14th 1973-1998) 
Batman (1989) 
     (Batman Returns (1992)) 

The best Batman movie (of all the wonderful Batman movies) is still Burton’s effort. (Efforts, if you count the wonderful “Returns” which I do.) They are both great examples of Burton at his best, modern versions of German Expressionism and Noir. They take the genre of the comic book super hero seriously, but remember that it is a comic book story. Burton does not worry about converting every element into something plausible or “realistic,” but embraces the magic realism.