Every DC Comics Movie, Ranked From Batman to Aquaman
Even before the advent of the DC Extended Universe, heroes like Batman and Superman have had a long career on the big screen. Sometimes those movies have been great. Other times, we get rubber Bat-nipples. With "Aquaman" finally getting his own movie, we've set out to rank every one of these movies from travesty to triumph.
31. 'Steel' (1997)
In the '90s, the world was practically crying out for another good Superman movie. And like Rorschach, DC looked down on us and whispered, "No." What we got was "Steel," a movie about a Superman supporting player with all the Supes connections scrubbed clean. But if you want to see master thespian Shaquille O'Neal parading around the screen in the world's worst cosplay, then this might just be your movie.
30. 'Catwoman' (2004)
"Batman Returns" fans clung for years to rumors about Michelle Pfeiffer's Catwoman getting her own spinoff movie. But by the time "Catwoman" actually materialized, it had a new star and shared almost nothing with the source material. We're almost impressed how this movie manages to make Halle Berry's work in the X-Men movies seem Oscar-worthy by comparison.
29. 'Superman IV: The Quest for Peace' (1987)
"Superman IV" hailed from an era when studios tended to get a little more lazy and cost-cutting with each sequel. It's impossible to to completely diminish the appeal of Christopher Reeve's Superman, but darned if this movie didn't have a serious go at it. And Nuclear Man? #NeverForget.
28. 'Jonah Hex' (2010)
We're not sure how you can go so wrong with such great source material and a cast that includes DC's Legends of Tomorrow" for a halfway decent, live-action take on the character.
27. 'The Return of Swamp Thing' (1989)
1989 saw the release of one of the worst and one of the best DC movies ever made. We'll leave it up to you to decide which one this is.
26. 'Suicide Squad' (2016)
The playful, kinetic trailers for this villain-focused team-up had us optimistic that the DCEU would finally start to right itself. But the final product somehow managed to disappoint us even more than "Batman v Superman." Over-stuffed, overlong, and plagued by the worst incarnation of Joker ever, "Suicide Squad" proves that being bad is no fun at all.
25. 'Batman & Robin' (1997)
"Batman & Robin" completed the franchise's evolution from Gothic superhero to neon-drenched toy commercial. We're pretty sure the movie caused a mass epidemic of MacGregor's Syndrome as soon as it hit theaters.
24. 'Batman Forever' (1995)
With both Tim Burton and Michael Keaton dropping out of this sequel, there was never any chance of "Batman Forever" living up to its predecessors. But that's no excuse for delivering a Batman movie about Bruce Wayne forgetting why he became Batman. Jim Carrey's manic Riddler is about the only thing this sequel has going for it. And curse those Bat-nipples.
23. 'Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice' (2016)
As the first live-action movie to feature the Caped Crusader and Dark Knight joining forces, "Batman v Superman" should have been the cinematic event of the decade. Instead, it doubled down on everything we didn't like about "Man of Steel" and managed to fundamentally misrepresent both characters. You're better off guzzling some of Granny's Peach Tea.
22. 'Superman III' (1983)
Again, you can never go completely wrong with a movie starring Christopher Reeve as Superman, but the third movie is definitely the "Batman Forever" of its franchise. With a Lex Luthor-lite villain and a woefully out-of-place Richard Pryor, "Superman III" captured little of what made the first two movies great.
21. 'Green Lantern' (2011)
We were thrilled in 2011 when WB finally decided to release a movie about a DC hero other than Batman or Superman. Sadly, "Green Lantern" managed to kill the franchise before it ever started, with only a handful of memorable elements amid a sea of mediocrity and bad special effects. This was not the superhero movie Ryan Reynolds was looking for.
20. 'Aquaman' (2018)
"Aquaman" is another bloated, "too-many-studio-fingerprints" DCEU mess from Warner Bros. It's the "Come at me, bro!" of movies, that gives fans -- who have waited almost 80 years to see their hero on the big screen -- finally get a movie where he, the King of the Seas, spends 20 minutes solving riddles in a desert. From certain perplexing "Batman & Robin"-level costume designs, to the "second--place-in-bar-trivia" bravado of its titular hero, James Wan's overstuffed and overwhelming CG spectacle is both overdone and underwhelming -- especially in the character-first storytelling department.
19. 'Justice League' (2017)
It's a mess. But, at times, it is a more tolerable mess than "BvS." It's also more entertaining in a "oh-that-was-a-funny-line" sort of way. The studio's knee-jerk reaction to negative everything aimed at the DC movies "BvS" and "Suicide Squad" is this Frankenstein'd mash-up of Zack Snyder and Joss Whedon's sensibilities, with the latter brought on to do extensive reshoots, which never quite shake hands with whatever the original intent of this movie was. And the "you smell good" line is, hands down, an all-timer eye roll for the genre.
18. 'Batman the Movie' (1966)
1966's "Batman" could hardly be more different from the movies that followed. It's bright, colorful, campy, and just plain fun. Plus, it has the distinction of being the only live-action Batman movie to pit the Dynamic Duo against the combined might of Joker, Catwoman, Penguin, and Riddler. That's no small feat.
17. 'The Losers' (2010)
WB didn't do this bombastic action movie any favors by dumping it into theaters right before the release of "The A-Team." And it's a shame. While hardly ground-breaking, "The Losers" is good, dumb fun with a strong cast.
16. 'Swamp Thing' (1982)
The first "Swamp Thing" is a surprisingly decent (and fun) attempt at bringing the brooding horror character to life. The film is basically a showcase for a young Wes Craven, showing what the director could accomplish on a shoestring budget.
15. 'Constantine' (2005)
No, "Constantine" is not a very faithful adaptation of the source material. But on its own merits as a supernatural action movie, it's a pretty fun ride. Any movie with Tilda Swinton as an angel and Peter Stormare as Satan is worth a watch.
14. 'Watchmen' (2009)
Many considered "Watchmen" to be unfilmable before director Zack Snyder finally brought this dense saga to life. The movie hardly approaches the greatness of the comic it's based on, but we have to at least admire the ambition here.
13. 'The Dark Knight Rises' (2012)
We wish Christopher Nolan had managed to end his "Dark Knight" trilogy as strongly as it began. There's a few beats to like in this final chapter, including Tom Hardy's mesmerizing Bane, Selina Kyle's bar fight, the Bat, and that the epic climax. But "The Dark Knight Rises" clearly needed another rewrite or three before the cameras started rolling, and maybe a few less characters overall.
12. 'Man of Steel' (2013)
Everyone had high hopes for this big-budget Superman reboot, especially with DC riding high on the afterglow of the "Dark Knight" trilogy. Unfortunately, "Man of Steel" borrowed way too much from those movies, presenting Superman as a brooding, reluctant hero with a casual attitude towards murder. At best, Henry Cavill was (and still is) a great Superman in search of a better movie.
11. 'Superman Returns' (2007)
WB made the dubious choice to position "Superman Returns" as a sequel to the old Richard Donner films rather than a complete reboot. The result was that "Returns" channeled some of the appeal of those films but never escaped their shadow. More concerned with being a love letter to the previous era than establishing its own touchstone. And who cares if this Supes doesn't punch, Reeve's first film didn't have him do it, either.
10. 'V for Vendetta' (2006)
As with "Watchmen," "V for Vendetta" is a valiant attempt at adapting a classic Alan Moore graphic novel that doesn't quite capture the appeal of the source material. But it still makes for a solid, action-heavy alternative to your average dystopian thriller.
9. 'The LEGO Batman Movie' (2017)
"LEGO Batman" is exactly what fans needed after the crushing disappointment that was "BvS." While not quite as excellent as its predecessor, "The LEGO Movie," this spinoff delivers a zany, epic adventure that pokes fun at pretty much every corner of the franchise even while offering a more faithful take on the Dark Knight than most of DC's live-action movies.
8. 'Batman' (1989)
We love Adam West's Batman as much as anyone, but audiences needed a firm reminder that this hero is a dark crusader of the night. This movie succeeded in pulling Batman back into the shadows and weaving a tale of two equally demented men dancing with the devil in the pale moonlight.
7. 'Batman Returns' (1992)
Tim Burton's second Batman movie is weirder and more surreal than the first. And while Danny DeVito's Penguin wasn't quite enough to fill the void left by Joker, the doomed romance between Batman and Catwoman really gave this sequel its bite.
6. 'Wonder Woman' (2017)
"Wonder Woman" is the best DCEU movie so far, which isn't saying much considering how low that bar is to clear. The first two thirds are "Captain America: First Avenger" good, while pacing and story problems greatly compromise the film's final act. (Clunky directorial and editing choices overall, awkward and stilted line readings, disregard for payoffs to what are clearly set-ups that the film ignores, and Pine's somewhat disengaged performance at times are also very problematic.) The set pieces and chemistry between the actors, on top of just how freaking cool it is to finally see Diana in her own film, make this the blockbuster equivalent of a "just okay" base hit -- but DC really needed a home run. It's their 2011 "Thor," where it should be their "Iron Man."
5. 'Superman II' (1980)
While a little rougher around the edges than its predecessor (in part because of behind-the-scenes drama), "Superman II" remains one of DC's best. This sequel pitted the Man of Steel against three rogue Kryptonians, in the process making the phrase "Kneel before Zod!" part of the pop culture lexicon. "Superman II" holds up even better now, thanks to the release of "The Donner Cut" a few years ago.
4. 'Batman: Mask of the Phantasm" (1993)
The fact that this doesn't rank as the best Batman film ever made says a lot about the overall quality of the Dark Knight's Hollywood adventures. This big-screen "Batman: The Animated Series" offshoot introduced a worthy new villain to the franchise and went a long way towards exploring the tortured man behind the cowl.
3. 'Superman: The Movie' (1978)
The first "Superman" promised "You'll believe a man can fly." And, boy, did it deliver on that promise. For whatever problems the film might have or dated special effects it may feature, it brought Superman to life like no movie before or since. There's a reason we still regard Christopher Reeve as the definitive Man of Steel.
2. 'Batman Begins' (2005)
We thought Tim Burton's Batman was dark, but nothing could have prepared us for Christopher Nolan's take on the character. "Batman Begins" grounded the Dark Knight in the real world and explored Bruce Wayne's evolution from man to legend in greater depth than ever before. Origin stories don't get better than this.
1. 'The Dark Knight' (2008)
If "Batman Begins" laid the groundwork for the definitive Batman saga, then "The Dark Knight" constructed a skyscraper of superhero greatness. With terrific performances, epic action, a captivating conflict, and the best cinematic Joker ever, "The Dark Knight" is far and away the pinnacle of DC's cinematic adventures.
