I'm going to skip the animation films and series and come back to them later and just concentrate on live action outings for now, and I'll explain later why.
In 2005 Christopher Nolan gave us the first in the Dark Knight trilogy, starring Christian Bale as the Caped Crusader. I think these are all good films, but are flawed, and are very rewatchable but I'm not really a fan of Christian Bale, sorry if I hurt peoples feelings.
Batman Begins (2005) focuses on Bruce Wayne's transition from sulky billionaire (Bale plays sulky really well) orphan to arse kicking masked vigilantly (Bale ok as The Bat) thanks to the training recieved from Liam Neeson's Ra's al Ghul, head of the League of Shadows (later, Assassins). The stellar cast also includes Michael Caine (Alfred), Gary Oldman (Jim Gordon), Cillian Murphy (brilliant as The Scarecrow), Katie Holmes (as a drippy Rachel Dawes) and of course Morgan Freeman.
The Dark Knight (2008) has our hero face his most infamous and notorious foe, The Joker, played this time by Heath Ledger. We also get to see the origin story for Two-Face/Harvey Dent played by Aaron Eckhart, which I think was really well done. Rachel Dawes is played by Maggie Gyllenhaal instead of Katie Holmes, and I think it works a bit better. I don't want to seem insensitive but I think the film won more praise than it probably should have due to the sad passing of Heath Ledger, gone too soon.
The Dark Knight Rises (2012) is the thrilling, over the top conclusion of the trilogy and we have Bale's Batman taking on his most formidable foe (SPOILER ALERT!), and I'm not taking about Tom Hardy's mumbling, barely comprehensible Bane but Marion Cotillard Miranda Tate (Ra's al Ghul's daughter, Talia!). Oh and don't forget Anne Hatthaway as Selina Kyle, Catwoman, and Joseph Gordon-Levitt as a cop who becomes one of the iterations of Robin are also in it.
In 2016 Zack Snyder gave us Batman vs Superman: Dawn of Justice, and I really enjoyed it, Ben Affleck plays an older Bruce Wayne, with all the aches and pains, cynicism and grumpiness that age brings, and I think he does a fantastic job, we also have Henry Cavill as Superman, again a great performance in his follow up to The Man of Steel. Also starring Amy Adams as Lois Lane, Jeremy Irons as Alfred and Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luther, Gal Gadot pops up as well as Diana Prince, better known as Wonder Woman, she's kickass!
In 2016 Batfleck cameos in Suicide Squad.
2017 saw Justice League, a troubled production due to Zack Snyder having to hand over the production due to personal reasons, and apparently the end product wasn't Snyder's end vision, so next year we're going to see the fabled Zack Snyder Cut, which I'm looking forward to as I enjoyed the original cut! Affleck, Cavill and Gadot are back and this time joined by Jason Momoa's Aquaman and Ezra Miller's Flash.
This year or next (2020/21) sees another reboot, Matt Reeves's vision stars Robert Patterson as The Batman, the style and story loosely based on Frank Millers 80's graphic novel Batman: Year One. As well as Patterson we're getting Zoe Kravitz as Catwoman (yep, like that casting) Paul Dano as The Riddler (maybe) and Colin Farrell as The Penguin (virtually unrecognizable). Check out the trailer above, I'm not sure but I think I like it, just think Patterson looks a bit weedy maybe, see what you think.
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