• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Which film was better....Batman Begins or The Dark Knight?

Status
Not open for further replies.
Begins doesn't have that stupid scene with the two boats so that's a big plus in its Pro column.

It does have an entire third act revolving around a giant microwave emitter that destroys water molecules to release underground gas (what?). Let's be honest, the third act of both films are their weakest.
 
Begins. It's relatively tight and coherent.

The Dark Knight is 70% fantastic and then there's another 30% jammed into the movie that doesn't belong there (pretty much everything to do with Dent and then the dumb twin boats thing). The movie would be better with 45 minutes cut from its runtime.

Mask of the Phantasm stays winning.
 

Moaradin

Member
I think Begins is better overall. The Joker elevates TDK but I think it's a weaker film as a whole.

Mask of the Phantasm is still the best Batman movie though.
 
Is it too much to ask that one day we get a Batman movie made by people who 1. actually read and love the comics and 2. don't get every cue from either Year One or The Dark Knight Returns?

Just give me a tight, 100-minute, single-villain movie that doesn't retell Batman's origin, rely on the Joker, or end with Batman killing somebody. Make it weird and wonderful. Like Morrison weird.
 
It does have an entire third act revolving around a giant microwave emitter that destroys water molecules to release underground gas (what?). Let's be honest, the third act of both films are their weakest.

And somehow the third act of Begins is more believable than what happens in the third act of TDK. It was so cheesy.
 
I liked Begins much better. For me, it was a somewhat believable take on Batman, and at the time, one of the first realistic super hero films.

First thing that happens in Dark Knight is some wacky James Bond shit, with stupid gadgets, and eventually, Batman uses every cellphone in the city as a sonar to spy on people. Dumb.
 

KonradLaw

Member
Begins. It's relatively tight and coherent.

The Dark Knight is 70% fantastic and then there's another 30% jammed into the movie that doesn't belong there (pretty much everything to do with Dent and then the dumb twin boats thing). The movie would be better with 45 minutes cut from its runtime.

Mask of the Phantasm stays winning.

Dent's parts were more cruicial than Joker ones. You can't cut them. Movie doesn't make any sense thematically or structurally without Dent. The whole movie is revolving around Dent.
 

EGM1966

Member
I can get people preferring Batman Begins but judged purely on their critical merits as films its easily Dark Knight. As a film I'd say it remains the best comic book film by a fair way in terms of thematic depth, cohesion, performances and so on.

Begins is still damn good though.
 

Pagusas

Elden Member
Begins had the better ending and beginning, far worse middle though. Dark Knight had the better middle, but I hated the ending and the beginning was just ok (I still think the school bus getaway makes no sense).

Overal I give Begins the nod by a small margin as I think i enjoy watching it more. Both are some of the best Batman properties ever made though.
 

rogue74

Member
Batman Begins is a great Batman origin story.
TDK is a masterpiece that will be remembered alongside the all-time greatest films ever made.

I love the hyperbole these threads generate. It's an excellent movie but c'mon.

Anyway, I pick TDK. It's far more rewatchable because of Ledger.
 

Gattsu25

Banned
The Dark Knight is an immensely better film.

Just so long as you forget that the entire Harvey Dent storyline was in it.

With that storyline in it's only a moderately better film.
 
I vote The Dark Knight.

Batman Begins : The Dark Knight :: Star Wars : Empire Strikes Back
Comparisons to the Star Wars trilogy work really well for me, because I also really love both The Dark Knight Rises and Return of the Jedi, while a lot of people trash both.
 

phanphare

Banned
Batman Begins easily for me

The Dark Knight is good but Ledger put that movie on his back. take out his performance and you've got Dark Knight Rises Pt. 1. also Eckhart as Two Face was laughably awful. so much cringe and equal blame can be put on the writing and the performance itself.

Begins is also the only one to feel like a proper Batman movie
 

Eidan

Member
I love the hyperbole these threads generate. It's an excellent movie but c'mon.

Anyway, I pick TDK. It's far more rewatchable because of Ledger.
It's not really hyperbolic at this point. The Dark Knight is easily among the most acclaimed and revered movies of the previous decade. Expect plenty of flowery 10 year anniversary articles about it next year.
 

The Hobo

Member
The Dark Knight is the better film. I do enjoy Batman Begins more thought because it feels more like a Batman film than TDK.
 

Camwi

Member
I preferred Batman Begins. I still think Heath Ledger's performance was overrated (great, but not Oscar-worthy).
 

Screaming Meat

Unconfirmed Member
IMO TDK shits all over Begins. It consistently ramps up the tension, has incredible performances, and has some absolutely classic scenes. Gordon isn't a joke character, either.

Begins has its moments for sure, but after Bale's initial appearance as Batman it loses a lot of steam for me. The last third of the film just isn't great cinema, at least not in my house.
 

Koyuga

Member
The Dark Knight is a good movie, but it's plagued with serious pacing issues.
Batman Begins on the other hand, is one of the tightest movies I've seen, each scene flows naturally and the film keeps momentum until the end. It's a much more complete movie, with better editing.
 
Both movies have issues. But I am more partial to the one that's actually about Batman. Heath Ledger is the only reason I really care about TDK.
 

Screaming Meat

Unconfirmed Member
The Dark Knight is a good movie, but it's plagued with serious pacing issues.
Batman Begins on the other hand, is one of the tightest movies I've seen, each scene flows naturally and the film keeps momentum until the end. It's a much more complete movie, with better editing.

That's funny. I feel the opposite is true! :D

Who did Batman kill in The Dark Knight? He left the Joker hanging there.

Two-Face?
 

Alienfan

Member
That's like asking which Uncharted is better out of the first two. Of course it's the second. Begins is great, but the Dark Knight will be remembered as one of the best films of the 2000's - it's going to be seen as a classic like Pulp Fiction or The GodFather. It kind of already is tbh. It's crazy how influential that movie was
 

enzo_gt

tagged by Blackace
Begins has a lot more moments I prefer during rewatches.

Begins by a between-small-and-longshot margin.
 

Plinko

Wildcard berths that can't beat teams without a winning record should have homefield advantage
Batman Begins is the best out of the entire series and has been since the moment TDK released.
 
That's like asking which Uncharted is better out of the first two. Of course it's the second. Begins is great, but the Dark Knight will be remembered as one of the best films of the 2000's - it's going to be seen as a classic like Pulp Fiction or The GodFather. It kind of already is tbh

lol, it shouldn't be.
 

RMI

Banned
The highs in Dark Knight are higher but begins is overall a better movie IMO. Dark Knight starts to feel over long and bloated about 2/3 of the way through.
 

rogue74

Member
It's not really hyperbolic at this point. The Dark Knight is easily among the most acclaimed and revered movies of the previous decade. Expect plenty of flowery 10 year anniversary articles about it next year.

I think a movie needs to stand the test of time before it is hailed as one of the greatest ever. Under 10 years doesn't cut it.
 

Shai-Tan

Banned
I prefer Batman Begins and most origin stories in general. Heath Ledger was great in The Dark Knight but the pseudo philosophy was moronic. It appealed to kids in the same way Ayn Rand does, by lacking all subtlety. And corruption was a catch all excuse to basically let The Joker do anything.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top Bottom