Batman Returns
Call it a hot take if you must, but I insist that “Batman Returns” is the best Batman flick ever made. First of all, handing Batman to Tim Burton was a stroke of genius in the first place. You get Batman filtered through a “Beetlejuice” lens, and nothing could be cooler. But “Batman Returns” is even better than the 1989 “Batman” movie because it turns the Burtonness up to 11, and then makes everything all Christmas-y on top of that. So instead of Batman plus “Beetlejuice,” it’s more like Batman plus “The Nightmare Before Christmas.” And let’s not forget it has Danny DeVito in it. Did Christopher Nolan give you DeVito in his three-hour Batman slogs? No, he didn’t.