
Why Joel Schumacher’s ‘Batman’ Movies Don’t Totally Suck
The absolute disaster that was Batman & Robin scuttled Warner Bros' plans for a fifth Batman movie. Instead, Warners brought in Christopher Nolan and made Batman Begins, rebooting the Dark Knight from scratch with new creators and stars, and sending him off in a much darker direction. Every Batman movie since then, up to and including the new Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, can be seen as a reaction and corrective to director Joel Schumacher’s Batmen, Batman & Robin and its predecessor, 1995’s Batman Forever.
So were Schumacher’s movies really that bad? They’re silly and juvenile and shockingly tacky, and we wouldn’t go so far to say they’re good, but they’re not entirely terrible either. Schumacher made some very questionable decisions, but he also made some smart ones as well. In the interest of balancing the record, we've made this list of the best stuff in the “worst” Batman movies.