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3 comments
9 comments
Rank This Matchup or Comment/Reply Below
on 1/30/2011
Only one of these is a significant chapter in the study of American culture. The other is a flashy, soulless, entertaining derivative.
Yep, Batman is indeed flashy but ultimately soulless and might I add brainless. Downey destroys Keaton and the character of Tony Stark/Iron Man is far more complex and far more interesting than Batman. What's more believable, a billionaire that dresses up as a giant rodent and fights street crime or a conflicted billionaire who uses armor and armament to initiate global change? Honestly, that's why most Marvel characters are head and shoulders above anything DC has to offer.
on 3/17/2011
Have a fond place in my heart for 89 Batman. I still think Keaton > Bale even though Nolan's work tops Burton. Still, both Iron Man films are simply better than all the Batman movies put together.
Burton's Batman was stylish and comic-book like, but also meh. The original was a fun movie simply because of Jack Nicholson. Now Iron Man 2 just sucked. They took the weak parts of the first movie (villain, Stark's backstory, the action) and made them worse. They added more action, but it was just mindless CGI-infused bland action. It was just a bad movie, period. I hope Shane Black can bring Iron Man 3 into the quality zone.
on 3/20/2012
Easily Batman. I thought Iron Man 2 was ok, but a real disappointment compared to the original.
on 5/10/2012
Indy42 could not have said it better. I wouldn't say it sucked, but I'd rank them both as being rather meh.
I'll take the original Batman. At least Nicholson was memorable. Iron Man 2 took the control from Favreau and was turned into another dumb Hollywood sequel.
on 5/11/2012
Come on, I like dumb Hollywood sequels. Who didn't love Sam Rockwell as Justin Hammer?
on 5/12/2012
Iron Man 2 is the epitome of dumb, lazy, badly written schlock. The brainless element plot hole completely crumbles to the ground even under the most basic scrutiny imaginable. Burton's Batman is overrated, but just slightly edges this one out in quality.
I'm going to give this one to Iron Man 2. It's a good (although not nearly as good as the first) sequel that has a sturdy enough plot and plenty of focus on its hero. Batman has a spectacular production, but it's characters and story are left in the dust. In contrast, RDJ straight up owns Iron Man 2. Jack Nicholson pulls a rabbit out of a hat by making his Joker memorable even though the script does not really give him much to work with and Keaton's Bruce Wayne is all dressed up and nowhere to go for the majority of the movie. When I watch Batman I always find myself looking around the whole frame to see the details when instead the characters and plot should be enveloping me in the events of the plot. Style over substance is nice sometimes, but when you're telling the story of someone as richly drawn and emotionally complicated as Bruce Wayne I expect a little more.
on 8/16/2015
Yeah I don't really like either all that much. Batman was better made and had much better characters. Batman will win this every time.
on 9/20/2015
As dumb as Iron Man 2 is, I still enjoy it quite a bit. However, I absolutely love Batman, so Batman wins for me.
on 10/27/2021
Batman was one of the first superhero films I ever saw and it has always stayed a favorite of mine
on 8/11/2022
Quite close for me, Iron Man 2 is a fine sequel that jumbled a bit too much to it's plot, but still ended up giving me some of the elements I enjoyed from the first. Batman 89 had a much better villain and an overall solid plot, even if it doesn't age well. Batman slightly edges this one out.
