batman TAS>returns>89>BB>TDK
the animated series was in my opinion the best iteration of batman's story on the screen (barring the graphic novels) and it really told the story of batman as closely and best as it can be told. returns and the 89 batman movie were great in their own right, namely the portrayal of the penguin, and the joker. showing how joker went from a small time gangster to a disfigured nutcase is really what made the 89 movie great, and showing the beginning of cat woman, and the penguin was fantastic. being born into rich aristocracy, but unwanted, thrown away, and left for dead in the sewers of gotham. the man has a lot of hate, and danny de vito pulled it off well, probably one of his best roles. up with jack the bear.
the two newest ones were good i'll give them that. but i don't like the psychotic murderer joker. and i don't like the two face character lacking the involvement of "big, bad, harvey" and no rupert thorne with his finger on the pulse of harvey's political career really take away from the two face story. had they given batman not only the joker to deal with, but rupert thorne it would have been a better movie. hell in some iterations rupert thorne hired joe chill to kill bruce wayne's parents. making batman an impossibility without thorne. and according to some stories two face would be nonexistent were it not for thorne. he'd have just been harvey dent, DA, son of an abusive father, with a repressed angry side who would likely snap somewhere down the line, or go into therapy and be able to exorcise his demons on his own.
i think they had they included thorne these new batman movies would have benefited from the prospect of another bad guy in the story, and from showing a bit more of the depth behind two face. plus they could include some of the mob wars, political kick backs, and problems that plague gotham, not just comic book villains but the mafia, corrupt cops, and crooked politicians. also the heath ledger joker didn't work for me. i prefer the joker who will set up an entire elaborate scheme all to throw a pie in batman's face. i prefer the joker who covers gotham in laughing gas, for a laugh. that's my joker, the funny one.