5 Reasons Why 'Gotham' is the Best Version of Batman Ever Produced

Gotham has certainly defined itself as a unique take on the Batman saga. In fact, the show which tells the origins of the people of the fictional crime ridden city is not only one of the best programs currently on TV, but thanks to creepy characters, great writing and unpredictable action, probably the best version of Batman ever produced.

Ironically, Gotham mangages to keep us interested even without a fully grown Batman, a Robin and a clear cut Joker character. Proof that a young Jim Gordon, a rumbled detective named Harvey Bullock, an agile Alfred Pennyworth and a teenage Catwoman can hold their own. In fact, one wonders how the edge of your seat scripts, visual set design and Robin Lord Taylor's sociopathic Penguin, who recently reverted to his old ways, haven't all been nominated for Emmys.

Needless to say if you're a Batman fan you love all and everything about the character and story and for the most part, will sit through any incarnation of such as they all have merit. But Gotham seems to go that extra mile against all other filmed adaptations. Here are 5 reasons that prove why.

5) Gotham vs. the 1940s Batman serial

Obviously this early incarnation of the caped crusader had the smallest of budgets and was just finding its way so its awful production values, especially when compared to later versions, are somewhat understandable and even forgivable. However, the bottom line is the costumes, situations and acting in these serials are just laughable and probably not even worthy of a comparison to Gotham.

4) Gotham vs. the 1960's Batman TV series

There will always be a soft spot in the hearts of those who grew up watching Adam West's Batman fighting Burgess Meredith's Penguin and Frank Gorshin's Riddler. It was fun, colorful and of course campy, espeically 5 decades ago. However, that campiness doesn't seem to hold up well over the test of time and when today's audiences see it for the first time they often think of it as corny or as Burt Ward's Robin would have put it "Holy Corny Batman!" Gotham of course has its fair share of camp but it manages to balence it with a gritty dark side thereby preventing it from becoming laughable and dated. 50 years from now it will probably still be fresh.

3) Gotham vs. Tim Burton's Batman franchise

Tim Burton is a brilliant and creative director and his Batman films of the late 80's and early 90's have production value, style and even though it is a bit over the top, decent acting. In fact, these aspects of the franchise are so predominant that one doesn't notice that the scripts aren't without their fair share of plot holes, weak dialogue and in some cases, just ridiculousness masked as creative license. For example, Danny DeVito's line in Batman Returns "I was my parent's number one son, but they treated me like number two!" is predictable and formulaic toilet humor. In addition, I know it's a comic book movie but after falling off a building, having Michelle Pfeiffer's Selina Kyle come back to life by cats licking her is a little far-fetched, even in this interpretation (c'mon Tim, you're better than that). The writing in Gotham throughout almost two seasons keeps the plot tight, quick and believable and never resorts to cheap, obvious jokes or unrealistic outcomes based on the events that precede them.

2) Gotham vs. Joel Schumacher's Batman franchise

Like Burton, Schumacher is a great director. However when he took over the franchise in the mid to late 90's with Batman Forever and Batman & Robin, he just didn't do it justice. Naturally both films made money but in the former, Tommy Lee Jones' Two-Face wasn't given much to do and Jim Carrey's Riddler seemed like an off-shoot of his In Living Color character Fireman Bill. In the latter, Arnold Scwarzenegger's Mr. Freeze belting out puns like "Everybody Chill!" made him appear like a boring, one-note, blue Terminator and let's not even talk about George Clooney's Batman. Gotham's villains are colorful yet subtle in their evil ways. In addition, they all have depth and are not just dressed up to look the part. Case in point, Cory Michael Smith's Edward Nygma is not only able to mischievously slither around the police station unnoticed, but frame Jim Gordon in the process and without wearing bright green tights.

1) Gotham vs. Christopher Nolan's Batman franchise

Nolan is great at what his does and his The Dark Knight franchise is credited with ushering in the gloomier side of Batman through the performance of Christian Bale. However, Gotham manages to be just as dark without taking so exceedingly long to do it. It's true that a film should be longer then an episode of a TV series and as Gotham packages everything in just under an hour, it may seem like an unfair comparison, but the genius of Gotham is each episode is like its own mini-movie and over the course of two seasons, it has filmed more content then Nolan's films and seemingly at a quicker pace. The best comparison I can give is to watch a Christopher Nolan film then watch three episodes of Gotham in a row and see which moves faster. Also bear in mind, the longer something is, the more opportinity there is of noticing its faults.