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11 Batman Movie Moments That Rival the Greatest Gangster Films

11 Batman Movie Moments That Rival the Greatest Gangster Films

If there is one common theme among all Batman iterations: the portrayal of organized crime and corruption. Whether in the comics, games or television shows, both animated and live-action, Batman is always shown challenging the mob. This is no less prevalent in the films, where Batman is often forced to take down the organized crime presence and corruption in Gotham first, well before any other villains come along.




Each director provides an interesting take on the grittiest street-level situations of the most famous city in comic book history. Tim Burton explores this area of Batman lore much less than Christopher Nolan, and Matt Reeves has made it even more prominent in his Batman adaptations. Many incredible scenes in the Batman films are worthy of mention in a greater discussion about gangster movies, as they’re on par with some of the most iconic scenes in gangster classics.


11 Oz Cobb Doesn’t Like Being Accused of Being a Rat

The Batman


The latest Batman iteration is full of heavy gangster elements, and no character exemplifies this more than Colin Farrell’s portrayal as The Penguin. As recently demonstrated in his spin-off series The Penguin, Oz Cobb is quickly becoming one of the most iconic characters in gangster television. It’s a testament to Matt Reeves’ vision of a Mafia-influenced Gotham, the likes of which audiences hadn’t yet seen.

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In The Batman, there is a scene that really illuminates Oz as a true Mafia hood with specific loyalties and a code when conducting his business. The last thing anyone should be calling him is a rat, and he lets Batman and Jim Gordon know it. This is a true gangster moment through and through, as no mob guy ever likes being accused of snitching. He says:

Boy, you guys are a hell of a duet here; why don’t you start harmonizing? There’s just one problem with your little scenario, okay, I AIN’T NO RAT.


10 Jack Gets Revenge on a Boss That Tried to Have Him Killed

Batman

Jack Nicholson as Jack Napier/The Joker scheming a move against his boss in Batman (1989)

While it may be a bit controversial as to the accuracy of The Joker’s backstory, Tim Burton went with a specific version of the Clown Prince that isn’t usually seen in Batman movies: the Joker was a former mobster. It’s actually one of the cooler elements of Jack Nicholson’s portrayal of the iconic character if fans allow themselves to disconnect from the comics for a moment.

Jack Napier is a mafia tough guy in the first act of the classic superhero epic Batman and this gives him a few memorable scenes that mirror an 80s gangster flick. However, it’s when The Joker finally arrives that the film has its most gritty crime moments. After a failed hit on him, Jack returns to seek revenge on his former boss, Carl Grissom, and the consequences are deadly. “Jack is dead. You can call me Joker.” In gangster fashion, he guns Carl down and stamps his place in the greater criminal underworld.


9 A Mob Hit Robs Bruce Wayne of His Revenge

Batman Begins

Joe Chill stands trial for the murder of the Waynes and is let off after years of serving in Batman Begins.

While Matt Reeves’ Gotham is the most accurate street-level interpretation of the iconic city, Christopher Nolan’s iteration is equally corrupt and full of organized crime activity. The first film in the masterful trilogy, Batman Begins, has a slew of gangster moments that position the first real villain of Batman as the mafia. Having a direct impact on Bruce Wayne’s upbringing, the mob’s presence is a key part of Nolan’s trilogy.


One of the most memorable gangster moments in Batman Begins comes during a flashback that details why Bruce Wayne was unable to get revenge on the man who murdered his parents. Simply put, the mob got to him first. If there’s one thing that remains true in organized criminality, it’s that people shouldn’t snitch or talk to authorities in any capacity. Joe Chill learns that lesson the hard way. With Bruce Wayne as a witness, Joe Chill is gunned down in front of the press right outside the Gotham courthouse. It remains one of the more chilling moments in Batman movies.

8 The Joker Takes Over the Mob Presence in Gotham

Batman

The heads of the mob families in Gotham listen as Jack/The Joker says that he is taking over the crime syndicate in Batman (1989).

While audiences often reference the iconic mob meeting that takes place in The Dark Knight between the mafia and The Joker, Batman did something similar first in 1989. After officially becoming The Joker, killing Carl Grissom, and gaining some influence in the underworld, the next step of his plan became about taking over all the controlling power of organized crime in Gotham.


Michael Keaton as Batman in 1989

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When meeting with the heads of the mafia families in the city, Joker poses as his old self in order to attempt to make a deal with the other bosses. When one boss, Tony, decides he doesn’t want to allow The Joker to take over, he challenges him. In gangster fashion, the most powerful guy in the room makes a statement when he kills the opposing threat in front of everyone else. He says, “Until Grissom resurfaces, I’m the acting President.” From that moment on, The Joker runs all the crime in Gotham City.

7 Cops Interrupt a Mob Lunch Meeting That Ends With Arrests

The Dark Knight

Jim Gordon is on his way to arrest a bunch of gangster at once in The Dark Knight.


Some of the greatest gangster moments in Batman movies come from The Dark Knight. A film that is heavy with gangster themes and remains one of the greatest crime dramas of all time, The Dark Knight had a lot of scenes that could have easily been in any movie about gangsters. With organized crime figures like Salvatore Maroni at the forefront, there were definitely a few gangster movie one-liners for Eric Roberts to play with.

Are you sure you wanna embarrass me in front of my friends, Lieutenant?


Gangster movies wouldn’t be the same with a cop presence trying to take them down, and in a memorable scene where Maroni and a couple of other high-ranking gangsters are having lunch, cops bust in to break up the party. Maroni said, “Are you sure you wanna embarrass me in front of my friends, Lieutenant?” This time Gordon and his cops have the leverage they need to make a legitimate arrest and every one of the guys in the room is taken into custody. Gordon replied, “Don’t worry, they’re coming too.”

6 Oz Cobb’s Hatred of Rats Makes Him Emotional With Falcone

The Batman

The gangster elements are the most unique portions of The Batman. The scenes with Colin Farrell’s Penguin in the club or in Falcone’s penthouse are enough to put The Batman in gangster movie discussions.

Enjoy your night in Black Gate Carmine, probably be your last.


To further highlight Oz’s code of conduct, it’s a real blow to him when he learns that his beloved Don, Carmine Falcone, is actually the rat everyone has been looking for. He says, “Enjoy your night in Black Gate Carmine, probably be your last.” It’s a memorable moment where one gangster chastises another for breaking the rules. Oz then pulls out his gun in front of everyone because of how passionate he is about it, but The Riddler gets to Falcone first.

5 Carmine Falcone Reveals That His Power Reached Thomas Wayne

The Batman

Bruce Wayne and Carmine Falcone talk about how Thomas Wayne was a mob doctor for Falcone in the old days in The Batman.


A big part of Batman movies is Bruce Wayne investigating the death of his parents and desperately trying to figure out what happened to them. Whether movies portray failed revenge attempts or Bruce’s obsession with discovering the people behind their deaths, it is always an important plot moment in any Batman film when Bruce comes to terms with that traumatic moment in his life. In The Batman, the connection Bruce’s father had to the mob is explored.

Your father wanted me to handle it, so I did.

After learning some dirty truths about his father, Bruce decides to visit Gotham’s kingpin, Carmine Falcone, to learn more about the terrible allegations that further connect his father to mob activity. Like a Godfather mentoring a relative, Falcone reveals things to a Bruce Wayne that, for a momentary lapse in the film, reverts him to a younger version of himself. A boy seeking answers about his father arrives at the Don’s penthouse floor where old-time Italian-American music plays while Falcone plays pool surrounded by his men. Falcone then reveals to a frustrated Bruce that his father came to him for help, and Falcone agreed. He said, “Your father wanted me to handle it, so I did.” As in most gangster stories, the corruption runs deeper than the audience realizes.


The Penguin and The Sopranos

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4 A Rigged Mob Trial Can Definitely Happen in Gotham City

The Dark Knight

Eric Roberts as Salvatore Maroni standing trial against Harvey Dent and has rigged the trial to his favor in The Dark Knight.

In The Dark Knight, the mob’s frustrations with Batman are what spark The Joker to obtain power in Gotham’s underworld. Early on in the film, audiences witness the lengths the mob is willing to go to combat Batman and his inspiring impact on police and lawyers. Those lengths eventually turn into agreeing to help from The Joker. But initially, old tactics take form for Salvatore Maroni.


Upon meeting the new District Attorney, Harvey Dent, a scene plays out where Salvatore Maroni is on trial for a number of crimes. Just when Harvey thinks he has Maroni dead to rights, his key witness, a rat on the stand, changes his tune. The witness says, “Maroni? He’s a fall guy. I’m the brains behind the organization.” Aside from losing a key witness to the Mob’s manipulation, Dent is also almost shot with an attempt on his life. The entire sequence plays out like any other movie about gangsters and corruption.

3 Harvey Dent Gets Back at the Mob With a Historic Rico Trial

The Dark Knight

Harvey Dent talks to the press after locking up over five-hundred criminals at once in The Dark Knight.


The word Rico is thrown around in a lot of different gangster movies, and Christopher Nolan didn’t hesitate to use it in one of his most important sequences in The Dark Knight. Utilizing the Rico predicate to arrest multiple gangsters at once for the same crimes, Harvey Dent gets to stand in front of a Judge and conclude one of the biggest mob busts in Gotham’s history.

In what feels like something out of a gangster movie, Christopher Nolan delivers a unique version of how a Rico case might look when the courtroom is crowded with five hundred gangsters at once. The judge asks, “How do the defendants plead?” The outburst that follows comes from all the gangsters yelling their pleas at the same time, to the point where the room becomes chaos. The Judge is forced to call for order in the court. From then on, what Harvey did became known as historic as he took down hundreds of criminals at once.

2 The Joker Had Such an Impact That the Mob Put a Hit Out on Him

The Dark Knight

Salvatore Maroni and the other heads of the mob listen to The Joker propose to them that they kill the Batman by hiring him in The Dark Knight.


Batman fans will never forget one of the most iconic scenes in history when Heath Ledger’s Joker interrupts a Mafia meeting in order to propose a strategy and partnership to the various crime bosses of Gotham. His armed suit jacket, “magic trick” and quippy one-liners will forever be ingrained in audiences’ brains. With the mob’s desperation rising, they entertain The Joker’s proposition despite how he gets under their skin.

split image: Batman in The Dark Knight, Joker 2019 and Dredd 2012 posters

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Despite their desperation, the mob can only take so much of what The Joker is proposing, and before you know it, they are barking him out of the room with a price on his head. Gambol says, “I’m putting the word out, five hundred for this clown, dead, a million alive, so I can teach him some manners first.” Gambol in particular puts a huge price on The Joker’s head, and it doesn’t exactly go as he hopes. Nonetheless, this scene sits with others in the pantheon of great gangster movies.

1 Carmine Falcone Flexes His Power to a Naive Bruce Wayne

Batman Begins

Probably one of the most memorable mob movie moments in Batman movies comes in the one that isn’t as riddled with crime themes as the others. However, Tom Wilkinson’s portrayal of Carmine Falcone in Batman Begins gave audiences one of the best mob boss performances ever seen in a superhero film. While other iterations of Carmine Falcone have expressed the level of their power, Wilkinson’s iteration feels the most formidable the first time fans meet him.


A young, angry and naive Bruce Wayne confronts Falcone in his underground joint. Very quickly, it becomes apparent who has the upper hand in their conversation. Falcone’s entire speech proves the level of his power and teaches Bruce Wayne a few things he needs to learn. He says, “You’ve never tasted desperate. You’re Bruce Wayne, the prince of Gotham.” From his suit and bodyguards to his action of pulling a gun on Bruce in front of corrupt cops and judges, Falcone’s introductory scene in Batman Begins is one of the best gangster scenes in all cinema.