I have mixed emotions when it comes to the Nolan films. I liked seeing the mythology of Batman done in a pseudo-realistic take, I think they're very well-made films, I just don't really think they're all that Batman. At times they just feel joyless, almost as if the creators resent it's stemming from a comic book. Also while I do think they're very good films, I've never found The Dark Knight to be the second coming of Christ. In that regard, I find it overrated. Ledger doesn't feel like Joker to me. It's an incredible performance, but it's just not Joker to me. It's more a terrorist that happens to be a clown rather than a clown who happens to be a homicidal maniac criminal. Plus, for my money, he's just not funny enough. Another thing Nolan tended to do with the film is, in my opinion, talk down to the audience. Instead of Joker just representing the themes he represents, he quite literally has dialogue when he outright spoon-feeds it to us. Chaos, you represent it....yeah...WE KNOW! You don't have to TELL us. I actually don't even watch it much. I've probably only seen the film 10 times. Why? Because it's a thoroughly bleak and depressing venture, it's not a feel-good movie. It's probably the technical best of the three, I'll admit, I just don't watch it much. I've watched and even prefer Begins and The Dark Knight Rises many more times because I just find them more accessible and frankly...fun. Plus I'm kind of bias, I worked on TDKR and it was among the best times of my life.
Now I sound like I'm pretty rough on them, but I do quite like the films. I'm just very far removed from the camp that says they're the end all be all film Batman interpretations. I see much room for improvement. I think they lean too heavily on their "realism" gimmick that they go into extreme levels of near else-world "What if" adaptation rather than merely adapting the comics/lore in and of themselves. If that makes sense...
But I will say, if only live-action, Keaton and Bale are my two favorites. Kevin Conroy is my true favorite, but he doesn't count here. I even love Adam West for what that show was, just the campy and comedic version not my preferred Batman. I don't blame Affleck for the scripts, I think his performance was fine, he's just in a bad movie. He's written more as the Punisher in BvS than ever Batman. It felt like they were trying to be edgy and gritty, which really is one of the curses the Nolan films birthed. Once those were a success, suddenly everything had to be dark and pseudo-realistic for a time. I also think Val could have been very good, but again was a victim of poor writing. Clooney just never stood a chance, good script or not, IMO.