Batman is one of the few superheroes to get the job done with no superpowers whatsoever. Instead, the Caped Crusader relies on an eclectic arsenal of gizmos and gadgets to help him in his ongoing mission to protect Gotham. So, it only made sense for Batman to take his tools with him when he made the leap from comics to live-action. Over the course of 10 live-action movies — 12 if you count Justice League and The Flash — Batman has thrown, fired, and ridden on countless inventive devices in his quest for justice.

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But not all bat-gadgets are created equal, and if we’re being honest, some are downright pointless. That’s why we decided to come up with a list of the best — and worst — crime-fighting contraptions Batman has used on the silver screen. Without further ado, let’s take a look at what the Joker once referred to as “those wonderful toys!”

Best: EMP Rifle –The Dark Knight Rises

Batman always does his best work in the dark, so it only makes sense that he’d carry an EMP device of some sort. The EMP Rifle makes a short but sweet appearance in The Dark Knight Rises, Christopher Nolan‘s final Batman film. During a police chase through an underground tunnel, Batman fires several electromagnetic pulses, shorting out the lights and bathing everything in pitch-black. With the lights out, it’s more dangerous as Batman is able to pick his foes off easily, using the shadows to his advantage.

Sadly, the EMP Rifle’s time in the spotlight is shortlived as a single bullet from a panicky cop renders the device useless after less than a minute of screentime. Still, the non-lethal weapon’s usefulness and unrealized potential is enough to earn it a spot on this list.

Best: Bat-Laser – Batman & Robin

You might not expect to find a gadget from Batman’s most hated film on the list, but if you look past the bat nipples and Arnold Schwarzennegar’s cringy ice puns, you’ll find one or two decent ideas. Chief among them is the Bat-Laser. While most of the doohickeys Batman and Robin employ are super-specific and only useful in specific situations — retractable ice skates, anyone? — The Bat-Laser is a multipurpose tool that is suited to many situations. To be fair, given that Mr. Freeze is the movie’s big bad, the laser is mainly relegated to cutting through ice and thawing people out, but it could just as easily melt through chains or be used to attack an enemy directly.

Best: Memory Cloth Cape – Batman Begins

Batman may not be able to fly like Superman, but he’s one heck of a glider. Most live-action Caped Crusaders have employed some kind of gliding device, from the cumbersome wings used in Batman Returns to the comical flying squirrel suit from The Batman. The award for best on-screen glider, however, has to go to the Memory Cloth cape from Batman Begins.

Rather than have Batman carry around a separate, clunky flying machine, the Dark Knight trilogy gives the hero a cape made out of “Memory Cloth” a fictional material that hardens when an electrical charge is applied. With a simple zap from his gauntlets, Christian Bale’s Batman cape carries him safely through the skies of Gotham and looks bad*ss while doing so.

Best: Bat Shark Repellent – Batman: The Movie

The Bat Shark Repellent is usually brought up to make fun of how goofy the ’60s Batman was, but hear us out. One of Batman’s most defining characteristics is his ability to be prepared for anything, so why wouldn’t he have some kind of shark deterrent for aquatic missions? Part of an extended arsenal of “Oceanic Repellent Batsprays” that also includes barracuda and whale, the Bat Shark Repellent is an unknown aerosol mixture dispensed from a spray can kept on the Batcopter.

One or two quick spritzes and any sharks harassing the dynamic duo are immediately sent packing. Holy anti-fish spray, Batman!

The Batman gave fans a more low-tech Dark Knight than they were used to with one big exception: the Advanced Contact Lenses. Capable of recording both audio and visual, Batman used special contacts to document everything he saw during his nightly patrols. This gave the Caped Crusader a way to play back his adventures in order to look for any clues he may have missed. But the lenses didn’t just record. Batman could lend them to an accomplice like Selina Kyle and have a live audio-visual feed transmitted back to him.

With similar smart lenses being developed in real life, it’s only a matter of time before our Batman cosplay becomes functional as well as stylish.

Best: Batarang – Various Movies

The Batarang is such an integral part of Batman’s itinerary that there was no way it wasn’t going on the list. Every live-action incarnation of Batman has had its own unique version of the Batarang. Some, like Michael Keaton’s and Val Kilmer’s, were foldable and industrial looking, while Christian Bale and Ben Affleck’s Batarangs were more like throwing knives. Just like in the comics, movie Batarangs come in a wide variety of styles and functions. These range from a sonar Batarang to tiny bat darts and even another variation that we’ll see later in the list.

The live-action Batarangs have their differences, but they’re all alike in one crucial way. They’re all designed to look like some variation of the bat symbol. In that respect, they function as a calling card in addition to being a weapon. If you see one of these bad boys flying at you, you know who threw it, and it always means the same thing: you’re about to have a really bad day.

Best: Spring-action Reel – Batman

Batman’s ability to scale buildings has two distinct eras: before 1989’s Batman and after. Prior to the first Tim Burton film, if Batman wanted to get higher, he would have to either toss a Batarang with a rope attached or use some kind of improvised grappling gun. Either way, it meant lots of strenuous climbing. Then someone on the production team of Batman had the historic idea of giving the Caped Crusader a way to zip through the air quickly and without wearing out his biceps.

The Spring-action Reel allowed Batman to not only fire a grappling hook much farther than he could throw it but, using a motorized pulley, allowed him to ascend without climbing. The Spring-action Reel could also be used to pull things closer to Batman or to fire a bola projectile like the one he used to tie the Joker to a gargoyle at the film’s climax. The idea of a motorized grappling device was so popular it not only showed up in every movie after Batman but even made its way into the comics and animated series.

Now, let’s take a look at the three most useless gadgets Batman has used on screen. These next three devices are either highly impractical, redundant, or, in one case, just plain dumb. With tools like these, the Dark Knight would be better off using his bare hands.

Useless: Bat-Heater – Batman & Robin

It’s a small palm-sized heater with a Bat-symbol on it that glows red. That’s it, that’s all it is. Batman uses it to defrost people hit by Mr. Freeze’s ice gun, which, OK, we see where it could be useful for that specific purpose, except the very same movie shows Batman using his Bat-laser for the exact same thing like 40 minutes earlier. Not only does it fill a need Batman already had covered, but unlike the Bat-laser, you can’t really use it for anything else.

We suppose Batman could use it as a weapon, but 1) burning criminals seems kind of excessive, and 2) Batfleck already has a tool for that.

Useless: Remote Control Batarang – Batman Returns

In theory, a remote control Batarang could be kind of cool, but in execution, it’s a terrible idea. First of all it requires your enemies to hold still and stop fighting while you program it. Then even if that unlikely scenario takes place, they then have to stand there and wait their turn while the thing takes out each target individually and with no urgency whatsoever. Seriously, in the time it takes this thing to hit three clowns Batman could have whipped out three or four standard Batarangs and ended the fight.

If that’s not lame enough, the Remote Control Batarang flies with such little propulsion that a small dog was able to grab it out of the air with barely any effort at all.

Useless: Bat-Credit Card – Batman & Robin

Who gave Batman a credit card? Not Bruce Wayne, but Batman. What Gotham bank let a costumed vigilante — technically a criminal — walk into their lobby with no ID, no proof of income and gave him an honest-to-goodness credit card? The very idea is ludicrous. Yes, we get that it’s a gag, but it doesn’t really work. While Batman & Robin is certainly goofy, it’s not sight-gags-and-puns goofy like Airplane! or The Naked Gun. In the context of the film, this is an actual credit card issued to Batman with — get this — an expiration date that says “Good through Forever.”

No wonder it took almost ten years for Hollywood to make another Batman movie after Batman & Robin.

What are some Batman movie gadgets that you love or love to hate? Let us know in the comments.