Outputting node fields individually I have a node template but instead of outputting $content, I want to have more control over what the template displays by printing each field individually. 

Below are the fields I want to include:

$title
field_img
$body

What code would I replace  with? Also, are there any significant disadvantages to using this method?
If you already have a custom node template (tpl file) to theme your node then you're halfway there.  You can use &lt;?php print_r($node); ?&gt; to see the node structure and find out how to print your fields.

For example, to print those 3 fields, you can use something similar to:
&lt;?php print $title; ?&gt;
&lt;?php print $node-field_img['view']; ?&gt;
&lt;?php print $node-&gt;content['body']['#value']; ?&gt;

Remember to use the print_r($node) to check the structure and print the fields similarly as above while including the HTML for the layout.