Alright guys and gals, we're taking a break from reviewing
Daredevil today. In its place? Let's take a look at the ten best
superhero/comic book films of all time. This is all my opinion now, so don't think
this is the definite list by any means. So sit back, open up that can of Pizza
Pringles, and try to ignore the horrifying fact that Hollywood is trying to
destroy comic book films by releasing too many every year. Man, it just got
dark huh? ON WITH THE SHOW!
The Ten Greatest
Superhero Films of All Time
Honorable Mentions
The Avengers: As much as I love Joss Whedon, The Avengers
isn't quite as good as you remember it being when you first saw it in 2012. Still,
it's entertaining as hell, features Whedon's masterful dialog and has some
great action scenes. It just needed to be a little deeper to make the list.
X2: X-Men United: Of all the entries in the overrated X-Men film series, only
X-Men: First Class, Days of Future past and this film actually stand out as
beyond average. Despite being the oldest of the three, X2 remains the best
(barely eeking out First Class), thanks in large part to Brian Cox's excellent
performance as the villain William Stryker.
Spider-Man 2: It seems like yesterday everyone was hailing
Sam Raimi's Spider-Man films as the first great superhero series. Looking back,
none of the films are remotely close to being great, and Spider-Man 3 was so
bad, a still unproven James Franco was the only good thing about it. Raimi's
second film however still remains a fun watch, and like X2 greatly benefits
from a strong villain performance by Alfred Molina, who crafts a brutal, yet
sympathetic Dr. Octopus.
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| It's never good when this guy is the best thing about your film |
The Dark Knight Rises: The weakest of Nolan's Batman
trilogy, Dark Knight Rises is a little too long, doesn't feature as tight a
story as its predecessors, and is likely a little too big for its own good.
Still, it's fine close by Nolan, and in any other franchise would likely be the
best of the bunch.
Man of Steel: The only difference between this film and The
Avengers is that Zack Snyder directed it, which was evidently more than enough
for critics to lash out against this Superman reboot. Beyond that, Man of Steel
features all the same pluses Avengers featured, only with a deeper story,
better acting, and a better atmosphere. It's the second best Superman film ever
made, and it's held out of the top ten only because of how deep the field is.
The Top Ten
10. Captain America: Winter Soldier: The best superhero
films are the ones that aren't superhero films; rather, they take the form of
another genre while also including a superhero in it. Winter Soldier, the
sequel to the very good Captain America: First Avenger, is one of those films,
abandoning comic book conventions for that of a political conspiracy thriller.
It's not quite as hard boiled as the 70's thrillers it looks up to, and as
usual with Marvel films, isn't exactly deep. But in the end, Winter Soldier
features the right amount of action, a really good against type performance by
Robert Redford and the best story in the MCU before Daredevil was released.
Easily the best of the MCU's standalone Avenger films thus far.
9. Unbreakable: Remember when M. Night Shyamalan looked like
the second coming of Steven Spielberg and Alfred Hitchcock? Pepperidge Farm
remembers. So will you after you've checked out Unbreakable, which unbelievably
has become the best film Shyamalan has ever made (don't give me Signs or the
overrated Sixth Sense). Starring Bruce Willis as a security guard who realizes
slowly realizes he's indestructible after a train wreck, Unbreakable is
represents the most original film in this list (the only film not to be based
on a comic book), built around bleak visuals, great performances and an
outstanding score by James Newton Howard. I'll never understand why the sequel
was never made. The world needed more of Mr. Glass!
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| They called him...Mr Glass |
8. Batman Begins: The first film of Nolan's all time great
trilogy is better than you remember it; Gotham City actually feels like Gotham
City (something missing from far slicker sequels), Cillian Murphy is dynamite
as Scarecrow and most importantly Christian Bale is allowed center stage as Batman.
If not for Katie Holmes' misfiring as Rachel Dawes (she was so bad, Maggie
Gyllenhaal replaced here in The Dark Knight), I bet this film's reputation is
better. Alas, it's still a top ten film in the list, and the most underrated of
Nolan's films. Who doesn't love watching Scarecrow atop a fire breathing horse?
7. Hellboy II: The Golden Army: Guillermo del Toro is no
stranger to comic book films; he's directed three, including this film, Blade II
(best of that mediocre series) and the first Hellboy. Hellboy II works better
than both of those, likely because del Toro found himself liberated creatively
following his Spanish fantasy epic Pans Labyrinth. The world he creates is as
imaginative as they come, has eye popping visuals, and once again has the right
guy in Ron Perlman handling the title role. You won't be able to get Barry
Manilow's "Can't Smile Without You" out of your head when the film
ends, nor will you be able to shake your confusion over how the third film has yet
to be made.
6. Batman: Seriously, you expected this to not make the
list? It's Batman; regardless of how many great films Chris Nolan made on the
caped crusader, there's just something about Tim Burton's original film that
can never be duplicated. Yes, it certainly started the trend of superhero films
as big blockbusters, but Batman is more than that. Burton's Gotham City is
still the gold standard of Gotham City in film (a close second being his
claustrophobic Gotham in the out of its mind sequel Batman Returns). Michael
Keaton, doubted by many a fan boy prior to release, is perhaps still the best
man to ever put on Batman's costume. And of course, Jack and the Joker. Is
there a better dark comedy performance than that one?
5. Watchmen: Like Man of Steel, Watchmen was a polarizing as
hell film that happened to be directed by Zack Snyder. Also like Man of Steel,
I have no idea why so many people don't like this film. Perhaps the most faithful
adaptation of a comic book, Snyder's Watchmen is fittingly retro, bleak and
features the greatest opening credits sequence in the history of film.
Seriously, you haven't lived till you've seen the history of costumed
vigilantes play out in montage while Bob Dylan's "The Times They Are a
Changing" plays. It's bone chilling, and more than enough to make you
forget about the frequent shots of Dr. Manhattan's glowing blue penis. Yes, that
was one of the complaints. Is there an anti-Snyder bias I don't know about? Was
Sucker Punch that bad? Don't answer that.
4. Guardians of the Galaxy: The funniest superhero film ever
made. I could pretty much just leave it at that, and no other justification
would be needed. And hey, how can you hate a film that featured a talking space racoon, launched Andy Dwyer into
superstardom, made Dave Batista look like an above average actor (which hey, he
might actually be), featured a too cool for school soundtrack and the cinematic
return of Howard the Duck? I'll always love how Guardians made the always
underrated Howard look better in 30 seconds than George Lucas and co did in
nearly two hours (which felt more like four).
3. The Crow: Remembered mostly for the fact that star
Brandon Lee died on set, The Crow is perhaps the most underrated superhero film
of all time. Alex Proyas' Detroit is one of the greatest realized cities in
cinema, there's more meat to the story than you think, and despite being darker
than the planet Pitch Black was set on, doesn't take itself too seriously. Of
course, The Crow would be nothing without its fallen star, and Lee, in his last
role, proves that he would've become a mega star if his life hadn't tragically
come to an end. Arguably (and unfortunately), Lee's death helps enhance the
film, adding to The Crow's already brooding feel and highlighting the tragic
nature of his character's soul.
2. Superman: The original superhero blockbuster and still
one of the two best (and other than Batman, still the most influential). Yes,
there's a little more camp than one would like and there are certain aspects of
the film (Marlon Brando,the dated effects, the weird ending where Superman
spins the earth backwards and Marlon Brando a second time) that detract from
the film. But it doesn't change the fact that there's magic in Richard Donner's
film, whether it's in the form of John Williams' iconic score, the simple, but
effective story or the pitch perfect casting of Christopher Reeve as the Man of
Steel. As much as I love Man of Steel and as much as I admire Bryan Singer's
attempted homage of Donner with Superman Returns (a film that with a few more
tweaks would've been on this list), this remains the definitive Superman film
with the definitive Superman. I don't think we'll ever see the day where someone
is a better choice for that role than Reeve was.
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| The greatest Superman. Case closed |
1. The Dark Knight: What else could it be? In terms of
quality, no other superhero film comes close to matching the prestige of The
Dark Knight. The film contains an all time great performance by Heath Ledger as
the Joker (good luck trying to duplicate that Jared Leto). The script, written
by director Chris Nolan and his brother Jonathan, is absolutely brilliant,
creating a story with surprising depth and memorable scenes. I could go on and
on, and I'd probably forget to mention how good guys like Aaron Eckhart and
Christian Bale are due to how large Ledger's shadow looms over the film. The
Dark Knight is, in short, the perfect superhero film and the perfect crime
film. It may not be my favorite of this list, but I cannot deny that it's the
peak of its genre.
Please change disks to continue...
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