Top Ten Superhero Films
I liked Captain America mostly because it had Tommy Lee Jones in it. I also did like the fact it was a superhero movie set in WWII.
I didn’t think much of Captain America either. It wasn’t terrible but it was pretty ordinary.
Chris Evans is just the most vanilla human being ever. I wish they woulda just left him in The Fantastic Four.
Captain America also had a Raiders of the Lost Ark feel, which distinguished it from the rest of the superhero pack. That comes with being period I guess. CA was also willing to make fun of itself in contrast to the dull ernestness of Thor. All in all, the best of the Avengers lead ups for me.
I didn’t like CA at all.
Unbreakable deserves a sequel, but i think as a stand-alone it is a fantastic ‘real-word’ superhero film and possible the greatest accomplishment in film by Shamaylan.
“possible the greatest accomplishment in film by Shamaylan.”
Which actually means very little. lol
His career has had a steady decline, but it’d be foolish to say he hasn’t made some amazing films along the way.
@Santino
It wasn’t terrible but it was pretty ordinary.
Right. I had low expectations going in, but the way the backstory worked surprised me. That was the best part of the movies for me.
Chris Evans is just the most vanilla human being ever. I wish they woulda just left him in The Fantastic Four.
But he was good as the wise-cracking Johnny Storm, though—and I agree I wished he didn’t like the FF.
@Brad
All in all, the best of the Avengers lead ups for me.
You didn’t like the Iron Man films?
I haven’t really participated in a list for a while, so here goes…
1) The Dark Knight
2) The Incredibles
3) Unbreakable
4) X-Men
5) Iron Man
6) The Avengers
7) Batman Returns
8) The Crow
9) Zebraman
10) Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Which means apparently I enjoy superhero troupes and dark souls, with nostalgia thrown in at the very end.
Honestly it was difficult for me to list a full ten. I do like superhero movies but hardly enough to really stick them out above others. Most of them are around the same quality for me — Superman, Burton’s Batman, Darkman, Spiderman are all good but not great, and stuff like Watchmen and Mystery Men should have been great but dropped the ball, hard, at one point or another.
—PolarisDiB
Liked the first Iron Man quite a bit, but it was pretty much The Robert Downey, Jr. Show, which was fun, but didn’t come together for me as a whole like CA did.
And I hated Evans as Johnny Storm (well, hated everything about the FF movies) and preferred his take on Cap.
@Brad
Liked the first Iron Man quite a bit, but it was pretty much The Robert Downey, Jr. Show, which was fun, but didn’t come together for me as a whole like CA did.
Ah.
Hugo Weaving as Red Skull was also a plus, but I didn’t think they developed the conflict between he and Capt. very well.
_*And I hated Evans as Johnny Storm (well, hated everything about the FF movies) and preferred his take on Cap.*
Really? The first film was just OK, and the second film was utterly terrible, but I thought the casting was very good. Oh well.
@DiB
Honestly it was difficult for me to list a full ten. I do like superhero movies but hardly enough to really stick them out above others. Most of them are around the same quality for me…
Yeah, I feel the same way.
Btw, I didn’t know you liked The Incredibles as much as you do.
Captain America was the only good superhero movie from last year. All the rest were shit.
Superman
The Dark Knight
Spider-Man 2
The Incredibles
Superman II (Donner cut)
Batman: Mask of the Phantasm
Spider-Man
Blade
Captain America: The First Avenger
Blade II
I do agree with Brad that Captain America was willing to make fun of itself, but perhaps it is that self-parody that got to me. It was over-the-top in a not entertaining way?? I just felt it was painful to sit through. But I have been told by many that it was good. Maybe I’ll watch it again someday.
“Btw, I didn’t know you liked The Incredibles as much as you do.”
Oh, I LOVE The Incredibles, one of the best Pixar movies by far.
—PolarisDiB
To be honest, I saw Captain America at the drive-in and it was pretty forgettable. I remember very little about the actual plot. It wasn’t Ghost Rider-bad but I found it hollow (as most Joe Johnson films are). About the only thing I do remember was the crappy CGI (again, like most Joe Johnson films).
Y’all are mistaking popcorn fun for over-the-topness.
I don’t think so, Dude. I like lots of popcorn movies. This was just bad over-the-top.
@DiB
I don’t know if it’s the best Pixar film, but it is my favorite.
Btw, since you think most superhero films are just OK, what makes some of them stand out for you?
@Bijoux
FWIW, I don’t think CA is exceptional, but I was just wondering why it didn’t work for you.
@Dude
I’m curious to hear what made CA stand out above the rest?
Bijou, shall we invite Jazzaloha to our private island?
did somebody say over-the-topness??
aw private island no fair!
Yes, Bijou, Ruby, and I made a private island where Ruby and Bijou argue against me about my ratings. Don’t expect sex and honey once you get there. (And we was filling up Ruby’s wall so we had to move someplace)
i haven’t talked to ruby in a while
Commando
SUPER!
Superman
Superman II
Batman
Spider-Man 2
The Incredibles
Batman Returns
Unbreakable
The Dark Knight
Actually, I like the idea of Ruby and Bijoux giving you a hard time. Plus, they scare me. :)
@jazzaloha: That’s alright. Two adults against a 16 year-old, everything’s gonna be just fine…
“what makes some of them stand out for you?”
The Dark Knight honestly, truly blew me away and was nothing like what I expected, and the more I thought about it the more I liked it. The movie has been debated at length on this board so I won’t get further, but I think it’s smarter than some people give it credit for and a lot of the criticism of its politics are actually misreading the moral ambiguity Nolan is fascinated with.
The Incredibles is a very fun, fast, and well-told story and I like its themes even though they get criticized for being all Ayn Rand-y. I think it’s less ‘the weak should subjugate to the supermen’ and more ‘the supermen need to figure out how to fit in to society while not giving up their strengths.’ I think there’s a lot of superhero trope Pixar reappropriates in surprising manner and in some cases there are micronarratives they pull off without a blink (like the fact that Violet is a balanced counterpoint to Dax, a sort of defense/offense dichotomy).
Unbreakable is still my favorite ‘real world superhero’ movie even though several others have been attempted. It’s actually a good thing that Shyamalan’s plans for a trilogy went kaput. It forced him to be reserved and careful with the first one. I think the sequels would have been what the Matrix sequels were to the first.
X-men is a really good example of how a movie can change your whole perspective, not because of any of its themes or anything but because I was absolutely sure I would hate it going in and it ended up being one of my absolute favorite superhero movies. It actually opened my mind more to superhero movies in general and comic book culture and helped me understand what people saw in them. This is back when I had a more … uh… you know… that s word we don’t like here…. attitude to movies. Most people liked X2 more but I loved how lost the characters were in the first one.
Iron Man just came out at a really good time. It counterprogrammed The Dark Knight and reminded people how silly the movies could be while still not being self-parody (like Darkman ). It hit, to me, a perfect balance between geek culture nods and letting the kids in for the fun, too. Jon Favreau I think is pretty skilled at being an everyman director.
The Avengers was exactly what it was supposed to be, balancing character and action and making it all fit.
Batman Returns I actually love because Batman is barely even in it. His established vigilante weirdness in the first flick is now deconstructed by Max Schreck (fellow billionaire industrialist, only an asshole), Penguin (fellow orphaned critter, only a monster), and Catwoman (fellow vigilante anger, only injust). He gets caught between these forces and they aren’t necessarily all in sync either, which means the story is a lot bigger than it seems on initial viewing.
I like The Crow because I’m a goth. And that statement is only half sarcastic. I used to do the goth subculture thing, I still enjoy some of it because hey, I was a teenager, it was fun, respect your past.
Zebraman is just awesome. A dude dresses as his favorite television superhero, and then learns AFTERWARD that the television was PROPHECY and he’s set it off by merely dressing in the costume. Hilarious and campy.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: because I was a child once, if you could believe it. (No really, this is just a total nostalgia vote for filler space).
—PolarisDiB
I’m glad I put the fear in Jazz ;) no, but really when I left the theater I sneezed and an American flag came out.
I know, I know.
@Dude
That’s alright. Two adults against a 16 year-old, everything’s gonna be just fine…
All I’m going to say is, with age comes wisdom. :)
@Bijoux
I’m glad I put the fear in Jazz ;) no, but really when I left the theater I sneezed and an American flag came out.
I know, I know.
Seriously, you didn’t like it because it was too patriotic (nationalistic/jingoistic)? I can understand I can understand that, but I didn’t feel that way, fwiw.
@jazzaloha: I didn’t feel it either. It was pretty playful, I believe, in its treatment of America during WWII.
Jazzaloha
@Bijoux
CA wasn’t a great film, but I thought it was mildy entertaining. Why’d you not like it?
@Brad
Unbreakable had an interesting premise and a good set-up, but I think a second film was needed.