Jazz: Yes, I think that’s it. But I really, really know that it was also playful with it and, I mean, Hello it is Captain America. It just didn’t work for me. I wanted it to work, believe me. I love Joss Whedon and want to love everything he touches (no comments on that one haha). But I do have to reiterate that I really, really, liked CA’s role in The Avengers.
I’m surprised to see so little love for Supergirl.
@DiB
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.
See, I didn’t think he handled the moral issues in the film very well. Making Batman confront vigilantism in the beginning was interesting, but the film seems to drop the issue as quickly as it was raised. Then there’s the issue of dealing with someone like the Joker, extremely dangerous and amoral. What to do? How how far should one go? The film doesn’t really deal with this very well, either. The Two-Face character and angle is interesting, but it feels crammed into the film. Some of the scenes seem unnecessary, like the whole trip to Hong Kong (which basically felt like an excuse to show off Batman’s gadgets and have some fight sequences).
Re: The Incredibles
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 thought it was a response to marginalizing excellence, while celebrating mediocrity. In other words, if you are really great at something, you should be allowed to do it, and we should celebrate true excellence and not mediocrity—in the hopes of boosting self-esteem.
Re: Unbreakable
I think the sequels would have been what the Matrix sequels were to the first.
Maybe. For the me, the set-up wasn’t satisfying by itself (unlike The Matrix).
Re: X-Men
Most people liked X2 more but I loved how lost the characters were in the first one.
I liked that the characters felt lost and isolated (Wolverine and Rogue, anyway), but I don’t think they really did a great job of showing how the team become a family to one another (which is what happens in the comics). The fact that the second film introduces new characters while jettisoning others is partly to blame for this, too. The whole series is a big mess, and if any of the superheroes need a reboot, it’s the X-Men, imo.
The Avengers was exactly what it was supposed to be, balancing character and action and making it all fit.
If you’re right, I think I’m going to really like the film.
I hope you like The Avengers, Jazz. Make sure you post after you see it!!
@Bijoux
I wanted it to work, believe me. I love Joss Whedon and want to love everything he touches (no comments on that one haha).
Heh. (Why am I thinking of Odi, now? :)
(Seriously, I thought Whedon was only involved with The Avengers. And I’ll definitely post comments after I see the film.)
I think he had a hand or at least a few fingers in CA’s script.
Ah^.
Just shifting gears here, how come no one has mentioned Chronicle? Was it really that bad? It looked interesting, but I never got around to seeing it.
“Iron Man just came out at a really good time. It counterprogrammed The Dark Knight…”
I’ve often wondered if their release dates had been flipped (The Dark Knight in May, Iron Man in July), do you think Iron Man would’ve done as well? It’s an interesting question because at the time, Iron Man really blew me away. I remember thinking that this movie has just raised the bar for superhero movies. Then two months later all bets were off and The Dark Knight really changed everything. So had I seen The Dark Knight first, would I have been so blown away by the time Iron Man came out? I don’t know. Like Polaris said, Iron Man was great counter programming but part of what blew me away was how fresh it felt. Without that freshness, I don’t think I would have been as jazzed for it.
Are there ten good superhero movies?
@matt parks: You can bend the rules, I guess…
@jazzaloha: Chronicle was alright. While it’s heart is in the right place with the treatment of its characters, it sometimes felt like a regurgitation of themes often found with superhero movies.
I bent them :)
@Matt – All I can come up with is three.
Batman Returns
The Incredibles
Unbreakable
Those are the only superhero movies I have any desire to see again. All others need not apply.
I didn’t feel it either. It was pretty playful, I believe, in its treatment of America during WWII
I’m not sure if I’d call an ethnically integrated Howling Commandos in the early 1940s playful or whitewashing.
1. Superman: The Movie
2. The Dark Knight
3. The Incredibles
4. Spider-Man 2
5. Batman Begins
6. Batman: Mask of the Phantasm
7. Superman Returns
8. X-Men: First Class
9. Captain America
10. The Avengers
You don’t like ANY of them? Does that extend to fantasy in general?
In before the comments about fascism come.
HA HA HA HA
Can Pootie Tang be a superhero movie?
I also forgot about The Incredibles. It would be number five on my list (all the way back on the first page)
@Catherine
I never could get into Batman Begins for some reason. (I don’t really like Bayle as Batman—too wooden, not dark enough, too.)
And while Watchmen wasn’t terrible, it doesn’t do the graphic novel justice. I think Watchmen is a must-read for grown-ups who read comic books as a kid (and especially for those who still like them as adults).
Ehhhh superhero films are so tiresome. The only notable one I’ve ever seen is The Incredibles, but The Dark Knight is pretty decent.
Oh actually, my favourite superhero film is Stanley Kubrick: A Life in Pictures
All of the Fleischer Superman shorts!
I totally agree with Rock and Bull.
One movie that should be put in this genre but almost never is Louis Feuillade’s Judex. If you want to know what Victor Hugo’s Batman would have been like, check it out.
Best:
Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (the best of the best)
Unbreakable (Shyamalan’s best film by a mile)
Darkman (pure, unadulterated pulp lovingly rendered)
Spider-Man 1 and 2 (mix 2 parts of the sequel, 1 part of the first for a delicious platter of comic book goodness)
Hulk (beyondt the gimmicky editing, wonky cast and not-so-occasional goofiness is an ambitious little blockbuster)
The Crow (very much its own thing apart from the comic but the wonky screenplay is redeemed by the cast, score, soundtrack, set design and direction)
Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker Uncut (easily my favorite version of the Joker)
Batman Begins (third act issues and clunky dialogue nonwithstanding)
Overrated:
The Dark Knight (takes itself seriously in ways that make it impossible to take seriously)
V for Vendetta (Alan Moore’s least successful comic was a nevertheless a serious treatise on anarchy.
The film is about democrats vs republicans.)
All of the Marvel Studios films, especially Ironman (Tony Stark playing Robert Downey Jr.)
Superman (Christopher Reeve, and Superman’s origins, are dead on perfect. Lex Luthor and Lois Lane are like nails on a chalkboard)
X-2 (a truly wretched screenplay, empty spectacle)
Worst:
The Punisher/Punisher War Zone
Spiderman 3
The Spirit
Elektra
Steel
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (unforgivable)
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (unforgivable)
LOL
Agreed with much the majority that has been said. But is it just me or Mystery Men is such an underrated superhero movies (let alone underrated movies)? Probably funniest Ben Stiller movie ever.
Anh how about Bava’s Danger: Diabolik? Does it count as a superhero movies?
I’ve absolutely no idea why anyone over the age of 15 would want to watch any of this puerile pap. I’ll admit to having seen the Christopher Reeve Superman but even that was no great shakes (2/5).
really?
no Mystery Men?
CMON!
PMS Avenger. I only work 4 days a month. Anybody have a problem with that?
1. The Avengers
2. The Avengers
3. The Avengers
4. The Avengers
5. The Avengers
6. The Avengers
7. The Avengers
8. The Avengers
9. The Avengers
10. The Avengers
Bravo, Joss!
TakaAwesome
For me,
1) The Dark Knight
-————————————2) Batman Begins
3) Spider-Man 2
4) The Avengers
… the rest. I guess if The Incredibles is on here I’d place it behind Spider-Man 2