These films are what I consider to be the current high point of comic book films. These are strictly an opinion, and only that. Everyone is entitled to their own point of view. I welcome you to, if you disagree, to comment below on what you think the best films are, and why. But I only ask you to keep it clean. I'm not swearing, so I please ask you not to. Thanks. Now, lets get to the list.
10. Blade
Blade
renewed interest in comic book movies.
Blade was good enough to open doors that allowed movies like X-Men and Spider-Man to be made. Blade
eased the pain and sorrow left in the wake of Batman and Robin. Blade was
just a damn good action/horror movie.
Wesley Snipes perfectly captured the character of the day walker, a
vampire immune to sunlight, and who fights off the blood sucking hordes of his
nocturnal cousins and created a character that fights to defend humanity but
was still clearly separated from them in a very dark way. I think he made Blade a very compelling
character because you understood that he was a monster who was fighting
monsters and he knew it. He knew he
would never be human and it probably bothered him quite a bit. So, with all they got right on Blade, why is
it so low on the list? For one simple
reason, it doesn’t fit that well with the comic book counterpart. Blade in the comics was a constant
failure. He’s had multiple re-launches
with solo titles and they always fail to grab attention. Blade the movie did what Blade the comic book
character never could, it made money.
9: Watchmen
I am not an
Alan Moore fan. There, I said it, and I
don’t care. I think he’s the poster
child of everything that’s wrong with an author. He’s arrogant, he’s blatant, he’s self
absorbed and he thinks he’s smarter than his readers. I just don’t like him, not as a writer and frankly
not as a person. But I like the movies
adapted from his work, which is ironic since he hates these same movies. Alan Moore has never endorsed any movie based
on his work complaining that they always deviate from his original intent and
that the story was suppose to be blah blah blah…I hate to break it to Mr.
Moore, but 1) a work of art means many things to many different people and you
can’t tell people how to interpret your work and 2) You don’t own the rights to
these works and since you want nothing to do with the production process you
don’t get to complain about the finished product. Well, okay, you do get to complain, but no
one has to listen to you. But what about
Watchmen? Well, Watchmen was a pretty
good movie, in my opinion. It had a lot
of interesting character development, it took some pretty basic character concepts
from comics and gave them a very dark turn.
I can even get past glowing blue penis to enjoy this movie. The story starts off as a murder mystery that
expands into a wider web intrigue and devastation on a global scale and is
probably one of the best put together storylines I’ve seen in a long time. I’m also glad to see they had a better finale
than some weird squid mutant monster thing.
8: 300
This…isn’t
quite Sparta Sparta Greece
7: The Crow
We’re
talking strictly about the Brandon Lee film, not the sequels, and not the tie
in television series. This is only the
self contained story of Eric Draven and his revenge from beyond the grave
against those that murdered him and his girlfriend. It’s a very touching love story, when you get
to the bare bones of it. This man was so
compelled by this injustice that he actually returns from the grave to exact
bloody vengeance against a gain of thugs.
Once his work against the gang is complete, he wants nothing more than
to return to the grave and join his love, but the gang leader, an over lord of
crime if you will, has his own revenge against Draven now, given how Draven
pretty much wiped out most of his criminal empire. What starts off as a very specific revenge
story unfolds into a story about what we leave behind when we go, and the
consequences of revenge.
6: The Punisher
Speaking of
the consequences of revenge, this Thomas Jane vehicle was, to me, just a flat
out fantastic movie. Did it have some
flaws, yes it did, but considering what they managed to pull off on what was
essentially a shoestring budget, they did a wonderful job. Thomas Jane stars as FBI Agent Frank Castle whose
family is murdered by John Travolta…I mean Howard Saint. Travolta and Jane are picture perfect for
their roles and they really bring out the subtle nuances of these two men who are
in a war of revenge. Castle discovers as
his war against Saint’s empire unfolds that it reaches further than he ever
imagined and that perhaps his destiny is forever set by his actions. And, at the end of it all, it did something
the comics never could; it made me interested in something that had the
punisher attached to it.
5: Batman: The Dark
Knight
Its Batman
verses the Joker, law against chaos put in the ultimate contest. Christian Bale reprises his role as the
Batman from Batman Begins. At this point, Batman’s quest has gotten the
attention of the entire criminal world.
The mobsters are scared stupid of Batman since nothing seems to limit
him, not even international politics. Thus
enters the Joker, played by Heath Ledger.
I have to say, when I first heard that Heath Ledger would be playing the
Joker, I had my misgivings, as I’m sure a lot of people did. But I had to remember director Christopher
Nolan was involved and he cares enough about his projects that he wouldn’t put
an actor into a role unless he knew, he KNEW they could make it something
special. And he hit pay dirt. It really
is a shame that this is Ledger’s final, completed film, but he gave an
outstanding performance. When I first
saw a trailer that actually featured the Joker, you could not have convinced me
that this was the same guy from 10 Things
I Hate About You and A Knight’s Tale. Ledger threw himself into this part and it
really shows. I really think they could
have just used Aaron Eckhart’s Two-Face for another film, however I can see how
they felt him appropriate for the story.
Batman is the ultimate in law and order, the Joker is the ultimate in
chaos and mayhem. Two-Face is both. He is the balance and that may have gotten a
little lost between a lot of other really powerful performances. What keeps this movie at the mid-way point on
this list is the fact that it’s not really paced that well. Well, it’s paced alright, but it’s extremely
fast. You really have no time to breath,
and that’s because the events taking place in the story are coming at the
characters extremely fast and the audience feels that. When I first saw the film, it was on DVD and
my friends and I literally had to take an intermission halfway through just to
breath. That kind of pacing, while
making for a good action setting, isn’t good for the performances themselves. The subtle work of the actors risks getting
lost in the mayhem, and that is a crime given that you had fantastic actors
like Bale, Eckhart, Ledger, along with Gary Oldman and Michael Caine. These actors never give a bad performance,
even if they are saddled with bad movies, and unfortunately you don’t really
have time to digest their work when it’s buried in the high stress concepts of
the film.
4: Iron Man
Really this
is just Robert Downey Jr playing Robert Downey Jr. Tony Stark is actually a really bland
character in the comics and prior to the film was considered a B-list
superhero. Downey
3: The Incredible
Hulk
They really
did this one right. One of my biggest
problems with a lot of interpretations of the Hulk is that you don’t quite know
which one you are looking at. In the
first attempt at the character in film you didn’t feel anything for the Hulk or
for Banner. Banner was just bland, as
was a lot of things in that movie.
Edward Norton as Banner was something pretty impressive. He showed the character’s personal struggles
without force feeding you a lot of introspective exposition. You didn’t need anyone to tell you what he
was feeling, you just knew by the performance itself. The chemistry between Norton’s Banner and Liv
Tyler’s Betty Ross was a lot more believable as well and she turned in a
fantastic performance as the love interest/fellow protagonist. Plus there was a big monster throw down at
the end of the film and the epic Hulk Smash moment. Speaking of the not-so jolly green giant,
when you compare this film to the previous one, this Hulk seems a lot more
believable. The other Hulk was a much
brighter green and eventually they had him running around in the purple pants
made so famous by the early comics. This
Hulk had a darker shade to him, both color and personality. With the first edition of the Hulk, they
played him too safely. He didn’t kill
but maybe one or two people and that was more of things the Hulk did caused
their deaths. In the first foray on
screen in the bottle factory, you are pretty certain that the Hulk really
killed those guys. They didn’t tone down
the amount of violence or the quality of violence the Hulk is capable of, they
didn’t pull any punches. When this Hulk
swatted, punched, or kicked someone, you knew that if the target wasn’t
super-human, he was dead, and with the skeletal consistency of a beanie-baby.
2: Iron Man 2
I put this
one higher on my list than the first Iron Man film because I felt this was the
most logical and natural evolution for the character. Again, there is some character development
involved, but not so much that you loose the essence of who Tony Stark is. Robert Downey Jr. gives a portrayal of a
successful man’s downward spiral into alcohol and self loathing that is just so
genuine that it reminds you that this actor understands his character in a way
no one else would comprehend. You see
the character at his lowest low, and at his absolute very best. There isn’t a bad performance anywhere near
this movie and it maintains a good balance of comic book action and real world
concepts that you don’t think of it so much as a “comic book” movie, but more
of a “sci-fi action” film. The concepts
they present are probably the most believable when you compare them to other
films such as Spider-Man or even the Incredible Hulk, because you can see this
kind of technology working, and you can see a very human character dealing with
some very human issues.
1: Superman 1 & 2
Superman
was my first comic book character. He
was my childhood hero and I still have a soft spot for the man of steel today,
but as I was compiling this list, I had to look at the Superman films not
through the eyes of nostalgic childhood affection but through the eyes of a
discerning adult. Superman 1 and 2 get
ranked as number one for a variety of reasons.
Now some may wonder why I have them tied together, and I have it that
way because they are essentially one very long movie. Superman: The Movie starts us off on Krypton
where Jor El is condemning General Zod and his ilk to a sentence in the Phantom
Zone. This is yanked right out of the
comics and was done so well that it pretty much set the tone for these
characters for the next thirty years.
The reason that this is important is that this is essentially sequel
baiting done in the very beginning of the film.
Sequel baiting are loose plot threads and partially done scene that hint
at where the next movie is going to go.
A lot of these sequel baits happen right before the closing credits, or
as the more popular trend is now, during the closing credits or at the very end
of said credits. Superman gave you the
sequel bait at the very beginning and you didn’t even know it was sequel
baiting. You have that infamous line
“You will bow down to me Jor-El! You,
and one day, your heirs!” Now if you are
just watching this movie as a stand alone film that the scene just serve to
show how concepts of justice are not only part of Superman’s mindset, but
actually present throughout his entire life, even that brief stint on
Krypton. Jor El is explained with this
scene and a few following it completely so that you get to know who he was and
what kind of genetic background Kal El comes from. When you watch Superman 2 right behind this
one, which feels like it takes place a very short time after the events of
Superman 1, you realize that this is foreshadowing Zod’s return and invasion of
Earth, essentially linking the two movies from the very beginning of the first
all the way to the end of the second.
This has to be one of the most successful set ups for a film series and
give the feel that you aren’t watching one movie, then it’s sequel, but rather
just one very long movie.
On top of that the cast was just about picture perfect. I still have some issues with Margot Kidder
as Lois Lane Iron
Man.
Superman: Is that
how you get your kicks, Luther? By
planning the deaths of millions of innocent people?
Lex: No. By causing the death of millions of innocent
people.
Hackman delivers that line with such a dead pan, matter of
fact tone that you can’t help but look past all the comedic antics up to this
point and realize he is one evil bastard.
Now, I love Iron Man to death, at least in films, but I
can’t sit there and watch them with my son.
He’s too young to be exposed to many of the adult themes offered in the
films, but I can sit with him and watch Superman 1 and 2. It’s a film that engages both the children
and the adults and is enjoyable no matter what era you are watching it in.
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