Best superhero movie eva!!!!

[benxtaron]

I know there have been a billion superhero movies but which one is your favorite? Mine is Spiderman 2. Great movie, great story, great acting, great everything. This is what a superhero movie is supposed to be. Please post with your thoughts.

[Mexican Coke]

My vote goes to Spidey...sorry Batman.

[benxtaron]

Batman was brilliant, but Spidey rocked my socks off!!!

[benxtaron]

Exalt for you, modmatt, and congrats on seniority!

[Mexican Coke]

Thanks, Ben! Exalt ya, right back!

[benxtaron]

Booyah!!!

[Dragavan]

I have spent a lot of time in a couple other forums answering this and several similar questions, but the answer is very dependant on what the question asker is looking for. Like in this case, we have them asking about best Superhero movie and not Comic Book movie, so that leaves out a lot of things I would normally choose to be included, like “Sin City” or “Ghostworld”. Then comes the problems I have with the list chosen and questions asked...

Yes, questions... plural... The person who started the post, benxtaron, Titled it “Best superhero movie eva!” but then titled the poll “What is your favorite superhero movie?” but these two questions do not always have the same answer for everyone. What is best may not be favorite. Sure, “This movie was fun and I loved it to death, but the quality was not the greatest.” or “This movie was exactly like the comic and flowed very well, but I just didn’t care for it.” are both very valid standpoints that would not allow you to answer both questions as if they were one.

Then arises the problem I have with the list. Why only include the particular movies? Superhero movies are not limited to the main characters from the two comic book companies. There are a number of superhero movies out there that weren’t from Marvel or DC’s main line-ups or even from any comic book at all. What about things like “Mystery Men” or “The Incredibles” or even “Hellboy” as others, and I would absolutely also include “Unbreakable” even though others always argue that one.

Then there are some rather accepted bad movies you included on your list, like “Batman and Robin” and “Electra”, but leave out other comic book based movies of quality at least better than these. Where is the new “Punisher” if you are going to include Batman as a superhero? And if you are going to include the bad ones, why leave out “Catwoman” or “Superman 4: The Quest for Peace”? Mind you I am keeping other comic book movies that aren’t quite superheroes in my book out of this, like all the “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” movies or “Constantine”.

Leaving all that behind, I have to question what they mean by “Best” too. Is it “Best” because of production quality, acting, scriptwriting, directing and all that creating a flowing storyline and enjoyable movie despite leaving most of the source material behind? Or, is it the best and most accurate adaptation of the source material, even if that doesn’t make for the best big screen film of all time? Or, is it something that falls between and find the balance of the two?

There is a lot more to consider when asking for a real answer on something like this, but then I am a geek has worked in a comic book store for 15 years (not full time most of that time, mind you). There is no simple single way to say Best without some criteria.

That all being said, I chose Batman Begins, even though he is not technically a superhero (doesn’t have any superpowers, only training and toys). It was not 100% accurate to the source material, but they did an amazing job of making the character seem real, staying close to the source material, formulating a great story, and having wonderful acting in nearly every part. For the general purpose of this poll I think that is my best choice.

[benxtaron]

sorry, dude. I ain't good at remembering all the comic books movies, so that is why I put the other, so people would choose it and say which one and why. Didn't mean to upset you or anything.

[flawedprefect]

Any chance we can get CatWoman in there? I'd just like to see her get NEGATIVE percentiles!

[Mexican Coke]

I loved Sin City! It was awesome! It was good to see a change in the Hobbit boy Frodo!

[benxtaron]

sorry again about the poll guys. I know there were a lot more movies, just couldn't think of their names.

[Dragavan]

First off, you did not upset me at all. It just was impossible to clearly understand what it was you were actually asking... And you seem to have missed half my points in my reply. Your questions were opposing, too wide, and didn’t seem to be focused. Now, your reply suddenly made it even worse by saying “...comic books movies” because that opens the whole other can of worms I said you avoided by saying “Superhero movies” in your first post.

If you are opening it up to all comic book movies then “Sin City”, “Hellboy”, “Constantine”, “Ghostworld”, “Road To Perdition”, “Men In Black”, and a whole slew of others I am sure you didn’t even know were comic book based should be on the list. But that would then exclude things like “The Incredibles” and “Unbreakable” since they were never a comic book first. Things just get muddier when you don’t define what it is you are asking about.

The main beef I mentioned, that made it hard to figure out what you were asking, was that you didn’t clearly state what you were looking for. Did you want the most accurate, the most enjoyable, or the most technically well-produced movie within whatever list or criteria you are creating? This is the same issue I have with many of the simple “Thumbs up/down” type rating systems out there. What is meant by good?

- - - -

Sin City stayed so close to the comics it was based on that it was hard to separate the two. The look was right from the pages and so was most of the dialog. This meant the story was gritty and rather weak on overall plot, but that’s what it was meant to be. It was a “guns and cars and chicks” guy fantasy action pulp story. This means it was not the greatest script or story in the world but looked great and extremely accurate to the source material.

Constantine strayed completely from the source material to become a completely different world and story than anything you’d ever see in a Hellblazer comic. The writers and director did a great job of weaving a story together and giving us a nice working story with these new characters. I can’t stand Reeves’ acting, but even I have to admit this was one of his better acting jobs in recent years.

Men In Black was not completely in fitting with the original comic that came out and was not the most masterful script or story in the world, but d**n was it a lot of fun to sit there and watch. The action, silly lines, the over-the-top graphics and jokes all worked together to make a really enjoyable film.

- - - -

All three of these above statements are completely valid reasons to say something should be on a “Best” list, but without some criteria you wouldn’t know which one to include. Mind you, although I agree with everything I said in these, I wouldn’t necessarily choose any of these as the top of my list but I wanted to use examples that weren’t on your list so I wouldn’t be skewing any results there.

So basically what I am saying is that “Best superhero movie” is a rather generic thing to say and without some guidelines as to what is meant by “Best” the results are not going to be that interesting. If the purpose was supposed to be to spark discussion about superhero or comic book movies, I would say that I have more than fulfilled that criteria. heh

[Adam's Ribs]

Dragavan, you rock. Among the things you mentioned, my favorite was "Ghost World." I love love love that phenomenal film. EXALT!

--

Of the choices on this list, I vote for the original Tim Burton "Batman." The thrill and newness of going to see that movie for the first time-- before there was like three crappy mega-blockbuster, horrible Special FX moves out each month in the summer-- was so incredible. And the best part is, that movie ages well. It's still really funny and thrilling, and don't forget Prince's great soundtrack. Still the best.

[Mexican Coke]

I heard that Ghost World was great, I think I'll check it out...but Sin City was awesome!

[Adam's Ribs]

Yeah, "Sin City" is really good, but not for everyone-- extremely dark for the sake of being dark-- which I like. As ugly as the imagery is, the film was so beautifully shot and processed.