The superhero movie is, all things considered, a relatively new concept at least when it comes to summer blockbusters and actual hits, but there have been attempts to create them for a while and here are the five best.
Superhero movies are here and they are here to stay. As long as the movie-going public seems to have an insatiable desire to see actors portraying men and women whom, in within the pages of the comic book world, wear skin-tight spandex. The line up of superhero movies continues this summer and there appears to be no end in site.
In 2012 there are at least three major films that involve superheroes that many a fan is salivating for. “The Avengers” which groups Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, the Hulk, the Black Widow and Hawkeye into one super team headed up by an eye-patch-wearing Samuel L. Jackson is heading for theaters soon and looks to be a huge hit. The Marvel reboot of the Spider-Man franchise also gets underway with “The Amazing Spider-Man” due out later this year. Finally, the third in the Christopher Nolan-helmed Batman franchise “The Dark Knight Rises” is due out this summer and already there are people itching to buy tickets.
The trends seems likely to continue. But as a fan, or a new fan, what superhero movies should you watch on DVD or OnDemand or order from Netflix? Here is a list of five movies that fall into the superhero genre that every movie fan should see.
5. X- Men: First Class - the reboot of the series about a group of young men and women who were born with their unique abilities. While others in the X-Men series were very good, including the outstanding X2, none of them really managed to capture that certain something that fans got out of reading the comic book. The reboot, which took the X-Men back to their formative years and had a walking and haired Professor Xavier somehow worked. The performance of Michael Fassbender as a young Magneto trying to master his powers and get revenge for the Nazi atrocities committed against him also made the move powerful. Magneto has always been strange as a villain because readers know what he went through and that his ultimate goal is just to protect his people. He just has a twisted sense of how he can accomplish that. Fassbender and the rest of the team are excellent and this film finally manages to bring the team together and make you care about them all
4. Batman Begins - it was the superhero movie that we all wanted and had been waiting for. It was the movie that made attempts to make the inherent ridiculousness of Batman as a character somehow believable and possible. It was also a movie that managed to do something that no one else had really ever been able to do before, even in the comic books. This movie made Bruce Wayne and Batman as compelling and interesting a character as his villain. In fact, for the first time, Batman is the star of his own movie. It retells the origin of how Bruce Wayne became Batman and how he came to be Gotham City’s dark knight. The performances are all excellent, with the one exception being Katie Holmes, who looks rather lost in the chaos around her. The action is second-to-none and the climactic battle between Batman and Ra’s Al Ghul is truly worthy of being the climax of the movie. Plus, Chicago looks great as Gotham.
3. Superman 2 - the first truly great superhero movie. The fights between movie director Richard Donner and the movie company to make this film are now legendary. There is even a DVD version of this film that claims to be the Donner version (or as close to it as anyone is likely to get). Even with the comedy hijinx ramped up to the height of corniness, this movie still manages to be one of the best of the genre. With all of the long, boring origin stuff from the first movie out of the way, Superman must go up against three Kryptonian criminals that are just as powerful as he is. The battle scenes remain, to this day, some of the most epic in the superhero genre. Christopher Reeve seems at ease and comfortable in the role, despite some of the strange powers Superman suddenly develops near the end (what was with that giant “S” thing, anyway?). The bad guys are truly bad and viewers cannot help but cheer when Superman manages to turn the tables on them.
2. Spider-Man 2 - the second movie to show that, once you get past the boring origin story, and can jump right into the action, the movie can really take off. The first movie was good, but the second story finally delved into the life of Peter Parker and what it means to be Spider-Man. By making Spidey more human, the sympathy for him increases, and we care more. The special effects also are much better this time around and there is much less of a feeling that we are watching a cartoon Spider-Man fighting a cartoon Doctor Octopus. Also, the origin of Doc Ock is given gravitas by making us care about him and providing some insight into how he became what he is. All of the elements of the Spider-Man story work in this version and it all comes together in a movie that is high in action, but remembers to tel the human story as well.
1. The Dark Knight - the movie that still stands atop the superhero genre pile is Chris Nolan’s tour de force where Batman, at last, faces off against his arch enemy The Joker. Yes, what makes this movie work is the transcendent performance of Heath Ledger as the villain. He manages to completely immerse himself in the role of a psychopath who believes he is an agent of chaos and anarchy. The Joker is evil because evil is as twisted as he is and is a force that, at first, Batman is unable to deal with. How can you deal with a man whose motives are chaos itself rather than personal gain? Christian Bale manages to turn Batman into a true tragic hero in this movie and can even be forgiven the deep, growling voice the uses throughout. This movie is a classic good versus evil tale that has all of Gotham hanging in the balance. Since Batman is already established and The Joker has no origin, the heart of the movie falls to Aaron Eckhart as Two-Face, Harvey Dent. Although Two-Face is overwhelmed by The Joker in the film, Eckhart and Nolan have come the closest to bringing the tragic and sad character from the comics to life. Of all of the movies in the genre none has mixed plot, special effects, action and humanity as well as this one.
Photo courtesy of Morguefile.com
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