What is the best superhero/comicbook movie?

[Crow]

As there are everywhere at the moment, going to be getting a lot more this year alongside all the TV series that are coming out what is your favourite?

Mine is the first Blade film. It is a bit odd it feels like it was directed by two different people, one who wanted to hit an art house angle with carefully framed shots and contemporary underground music of the time period setting a laid back tone as day transitions into night. The other wanting a full action flick with a clear protagonist and antagonist culminating in a final battle. It stands out from all the others and set the tone for the darker comic book movies that came out almost a decade later. The way the film was shot made it feel like it was taking place in the background out of sight and was relevant to the setting.

Runner up would be Flash Gordon, it is fantastically camp and the soundtrack by Queen is amazing. We will never get a film like that again other than a bad imitation.

Honourable mention Ghost World and A History of Violence, I think these are better films than the two above but they don't fit the stereotype for the typical comic book movie.

[xSilverPhinx]

The Dark Knight would top my list. Heath Ledger played the Joker to near perfection, I think.

The worst in my opinion would Antman, which was so mind-numbingly dull it doesn't even qualify as an OK popcorn flick.

[Crow]

The Dark Knight would top my list. Heath Ledger played the Joker to near perfection, I think.

Apart from Heath Ledger why would you say it is the best?

Even though I agree it was a brilliant performance by him I don't think it was a good depiction of the joker I don't think it was even slightly close but worked with the style of film and was a better showcase at what he was capable of.

Ultimately I think they ruined the story by trying to do the typical Nolan twist, we all know Harvey Dent is two face it was unneeded (Henri Ducard was Ra's al Ghul, and Miranda Tate is Talia al Ghul) but remove Rachel Dawes and Two Face and the film would be the best, no nee to add more complexity to it just do Joker vs Batman it works and that is why the series is still popular today.

I personally think it is too long, overly complex, too many villains, lacked character (except the Ledger), same plot structure of every Nolan film from Memento to Interstellar and ultimately the characters slide slightly too far away from the source material. Ledger makes that film and him alone helps disguise that it is no different than the first and third film.

I would love and I mean love to make a Batman film, I haven't read a comic in well over a decade and Batman was the one I did read (alongside Spiderman, X-Men and 2000AD) and was my favourite by far.

[xSilverPhinx]

I didn't read any comics so I don't have that kind of reference, but most of all I liked the ambiance of the film. Also, the soundtrack wasn't bad. Even if it might not have been an accurate comic book portrayal of the Joker, Heath Ledger did great, which is the main reason why in my opinion it's the best superhero movie. 

On the other side of the spectrum of Batman movies there's this atrocity:

 

No comments...

I think even though Nolan can be a little formulaic in his movies with the small twists, he pulls it off - unlike M. Night Shyamalan attempts, for instance.

[Firebird]

I'm with xSilverPhinx. The Dark Knight treated its subject material with respect and a great story, IMO. Developing Harvey Dent into Two-False was important too, as it made his transition to Two-Face so much more tragic. If anything it was a shame that they chose to kill him off immediately afterward.
Lacked character? Perhaps Bruce Wayne did, and Christian Bale more or less admitted that in a recent interview. But between Two-Face, the Joker, and Gary Oldman's Commissioner Gordon, I thought it did a great job developing characters and the reasons for their actions. It was visually impressive too without heavy reliance on CGI, unlike the recent Marvel movies.
Some of the X-Men movies are up there too (X-Men 2 and First Class come to mind), but I think Nolan's treatment of the Bat will be hard to match.

[Biggus Dickus]

I love Samurai Jack.

[Crow]

I love Samurai Jack.
http://i.imgur.com/9b03rvU.jpg

:O

New Samurai Jack! Yesss!

[joeactor]

The Dark Knight would top my list. Heath Ledger played the Joker to near perfection, I think.

Apart from Heath Ledger why would you say it is the best?

Even though I agree it was a brilliant performance by him I don't think it was a good depiction of the joker I don't think it was even slightly close but worked with the style of film and was a better showcase at what he was capable of.

+12 on this one... Ledger's character was impressive, but he was no Joker. I'll take Mark Hamill's over his any day. Even Jack Nicholson's was better... or Caesar Romero (for the campy version, that is).

Similarly, for Batman, I'll take Kevin Conroy, with Michael Keaton as a backup... and of course Adam West for the king of camp.

Back on topic - fave super hero movie? Hmmm... Tough choice. I'm gonna go with "Watchmen" (even with the changes).

[xSilverPhinx]

Do graphic novels count? 300 was visually stunning.

[Firebird]

+12 on this one... Ledger's character was impressive, but he was no Joker. I'll take Mark Hamill's over his any day. Even Jack Nicholson's was better... or Caesar Romero (for the campy version, that is).

Similarly, for Batman, I'll take Kevin Conroy, with Michael Keaton as a backup... and of course Adam West for the king of camp.

Back on topic - fave super hero movie? Hmmm... Tough choice. I'm gonna go with "Watchmen" (even with the changes).

Interesting. Why would you say Ledger was "no Joker?" He definitely had a darker take on it, but the reason behind his madness (chaos vs. order) fit in with what I've seen in the comics.

As for Watchmen...yes, well done, but not very imaginative, since it was almost frame-by-frame the comic book (with some additional Nixon thrown in). I did think the change away from the invading monster was an improvement, though.

[joeactor]

+12 on this one... Ledger's character was impressive, but he was no Joker. I'll take Mark Hamill's over his any day. Even Jack Nicholson's was better... or Caesar Romero (for the campy version, that is).

Similarly, for Batman, I'll take Kevin Conroy, with Michael Keaton as a backup... and of course Adam West for the king of camp.

Back on topic - fave super hero movie? Hmmm... Tough choice. I'm gonna go with "Watchmen" (even with the changes).

Interesting. Why would you say Ledger was "no Joker?" He definitely had a darker take on it, but the reason behind his madness (chaos vs. order) fit in with what I've seen in the comics.

As for Watchmen...yes, well done, but not very imaginative, since it was almost frame-by-frame the comic book (with some additional Nixon thrown in). I did think the change away from the invading monster was an improvement, though.

Agreed on Watchmen, esp. the ending.

For Joker, I thought Ledger went way too far and completely missed the mark. He was just psychotic with none of the subtleties, humor and intelligent playful banter needed to embody "The Joker"... Again, an excellent character - just not the joker. Plenty of folks liked him in that role, but I'm not among them.

Oh, and "Batman and Robin"... (shudder) - damn, that was terrible!

[Firebird]

Interesting connection (hopefully the only connection) between "Batman and Robin" and "Watchman"

Check out this music video from a song on the Batman and Robin sountrack:

Then check out this trailer from Watchmen:

Sound familiar?

[joeactor]

Interesting connection (hopefully the only connection) between "Batman and Robin" and "Watchman"

...

Sound familiar?

Weird find...

[Nam]

I really enjoyed Captain America: Winter Soldier. I usually don't buy films out of sequence but I did with that one. X2 was pretty damn good, too.

-Nam

[jumbojak]

I never found Mark Hamil or *shudders* Jack Nicholson's joker to be suitable for the big screen. Sure, Hamil was great for the animated series but seeing that character on the screen wouldn't have interested me very much. In a film, the villain needs to be someone you wouldn't want to cross paths with in an alley. I don't like Jack Nicholson in general. Just always thought he was overrated. Bruce Dern could've played the part much better in the Michael Keaton film. Bruce could be frightening when he needed to be, had just about the right voice for it, and was still clever enough to pull off the weirdness believably. Check him out in Thumb Tripping if you don't believe me.