The Best Superhero Movies

So my husband and I finally got around to seeing the Avengers movie.  I enjoyed it.  The character interactions were fun with lots of good humor, and the story was fast paced, with lots of action (but not too much action) and a nice overall story arc.

I think this movie worked well because of all the individual movies building up to it.  It helped that a lot of the characterization had already been done coming into it, and I’m a bit curious about how well the movie worked for someone who hadn’t seen Iron Man, Captain America, The Incredible Hulk, and Thor. 

I wish Black Widow and Hawk Eye had a movie together.  I liked their characters, and it sounded like they had an interesting history with each other that would’ve made a good story.

The Avengers movie (along with previews for the latest Batman movie and the Spiderman reboot) got me thinking about all the superhero movies I’ve seen.  My husband loves superheroes, so I’ve seen every one of them.  For the most part, I like them too (could have done without Hellboy and Sin City).  So here is my list for the top five favorite superhero movies of all time (note:  I've chosen one movie from each series otherwise my list would be dominated by some of the more awesome series).

5.  Batman Returns (1992). Batman is probably my favorite superhero (I’ve never read the comics, but I’ve seen a lot of the cartoons, and all the movies, unless there are some really old movies I don’t know about).  This is the one I liked the most from the first Batman series started in 1989.  I remember complaints that this movie was too dark, but I really like it although I’m kind of a Tim Burton fan in general.  I really liked Michelle Pfeiffer’s portrayal of Catwoman and the interaction between Selina Kyle and Bruce Wayne as well as Catwoman and Batman.  I thought they did a great job.  I was always hoping they’d bring her back for another Batman movie, but then the whole franchise took a lighter turn, which I think was the death of it.  But I really liked this movie.

4.  Spiderman (2002).  Spiderman is an interesting hero to me because he is younger and a little more self-doubting than the others.  I like the mixture of vulnerability and super powers; it makes Peter Parker an interesting character.  Also it is nice to see a superhero struggle with day to day life of trying to hold down a job while saving the world.  A nice change of pace from the normal billionaire-type superheroes.  I thought Toby McGuire did a great job as Spiderman/Peter parker, although I’m looking forward to the reboot.  Like I said, I find Spiderman to be a very intriguing character, so I’d like to see a different spin on him.

3.  Iron Man (2008).  This movie surprised me.  I had never heard of Iron Man before this movie came out, and when my husband explained who he was, I have to say, I wasn’t very excited about it.  But the movie blew me away.  I loved Tony Stark’s character.  There is something awesome about an unapologetic narcissistic character who tells it like he sees it.  And I loved how at the end, Tony outs himself, surprising and awesome.  But the interactions between Tony and Pepper are really where the heart of the story is, and proof that Tony does have a vulnerable side.  Loved this movie, maybe it should have been number two.  Close call.

2.  X-Men (2000). I really enjoy stories with great ensembles, and X-Men definitely hit the mark here.  Wolverine, Jean Grey, Mystique, Xavier, Magneto, Rogue, just great characters all around.  But what really makes this stand out for me is the relationship between Magneto and Xavier.  I always love it when the bad guy has some sort of personal relationship with the good guy, and the fact that Xavier and Magneto had been such great friends, and even though they were now on different sides, it was very clear that they still cared about each other, made the whole story more compelling.  I loved the second X-Men movie in this series as well, but the third wasn’t quite as good as the other two.  I wish Bryan Singer had directed the third.  I think he really knew how to make it work.

1.  Batman Begins (2005).  I already stated how Batman is probably my favorite superhero.  I’m not really sure why, maybe I like the dark, mysterious, brooding type.  I like that this movie was a little more serious than the 1989 Batman series, less cartoony.  What makes this movie really stand out was the amazing job developing Bruce Wayne’s character, and the journey he took to become Batman.  The movie was more focused on Batman than the villain, and the main conflict (The League of Shadow’s plan to destroy Gotham) was tied to Batman’s training.   Overall, it was an amazing character driven story with lots of great action and interesting characters (loved Alfred and Lucius Fox), and great acting.  Just an awesome movie all around.  It is hands down my favorite superhero movie so far. 

Yeah, The Avengers didn’t make the list, but it still was a great movie, so if you haven’t seen it yet, and you love the superhero genre, go see it.  

So what is your favorite superhero movie?

~MaryAnn