16. A History of Violence (2005) - It took me a couple years to finally see this (don't ask me why, there is no good reason) and in that time, all I read about it was ebullient praise. So it's entirely possible that my lukewarm reaction to it has more to do with my unreasonable expectations than anything else. But for me, it was a solid genre flick with a few really excellent scenes, but not anywhere near as special as I was led to believe. And William Hurt dragged down the film a bit for me.
15. V for Vendetta (2006) - I should probably stop talking movies down, and start talking about why these movies are GOOD enough to make the list. I tend to do that with every bigger list, I guess to justify why something near the bottom isn't ranked higher, which is silly, since 19 of these are pretty good. So now to justify why I think V for Vendetta is a very good movie, despite what Alan Moore fanboys might think. It's true that the film trades away some of the nuance of the book, but here's a sacrilege opinion: I think the movie might've succeeded in improving on the conclusion from the book. Instead of another Moore anti-climax, we got an exciting climax worthy of the story. Bring on the flames!
14. The Incredible Hulk (2008) - This character just can't win. Marvel grabs back the character, gives everyone the movie they wanted to see full of big smash action without coming off as completely stupid, and no one cared, and after The Dark Knight, fewer people remember. I guess that's why you don't try to reintroduce failed franchises after a mere five years (I'd say that at least they've revived the character for sequels or an Avengers movie, if I believed for a second that Edward Norton would come back to do the character again).
13. Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (1993) - As much as I love Christopher Nolan's Batman movies (and as you'll see I LOVE them), I'm still not sure if they're the best Batman movies in terms of truest adaptation of the character, because this film exists. It's not a top ten movie (mostly because it was originally designed to be a straight to video release, and despite its definite quality, it shows), but it's a FANTASTIC Batman movie, with all the hallmarks of the superb animated series.
Article comments
1 - Dusty Somers
Nice piece. Not sure if I agree with the Spiderman movies ranking so high - first viewing was great, but they haven't held up over time very well for me.
Here's hoping Nolan's third Batman film won't go the way of the Spiderman and X-Men franchises.
2 - Dan Coloman
I Think your list is pretty solid, however you did leave out some pretty good movies.
1. Fantastic Four- rise of the Silver Surfer. Although the first FF movie seemed way too campy and the Doom character was not as menacing as in the comics, it did have a better storyline and more action than the first.
2. Blade- the first movie was the better of the bunch. It had some weak points, but overall very entertaining.
The Punisher(Tom Janes)- not that great, mainly for the Vincent Vega Villan, but the new one for this fall rumors to have Jig Saw, one of the better advisaries.
Dare Devil and Electra- Again, entertaining and somewhat loyal to the book. not my favorite.
Ghost Rider- Not a big Nicholas Cage fan, but I love the fact that They used Peter Fonda and his Easy rider bike in the film.
3 - Andy
I've seen all but two of those (Ghost Rider and Elektra), but must say that none of them were contenders for this list. In fact, I thought Rise of the Silver Surfer was worse than the first Fantastic Four movie.
That said, I am somewhat looking forward to the new re-casted Punisher movie.