2. Batman Begins (2005) - Despite the fact that I grew up a Marvel guy, I've always thought Batman was the coolest character in comics, and with Batman Begins, I finally had a live action movie that showed why. Christopher Nolan's reboot was the first live-action Batman adaptation to show what made the character great, as opposed to a mere outlet for the stylistic choices of its director, and it had me completely geeked out from beginning to end. What's unique about Batman Begins is that its one of the few superhero movies that succeeded in making the origin story portion of the film as compelling as, if not more than, the superhero action that follows it.
1. The Dark Knight (2008) - The Dark Knight is such a stunning achievement that not only does it top this list, it makes the rest of this list look a little weak in comparison. The gap between 1 and 2 is considerable, as The Dark Knight managed to improve upon its predecessor in every conceivable way. The story is more complex and immense, the effects are more eye-popping, and of course, the villain is far more interesting. We'll be lucky if any comic book adaptations even approach the level of quality in The Dark Knight, much less surpass it.
But what about... ? (taking a look at the titles you may think I missed)
Batman (1989) or Batman Returns (1992)? Tim Burton is easily my least favourite director-who-people-think-is-good (as opposed to the terminally shitty directors whose work I never see), so there was no way these films, which are more about Burton's eccentric style than they are about Batman, would ever get a sniff of this list.
Superman II (1980)? There are those who say the sequel to Superman: The Movie was the best of the series, and again, I can only assume those people are drunk on nostalgia. Cause what I see is a movie featuring even dumber powers than time travel via the reversing of Earth's axis (the amnesia kiss? a removable, expandable logo-trap?) with wildly differing tones depending on who was directing what scene.
Ghost World (2000)? I'm obviously a fan of indie movie comic book adaptations, so where's Ghost World, the film of choice for hipsters everywhere, you may ask? Buried deep within the recesses of my brain, since I HATED that movie.
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.