The 25 Best Superhero Movies
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2019年9月22日
Dig into brainwashed super-soldiers, foul-mouthed invulnerable vigilantes, ragtag crews of galactic scavengers, a couple Spider-Men, several Batmen, and more with our 25 best superhero movies!
25: Dredd - 2012's damn fine Dredd adventure, written by Alex Garland (Ex Machina, Annihilation) and directed by Pete Travis, gruesomely brought John Wagner and Carlos Ezquerra's 2000 AD comic strip to life with a tight, violent story set in the dastardly dystopian future metropolis of Mega-City One.
Featuring a mostly-masked Karl Urban as the titular "judge" - a cop with the jurisdiction to summarily arrest, convict, sentence, and execute criminals - Dredd captured the intense and gritty nature of the source material while providing a principled and pulp-y story that allowed Judge Dredd to simply be... Judge Dredd. By the time Urban growls "I am the law" - Dredd's simple catchphrase - you get chills, and totally forget the silly '90s Sylvester Stallone Judge Dredd movie even existed.
24: Kick-Ass - What if normal, everyday joes decided to don costumes and fight crime? That's a question Kick-Ass sets out to answer. It's not necessarily the most realistic portrayal of urban vigilantism imaginable - after all, how many 11-year-old girls do you know who can back flip off of the wall, kick a 300-pound mobster across a room and slice them into giblets with their katana?
Plausible it isn't, but fun is something Kick-Ass offers in spades. It's a bloody, vulgar, and almost slapstick look at superhero life. And yet, it contains just enough character drama and tragedy to keep viewers invested in the struggles of Kick-Ass, Hit-Girl, Big Daddy, and the rest. Kick-Ass is a very faithful adaptation of Mark Millar and John Romita Jr.'s original series, but it wasn't afraid to take its own creative license along the way.
23: Hellboy - Not many filmmakers could be trusted to so slavishly recreate the specific look of a comic series, but fortunately for Hellboy fans, Guillermo del Toro is one such director.
Based on the Dark Horse series by Mike Mignola, Hellboy is very evocative of the unique style of those books. The casting of character actor Ron Perlman as the titular demon-turned-do-gooder is one way by which del Toro achieves such fidelity; he's not concerned with traditional Hollywood notions of beautiful good guys and ugly bad guys, for example. Which isn't to say that Perlman doesn't turn in a rewardingly heroic performance; he does - and a quite funny and endearing one at that. Equally impressive are his supporting cast of freaks and geeks; a motley crew of super-types that remind us that not all heroes were created equal (or by DC and Marvel).
And director John Watts' spirited, emotional Homecoming delivered big time, giving us the best and truest Spider-Man story in a long while - one where you really felt how young and vulnerable Spider-Man was when compared to his super-powered Avenging contemporaries. Homecoming not only tethered Spider-Man's usual rogues' gallery of villains to the events back in the first Avengers movie, but it deepened the surrogate father/son bond between Tony Stark and Peter that began in Civil War, and would pay off big time in Infinity War.
Homecoming managed to ">22: Spider-Man: Homecoming - After Tom Holland swung into action in Captain America: Civil War - gracefully bypassing the usual "Uncle Ben dies/Pete feels guilty" origin story that had already been portrayed twice onscreen over the previous decade or so, fans couldn't wait for Homecoming, an MCU-based Spidey film featuring an endearing new take on Peter Parker as an actual believable teenager bopping around in Queens, away from skyscrapers.
And director John Watts' spirited, emotional Homecoming delivered big time, giving us the best and truest Spider-Man story in a long while - one where you really felt how young and vulnerable Spider-Man was when compared to his super-powered Avenging contemporaries. Homecoming not only tethered Spider-Man's usual rogues' gallery of villains to the events back in the first Avengers movie, but it deepened the surrogate father/son bond between Tony Stark and Peter that began in Civil War, and would pay off big time in Infinity War.
Homecoming managed to
Is Romana, the (momentary) girl of Scott's dreams, worth risking his career, or his life, for? Does bread make you fat? Is chicken not vegan? These are only some of the important questions Scott Pilgrim vs. the World answers as an all-star supporting cast featuring Brie Larson, Chris Evans, Anna Kendrick, Jason Schwartzman, and more take Scott to task over his total lady-killer wannabe jerky jerk-ness.
With songs composed by Beck and a sweet and sour romance underneath all the crazy and infectious ruckus (though one could easily argue that Scott winds up with the wrong person, if indeed he should wind up with anyon">21: Scott Pilgrim vs. the World - Edgar Wright's infinitely enjoyable/quotable adaptation of the Scott Pilgrim graphic novel series by Bryan Lee O'Malley is a whirlwind of wit and whimsy as Michael Cera's fuzzy, bass-strumming, Toronto-based titular troubadour finds himself pitted, video game-style, against the seven "evil" exes of one Ramona Flowers (Mary Elizabeth Winstead).
Is Romana, the (momentary) girl of Scott's dreams, worth risking his career, or his life, for? Does bread make you fat? Is chicken not vegan? These are only some of the important questions Scott Pilgrim vs. the World answers as an all-star supporting cast featuring Brie Larson, Chris Evans, Anna Kendrick, Jason Schwartzman, and more take Scott to task over his total lady-killer wannabe jerky jerk-ness.
With songs composed by Beck and a sweet and sour romance underneath all the crazy and infectious ruckus (though one could easily argue that Scott winds up with the wrong person, if indeed he should wind up with anyon
20: The Crow - Brandon Lee's last film is his best, featuring the late actor in the role of - literally - an avenging angel.
Alex Proyas' The Crow is painted in shadows and slicked with a grittiness that makes you feel like you need a tetanus shot when it's all done.
The plot? Lee's Eric Draven mysteriously returns from the grave, paints his face, and takes on the criminals responsible for taking his life and the life of his girlfriend. Drenched in gothic glory, Eric, with a crow as his beyond-the-veil guide, uses supernatural-powered gunplay and rooftop fisticuffs to exact vengeance supreme.
A magnificently macabre look, a killer soundtrack, and a built-in real-life tragedy (Lee was accidentally killed on the set while filming) make The Crow a truly unforgettable experience.
19: Watchmen - Over the years, many tried to film Alan Moore's classic tale, but it was Zack Snyder, then only coming off of his sleeper hit 300, who was finally able to get the job done, seemingly performing a miracle along the way, Doctor Manhattan-style.
The resulting epic left fans divided. Is it too exacting a reproduction of the original graphic novel? Or did Snyder elevate the comic-book adaptation genre to new heights? IGN stands firmly on the side of the latter opinion. We see Watchmen as having the potential of being a Blade Runner type film, the kind of picture which comes to be more and more appreciated on home viewings over the years.
There's a lot going on in the story of Rorschach and the Comedian and the Nite Owl, and unlike many of its peers Watchmen is truly a film that merits multiple viewings, unveiling new and tasty elements each time.
Kingsman: The Secret Service cocoons itself within the world of Bond, but then explodes from that chrysalis in a fun fury that turns espionage tropes on their head and sends t">18: Kingsman: The Secret Service - As the second Matthew Vaughn movie on this list, and not the last, Kingsman: The Secret Service showcased another rambunctiously hyper-violent Vaughn/Mark Millar collaboration - this time sinisterly skewering the prim and proper James Bond suave spy genre and transforming it into a bodaciously bouncy bloodbath.
Filled with hearty laughs and breakneck action, the first Kingsman film features Taron Egerton as a rebellious young man taught how to channel his cunning and penchant for violence into spy skills that service Queen and Country. Enter Colin Firth's exquisitely-suited, manners-obsessed "Galahad" - an esteemed member of a private intelligence service tasked with saving the world from magical Bond-ian villains bent on world domination - and you have one magnificent mentorship.
Kingsman: The Secret Service cocoons itself within the world of Bond, but then explodes from that chrysalis in a fun fury that turns espionage tropes on their head and sends t
17: Batman - Without Tim Burton's ghoulish and gothic take on Batman, which ushered the Caped Crusader to the screen in 1989 for his first stab at stardom sans Adam West, who knows what the superhero movie landscape would even look like today, if it in fact existed at all?
Influenced by gritty, mature spins on the Batman character - from the likes of Frank Miller, Alan Moore, and countless other writers and artists who helped bring Batman back from the comedic and campy brink of the '60s and early '70s - Batman was a box-office bonanza. Admittedly, at times Batman was the least interesting character in his own movie, as Jack Nicholson's Joker was a bonafide show-stealer, but this movie brought superhero cinema roaring into pop culture and proved that it could be shadowy, dark and adult-oriented.
16: Wonder Woman - The DCEU movie franchise finally struck elusive oil with Patty Jenkins' soaring Wonder Woman movie, where Gal Gadot reprised her Batman v Superman role in a fun, earnest adventure about true heroism and sacrifice.
As the first modern superhero film with a female lead, and director, Wonder Woman stands as a landmark success, smashing barriers and collapsing the brooding bro template DC and Warner Bros. had bet the farm on. All of a sudden, Princess Diana and her adventures were the true star of the DC-verse, and not the usual Bruce and/or Clark fare.
Filled with dazzling, heart-swelling set pieces that wowed audiences worldwide, Wonder Woman was a risk that rightly relied on fans' need and desire for an uplifting adventure about the struggle for peace and unity.
15: X2 - If Bryan Singer's first X-Men film was like a warm-up session in the Danger Room for Marvel's merry band of mutants, then the 2003 sequel was the real freakin' deal. Escaping the occasional cheapness of the original, X2 - given the subtitle X-Men United for some reason by Fox - knocked it out of the park.
Hugh Jackman's Wolverine doesn't just get to kick more butt while uncovering his Secret Origin, but the character's affinity for the gentler side of life - kids, redheads named Jean - is further explored here, building on the Wolvie/Rogue relationship of the first film. Meanwhile, new characters like the angel-in-devil's-clothing Nightcrawler and the villainous Stryker are interesting and compelling. And returning characters such as Storm, Jean Grey and Cyclops are all much more polished than in the previous film.
14: Spider-Man 2 - One of the downsides for many superhero movies is that they get too wrapped up in origin stories. By the time a hero encounters personal tragedy, acquires their powers and suits up to fight evil, it's time for the final battle to unfold and the credits to roll. The sequel is where many of these projects rise above or fall flat. With the origin out of the way, a hero has his true chance to shine.
And shine is just what Peter Parker did in Spider-Man 2. In this sequel, Spidey has established himself as New York's premier defender against all threats criminal and surreal. Despite his success in costume, Peter continues to struggle with paying the bills, keeping his grades up, and finding time for his loved ones. As usual, it's the balance between his superhero and mundane problems that makes Peter's struggle so endearing.
This sequel also outclassed the original with a far better villain. Alfred Molina's Doctor Octopus was both menacing and surprisingly sympathetic. The g
13: Batman: Mask of the Phantasm - Before Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight films, this animated theatrical release was Batman's best big-screen outing. And some fans can still make the argument that it is the best ever made. While we might not make that argument ourselves, we can understand why a brave few would.
Bruce Wayne's past takes center stage as Batman must stop a new rogue on the block, the Phantasm, from killing Gotham's local mob population. The crimes and the perpetrator are connected to Bruce's first - and last - shot at true love, a relationship he was willing to give up the cowl for if it meant he could be happy.
Tragedy and Batman are meant to go together, and when you throw Mark Hamill's Joker into the mix, you have one of the most heartfelt and dramatically satisfying stories DC has ever told. The Phantasm is a great nemesis, and the reveal of who is behind the mask is both surprising and justified. The climax, set at an abandoned Gotham World Fair ground, is truly epic
12: Deadpool - Featuring the role Ryan Reynolds was born to play - so much so that he'd already played a (literal) muted-down version of it in X-Men Origins: Wolverine - the massively violent, vulgar (and hilarious) Deadpool hit theaters at just the moment when the surplus of super-flicks had seemingly reached a tipping point and fans were ripe and ready for a gory, go-for-broke meta-take on the topic.
Wise-cracking Wade Wilson's transformation into the fourth-wall-breaking Deadpool may have been yet another origin story, but it was overflowing with legit laughs, some much-needed jabs at the genre, and righteous usage of Wham!'s "Careless Whisper." Reynolds, who'd been an underutilized "next big thing" for years, finally found his grail and audiences fell in love with a crass crusader on a rudimentary revenge mission (set loosely within the X-Men universe).
11: Black Panther - With a $700 million domestic take, and status as the highest grossing superhero film ever that doesn't have Avengers in the title, Black Panther was a triumph on all fronts. As a massively budgeted film featuring a majority African American cast, and director, it both broke boundaries and answered a call that had long needed heeding.
Director/co-writer Ryan Coogler opened up an entire new world within the MCU as the fictional African nation of Wakanda became the battleground for worldwide salvation, and a thriving, engaging villain in the form of Michael B. Jordan's Killmonger was introduced to challenge Chadwick Boseman's King T'Challa and the old-guard non-intervening ways of a society that selfishly kept to themselves the answers to so many people's problems.
Black Panther instantly became a pop-culture phenomenon and Wakanda found itself as one of the main selling points in the marketing for Infinity War, which would open a few months later. A talented ensemble, a
10: X-Men: First Class - Despite persisting rumors of a rushed production and various problems, X-Men: First Class turned out to be a first-rate prequel that re-imagined the franchise while opening us a glorious gateway to an entirely different second run (and second timeline) of films.
First Class benefits from an ace cast - featuring the likes of James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender and Jennifer Lawrence - working under the care of writer-director Matthew Vaughn, a guy who'd had an X-Men movie churning around inside him for years (and who's already appeared twice on this list previously) ever since he left X-Men: The Last Stand weeks before shooting began.
No, continuity within the X-Men franchise will never truly make sense, but First Class' sequel, Days of Future Past, did its best to connect the original trilogy to the leg that Vaughn jump-started here. First Class was fueled with a vibrant new energy that allowed non-Wolverine X-Men projects to flourish once again at Fox.
9: Captain America: Civil War - The third Captain America film, and the second from the Russo Brothers, was an action-packed fugitive flick that also acted as a stealth Avengers outing (sans powerhouses Thor and Hulk). Civil War acted as the dream ensemble project to whet our appetites for Infinity War, shining a spotlight on the Avengers' dark demise under the masterful machinations of a Sokovian intelligence officer named Helmut Zemo (Daniel Brühl).
With Steve Rogers' past (Peggy, Bucky, etc) continuing to influence his present, Captain America found himself standing up for what was right despite the consequences it might bring to his working relationship with Tony Stark, and his overall standing as an American hero. Throw in Ant-Man, introduce Black Panther and (a new) Spider-Man, and plot a collision course between Tony and Steve's respective histories and you've got yourself one hell of a ride. And the Leipzig/Halle Airport set piece still stands as one of the most enjoyable fight-scene payoff
8: Iron Man - Marvel heroes like Spider-Man, Hulk and the X-Men had at least some degree of mainstream popularity to rely on when making their Hollywood debuts. By comparison, Iron Man was a relatively lesser-known property with a casual audience prior to 2008. That changed overnight when his movie hit theaters. Now Iron Man is a household name, leading the charge as all of the major Avengers suit up for duty.
Iron Man has all the necessary prerequisites for comic-book movie success. It has stunning special effects that hinge on a very convincing Iron Man armor design. It has a hero embarking on a journey of self-discovery and a villain to stand in his way. And Jon Favreau's directing, and comedic leanings, set the successful stylistic MCU template that still exists today.
But it was Robert Downey, Jr. above all who took this familiar formula and made it seem fresh and new. Downey owned the role of Tony Stark like few superhero actors ever have. Audiences were sucked into Stark's world w
James Mangold's take on a ragtag road picture, featuring an aged Logan and Charles Xavier, along with a young hunted mutant (Dafne Keen's X-23), was a genre-defying/elevating experience that spilled buckets of blood while audiences spilled buckets of tears. As a surprisingly poignant sendoff for the long-standing star of the X-Men cinematic universe, Logan stands as one of the greatest and most unconventional superhero stories of all time.
Logan might not entirely gel with the established X-Men timelines, but the fact that there are so many discrepancies within the franchise actually allows it to exist on its own island, in one of the many dystopian futures that surely awaits mutants everywhere. And Jackman's nuanced, savage performance makes you believ">7: Logan - Hugh Jackman definitely saved the best for last as his ninth, and final, go-round as Wolverine borrowed from the classic alternate universe "Old Man Logan" tale by Mark Millar and Steve McNiven - and knocked it out of the park.
James Mangold's take on a ragtag road picture, featuring an aged Logan and Charles Xavier, along with a young hunted mutant (Dafne Keen's X-23), was a genre-defying/elevating experience that spilled buckets of blood while audiences spilled buckets of tears. As a surprisingly poignant sendoff for the long-standing star of the X-Men cinematic universe, Logan stands as one of the greatest and most unconventional superhero stories of all time.
Logan might not entirely gel with the established X-Men timelines, but the fact that there are so many discrepancies within the franchise actually allows it to exist on its own island, in one of the many dystopian futures that surely awaits mutants everywhere. And Jackman's nuanced, savage performance makes you believ
6: Guardians of the Galaxy - In the MCU's riskiest maneuver to date, the vastly unknown comic-book characters called the Guardians of the Galaxy were brought in to open up - well - an entire universe to moviegoers. The MCU had dabbled in space with two Thor movies and an alien invasion in The Avengers, but to place this much importance on heroes hardly anyone had ever heard of was - well - very much in line with what the Guardians stand for overall: the idea of maligned misfits finding redemption through unity, camaraderie, and good deeds. Underdogs through and through.
Director/writer James Gunn brought his unique brand of humor, family, and '70s radio hits to the film to create an instantly relatable "far-off reaches of space," where a group of squabbling adult-children found themselves caught in the middle of Thanos' quest for the Power Stone. Parks and Recreation's hidden gem, Chris Pratt, became a bankable movie star overnight while Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista and the voices of Bradley Cooper a
5: Batman Begins - The Dark Knight may be the 500-ton gorillia in the room, with all the box office, praise, Heath Ledger, and whatnot - but it wouldn't be there if Batman Begins didn't help pave the way.
The first Batman movie to keep the focus largely on Bruce Wayne's brooding change into something elemental, something that can keep the Gotham Narrows at bay, benefited from Christopher Nolan's unique take on the material.
Grounding this Batman in a very real, very gritty world raised the stakes that previously hinged on quip-happy villains and too-busy plots. Nolan's fearlessness when it came to fracturing time and cross-cutting between various endgames reinforced his movie's theme of fear, and gave us a comic-book movie that warranted being called a "film."
All of a sudden, other studios began the race to create their own shared universes. What Marvel had meticulously plotted since the day Tony Stark escaped his terrorist captors had grown into a mega-popular pocket of modern cinema, and a brand that fans instantly trusted. Joss Whedon's Avengers film focused on each character's humanity, personality, and ability to contribute to the larger, established Marvel world. It created a place where Hulk and Thor could fight side by side with the likes of Hawkeye and Black Widow, despite a sizable difference in power, and highlighted the fact (which would pay off ">4: The Avengers - As the culmination of "Phase One" and the ensemble film the studio spent years building up to, The Avengers was proof positive that Marvel's grand experiment had worked. Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, Hulk, Black Widow, and Hawkeye found themselves teaming up to thwart Loki's attempt to conquer and subjugate Earth (for Thanos), and it was nothing short of crowd-pleasing splendor.
All of a sudden, other studios began the race to create their own shared universes. What Marvel had meticulously plotted since the day Tony Stark escaped his terrorist captors had grown into a mega-popular pocket of modern cinema, and a brand that fans instantly trusted. Joss Whedon's Avengers film focused on each character's humanity, personality, and ability to contribute to the larger, established Marvel world. It created a place where Hulk and Thor could fight side by side with the likes of Hawkeye and Black Widow, despite a sizable difference in power, and highlighted the fact (which would pay off
3: Superman - The original superhero film, Richard Donner's 1978 Superman brandished its subtitle - The Movie - with pride. This was nothing like the matinee serials that depicted caped heroes of the past, or the cheesy TV shows that picked up those low-end reigns in the decades that followed. No, this was certainly a movie - an epic tale of the strange visitor from the planet Krypton known as Kal-El.
In many ways, the film set the standard for the genre which persists to this day. A cast of heavyweight actors gives the movie an instant respectability factor, while an unknown fulfills the main character's printed-page specifications (and the fanboys' needs). Christopher Reeve simply was Superman, and Clark Kent for that matter, while Gene Hackman's Lex Luthor brought a new level of humor to the baddie... and yet (in this film anyway) never lost his truly evil streak.
And speaking of streaks, the sight of Superman soaring through the sky to the strains of John Williams while he chases dow
2: Captain America: The Winter Soldier - Captain America: The Winter Soldier isn't just the best MCU film, it's, hands down, one of the best comic-book movies of all time. Based on/inspired by Ed Brubaker's Winter Soldier comic arc, directors Anthony and Joe Russo created a masterwork of intrigue and action, using '70s spy thrillers such as Three Days of the Condor, The Parallax View, and Marathon Man (and more) as the inspiration for a haunting story about Captain America cruelly learning that his defeat of the Red Skull was just one victory, and that a shadow war had been waged by HYDRA in his decades-long absence. So much so that HYDRA was now secretly operating from within SHIELD itself.
Throw in Sebastian Stan's return as Bucky Barnes (now an near-unstoppable super-serumed amnesiac assassin), a nice twist on an actual Red Skull alias from the comics, played by Three Days of the Condor's Robert Redford, a deftly clever use of Arnim Zola (which also acts as a nod to what he looked like in the co
