Greatest Comic Book Movies

In 2005 Christopher Nolan ended a surprisingly effective and gritty Batman reboot 8 years after the mockery that was Batman and Robin, with a quiet flourish that had people itching to see more of this new, darker, anchored in the mob run real world Batman we had just seen 2 hours of, tantalising you with that favourite face from comic book and now movie lore, the white face, red lips and green hair of the grinning maniac that is The Joker. Seriously, Bale was great as a very physically imposing Batman with major anger issues, Neeson had provided gravitas as the duplicitous insane global trouble shooter that was R'az al Ghul, Cillian Murphy had some fun as Scarecrow, and Katie Holmes had marginally underwhelmed as a love interest, but they were going to bring back the Joker... nobody could better Jack!! Heath, you are now a legend forever in my mind, your loss is felt, rarely would i choose to deify an actor, but those that step up and reach for the heights, dedicating themselves indelibly to a cause purely to find that thing inside themselves that can reach and touch those watching so irrevocably as to be seared into the mind should be paid tribute too. His Joker was a revelation, a seething, mysterious, duplicitous, chaotic ball of death and danger unleashed on the unsuspecting Gotham public in a whirlwind of destruction, hell bent on a personal mission of total anarchy. For any self respecting fan of the genre, the scene in the interrogation cell at the police station should be cherished (as it happens the first Heath shot fully in character), setting up the yin and yang that the Batman and Joker have always been to each other, the possibility, the mirror image of what Batman could be without the anchor of justice his dead parents provided. The subtleties of a Gotham city DA in Harvey Dent needing to be the public face of redemption, a challenge of destruction gainfully taken up and ending in utter travesty as a grinning maniac stays constantly one step ahead of everyone. It's Michael Mann, intimate epic, with massive set pieces, arch and now much copied manipulations (getting caught on purpose has become the criminal MO du jour), and an anti hero ending, that shows the real price of heroism, the total sacrifice of pride, ego, in order to reach for a higher purpose. Epic film making, epic performances, a film to be watched and loved and appreciated many times over. I like it in case you didn't notice, the genre may never be this good again, but thank all that is holy that just once it reached up this high and touched the inner superhero in us all.

Having these 2 epics this way round makes it awkward in a way, as there's no surprise coming regarding TDK regarding my feelings on it, but it has to be said, I dreaded this movie. I loved loved loved TDK, on so many levels, so following in those footsteps was going to be very hard indeed, in actual fact, I thought impossible! The trailers didn't fill me with too much excitement, in fact its prestigious place as most anticipated movie of the year had been usurped by both The Avengers and the very disappointing Prometheus. 4 years after the greatest comic book sequel of all time, and one of my now all time favourite movies, I was dreading something would sully the good name of the movie, and this is despite loving almost universally all of Nolans movies. When it came out I couldnt bring myself to go and see it, and I waited, eventually choosing on my bday, a month later, to go see in IMAX. Holy cow was I surprised! Ok so it's not as good as its predecessor, uneven at times in its pacing as it is, but man o man does it make up for it in scale, breadth, and denouement. It pays you, in my mind, pays you for y our perseverance, gives you a brave payoff with stakes at their highest, a logical conclusion to a Batman whose only way out or ending was ever going to be sacrifice. I love Tom Hardy, he fills Bane with an other wordly menace, magnified by his sheer physical presence that makes the showdown in the sewers a moment of pure cinematic joy to me, I can listen to his speech about the shadows over and over. Ignore the critics who didn't get it, this was a reimagining of The Dark Knight Returns graphic novel in the same way that TDK was The Long halloween, and a slight bodging of the character of Gordon aside, its so worth the wait, maybe not quite hitting the highs as TDK, but oh so close as to make it marginal at worst. Levitt in particular deserves mention, his verbal unmasking of the bat was fantastic, and kudos also to Hathaway who admirably steered well clear of Pfeiffer comparisons and managed to craft her own little slice of bat history. Whatever happens from here, Nolans a genius in my book, these films stand at the pinnacle of comic book movie symbiosis, real and other worldly, cynical yet full of hope, and full of the dreams of going beyond yourself to become something special, truly touching cinema for me and my fave comic book hero.

This is the last of the movies where I will kind of bundle in the first movie with it as a dual movie experience. The first film was a surprisingly effective introduction to Hollywood's first mainstream superhero team back in '99, and the film was a mere taster, running at a meagre 90 mins, it introduced some characters we genuinely wanted to see more of, in particular Jackman's wolverine who defied expectations as an unknown to sear himself into the public's imagination. We wanted more, the first felt like a prologue, so Singer went off, got his team back together, pulled in a few fresh faces, and crafted what for me, is the second best superhero sequel of all time (yes, better than both Spiderman 2 and Superman 2). It expanded the universe, gave some serious screen time to some characters that were underplayed the first time round, and more for those newbies too, introduced an epic new character fave from the comic books in a blistering opening set piece in the Whitehouse, and brought in a classy dour Scot to essay the principal villain, who with no superpowers at all managed to appear the equal of all those fantastic people around him! It was brilliant, poignant, played each characters arc perfectly, entertained, thrilled, produced a henchwoman who would kill whilst she dazzled you (deathstrike you minx) and complicated the ambiguous motives of McKellans brilliantly played Magneto in a way that added layers to the duplicity on show. Its just a great film, the last good showing Singer has managed (Valkyrie was good, but should have lost Tom), and has left me since craving for a return to that level of anti-upping mayhem for the greatest superhero team outside of those that avenge. With the upcoming realisation of Days of Future Past amalgamating the old and the new we may just get that, I hope, if it is half as good as this movie here, it will be great.

The year is 1992, Tim Burton is assembling a cast and team to put together a sequel to a movie that could be considered one of the benchmark summer blockbuster movies up to that point (Jurassic Park would redefine this again a year later). Danny DeVito has been called in to replace the big shoes of Jack Nicholson as principal villain, a low key actress called Michele Pfeiffer has been announced as catwoman, an Oscar winner in the form of Christopher Walken has been called in for some unknown role and key support from the first film returning to essay roles such as Alfred and Commissioner Gordon. It couldnt live up to the first film... and in many eyes it didn't. It did great business, but critically it seemed to fall short of the explosive opening salvo Batman had shot across the bow in '89. Strangely over time things can change, and it turns our that Batman Returns has not just dated better than its predecessor, it has grown in the estimations of many I ask, including myself. Even more the dark fairytale than the first, with an underlying theme of torn duality that each of the three leads conveyed in different ways to near perfection, with some dialogue, especially that of Walken that actually sparkles, and DeVito, with the thankless task of out doing the Joker coming admirably close to achieving just that, this film has aged like fine wine where the first has is more like the Sean Connery's of the world, a once great who has become a mere shadow of their former selves. Don't get me wrong, the first film as can be seen below still holds high in my esteem, but more for nostalgia, this one, just plays great each and every time I come across it, and stands up there as an atmospheric joy to behold. Burton would never be this good again, the quadruple whammy of Beetlejuice, Batman, Edward Scissorhands and Batman Returns seemed to leave him sapped of creative juice, with only the odd high to come later, but oh, to behold for the first time, that vinyl clad vision backflipping from the store, only to stop and say 'meow', as a fireball explodes to the heavens... images like that will never be beaten! Bless you Michelle, and thank you so very very much!

Ok Mr Moore, I've read the graphic novel, please please please, pray do tell in movie terms what this film did so wrong you had to turn your back on any cinematic undertakings involving your words ever again? To this day I remain baffled, this searing, surprisingly action light, thoughtful movie, removed from its Thatcherite English allegory and placed in broader strokes for the movie going public of the mid naughties, riding on the back of the Watchowski bros Matrix success (bro and sis now I suppose), brought yet another distopian future to our screens, but this time imagine 1984 with a protagonist that had balls, and you are near the mark. In a performance that lept from the screen whilst completely conducted from behind the cold smiling unmoving visage of Guy Fawkes, Hugo Weaving mesmerized with his speech and tonal patterns in a way that other actors would give their left nuts to be be able to replicate. Portman provided reasonable support and thematic impetus in her role, and Brit thesps from all over seared across the screen in a movie that dared to test you with the question 'at what point is the line between terrorist and freedom fighter crossed', and answering it in simple terms in 2 ways, the first being perspective, the second being populist vote. In a post 9/11 world this movie had contemporary questions underlying it that held in them a clue as to what fashions the world in the way it is, a definite anti-American slant in a subtle way that would possibly explain how under-watched it was that side of the pond. The film makers took the original premise, and fashioned it into something contemporaneous, layered, and placed actors and characters front and centre to convey these themes effectively and with genuine emotional clout. My little brother, often scathing about movies like this loves it, and in this we agree, give V for Vendetta another chance, and let it viscerally vacillate violently with verve and vigour across your senses and seep into your soul, and may we all stop to question those in authority around us before allowing ourselves to be blindly lead into subservience.

I had to be reminded of this one by a friend who was distressed to see my previous and now jettisoned entry of Wanted on the list, he was right, I can't believe I forgot Akira, so, Paul, be happy, the travesty has gone ;) Not only have I now been happily reminded of this animated masterpiece, it has jumped up my list this far in no small part down to it's general brilliance. I always pair this film with Bladerunner in my head, the 2 compliment each other so utterly, the visions of a cluttered, overpopulated future both hold within them a melancholy aspect of dissolution that lends an air of immersive prescient misery to the proceedings. Where Bladerunner is purely personal, the desperate last reaches of manufactured life clinging on to mortality, Akira is epic in scope, containing within it duplicitous military complexes, incendiary religious groups galvanising unsatisfied populace to revolt, and a secret program that holds within it the mysteries of human evolution. The animation is stunning, and at a time when the global powerhouse that is Disney was suffering a decade long creative block, Manga, and Katsuhiro Otomo were crafting a piece of epic animation that would redefine in the mass publics eyes what animated movies could achieve and represent. At it's heart this is a story of 2 orphan boys and a troubled friendship, one a brash leader of a bike gang, the other a quiet shy outsider who never quite fit in, and the entire fate of Tokyo ends up riding on the complications of their relationship, but the game ends up played on an epic city wide scale that even now when i think about it, boggles my mind at the sheer volume of work that must have gone into all that traditional cell animation! The graphic novels themselves were long, and very dense, here the story is distilled as effectively as can be done into a 2+ hour effort that just about makes sense, but where it can be difficult to keep up with, the movie is so lush that the repeat viewings needed to make sense of the plot are a pleasure that you can undertake willingly in order ti fully appreciate the density of the films themes. The thing that stands out about this movie, is that after many years of appreciating animation, Manga and others, this film still stands as a testament to epic undertakings that can be worth the final result, I hesitate to use the word, but it truly is a masterpiece of animated cinema!

As far as controversial decisions go, this may be my most incendiary choice in this list. I place this so high for a few reasons, the most poignant of which is that I have rarely if ever seen so much material (the 6 graphic novels this was taken from) distilled and turned into a 2 hour movie whilst still managing to perfectly maintain nearly every aspect of those books in tact and make a well paced movie in the bargain. I read the books afterwards, and as I did I marvelled at the scripting prowess, not so much in the first half of the movie, but the second, where so much of the story from the books was jettisoned but the essence was distilled perfectly. It has since faded in the memory for many, Edgar Wright is busy plugging the end to his vanilla cone cornetto wotsit trilogy, and finally agreeing a deal for his plans for Marvel's Antman, and in the middle, this perfectly edited little wonder has been consigned to the dustbin of recent history not getting anything like the plaudits it deserves. Cera was an odd choice at first for Scott but got it so right, Mary Elizabeth Winstead owned Ramona Flowers, the support were all to a tee perfect, and Jason Schwartzman pops up in a lovely slimey cameo at the end of the movie, but its Scotts gay room mate played by Keiran Culkin who often steals the show. Its a genuinely great, quirky, funny, highly enjoyable underappreciated adaptation of a much loved series of graphic novels, and I love to re-visit it every now and then, you know what, it cheers me up every single time. He shoulda have chosen knives tho....

It's hard to believe that this movie is 24 years old, fresh memories of a first summer holiday in Florida and watching this in the movie theatre there have never dulled, as an 11 year, who could possibly forget the thieves first scream of 'What are you?' or 'Wait till they getta load of me!'. A generation of movie fans were forever influenced by the impossible grinning face of Jack Nicholson as he looks Kim Basinger in the eyes and utters the words 'Do I look like I'm joking?'. Jack got the plaudits, but the production design was the star, and Keaton, largely assumed since to have taken back seat to the smiling sneering villains Burton liked to conjure, is still the most convincing Batman in terms of sheer personal duality of spirit. Burton crafted a live action dark fantasy cartoon out of a character that in the public consciousness was best known as Adam West from the ultra camp and silly 'KAPOW' 60's Batman, taking the darker more conflicted elements of the comic and crafting a semi origin story that would set alight the box office and peoples imaginations in turn. It hasn't aged well in all fairness, it looks cheap if viewed too closely, but the key scenes, the characters, the acting are all still there to be admired all these years later, and if you want to know why Batman is now one of the most enduring cinematic icons of our time, look no further than the ex-Disney animators turn here, Burton forged a career and reputation from Batman, but it might be fair to say looking in hind sight, that Batman was the one that forged Burtons career, either way, watch this and witness the birth of the summer tent pole comic book blockbuster in all its dark glory!

It would be easy to forget that this little Cronenburg gem was originally a graphic novel, one I admit myself I have never read, but if its half as good as this low key movie then I need to get hold of it quick sharp! Its perfectly fashioned and paced, starting off as an unreasonable incident in a quiet small town and an unlikely hero, whose past unravels before him with a family who never knew the man before husband and father. The piece de resistance in this movie is Viggo Mortensens performance, which is masterly, convincing utterly as the caring father, and yet exploding in violence so authentic you dont disbelieve his credentials as a stone cold killer either. What makes it most wonderful is that even by the end, when you have seen Joey at his worst, you still arent sure who the real him is, the killer from years before, or the peaceful quiet life loving father. Juxtaposing this with the conflicted nature of his own son, whose inner beast fights to stay in check, and the layers within the simple premise are fantastically realised. Top it off with a show stopping turn from William Hurt (an actor who is unimaginably bland in most of his roles as far as I'm concerned) and you have an under appreciated gem that I would recommend to anyone!

So what can be said about this movie that hasn't already been said in the last 12 months- it couldn't be done were the general sentiments, the surprise was it could, and to do it this well was a shock of epic proportions to the tune of most successful 'non-Cameron' movie of all time! The key to success here, and fanboys will rejoice while others groan, was Joss Whedon, who love him or hate him (am in the middle, I loved Firefly and Serenity, could take or leave Buffy, thought Angel was bad, and Dollhouse was a great idea ruined by awful casting), was perfect for this film, his ability to implement fan dialogue whilst making characters personal and accessible is second to none, what shocked was his ability to orchestrate massive set pieces and maintain room for at least 5 main characters and a plethora of supporting cast whilst giving them all reasonable shrift. Its a juggling act he pulled off almost perfectly (please ignore Cobi Smulders), and even better, he took an element considered flawed in two headliner movies, and using an inspired piece of casting (Ruffalo was born to be Banner in my opinion), and made it the centre piece of the movie with very little screen time. This was the best Hulk movie yet made, so perfect it left us all salivating for more of the big green guy in a way not managed before! An awesome spectacle this was, and 3D that defied its conversion to look almost filmed that way, on the big screen, spectacular, fun, well paced, a great movie beyond all expectations, who can wait for part 2!!

There would have been no First Class as we know it if it hadn't been for this R-rated little Mark Millar/Matthew Vaughan gem from just the year before! The graphic novel was not actually finished as it was being made, but Vaughan and writing partner Jane 'Miss Jonathon Ross' Goldman managed to craft the story on screen anyway (with Millars input), and created at least one iconic and extremely non-PC character in the guise of Chloe Moretz's classic Hitgirl. Add a cast of up and comers in Mintz-Plasse, and Johnson, some established talent in the obviously 60's Batman loving Nic Cage, and Mark Strong, and what do you have... an ultra violent irreverant, hilarious and surprisingly affecting little piece of faux hero cinema with a twisted heart. Vaughan did this on next to no budget and crafted one of the most purely entertaining movies of 2011, kudos, and with the sequel well and truly on its way, and dare we say it looking much worse without Vaughan at the helm, it could be time to go back and take a look at a singularly lovely little moment of comic book cinema and appreciate what happens when people are just desperate to have an 11 year old girl mouth the word c*&t to an international audience of movie goers!

So, how do you take a genre of movies that whilst liked had been known to work only sporadically, marry them to a character that was lesser known marquee name in the canon of Marvel's expansive universe,, take a star whose star had yet to shine, and for many was a prospect that had burned out amid a scandal of drugs and erratic behaviour, and give a director better known for a couple of indie flicks and as an actor than behind the camera, a chance to direct a tent pole movie. It's fair to say in retrospect you might look at Iron Man and say how could it not work, Downey Jr is a bonafide star now, Favreau is a big enough name to have been there with Vaughan as a front runner for the new Star Wars movie, and Iron Man the character is now front and centre as Marvel's favourite, and all of that is down to this wonderful 'little' movie that established the ongoing universe we see unfold on screens as we speak. As far as the film goes I will just say this, I watched The Avengers recently, and decided to go back to the film that started it all, this one, and you know what, its lower budget, there's less action than most, and the threat is less all encompassing than in other films, and yet Iron Man stands as the best of Marvels individual franchise movies still, and this is 5 years and a one billion plus grossing mega movie later. It's great, it remains great, watch it again, remind yourself why we love Tony stark! 'I am Ironman'... classic!

When Singer left he left a void, he went and did an inferior super hero tribute movie that annoyed many people, and left behind a beloved franchise in the hands of a hack. X-Men looked buried after the mess that was Last Stand and the unholy clusterf*&k that was Origins Wolverine, but then along came Vaughan, with some new film maker verve, an ability to work on lower budgets and make them stretch, a love of entertainment and an idea to inject some Bond into a an established franchise and take it back to the beginning. Oh boy did it work better than many of us could have hoped, it was some fresh air, some new casting (all but one of which worked very well, hang your head Jennifer Lawrence, no Rebecca Romijn are you), a simple yet highly effective score, and the addition of some well known faces in some already established parts who contrasted perfectly with their illustrious forebears (Fassbender and McCavoy, both near perfect in their roles). this film was better than it had any right to be, some of the effects were hokey (it was much lower budget than its predecessors), it had to fly in the face of some well established casting in key roles, and it was written by Jonathon Ross' wife, how could this work?? Well it did, and now Bryan Singer is back to marry this films cast to his originals, which is a glowing tribute to how effective a 'reboot' this film actually was, just a shame off the back of this that Vaughan wasn't given the ultimate prize and handed the new Star Wars trilogy as was vaunted for oh so short and sweet a time...

This film marks one of those rare occassions where the Academy got it right, beating some more obvious opposition at the 2007 Academy awards to best animated picture, the graphic novel is a fantastic, eye opening read, and this cartoon movie captures and encapsulates it perfectly, with the narration of the title charcter and the voice acting (French or not) adding an extra layer of personality to the characters so effectively that you would almost be tempted to call this a rare 'better than the original material' moment if it werent for the cuts necessary to make it feature length. Its a wondrous little movie that tells a story from a childs eye growing up in Iran so perfectly I would be tempted to almost call it essential viewing, and the simplicity of the visuals, mimicked so exactly from the original graphic novel are stark and simple matching the story so well but somehow seem to contain a vibrancy and colour belying the black and white you see. A must watch, if you haven't, please do, and along with the imaginary wonder that is Spirited Away, I would say one of the most essential animated movies of the last 20 years, and yes, that includes you Pixar.

I imagine if I were in a crowd of film lovers talking good comic book movies, this one here would easily be my most controversial choice in this list, especially in lieu of the much overhyped Spiderman series by Raimi being totally unrepresented, but here I am, Hulk on my list, and not in Incredible, canon following form either! Ang Lee making it in with his only exercise in comic book adaptation demonstrates an interesting turn in my eyes with the comic book movie, subtley taking a origin story well known and twisting it somewhat to account for the miraculous and unique mutation the protagonist goes through in order to find some interesting personal motivations for Banner himself. Casting aside (Bana is ok, but Ruffalo 10 years later was always going to be a much more perfect choice, and don't get me started on Norton), I choose this for a couple of big reasons. Lee's direction is extremely sound, using comic book devices in an otherwise rarely seen editing coup in a nice way, but what really stands out, are a couple of set pieces that are masterclasses in effects composition, and a wonderfully over the top performance that you will either love or loathe from the grizzled enigma that is Nick Nolte. In particular, the desert action sequence that stands near the heart of the movie is actually breath taking, the Hulk pounding out of the swirling sand to lay waste to tanks and then bound in rage filled freedom across the dunes of the desert is a wondrous moment that is sadly ignored and under appreciated in comic book movie history. I have always been an apologist for this film, and even though I agree the ending is rather baffling and quite poor, I will always rate it highly.

Welcome to Del Toro's second entry on the list, and one of the only parts of a multi movie franchise where I'm choosing to pick the movie as a standalone rather than in concert with its often preferred first part. 2 things differentiate this from its inferior prequel- the first is character; here they are written more thoroughly with some semblance of personality, good or ill, and it shows as the interactions are far more effective than in the sterile first film, and second, Del Toro has a far better eye for visuals and atmosphere than Norrington, who later proved his bland hack status with the dire League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. this film has that dark fantasy feel to it, Blade kicks all sorts of ass, obviously evil sidekick turn aside, the support are watchable, with Kris Kristoffersons lines in insults an absolute peachy entertainment dream! It feels more like a dark comic book vampire tale this one, and the real stand out, to be used effectively again in Hellboy 2 as well, was Luke Goss, who was revelatory as the instinctually destructive force Blade must overcome to prevent worldwide apocalypse. Its pure entertainment, story simplified but far better choreography, production values, and themetic care and attention paid. Blade 2 is a little piece of action entertainment pleasure, and the best Wesley Snipes film you will see outside of a delightfully destructive game of Simon Says.

By no means is this a flawless film, but there is also no denying that you probably could not point out a movie that better translates a comic almost literally panel for panel to the big screen- the noir highlights of Millers original graphic novels are captured extremely effectively, and the success of each segment does not rely so much on the well conceived production levels, but mostly on casting, which is this films most and least successful aspect. Rourke as Marv is perfect, quite literally perfect, Owen fulfills his ambiguous brief effectively, but Willis is horribly mis-cast in his role and the support is mixed. Rodriguez knows how to fill a film with fun though and his style marries the material well, and the whole film is almost completely worth it for the totally against type, but horrifically effective Elijah Wood, who's portrayal of a beast would give any grown adult nightmares! The main key to this movie is that it is, despite its obvious flaws, eminently watch-able, down in no small part to Rodriguez's understanding of what it is to entertain! I for one am in line for the soon to be finally realised sequel!

2 Guillermo Del Toro movies here, and man do I wish this guy had made The Hobbit as he was supposed to- once again I am kind of bundling this movie in with it's sequel which was a thoroughly worthy addition/continuation to the series and which when watched together, work almost in tandem. Another piece of perfect casting for a lesser known series of comics about the iconic red demon fighting for humans against all that is supernatural, Ron Perlman excels, and Del Toro shows an eye for iconic imagery second to almost none, something he used to even greater effect slightly later in the absolutely excellent Pans Labyrinth. The key to Hellboy was the warmth of the friendships and partnerships in the movies, they gel so effectively and you care about them despite their status as 'supernatural freaks'. I can always watch and enjoy these films, pure fantastic entertainment distilled into a movie bottle!

I want to make it clear that I actually bundle this in with Superman 2 as well, despite actually preferring the Richard Lester version to the Donner cut, I see them as almost one and the same entity. My love for these films is not as personal as some peoples, as a child I would watch and enjoy them immensely (probably 2 more than 1 from what I remember) but they always took second fiddle to Indiana Jones or Star Wars in my lists of preference. What cannot be denied is the legacy they created, which was that in the right hands, with the right director, a perfect piece of casting (Reeves was a total masterstroke and may never be bettered in the role), and some good writers, comic books could be made into massively crowd pleasing pieces of spectacular popcorn cinema. With the advent of drastically improving special effects some of the more fantastic elements of comic books could now be brought to the screen in a way that worked and didn't totally counteract an audiences suspension of disbelief- Superman prooved this, and for that, a generation and more of summer entertainment movies can be laid firmly at the feet of Warners, Donner and co. The iconography of this movie is just too strong to ignore, the theme will be forever remembered in movie lore, and images of such things as the fortress of solitude are comic book movie legend now, we have much to thank, and this film has to be in the list, even if many elements it introduced have since been done much better.