Tuesday, July 17, 2012

July 2012 Editorial: Top 30 Superhero Movies of the 21st Century

Tuesday, July 17, 2012    7 comments

My favorite superhero movie of all-time is Richard Donner's Superman starring the late Christopher Reeve.  It isn’t a perfect movie, but no actor has ever personified a character lifted from the funny pages better than Reeve as the Man of Steel.  I would like to think that the movie has aged very well these past three decades but I am sure there are plenty who would disagree as superhero narratives – the way they are written and shot, the caliber of special effects, and of course the budgets – have come a very long way.  With the release of The Dark Knight Rises a few days away, I thought it would be an interesting time to rank my top 30 movies based on characters from Marvel, DC, et al that have been released theatrically since the turn of the century.

30. Elektra (2005)
29. The Punisher (2004)
28. Daredevil (2003)
27. Spider-Man 3 (2007)
26. Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007)
25. Green Lantern (2011)
24. Hulk (2003)
23. The Fantastic Four (2005)
22. Ghost Rider (2007)
21. The Incredible Hulk (2008)
20. Blade II (2002)
19. X-Men: The Last Stand (2006)
18. X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009)
17. Watchmen (2009)
16. Blade: Trinity (2004)
15. Kick-Ass (2010)   
14. X-Men (2000)
13. Constantine (2005)
12. Superman Returns (2006)
11. Spider-Man (2002)
10. Iron Man 2 (2010)
9.   X-Men: First Class (2011)
8.   Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)
7.   The Amazing Spider-Man (2012)
6.   Batman Begins (2005)
5.   Thor (2011)
4.   Spider-Man 2 (2004)
3.   Iron Man (2008)
2.   The Dark Knight (2008)
1.   The Avengers  (2012) 

7 comments:

  1. Charles RoffeJuly 17, 2012 at 3:07 AM

    My rankings:
    1. Dark Knight
    2. Kick Ass
    3. Spiderman 2
    4. Avengers
    5. Captain America

    ReplyDelete
  2. KetchupJuly 17, 2012 at 6:27 AM

    Pretty good list, though I think X-Men: First Class is better than Captain America, and the first Hulk movie shouldn't even be on the list. That movie was horrible! I would put HellBoy on the list ahead of that movie.

    ReplyDelete
  3. UnknownJuly 17, 2012 at 1:29 PM

    My top five:

    1) The Avengers - Best overall. Can't wait to see it again and again and again on blu-ray.

    2) Batman Begins - Best acting

    3) Iron Man - Best directing

    4) Spider-Man 2 - Best script

    5) Thor - I was actually in this movie as Thor's body double, so...

    ReplyDelete
  4. Tony ShinJuly 17, 2012 at 3:50 PM

    I got turned down for the role of Thor because they said my physique was too impressive.

    ReplyDelete
  5. PerryJuly 17, 2012 at 10:13 PM

    Where's Chronicle on this list? Love that movie.

    ReplyDelete
  6. JennieBJuly 19, 2012 at 6:15 PM

    Spider-Man 2 above 2012's The Amazing Spider-Man? Interesting.. I might agree, except I liked Andrew Garfield so much better than Toby Maguire.

    Here's hoping Dark Knight Rises tops this list!

    ReplyDelete
  7. JennieBJuly 19, 2012 at 6:18 PM

    Oh and also - look for me as Anne Hathaway's body-double. Obvi

    ReplyDelete

 
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