Sunday, November 13, 2011

Ranking Superhero Movies

Since I'm all about ranking movies on here, I decided that I would make a list of my favorite superhero movies. I haven't seen EVERY superhero movie, and I'm not going to watch all of them unless somebody pays me to do so. Anyone? Anyone? Bueller? No one? Okay, then. I'm going to just rank them from what I've seen. So, enjoy my list of superhero movies! And don't forget to comment if you agree or disagree.

Cardine's Top 11 Favorite Superhero Movies
("These go to eleven." - Nigel Tufnel)

11. Captain America: The First Avenger - I had to put this one last on this list because it's the one that I saw most recently. And I enjoyed it. And it sort of represents all of the ones that I've recently seen and liked, such as X-Men: First Class (which I actually probably enjoyed more than Captain America, but I just didn't want X-Men to take over my list here) and Thor. So, I guess #11 is representative of good movies that haven't yet withstood the test of time.

10. Batman Forever - I can practically hear the general outcry of superhero nerds everywhere who didn't like this movie, but I'm sorry. No, I take that back. I'm NOT sorry. I liked it, and I'll probably always like it. This movie totally doesn't take itself as seriously as the newer Batman segments, and I think that's okay. It's really corny sometimes, but THAT'S OKAY! Okay? Anyway, I even just watched this again this year and still enjoyed it, in spite of its campiness. "Holy rusted metal, Batman" still makes me laugh. So there. Also, did anyone watch the Batman TV show? POW! BAM! Barbara Gordon? I can try to justify my reasoning for liking this longer, but I'll just let it go at that. It's awesome.

9. Iron Man - So, yeah. I liked this movie. It was a teeny bit cheesy, and the main character is such a scoundrel, but it was still enjoyable. I think I was really surprised that I liked it as much as I did, considering it had Robert Downy, Jr in it as a complete scoundrel, but I found the whole desert part and the general story to be pretty entertaining.

8. Unbreakable - I really liked Unbreakable. I liked the originality of it and that I didn't really, really know that it was a superhero movie until I got to the end. I had my suspicions throughout the movie, but then the reveal was pretty brilliant. Also, I liked Bruce Willis as the superhero because, let's face it, John McCain is kind of a superhero, anyway, and I love Die Hard.

7. The Rocketeer - The Rocka-who? There are probably a lot of people who have never seen this movie. It's a shame. A real shame. I think this movie is so fun. I like that it's set in an older time period, and I like that there is a giant scary henchman in it. I like what they did with the antagonists. I like almost everything about this movie, except for the clown. This movie is way too underrated.

6. Spider-Man - I could probably watch this movie a hundred times and still watch it some more. The story is great, the special effects are great, the antagonist is scary, and it was a wonderful breakthrough in the field of superhero movies. I think it's a great movie. And really, Willem Dafoe? He was made for that part.

5. X-Men - Again, this movie was a breakthrough. They did an awesome job in casting the movie, and save a few exceptionally corny lines (ahem, Storm) and some mediocre costuming (ahem, Sabertooth), it was a great movie. I think the theme of the story can be thought-provoking but yet it didn't reach a preachy point (they saved that for The Last Stand). It was a good enough movie to open the door to a potentially really long franchise.

4. The Incredibles - I confess that I initially had my problems with this movie due to the animation being a little too... claymationy-looking. The proportions of the characters kind of ... well, it bugged me a little, but I got over it soon enough and can watch this over and over. It was a great original story with funny characters. I really hope they can make the next one as well as they did this one.

3. Batman Begins - Hmm... Christian Bale, martial arts, Cillian Murphy, Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, Gary Oldman as Gordon, a Batman movie: yep, I'll probably like it. I was apprehensive about this movie because I knew it was going to be basically a back story to who Batman was. Sometimes back stories aren't as interesting because the story spends too much time doing character development. I think character development is good and fine if you don't know the character, but when you already know who the character is and the basic back story, it can be risky to keep the audience's interest. Well, they did a great job, and I really liked this movie. It kept my attention, and was a great action movie.

2. Spider-Man 2 - Oh, it was a really hard decision between these two for the #1 spot. I love Spider-Man 2. I like the story, the characters, the special effects, the music. I really like the whole thing. I like that people find out who Spider-Man is. I like that they showed Spider-Man's continued vulnerability. It's just a quality superhero movie and fun to watch.

1. X2: X-Men United - I like this movie because of the way the characters work with each other. I love that there aren't the corny lines that there were in the first one. I can watch this movie over and over, and I think that the people who actually wrote the story and the screenplay were brilliant. I also think the action and a lot of the scenery is really cool and picturesque. That's why it wins on my list.

So, what is your favorite superhero movie?

8 comments:

dub said...

Does Shaolin Soccer count as a superhero movie?

Lib-Dawg said...

I fell asleep in the first X-Men (in the theater even), I have sadly sat through all three Spidermen (fell asleep during the midnight showing of the last one - in theater), and I have been told by many, even though I hate superhero movies, that I should watch Batman Forever (is that the one with Heath Ledger?). Still haven't, and not sure if I will. Love your movie reviews though even if they're for superhero movies. :)

Cardine said...

You know, I do think I would consider Shaolin Soccer a superhero movie, and it would probably be #10 here. Is that your favorite, then, dub?

Libby - The Batman movie you're talking about is The Dark Knight, which is also a good superhero movie. I'm sorry you don't like them, but I can understand it since they are kind of ridiculous in a way!

Anonymous said...

The Rocketeer... I haven't thought about that movie in ages! I actually can't really even remember what happens in it. Now I want to watch it again....

Laurel said...

I remember seeing The Rocketeer in the theater! Man, that was a long time ago.
Great list, although I haven't seen many of them. Does Sherlock Holmes count? His powers seem magical...

Cardine said...

Hmm... I think that Sherlock Holmes is not a superhero, but he is a detective for mystery movies. Perhaps I should rate my favorite mysteries!

tearese said...

so we watch the Spiderman movies and Incredibles on a regular basis around here, becuase Josh thinks he really likes them. I say "Thinks" because really, Spiderman is a little too scary for him, but I keep giving in and letting him watch it after he's begged me for enough days.
Incredibles is hilarious, I love all the real family interaction in it, and Jack-jack attack.
We have the whole trillogy of X-men, my husband is a huge fan. I like them all right.
In fact, Joseph is a huge fan of most superhero movies, so we recently saw Thor, Captain America, and Iron Man, which were all okay.
It's actually a little annoying that they're releasing all of these so close together so they can have the set-up for the Avengers movie; it kind of makes them all less memorable when there are so many out at once.
And it annoys me that they're doing another Spiderman to conform to the Avengers movie, instead of leaving the well-made ones that are already out.

And hey, what about that Batman with Arnold? "Take a chill pill". That was awesome. *Sarcasm*

Cardine said...

Tearese - I've kicked around the idea of doing worst superhero movies, and I think that Batman and Robin (with Arnold) could be on that list! "The Ice Man cometh." Blah.

I think Jack-Jack Attack is hilarious, too!