Moviedom's 15 Best Comic-Book Movies ... and the 9 Worst, Part II
Although the comic-book movie genre has been among the most popular over the course of the last 10 to 15 years, it was around for a couple of dozen before that. In recent years, the introduction of computer-generated imagery into cinema has caused an explosion of films based on comics, finally freeing filmmakers to cut loose on properties based on fanboys' favorite funnybooks.
Sometimes this strategy has worked wonders, creating crowd-pleasing classics, action-packed spectacles and character-driven masterpieces.
It has also spawned a series of cinematic turds — unmemorable or aggressively bad films that botch good characters or focus on the wrong ones while applying outdated filmmaking techniques or narrative devices.
Here, then, are the best and worst of the lot, broken into three parts:
Best:
10. Road to Perdition (2002)
A wonderful, haunting, emotional period drama about fathers and sons. Tom Hanks gives a wonderfully low-key performance as Michael Sullivan, the right-hand man of mobster John Rooney (Paul Newman, as spectacular as always), and a father unable to emotionally connect to his own sons. Things take a turn when Sullivan's older son (Tyler Hoechlin) witnesses a hit, and Michael must protect his son from Michael's own father figure. "Perdition" also sports strong performances by Jude Law and a pre-Bond Daniel Craig. Directed by Sam Mendes, and based on a graphic novel by Max Allan Collins, this is an oft-overlooked jewel in the genre simply because it's not about superheroes, but is very much worth your time to visit or revisit.
9. "Batman Begins" (2005)
In Part I of this column, I wrote that Tim Burton made Batman serious after previously being a punchline. In 2005, Christopher Nolan did it again after Burton's successor, Joel Schumacher, brought the Dynamic Duo back to ridicule with 1997's horrific "Batman and Robin" (you'll read about it soon enough). Nolan grounded Batman in a reality unprecedented in the genre; he lived in virtually a real world. We once again see the Dark Knight's roots, but somehow Nolan manages to make it seem fresh by only glossing over the inciting incident (Bruce Wayne's parents' murder) and focusing on how Wayne actually became Batman in a practical sense. The result is one of the most riveting and imaginative (in a purely practical sense) origin stories you'll ever see — with a nice plot twist and two villians, Ra's al Ghul and Scarecrow, we hadn't seen on screen, even after four increasingly watered-down Burton/Schumacher films.
8. "Superman: The Movie" (1978)
The granddaddy of them all, "Superman" convinced us all that comic book heroes could a) be profitable, and b) be epic rather than merely silly. Christopher Reeve is to date the definitive Superman, and Gene Hackman's Lex Luthor proves a worthy human nemesis. Also, the effects for the time were tremendous (and still mostly hold up today). "Superman" is Comic Book Movie 101 and a must-see for any fledgling comic-book movie viewer. Many people prefer the more action-oriented "Superman II," but I like my Superman without finger lasers, cellophane shields and teleportation, thank you very much.
7. "Kick Ass" (2010)
A decidedly kid-unfriendly superhero flick, "Kick Ass" brings costumed avengers into the YouTube age, with a teenager (Aaron Johnson) who becomes a hero ... and is terrible at it. It's slightly askew from the usual hero formula, as he gets the girl despite sucking at heroism and is continually upstaged by the Batman-like Big Daddy (Nicolas Cage) and his ward Hit Girl (Chloe Moretz), the latter of whom steals the show from everyone with her foul-mouthed, mobster-beating antics. "Kick Ass" is gory and profane. (Put it this way: One of Hit Girl's tamer lines ends with her telling her father, "I'm just fucking with you, daddy"). It's also hard-hitting, completely memorable proof of life in the genre beyond the A-list heroes.
6. "Sin City" (2005)
Another not-so-kid-friendly entry, "Sin City" is nonetheless a visual marvel, an engaging and fun anthology-type entry that was co-directed by legendary comic maestro Frank Miller. Filmed mostly in black-and-white (with a few stylistic yellows and reds here and there), "City" is ultra-violent, shies away from nothing and sports an all-star cast including Benicio del Toro, Clive Owen, Bruce Willis, Rosario Dawson, Carla Gugino and Mickey Rourke, who steals the show as the unstoppable Marv. It's because of "Sin City" that Rourke's re-emergence in "The Wrestler" was little surprise to those in the know. A magnificent film with loads of style, and one not to be missed.
Worst:
6. "Steel"
Let's recount the chief reasons this movie was made: 1) Shaquille O'Neal was a charismatic character both on and off the basketball floor; 2) Hollywood wanted to make him a movie star; 3) he has a Superman tattoo.
In the comics, Steel is a sidekick of sorts to Superman. He wears a cool metal suit and wields a sledgehammer. Plus, Superman allowed him to wear his vaunted "S" shield and sport a red cape because of Steel's heroism.
In the movies, Steel is a military-weapons designer who ... doesn't want to kill people. So he quits the Army and goes home to the inner city, where he finds street gangs using his weapons. So he designs a ridiculous-looking suit of armor to combat the criminal element but is hampered by an inability to shoot free throws. Kind of. Anyway ... are you still reading? Let's move on.
5. "Ghost Rider"
Another case of a potentially great hero being lost in translation. In the comics, Ghost Rider is a tormented soul — a stunt rider who sold his soul to the devil (well, kind of), defied Mephisto and became a hero. He's dark and gothic and interesting.
In the movies, he's played by Nicolas Cage and cracks jokes about having a headache that feels like his skull is on fire, while fighting a Mephisto that looks more like your average everyday emo prince (Wes Bentley).
4. "Howard the Duck"
A legendarily bad film produced by George Lucas (which, really, should have been our first clue that the "Star Wars" prequels were going to stink), "Howard the Duck" veers into so-bad-it's-good land. Howard is indeed a duck, though he doesn't really walk or talk like one. He is zapped through cosmic accident from his Duck world to, of all places, Cleveland, where he meets super-hot, rad '80s chick Beverly (Lea Thompson). From there he confronts the Dark Overlord, plays in Beverly's band and makes mad human-on-duck love to her. I think that just about says it all.