In light of the release of “The Amazing Spider-Man 2” and “Captain America: Winter Soldier,” one comes to think of what the greatest superhero movies of all time are. Many have been good and many have been bad, and in these two lists you’ll see the difference between “The Dark Knight” and “Batman & Robin.”
FIVE BEST SUPERHERO FILMS
5. “Iron-Man” – It might be a little high on this list, but it gave a great new edge to the superhero genre. Robert Downey Jr. basically gave his career CPR with a great performance and huge success for the trilogy overall.
4. “Spider-Man 2” – Although the acting could be a lot better throughout this trilogy, both this second and the first film proved to be successful in appealing to comic book and movie fans by adding great villains and eye-popping jumping sequences.
3. “Batman” – With the direction of Tim Burton, Batman was finally given the darker side in film that comic book fans and movie fans alike were waiting for.
2. “Superman: The Movie” – This movie not only set the bar for Superman films to follow, but also for superhero leading roles with an iconic performance from Christopher Reeves, and hey, Gene Hackman is Lex Luthor. But I urge you to not see the ones that followed the second in the series; you won’t understand how they got made.
1. “The Dark Knight” – It has to be. The second installment in the brilliant “Dark Knight” trilogy from director Christopher Nolan not only creates the greatest Batman film, but it creates an actual world in which it is believable that superheroes can exist.
But as you begin to think about the greatest ones ever made, you can’t help but think of some of the really bad superhero movies that are actually really humorous.
FIVE WORST SUPERHERO FILMS
5. “Spider-Man 3” – Could be the biggest disappointment on this list. Although many liked the movie because they were hypnotized by the special effects, it was a bust waiting to happen with all of the bad acting in the series leading up to it.
4. “Daredevil” – Ben Affleck is blind. Colin Farrell is bald.
3. “Superman IV: The Quest for Peace” – This film follows the Richard Pryor one. Now if that doesn’t tell you something about this series, I don’t know what will.
2. “Batman & Robin” – This, unfortunately, I have seen. Okay, 17 years later the cast assembled sounds okay at best, but back then, casting George Clooney as Batman before he was George Clooney was a bad mistake. It’s not all George’s fault, though, with a terrible script and Arnold saying “A freeze is coming!” What could go wrong?
1. “Supergirl” – Why, why, why? The same producers that brought you the “Superman: The Movie” series decided they’d go ahead and make what could be the worst superhero movie of all-time. And I haven’t even seen it.
-Jason Clarke
