10. Batman (Tim Burton, 1989)
Tim Burton’s Batman works as a fun and fantastical adaption of Bob Kane’s famed crime fighter. The film cast Michael Keaton as Bruce Wayne in an action flick that lifts the dark knight from the page and puts him into a film-noir stylized world. The movie is remembered mostly for Jack Nicholson’s scene stealing OTT Joker, but is also a comic book classic.
9. Hellboy 2: The Golden Army (Guillermo Del Toro, 2008)
Del Toro has done great work with monster movies. When he directed the first Hellboy movie, he stayed closely to the book. Here the story is expanded, the characters deepened, and viewers are dropped into an explosive universe where war has broken out between humans and monsters. This is a beautiful film--funny emotional, and action packed. While Hellboy is not as famous a character as the others on the list, in Del Toro’s hands he becomes a classic movie hero.
8. Superman (Richard Donner, 1978)
When it comes to movie adaptations of comic books, this one is the granddaddy! Richard Donner took over the film from James Bond director Guy Hamilton who planned to do a jokey camp version of the Man Of Steel. Instead Donner plays the film completely straight. Newcomer Christopher Reeve is brilliant as the last Son of Krypton, but his performance as Clark Kent is what makes the film – a drama on the nature of humanity, an action film and a romance. Gene Hackman does a great line in loony villainy as Lex Luthor and Margot Kidder is the only Lois Lane anyone remembers.
7. Spider-Man 2, (Sam Raimi, 2004)
After getting the origin story over with in Spider-Man (2002), Director Sam Raimi gets down to business and explores character while expanding the movie universe. Alfred Molina does brilliant work as villain Doc Ok, while Tobey Maguire is wonderful as Peter Parker tries to balance being a hero with his normal life. It is a great film, and was tragically forgotten in the wake of the pitiful Spider-Man 3.
6. X-Men (Bryan Singer, 2000)
Bryan Singer pretty much wrote the book on the modern super hero film with his action drama. Rooting the story in the real world, and even taking some well-worded shots from the comic book universe, X-Men became the yardstick against which all future comic book movies would be judged. Singer does a nice adaption, moving the characters around a little and settling on a cool story that teases Wolverine’s back-story and sets up the complicated relationship with friends who become enemies, Patrick Stewart’s Professor X and Ian McKellen’s Magneto.
5.Iron Man (Jon Favreau, 2008)
After some serious drama in the comic book movie sub-genre, Jon Favreau injected some fun into it with this adaptation. Robert Downey, Jnr. was born to play the role of billionaire inventor Tony Stark. He is kidnapped in Afghanistan (updated from the comic’s Vietnam) and forced to build a weapon. Instead he uses his ability to build an armored suit to aid his escape. Iron Man showed the other side of the comic book world, it is great to see a hero who truly enjoys his dual life. The film also has a great supporting cast with Gwyneth Paltrow as Pepper Pots and the great Jeff Bridges as mentor-cum-villain Obadiah Stane.
4. X-Men: First Class (Matthew Vaughn, 2011)
11 years after the first X-Men movie, two sequels and one prequel later, Matthew Vaughn rebooted the series in spectacular style. Going back to 1962, First Class is an excellent retro adventure that centers on the Cuban Missile crisis. It also explores the relationship between future enemies Xavier (James McAvoy) and Magneto (Michael Fassbender) to great effect and includes some show-stopping set pieces.
3 Batman Begins (Christopher Nolan, 2005)
Christopher Nolan took on the job of bringing the dark knight back to the screen after the disastrous Batman and Robin. Nolan, the director of straight thrillers Memento and Insomnia, treats the material with all due respect. Presenting the story in a gritty urban setting, Christian Bale’s Bruce Wayne is a tormented soul. Living with guilt after the murder of his parents, he turns his own fear, of bats, against his enemies. Ticking all the boxes for a comic movie inside a crime thriller, Batman Begins redefined the genre and left the audience eager for more.
2. X2: X-Men United (Bryan Singer, 2003)
Bryan Singer has said X-Men was merely a trailer for X2. Expanding on the world he created a dark brooding drama. While the action and spectacle were increased, Singer also explored the intolerance subplot of the comic even more. Bobby Drake’s “coming out” scene can bring a tear the eye. We also get to see Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine finally go berserk in the tense attack on the X-mansion.
1. The Dark Knight (Christopher Nolan, 2008)
After the success of Batman Begins, a sequel was inevitable. Here Nolan raises the Batman universe out of the action genre and invites comparisons to the work of Michael Mann rather than Tim Burton. Playing out as a crime movie, The Dark Knight, is truly engrossing for its entire 152-minute runtime. The late Heath Ledger picked up a posthumously awarded Oscar for his role as The Joker. His purple-clad villain is a whole different beast to Nicholson’s psychotic clown. “An agent of chaos”, he unleashes a tirade against the citizens of Gotham like we’ve never seen. In the hands of a lesser director, Leader’s Joker might overshadow the proceedings, but Nolan keeps complete control of his ensemble cast. Storylines evolving, Aaron Echart’s Harvey Dent, Maggie Gyllenhaal’s Rachel Dawes and Gary Oldman’s Jim Gordon converge together in a thought provoking final act that shocks as much as it entertains. In the middle of all this Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman to great work as Bruce Wayne’s two mentors. Nolan does not skimp on the set pieces either as his insistence on no GCI creates practical stunts that drop the jaw. The Dark Knight is a film that showed just were a comic character could go. Truly amazing!
Gregory Breen - Gregory Breen was born and raised just south of Dublin, Ireland in the town of Dun Laoghire. He lived in Canada in 2006 for a year and ...
