In a new feature exclusive to On-Screen, we countdown what are (to our minds) the greatest entries in entertainment genres, formats and mediums each week...Once upon a time, audiences at local cinema auditoriums would have been lucky to receive a single adaptation of a superhero comic-book franchise in a year. Blade, Daredevil and The Chronicles of Riddick all had their own individual strengths, but they were hardly the stuff of legend at the time of release (or indeed with hindsight) and were generally released on infrequent occasions in calmer periods for the industry where they could provide their distributors with a merely average profit.
How times have changed, then- whether you attribute it to Sam Raimi's beloved Spider-Man, Bryan Singer's ambitious revival of X-Men, Christopher Nolan's gothic reimagining of the Dark Knight in Batman Begins or even with Robert Downey Jr's spawning a colossal phenomenon of a franchise starting with Iron Man, the superhero film genre now stands as one of the most popular and regular competitors in the industry every year without fail. That we've seen Iron Man 3, Man of Steel, The Wolverine and Kick-Ass 2 hit our theatres in this Summer alone only serves to highlight this dramatically enhanced prominence, but which superhero films ultimately remain the greatest of their kind?
In the first instalment of a new feature exclusive to On-Screen, 'Top Five/Ten All-Time Greats', I'll be counting down what I believe to be the ten greatest movies featuring super-powered do-gooders ever released at the box office and on home video. Here's the definitive round-up of Marvel, Dark Horse and DC's finest hours...
10. X-MEN: FIRST CLASS (2010)- Matthew Vaughn's entry into the directorial chair on the X-Men film franchise marked a bold departure from previous outings. Sassy, scalic and suave, First Class was an accomplished prequel to the main motion picture trilogy, with James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender's takes on Charles Xavier and Erik Lenshrr respectively proving to be nothing short of spellbinding for fans of the comic-books and the movie franchise alike.
9. SUPERMAN (1978)- There aren't many superhero entries pre-1990s which still stand up to scratch three decades or more on, the vast majority of the early efforts now coming off as cheesy and/or clearly cheap productions. Thankfully, Richard Donner's compelling initial rendition of the Man of Steel is a bold exception. Superman may lack a worthy antagonist, yet it compensates in Marlon Brando's pitch-perfect portrayal of the titular Kryptonian hero, along with a menagerie of impactful emotive setpieces which trump most of Zack Snyder's attempts to attain similar impact in Man of Steel thirty five years later!
8. THOR (2011)- Much as the odds weren't exactly stacked in Green Lantern's favour when it released that same year, for Marvel Studios the chances of Thor succeeding at cinemas as such an alien franchise (in more ways than one) seemed slim. Somehow, though, they pulled it off with aplomb, their decision to have Kenneth Brannagh at the helm and Chris Hemsworth as their lead nothing short of inspired, not to mention the discovery of Tom Hiddleston as Loki bringing a raft of new fans on board to the Avengers series. This subtle adventure remains an uplifting, revelatory piece today, and one of Marvel's greatest hits to boot...
7. HELLBOY (2004)- Perhaps rightly, the proverbial lesser-known dark horse of this list comes from the minds of Dark Horse Comics. Facing up against Spider-Man 2 and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Askaban in 2004, few film fans would have envied the challenge that awaited Ron Pearlman and Guillermo Del Toro in their battle to bring Hellboy to the big screen. We're sure glad they did, however, as the first instalment in the proposed trilogy of motion picture adventures is a shockingly charming, fast-paced epic, the cutting humour of its screenplay unlikely to be forgotten by self-respecting superhero fans anytime soon.
6. SPIDER-MAN 2 (2004)- What with all the nightmares evoked by Tobey Maguire's emo dance in Spider-Man 3 and the mixed reception to the 2012 franchise reboot The Amazing Spider-Man, these days it's often all too simple to neglect the positive memories of Sam Raimi's initial two contributions to the Webbed Wonder's box office antics. In particular, Spider-Man 2 served as a fitting piece de resistance for the web-slinger, its screenplay writers allowing Maguire the chance to flex his performing muscles fully with morally eschewed dilemmas and the casting of Alfred Molina as Doc Ock lending us one of the most memorable villains of recent times in the genre!
5. AVENGERS ASSEMBLE (2012)- A metal-clad philanthropist. A Nordic god. A soldier from another time. A professor with a beastly alter-ego contained in his psyche. Two agents prepared to do anything to keep the world safe. Fitting all of these clashing personalities into one team and one two-hour motion picture appeared to be a monolithic task for director Joss Whedon, but on the whole his ensemble piece is nothing less than a grand success. Avengers Assemble manages impossible expectations miraculously, as Whedon balances delicate moments of human hope and grief with international action setpieces unlike any the superhero genre had given us prior to this release. One can only wonder and eagerly anticipate just what the Buffy helm will have up his sleeves for The Avengers: Age of Ultron come 2015...
4. BATMAN BEGINS (2005)- Before he entered the realms of the Caped Crusader, Christopher Nolan was hardly a household name within the film industry. Once Batman Begins was under his belt, though, Nolan could virtually pitch any movie to distributors and get their go-ahead without any arguments. Whether it's the brilliant introduction of Christian Bale onto the worldwide stage as the Dark Knight, the visionary direction of the exploits of the World's Greatest Detective or the rousing, oft-thrilling soundtrack, there's no shortage whatsoever of masterful elements which come together to provide a gripping blockbuster experience!
3. THE DARK KNIGHT RISES (2012)- All the same, kicking off a new superhero film franchise is simple to an extent- ending it successfully is a tougher prospect altogether. Nevertheless, it seems that Nolan will never let an enticing challenge get the better of him, proven in full force by The Dark Knight Rises. The viewer is offered up a near-infinite supply of intelligent plot twists, cunning connections to the first two instalments of Nolan's Dark Knight trilogy and a show-stealing performance from Tom Hardy as Bane, ensuring without fail that this has been a superhero franchise which has defined a benchmark for all future contenders...
2. KICK-ASS (2010)- Never has there been such a groundbreaking and unprecedented entry into the superhero film genre as Kick-Ass. Prior to this stellar drama-comedy, this was a genre which often got too bogged down in its own thematic strands of darkness to have a bit of unrestrained fun with its viewer, a shortcoming which Matthew Vaughn and Mark Millar were only too happy to correct at the dawn of a new decade. By enlisting talented newcomers like Aaron-Taylor Johnson and Chloe Grace Moretz, 20th Century Fox's audacious production team managed to resurrect a sense of hilarity and gung-ho madness in their own genre, ultimately creating a near-perfect production which remains a rightful cult classic for its vast fanbase!
1. THE DARK KNIGHT (2008)- When it comes to truly defining the status and success of the superhero genre in the context of the film industry in the year 2013, to this writer's mind there is just one motion picture which summarises the quintessential elements of this success. What makes The Dark Knight such a justified phenomenon to this day is the fact that it's so much more than a mere 'superhero film'- it's a drama of tragic hamartia, corruption and sacrifice with a bittersweet resolution that only its successor absolves of tension. At its core, this brilliant, effortlessly innovative and intricately layered second act in the greatest superhero movie trilogy of all-time remains the genre's hallmark moment, an utterly masterful drama whose antagonists (Heath Ledger's insane Joker and Aaron Eckhart's flawed icon Harvey Dent) stand amongst the best opponents ever posed to the heroes of the film industry. With great power comes great responsibility; clearly there's no better man to hold that responsibility in this esteemed genre than Nolan himself.
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