To narrow this down a bit I decided to go with only true CBM's. That is, a movie that was born and bred first in the pages of the funny books. I have also chosen to focus on superhero/fantasy driven stories. So basically, although the likes of Road To Perdition and A History Of Violence are technically CBM's, they fall more into the realm of drama, so although it may seem that I am leaving out some great movies( Ghost World does deserve a place!), for the purposes of this particular article, its going to mainly be the capes.
Lets start with the best.
5) Sin City
The true definition of the words faithful adaptation. Robert Rodriguez may as well have plastered Frank Miller's graphic novels right up on the screen. Of course, that is not always a good thing, but in the case of Sin City it was only ever going to be the right way to go. Miller's sparse color pallet and very definite framing of set pieces leaves very little to interpretation, and both he and Rodriguez really come up trumps with the movie. It helps when you have a cast that includes Bruce Willis, Benicio Del Toro and Clive Owen, not forgetting of course Mickey Rourke stealing the show as Marv, and a whole host of lovely ladies. The sleazy noir of the books are up there on screen in all their glory. Bring on the sequel.
4)
Spider-Man 2 The first Spider_Man was a good..maybe even a great movie, but it did have its share of problems. The CGI was a bit off at times, and although Willem Dafoe was excellent as Norman Osborne, there was no getting away from that Power Ranger effort of a Green Goblin costume. The sequel is damn near a perfect movie. Everyone is on top of their game in this one..and yes that includes Kirsten Dunst as MJ, seriously, get over the fact that she's not as hot as her comic-book counterpart. Toby Maguire excels as Parker/Spider-Man, progressing from the nerdy kid of the first movie, to a slightly less nerdy, but genuinely heroic and likable young man. The movies ace though comes in the form of its villain, Doctor Octopus, played by Alfred Molina. He plays Ock as a tragic character, but he still gets to put those tentacles to very bad use! The action scenes are amazing, highlight being the rooftop train scrap. I did only say near perfect though. There are niggles. Things do perhaps get a tad too mushy at times, but its forgivable when you are dealing with such likable characters. Anyway, if the fourth movie takes a page from this second ones book, we will be in for a treat.
3)
Iron Man Ah yes, the mighty Iron Man, the invincible John Favreau! The savior of real comic book fans everywhere. Thing is, he just may be. Iron Man is frequently credited as how to do this thing right..and for Iron Man, it is. But Favreux's approach may not work for other characters. Anyway, that remains to be seen. Iron Man is a damn fantastic movie. The story is almost ridiculously simple(again, works for Fav). Tony Stark is a bastard, he gets caught up in war, realizes his errors in judgment, becomes Iron Man, fights the bad guys. It doesn't get a whole lot deeper than that but it doesn't have to. Robert Downey Jr could pick his nose as this character and you would happily sit and watch him do it. He was born to play Stark. Add to that the amazing special effects, a solid supporting cast in Terence Howard and Gwyneth Paltrow and some great moments of humor..as well as nods to S.H.I.E.L.D, Nic Fury and the promise of a sequel(which also looks great) and you really do have an exercise in how to make a good CBM.
2)
Watchmen This is going to be a disputed one I know it! I can't remember a movie..let alone a CBM, that split an audience so much. The fact remains, that even if you can't get over the changes Zack Snyder made(and there were not even many), to not recognize the accomplishment that this movie is is nothing but sheer stubbornness and short sightedness imo. People are so quick to point out what was done wrong, that they refuse to acknowledge what was done right. For me, the only bad points are a couple of slightly off performances(Akerman and Goode), and a bit of cringey sex scene. Everything else blew my mind. Im not going to get into how great the performances, set pieces, direction were because I could honestly be up all night. Lets just say Watchmen is an arty, trippy, exiting, thought provoking experience unlike any I have ever seen. Woah, I got through that whole thing without mentioning the squid!
1) And the best CBM of the decade is..drum roll...X Men Origins: Wolverine!!:)
No, its
The Dark Knight of course.
Now, let me first say that Im not one of these people that thinks this movie is the holy grail. Nolan is not a prophet come to save us all from not having out beloved CBM's taken seriously. But the fact remains, TDK is simply a really great movie. And it is an achievement in gaining critical, as well as commercial acclaim like no other comic book property has before. Those are facts, not propaganda. What can you say about Heath Leger as The Joker that hasn't already been said? Some idiots claim that his tragic death was the only reason his performance is praised so much. To that I say, 1) have you watched it? and 2)Can you judge a good/bad performance? Christian Bale is not the warmest of actors(but then, Batman isn't the warmest of characters) but he does make an imposing and unwavering caped crusader. The heart and soul of the movie is Aron Ekhart as Harvey Dent, the man who will be Two Face. His fall from grace is heart breaking, and he represents the white knight that Batman can never be, and The Joker can never allow to be. This is an intelligent, iconic, masterpiece of modern cinema..and that remains the case whether you think Burton's or Schumaker's way was the "right" way to do Batman.
Honorable mention: X Men 2, Batman Begins, V For Vendetta, The Incredible Hulk.
So there you have it. I will do the 5 worst tomorrow when the hangovers have kicked in, and we all look forward to a good moan:)
Happy New Year to all at CBM, have a great one:)