Superhero movies are the hottest genre on our period and there are many awesome titles that are worth watching. Here are a few of them.
Chronicle
Chronicle, from director Josh Trank, gives the superhero genre the Blair Witch Project/Cloverfield found footage treatment, telling the story of three teenagers who stumble upon a mysterious extraterrestrial artifact that grants them seemingly limitless powers. Teens are difficult enough, but teens with telekinetic abilities? It soon becomes clear this is a superhero origin story turned supervillain origin story. The movie was a surprise hit among critics and fans alike. While there are moments when you’ll wonder why the cameras are still rolling as psychic high school students battle it out in the sky, the film is such a tense thrill ride that you’ll quickly forget these small nitpicks as it heads towards its inevitable and horrific conclusion.
Darkman
There is something special about Liam Neeson. He is very adept at playing dudes you don’t mess with. But before he exacted bloody vengeance on human traffickers, wolves, in-flight terrorists, rival gangsters, and LEGO lawbreakers, he was Darkman. A scientist-turned-scarred monster-turned reluctant superhero, Neeson plays Peyton Westlake with a maniacal glint in his eye in this Sam Raimi flick. In spite of layers of creepy monster makeup and gauze, Neeson strikes the perfect balance between madness, righteous anger, and pathos. The same can be said of the film itself. Known for its bad-trippy rage sequences, clever practical effects, and campy tone, this 1990 Sam Raimi flick feels like a crazed mix of Batman, Evil Dead II, and The Phantom of the Opera. In other words, it showcases the director’s offbeat style and its charismatic star. The film takes you in weird and wacky directions normal superhero movies would never dare, so if you’re tired of the familiar old trappings of Marvel or DC then you definitely want to check it out.
Batman
Director Tim Burton turned Adam West’s “zapps!” and “pows!” into a serious comic book character with 1989’s Batman. It took more than a decade to finally get a new adaptation mounted in the late 1970s. Originally, Batman was supposed to focus on the origins of Batman and Robin, but Burton scrapped elements from the script when he was hired. Michael Keaton’s casting as the title character caused some uproar among fans, but a look at the final film dispelled all those worries. While Burton didn’t follow the canon note for note, he paid homage to it and created a living, breathing version of Gotham City.
Batman Returns
The title of Batman Returns is misleading, but the film deserves to be seen. The New York Times described Michelle Pfeiffer’s Selina Kyle as an “enchantingly mixed-up Catwoman.” Michael Keaton stars as Batman in the movie, while Danny DeVito appears as the Penguin. The Penguin’s frightening appearance prompted a McDonald’s Happy Meal tie-in controversy. There was a time before Halle Berry walked into a bar and ordered milk before Anne Hathaway broke into Wayne Manor, but Julie Newmar, Lee Meriwether, and Eartha Kitt brought Catwoman to life in the 1960s-but, not like this. In the role of the crooked billionaire Max Schreck, Pfeiffer dressed in a catsuit, Tim Burton at his best, and Keaton sharing the spotlight with two formidable villains, this sequel earned praise from critics and became a box office hit.
Guardians of the Galaxy
A galactic delight, Guardians of the Galaxy earns its spot on the list. Chris Pratt’s Star-Lord proves that ’70s arena rock songs belong in outer space, just as Marvel superheroes do. As the green-skinned Gamora, Zoe Saldana enchants. Rocket Raccoon is voiced by Bradley Cooper, and Groot is voiced by Vin Diesel. Drax the Destroyer, played by Dave Bautista, steals every scene with his inability to grasp idiomatic expressions. After all these years, it’s easy to forget how crazy this film sounded at the time. Prior to Guardians, the Marvel Cinematic Universe had been pretty straightforward. Although Guy Pearce played a fire-breathing dude in Iron Man 3 and Christopher Eccleston played a dark elf in a movie we’ve all forgotten about, the MCU was relatively grounded (for superhero films, at least). It was a movie about a talking tree, a smart-aleck raccoon, and a whistling space pirate. James Gunn’s film introduced wild characters to mainstream audiences that no one had ever heard of before, injecting wit, warmth, and a lot of heart into these losers and scoundrels. Now, fans all over the world agree that the Guardians are great, and we are all Groot.
Dredd
Sylvester Stallone tried bringing Judge Dredd to the silver screen in 1995, but it failed miserably. Fortunately, the mean-mugging lawman got a second chance in 2012 when Karl Urban donned the grungy red helmet. Dredd has an incredibly simple plot. Mega-City One is a dystopian nightmare, and crime is rampant. Ma-Ma (Lena Headey) is holed up inside a skyscraper, so Dredd and his psychic partner (Olivia Thirlby) have to clear out floor after floor in their bloody attempt to bring the crime lord down. As in The Raid: Redemption, the two heroes fight their way upstairs and face down threat after threat in this film. In a Wild Bunch sort of way, the violence here is absolutely beautiful. Using slow-motion and vivid colors, Travis slows down scenes so that we can see bodies gracefully tumble from a high-rise or see bullets rip through bodies and spray crimson, jeweled blood across walls. Dredd is a must-watch if you enjoy gory, graceful violence.
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
There have been six Spider-Man movies from 2002 to 2017, not counting films where he makes an extended cameo-like Captain America: Civil War. In spite of expectations, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse takes the web-slinging mythos in exciting new directions by introducing us to parallel dimensions, comic panels, and a talking pig. As the plot unfolds, teenage Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) is bitten by a radioactive spider. Miles’ life is further complicated when a powerful machine opens up portals to other worlds, bringing a whole group of Spider-Men into Miles’ version of New York City. Spider-Gwen and Spider-Ham, Spider-Man Noir, and Penni Parker are all there, and then there’s an overweight and depressed Peter Parker who’d rather eat pizza than fight the Kingpin.
