What Makes A Good Superhero Movie?
He helps.
I
count 29 major superhero-themed movies from 2000 that are worth examining. (Error of omission: The Incredibles) These are the major heroes from Marvel and DC,
sometimes with bankable stars, that have either exploded or tanked at the box
office. That’s an average of two a
year. I spent some time trolling the internet
looking at the myriad of reviews by dedicated nerds and they have mostly have similar
takes on the worthiness of each film.
They point out inconsistencies with the source material, and adherence
to traditional lore as a sticking point to the success of a movie. I confess I am not well-versed in comic
books. I’m actually more well-versed in
the cartoons that sprung from those original ideas. But I am also a summer movie fan, and I think
I have a few ideas that make or break these movies when I’m planking down an
obscene amount of cash for tickets at the movie theater.
It
is a waste of your time to nitpick these films scene by scene. It is a waste of time to nitpick The Godfather scene by scene. Historically, we look back at these releases
as successes or failures as a whole.
There are dozens of criteria we internalize and use to form our overall
opinion. It is our emotional reaction,
despite a flawed script or shaky directing, that truly means the most to
us. Even though the acting was weak, the
film made up for it with action. Or, the action was sparse but the casting was
awesome. I realize I am one-billionth in
line to talk about movies on the internet.
However, I do not see reviewers with fresh eyes very often. I usually see the same old bitching and
moaning.
I
am not stepping out on a limb to say that The
Avengers and The Dark Knight are the
two best superhero movies ever. Both
made billions, both were very popular and for different reasons. The
Avengers is the superhero movie everyone has always wanted. Chock full of different heroes, interacting
with each other in costume and out, with tons of well-edited action. The
Dark Knight was the superhero movie no one expected. Heath Ledger’s Oscar-winning turn as the
Joker and the overall crime-drama feel and eerie tension of the movie made for
a seriously memorable experience. If
someone wants to fight over positioning them at 1 or 2, that’s fine. There is nothing I can find out there that
surpassed these two, so far.
Now
that the easy part is out of the way, I want to see what knocks down the rest
of the pack and why the emotional resonance is not as strong.
Too many baddies. For some reason, movie studios up the ante
with sequels by giving two huge scoops of villain in every bowl of summer
superhero fun. It is the go-to formula,
but it usually does not work out. The
most disappointing superhero movie is Spider-Man 3, and they tried to squeeze
in three major villains into one lump of shit.
Everything seemed rushed and silly. There are some producers that
believe these are just flashy pictures for nerds and kids to throw money
at. But they are still movies, and there
has to be some type of coherency. What
great movie has three villains to one hero, each one vying for equal weight in
a story? That is a freshman’s creative
writing error. An invading army is one
villain. Three separate guys with masks
and individual vendettas is just a mess.
I’m not so sure about the upcoming sequel to The Amazing Spider-Man.
CGI up the ass. These are magical beings. These are aliens or humans with
superpowers. Sometimes they are guys
with expensive utility belts. But they
are all played by human actors. The
reason original costumes aren’t used often is that they look so much better on
the page of a comic book. Have you seen
Electro from the Spider-Man
comics? He looks ridiculous. A lightning-bolt
Halloween costume in lovely yellow and green.
It needs to be changed. But there
is a delicate balance between reality and what will we accept. Mutant fights scenes, super powers, and web
shooting are all from fantasy, but when they appear on screen we have to
believe this could really happen, even in the frame of the story. I think the acceptable recipe would be to use
CGI as a spice, not as the main ingredient.
But if it is the main ingredient, we should not be able to tell the
difference.
Too much suspension of
disbelief. Thor is from
Asgard, a magical realm in deep space.
Asgardians have super strength, magical weapons and powers. But why do they speak English? We as an audience have to make the leap with
aliens and their technology that shoots them through space, but the fact that
Thor can share a beer with a human and speak English is jarring. It should at least be addressed, and not
assumed, that he speaks two languages.
It is nitpicking, but it would barely register at all if we did not have
so much fantasy to allow in the first place.
Also, heroes are heroes, but people are just people. They will react to the fantastic in different
ways; but all of those ways have to seem genuine. The one reaction people should not have in
superhero movies is immediate
acceptance. It’s a giant green monster!
You should immediately evacuate your bowels and curl up in a fetal
position. One minor trope that always irks me is everyone’s innate ability to
use martial arts. I know why Batman can
kick ass. We’ve seen the training. But every villain and goon that goes up
against a hero is also a black belt?
This familiar character is now
unfamiliar. True comic book
fans will debate adherence to source material.
However, some of these characters have been around since WWII or so and
general audiences have a few established notions of how they should
behave. Superman is a boy scout. Batman is the brooding billionaire. Spider-Man is youthful, wise-cracking and
struggling to make rent. In Man of Steel, Superman was rebooted into
something very different. The famous
moral compass was replaced by an inward-thinking and moody Clark Kent, and the
collateral damage of Superman’s presence was noticeably high. Peter Parker was just not himself in Spider-Man 3. Even though he was supposed to be infected by
the outer space ooze, it turned him less into someone out of control and more
of goofy douchebag. Audiences will only allow so many changes to something they
know and love. There is an invisible line
of character updates that just can’t be crossed.
Not enough hero, or not enough
action. To me, this is the
major measuring stick. We watch these
movies for action. The character
development makes the film well-rounded and satisfying. However, if it eats up more screen time than
the bread and butter action scenes, I think the superhero movie fails. I love Sam Rockwell, but I’m willing to bet
he had as much screen time as Robert Downey, Jr in Iron Man 2. Way too much
chit chat. The first X-Men had the same problem, and both of
the two Hulk movies also misfired. It is
difficult to make the right balance, but what you can do is err on the side of
more action. Only in Nolan’s Batman films
and Downey’s Tony Stark do we have out–of-suit scenes comparable to the
action. Incidentally, Downey is also the
reason this list exists. It was his
performance that made Iron Man an
irresistible superhero movie.
My list. I
asked a friend and esteemed comic book fan to give me his favorite out of the
list, and we both shared the same top five.
All the rest are debatable. In fact, order these around as you will, but
#19 through #27 should be considered bad movies. The last three are shit. (Confession: Never will see the second Fantastic Four. Not sad about it either.)
1.
The Avengers
2.
The Dark Knight
3.
Iron Man
4.
Spider-Man 2
5.
Batman Begins
6.
Spider-Man
7.
X-Men 2
8.
Captain America
9.
X-Men - First Class
10. The Dark
Knight Rises
11.
Iron Man 3
12. X-Men
13. Amazing
Spider-Man
14. Iron
Man 2
15.
The Incredible Hulk
16. Thor
17.
The Wolverine
18. Wolverine
– Origins
19. Fantastic
Four
20. Hulk
21. Superman
Returns
22. Watchmen
23. Man of
Steel
24. Daredevil
25. Green
Lantern
26. X-Men 3
27. Spider-Man
3
Did
not see:
Thor
2
Fantastic Four – Silver
Surfer