Poll: Best superhero flick?

[Krieg]

There are a number of aspects in which is differs from traditional superhero genre. There's no costume, not a whole lot of action, and honestly not much of what I'd consider a supervillain. It is an interesting taking on trying to treat a "superhero" realistically. However that makes it rather a fringe film for the genre.

Note that I specifically did not include "traditional" in my original statement. I was primarily responding to your statement ..."I neither consider it a superhero movie"...

While I don't have a problem with folks considering it to be non-traditional, to claim that it isn't a superhero movie at all is a bit over the top IMO.

(...on rereading your original post however you do mention not seeing it as a traditional superhero film in the first sentence, so we may just be having a slight failure to communicate... )

Honestly, it's not even that great of a movie. Sure, it's a good movie, but in absolute terms I think that Batman Begins (or Spiderman, or X2) takes it out back to the woodshed and beats it brutally.

Personally I think Unbreakable was a very well done piece of filmmaking, more so than some of the other movies on the list (including X2). Stylistically it is just a very different type of film than the others and I feel we're mostly just talking about a matter of taste here.

Ultimately I just feel that when you cut to the heart of the matter the best superhero stories (as with stories of all genres) are about people and how they interact and for me Unbreakable was tops in that category.

 

[Dragonblade]

I feel a superhero movie is good when it does either one of two things:

1) Convey a truly mythic feel with great and noble heroes who don't simply pay lip service to classic superhero virtues such as truth, and justice, but are proud to embody them without regret, or excessive angst or cynicism.

2) Portray a realistic universe where superheroes could plausibly exist, with the source material respected and not portrayed in any overtly cheesy or "wink at the camera" manner.

A movie that can portrary one of these well, I consider good. A movie that can portray both, I consider great.

Movies that I feel successfully fulfilled the first criteria (admittedly my toughest) would be:

Superman 1
Spider-man 1 and 2
Batman Begins
The Incredibles

Movies that I feel successfully fulfilled the second criteria would be:

X-men 1 and 2
Blade 1
Spider-man 1 and 2
Batman Begins
Fantastic Four
The Incredibles
Superman 1
Unbreakable
Hulk

As you can see, I feel that Superman, both Spider-man movies, Batman Begins, and The Incredibles truly stand out for meeting both criteria of mine.

Some other superhero movies that I actually enjoy and consider ok are:

Daredevil
Punisher
Superman 2
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Batman 1

Superhero movies that I either just don't like, or outright hate are:

Catwoman
Superman 3 and 4
Batman 2, 3, and 4
Elektra
Blade 2 (never seen 3)
TMNT 2, and 3

 

[frankthedm]

Put another vote in for Unbreakable.

Biased polls suck

 

[Psychic Warrior]

Batman Begins.

"Swear to ME!!"

Far behind that are The Increidbles, Spiderman 2, Unbreakable and Xmen (would be XMen 2 if they had't thrown away my favourite character, cyclops, for 2/3 of the movie).

 

[Mark CMG]

Other - Unbreakable

I like this one, too, but I voted above for Spiderman. I think they both manage to be good films with or without the "superhero" prefix.

 

[Thanee]

Havn't seen Unbreakable, guess it's worth to look out for it, then.

Voted for The Incredibles, just because it was so incredible.

Batman Begins and Spiderman 1 were also very, very good.
I also liked Hellboy quite a bit.

What about Dick Tracy? Or the Shadow?

Bye
Thanee

 

[Mark Chance]

Doc Savage.

And there's no way Batman Begins is a better superhero movie than The Incredibles.

 

[Menexenus]

Mystery Men

I voted "Other". I've seen Mystery Men crop up on a couple lists, but I definitely think it deserves top honors. Mystery Men definitely shows what it's like to be a first-level hero who still has to keep his day-job. The humor of the movie reminds me somewhat of Arthur's point of view in "The Tick" cartoon TV series (which is another favorite of mine).

Personal aside: My love for Mystery Men and The Tick stems from the fact that they remind me of a 3-year-long Marvel Super Heroes campaign I participated in while I was in college.

 

[Starman]

I had to go with Batman Begins because it's just so freakin' awesome. While I had a few minor quibbles, it is definitely my favorite superhero movie.

The Incredibles, X2, Unbreakable, and Spidey 1&2, are all excellent and would be on the next tier.

 

[Rustam]

League of Extraordinary Gentlemen

#1 = LoEG

no question!