While many people look towards The Dark Knight as being the bastion of heralding in a new era of comic book filmmaking and adaptation, it is in Batman Begins where Christopher Nolan really began revitalizing the genre. It’s the film where Nolan was crafting the foundations for a totally new way of imagining superhero movies, a way which was inventive, fresh and as many critics said: “the finest screen adaptation of Batman.”
Nolan’s handsomely crafted origin story has become just as influential as its highly revered sequels and has kind of become the last word in origin stories. Indeed, many other comic book film origin stories mirror Batman Begins’ structure exactly. Films such as Iron Man and Man of Steel are hugely indebted to Nolan’s storytelling, demonstrating just how important the director’s first Bat feature is. It has become kind of fashionable now to undermine Batman Begins but people are reticent to forget that it is easily the most cerebral of the trilogy featuring terrifying, drug induced hallucinations, the grimmest Gotham City ever put on screen and a gritty realism to the criminality that made this a startling reinterpretation of one of our greatest comic book superheroes.
“Are you ready, rookie?” With one expertly growled line, Karl Urban created the definitive cinematic portrayal of 2000 AD’s Judge Dredd. Pete Travis’s grimy adaptation of the comic strip is the Dredd tale you’ve been waiting for, as well as a bloody good time.
Dredd cunningly exploits its confined set – crime-ridden apartment complex Peach Trees, home to the ruthless kingpin Ma-Ma (Lena Headey) – for maximum suspense and carnage. When Dredd brings the aforementioned rookie (a perfectly cast Olivia Thirlby) into Peach Trees on a seemingly routine follow-up to a gangland triple homicide, all hell breaks loose and the duo rise to the top of Ma-Ma’s hitlist, incurring the wrath of hundreds of armed-to-the-teeth convicts.
Travis’s stylish direction and Alex Garland’s faithful, bare-bones script allow Dredd to present the desolate Mega City-One as it was always meant to be seen – as a cesspool of crime, ostensibly controlled by ruthless judges. Travis’ refusal to develop Dredd renders him a wildly entertaining enigma of a character, as well as one of the most badass heroes in cinematic history. Despite all the fan action, it’s likely we won’t see a sequel, but at least we’ll always have Dredd, one of the most gleefully violent, madly entertaining comic-book adaptations of all time.
Matthew Vaughn’s spunky, stylish adaptation of the controversial Mark Millar comic stands out as one of the strangest, most audacious comic-book adaptations of all time. Charting the transformation of Dave Lizewski (Aaron Johnson) from high-school outcast to costumed hero, Kick-Ass fully capitalizes on its ballsy premise with pitch-black satire, raucous laughs, startling ultra-violence and enough profanity to make Eminem blush.
While Johnson makes for a strong protagonist, Chloe Moretz is the real star of Kick-Ass. As pint-sized hero Hit-Girl, the actress is daring, hilarious, startling and completely unforgettable. The film courted controversy at the time of its release, when Moretz was only eleven but her character was both viciously sociopathic and ruthlessly foul-mouthed. It would have been a tough role for any actress, but Moretz took it on with gusto, delivering a charismatic, star-making performance.
Moretz aside, Kick-Ass wins points for going for the jugular with its stinging satire of comic-book culture. The daffy psychology behind costumed heroes is front and center, and the film doesn’t go for easy answers or life lessons. It’s a gritty, fast-paced, unapologetically explicit thrill ride, as well as a biting satire of the modern superhero that more than lives up to its name.
[h2] 12) The Incredibles[/h2]
The Incredibles may well have been at the point of its release Pixar’s greatest triumph. OK, OK, Toy Story 2 could give it a run for its money, but jeez, what a film. Family drama. Spy parody. Superhero deconstruction. Visual splendour. Ingenuity in spades. It’s got SO much going for it. You can watch it for a different reason every time and never run out of things to be floored by.
It owes a little of its excellent story to Alan Moore’s Watchmen, which in 1986 posited the then-revolutionary question of how superheroes would work in the real world. Bob Parr is sued and forced into exile and subservience in a job that is frankly beneath him. He is deeply unhappy about it and despite a stable if fraying marriage and three awesome kids (they really are), he pines after a life of adventure. When the opportunity comes calling, thanks to the cynically observed machinations of the quite-likeable Syndrome, naturally it plunges he and his superpowered family into some serious shenanigans, but not at the expense of personal drama, which manifests beautifully through doubt, overconfidence and the fear of losing everything in senses material and literal.
The film expertly lampoons comicbook tropes, but treats them with dignity and a sense of reverence that elevates it beyond spoof. It sits within one genre while flirting with others and never once feels like it has too much on its plate. I daresay it is a perfect film.
[h2]11) Iron Man[/h2]
This is the Marvel film that started the revolution in superhero films. It wasn’t Marvel’s first foray into Hollywood, but it was the first of many fantastic films that chronicled the individual Avengers and remains the best. Whether you look at the story of the rich narcissist who looks to better a world he wronged or the pitch-perfect casting of Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark, everything works in Iron Man.
Although the first iteration of the series relied more on story than action, it managed to introduce an important superhero to audiences, both satisfying fanboys and creating a slew of new followers at the same time. The series has continued to be one of the best in Marvel’s stable, and as long as RDJ continues his role, these films will go down in history as some of the best superhero tales ever.