Christopher Reeve
If you’ve seen the eleventy-four hundred thousand trailers and advertisements out there, you know a new Superman movie is coming out this Friday, the 14th. I’m just excited as any fanboy out there, if not more.
I still have vivid memories of exiting a movie theater in 1978, after seeing Richard Donner’s Superman, and believing a man could fly, just as the tagline promised I would. I can’t describe that feeling, except to say it was like believing in magic. Not the sleight-of-hand kind—the kind you can’t explain but know exists.
I don’t know if Man of Steel will have that effect on me, but on the eve of its release, I’d like to share my list of favorite superhero movies ever, ones that made me think big things were possible for even the smallest and most awkward of us.
In no particular order, my top five are:
- Superman. In addition to the reasons above, Margot Kidder’s Lois Lane had great chemistry with Christopher Reeve’s Superman, and I still know all the words to their theme song, “Can You Read My Mind?” Don’t judge.
- Batman Returns. Michelle Pfeiffer’s Catwoman did it for me.
- Iron Man 3. More fun than the first two, and Pepper got strong.
- The Dark Knight Rises. I’m a Christian Bale fan, but the first two entries in Christopher Nolan’s reboot had Katie Holmes and Maggie Gyllenhaal as female leads. Bale finally had not one but two formidable actresses—Marion Cotillard and Anne Hathaway—to play against in the third one.
- Spider-Man 2. This was fun for me all around, in every way.
Now someone just needs to make a good Wonder Woman movie so I can add it to my list.
Which ones are your favorites? Or are all superhero movies the same to you?
4 Comments
Laura Benedict
June 12, 2013 at 9:07 pmI adored Iron Man 3. I didn’t even dislike the Paltrow person as much as I usually do. Thor was pretty terrific, too.
The Kidder/Reeve Superman was a really good film. The uber-cool Gene Hackman was a treat to watch. But then poor Christopher Reeve died, and didn’t Margot Kidder have chemical issues and take to living in a cheap motel or something? I hope this cast has better luck.
EIREGO
June 12, 2013 at 11:11 pmI agree with every movie you listed. Although, I still think the original Superman doesn’t hold up. And I did like the first Spider-Man, mostly because it was an origin storyline. What ruined it for me was Kirsten Dunst. Even though she was in the 2nd installment, I was able to ignore her. I kinda liked the Wolverine stand alone as well and X-Men:First Class.
jenn aka the picky girl
June 13, 2013 at 6:00 amI’m such a sucker for comic book movies. Love them. I was surprised at how much I liked Thor (but my expectations were very low) and Captain America (which minus bad CGI was really really fun). Of course, I’m a huge Iron Man/Batman fan, but I’ve never been much of one for Superman. A friend introduced me to the League of Melbotis blog, though, and dude is Superman Ph.D. Seriously, he knows so much about all of that, and even though I’m way less educated about Superman, he writes consistently great posts and has made me want to see Man of Steel like crazy!
Gina
June 13, 2013 at 8:02 amGreat list! Many a fangirl at the bookstore awaiting this release…and fanboys. It’s quite interesting how publicity wise they are still geared to males…and yes, a Wonder Woman release would help round out the bunch. As for me, I like some, but not to the point of fandom. Batman the character himself is pretty good…as far as actors that played him, *ponders*…I’m thinking Christian Bale WITHOUT the gravel voice. Also enjoyed recent film versions of Green Lantern, and Thor….and Spider-Man will always be cool in my book. ^_^