Guardians of the Galaxy( 2014)
Guardians of the Galaxy... The breath of fresh air in the super hero genre. What makes Guardians so special is its irreverent joy and humour. Not to mention the best soundtrack of any movie on this list. James Gunn brings us a film that is an utter joy to behold. Filled to the brim with loveable misfits and campy villains, Guardians of the Galaxy is the ultimate roller coaster ride.
The Dark Knight( 2008)
The smash sequel to Batman Begins, The Dark Knight really took superhero films to the next level. It stands as not only a great superhero film, but as a great film. It’ s like heat with a mad clown running around. The film is elevated by this need to stick to an element of realism. I mean sure there are guys in bat suits running around, but what brings the movie up is that the Joker’ s plot is simply fantastic. He isn’ t here to destroy the world. He’ s just here to make Batman struggle. That’ s what makes it so damn good! Unlike EVERY OTHER superhero movie lately where the FATE OF EVERYTHING is at stake! The Dark Knight is simply the battle for Gotham’ s soul. Which makes this movie far better than almost every other superhero movie ever made. You don’ t need to end the world... But you can break a bat’ s spirit.
Superman( 1978)
“ You will believe a man can fly.” With that simple promise Richard Donner’ s Superman soared to Number 2 on this list. While people today may scoff at it’ s simpleness and its light heartedness, that’ s what makes this film so damn special. It’ s a joyful, cheerful, uplifting film that exists purely for you to have fun and be amazed and fill you with hope. That’ s what Superman is all about! Hope. That’ s what this film does! It is just amazing in it’ s hopefulness.
Unbreakable( 2000)
Yes! M Night. Shaymalan strikes again. Unbreakable was just SO FAR ahead of its time. Had this film come out this year in the midst of Superhero saturation we face now it would be considered some kind of post-modern masterpiece. It’ s skilful deconstruction of the superhero mythology is second to none. The film speaks volumes about what it means to be a hero and weeds out the essentials of what super heroes and indeed their villains are all about. The yin and yang of it all. It is one of the best films ever made and now given the world saturated by pop culture we live in Unbreakable stands even taller.