Well, I think a consensus seems to be forming that Batman v Superman contains the worst adaptation so far. Part of that, I think , is that the Batman v Superman fight in Miller's classic Dark Knight Returns, is not just one of the iconic moments for those characters, but one of the most iconic moments in comic book history.
Given how incredibly high expectations would have been, it's hard to see anyone doing a job that satisfies everyone......but then it's not hard to see how someone could have at least made it entertaining enough to satisfy most people, and Snyder failed to do even that. Imagine if the Russos had done it....sigh, just makes the actual film that much more disappointing.
So, in short B v S features the worst adaptation so far.
While we're on the subject Daredevil 2003 manages to do some parts of classic Miller DD storylines well (like the death of Elektra) and others really badly - although I felt that Michael Clarke Duncan was a terrific Kingpin.
Thor the Dark World was a pretty hit and miss adaptation of a classic Simonson storyline, and the movie version of Malekith didn't even scratch the comic version in terms of being a great villain - I didn't mind Kurse though, because he was precisely what he is in the comics, a gigantic nearly indestructible thug who exists to beat up Thor.
Okay, on to the good stuff.
Batman Begins: brought a bunch of stuff from Batman Year one to life in impressive style, possibly one of the best films in this list, just not a very faithful adaptation..
The Dark Knight Rises.....hmmmm, well the Bane breaks the Bat scene is pretty chilling, especially the knee drop, so that should get some props.
Iron Man.....actually adapted some classic elements of armour wars, from way back when - again a great movie, but not a very faithful adaptation.
Avengers: adapts elements of Ultimate Avengers, but waters down some of the grit.
X2 : adapts a reasonable part of God Loves Man Kills, which is my favorite X-Men one-off story. Very emotional stuff, and probably the only X-Men comic to feature the word "n$@@&r" really this story captures everything that is essential to the X-Men (tolerance vs intolerance, hatred vs understanding and the concept of finding a family). Also a classic turning point for Magneto.
Surprisingly I found Stryker much scarier as an Evangelist rather than as a military scientist. But props to Bryan Singer.
Kick Ass: Matthew Vaughn actually tuned down the violence in this one, thank goodness. A great adaptation though.
But the best adaptation, interestingly has to go to Zack Snyder (so that makes him both the best and worst adapter of comic stories) for Watchmen.
I mean, it's not a great film, but certainly a good one, and he manages to hit most of the beats that the comic hits too (I feel weird even calling Watchmen a comic because its so much more than that). Also, it's very largely faithful to the original storyline (except it substitutes Dr Manhattan for the giant psychic suicide squid).
And of course he gets many of the iconic visuals completely right - and that's no easy feat (although in the case of Dr Manhattan's glowing blue penis, I wish he hadn't been quite so faithful to Moore's vision).
