Superman, Batman, Spider-Man, The Dark Knight, and The Avengers are some of the biggest, most influential movies of all time.
Superman was one of the earliest blockbusters, it's depiction of a man flying was innovative in it's day. Christopher Reeve's performance is/was one of the most iconic in cinema. It kicked off the superhero genre as we know it, the same genre which is currently dominating cinema.
Batman changed the way filmmakers marketed blockbusters. It ushered in a period where it was cool to be a darker, quirker sort of blockbuster. Jack Nicholson's performance is one of the most iconic villain performances of all time. The movie played a big role in changing the perception of the Batman character and franchise.
Spider-Man was one of the first post 9/11 blockbusters, and played, IMO, the biggest role in the current superhero boom we're seeing now.
Don't even need to explain TDK's significance at this point.
And then you have films like Batman Begins. Batman Begins kickstarted the current "reboot" craze.
There are definitely Superhero films that could belong in the NFR. But, I did ask a question, and you answered, so fair enough.
This is a great idea for a thread !
I agree with most of the above...although I'd limit the films to:
Superman the Movie (can't argue with that one, arguably the best ever performance by an actor in a title role as a superhero).
The Dark Knight ( I think that it deserves a spot, rather than Batman 1989, which is a worthy comic book film - I loved it- but TDK is something that elevates itself above the genre, into being a great film full-stop).
Maybe Iron Man or Spider Man (Raimi) ? Iron Man kick-started the MCU, and did so with a tremendous bang !
Civil War (when it's hit the 10 year mark)
I feel I should mention Avengers, as it's one of the mostly highly rated (IMO overrated) cbms. I wouldn't include it - although I can see why many people would want to.
While the Avengers is good film, enormous fun and worthy of its blockbuster status it doesn't really have the same exploration of deeper themes (okay, let's not get pretentious here, no superhero film really explores any theme in great depth), but the others explore themes about character, humanity and responsibility - whereas the Avengers doesn't really do much in terms of develop characters, and it doesn't even really explore friendship that much (in some ways I thought Age of Ultron did a better job).
Superman the movie is also a time-capsule of mid-late 20th century Americana, so that's something that should be preserved - before President Trump destroys everything.
If Zach Snyder's Watchmen was a better film, I would have included it too - as Watchmen is arguably a comic book but explores some really heavy stuff and manages to blend the ridiculousness of costumed adventurers with pretty believable humanity (including human sexuality in its complicated and sometimes brutal side). As it is, it doesn't make the cut.
Cheers. Hope you all had a great Christmas.
