The 25 Greatest Superhero Movies

Call me mainstream by placing "The Dark Knight" at the top of this list, but it is every bit deserving of the spot. Christopher Nolan crafted a masterpiece with this film--not just of the superhero genre, but of drama in general. There isn't a better written, directed, acted, or designed film on this list. Heath Ledger's performance alone probably puts it into the top 3. They don't make comic book movies more riveting than this.

Favorite moment: The sequence through Gotham's downtown with the Joker in the big rig and Batman on the batpod is probably the most exhilarating in the entire trilogy.

Richard Donner should be thanked by every director attempting a superhero origin story that followed his iconic film: this is the way to get it right. The special effects--and they were stunning for the time--always took a back seat to character and real human emotion. In that way, this is probably the Superman film that Frank Capra would have made. Two things set this film head-and-shoulders above almost every other film on this list: Christopher Reeve delivering possibly the greatest superhero performance ever, and John Williams' timeless score.

Favorite moment: The rescue of Lois after the helicopter crash (following one of the best nods to comic lore with Supes unable to change in the phone booth) still can get your heart racing.

Disney/Marvel owe much of the success of their ever-expanding cinematic juggernaut to one man and one perfectly cast character: Robert Downey, Jr. and his endlessly enjoyable Tony Stark. Yes, Marvelites, I have placed the first (and easily best) "Iron Man" ahead of "The Avengers," and for good reason: "Iron Man" somehow manages to be a film that can be appreciated--and really excels--as an action/adventure, drama, political discourse, romance, and comedy. It is a film that can be all things to all viewers. But the truly deft trick that Jon Favreau and company pulled off is being able to balance all of these elements, keep character at the center, and never allow the film to take itself too seriously.

Favorite moment: Tony's return to Afghanistan to confront the terrorists in his new suit, culminating in the great flight sequence with the F-22s.

So two of my top-five superhero films are from Nolan's Batman trilogy. I can still remember watching this one in the theater with my dad: We were both, like many in the audience, expecting something akin to the Batman world upon which Tim Burton had firmly placed his fingerprint. It was a surprise, then, to find such a different animal in "Batman Begins." Gone was the camp and self-awareness and the overly-styled Gothic set design. In place of these things, we had a world--a world we could be living in--where it seemed extremely plausible that an orphaned billionaire could become the kind of crime-fighter chronicled in the pages of Detective Comics. Nolan did a brilliant job with Bruce Wayne's transformation into the symbol this is Batman. We could believe in and be thrilled by the movie because of its gritty reality and the authentic human emotions at play. It doesn't hurt to have actors like Christian Bale, Gary Oldman, Michael Caine, and Liam Neeson at your disposal. There are some that argue this is the best of Nolan's Batman films--at the very least, it's the most complete vision of the Caped Crusader that we've got.

Favorite moment: Batman's rescue of Rachel Dawes from the clutches of Scarecrow and his henchmen, which included the badass, tar-spewing hallucinated demon version of Batman and the incredible police chase of the Tumbler through (and over) Gotham.

For many die-hard Marvel fans who instantly assume a DC bias on my part, the placement of "The Avengers" will seem discriminatory. I have no such bias; but I do think the mark of a great film (superhero films in particular, but it goes for any picture) is that it can stand as a singular work, without the need for prior knowledge of characters or their shared world. The success of "The Avengers" owes a great deal to our appreciation and investment in the Marvel films that came before it. Am I saying this is a bad thing? Certainly not: it makes for a great experience for fans of these franchises that can't wait to see where the overarching tale will lead. "The Avengers" is a very fun film that really delivers those cool experiences that can come from having interesting and well-acted superheroes play off of one another, probably the most enjoyable being Robert Downey Jr.'s Tony Stark and Chris Evan's Steve Rodgers.

Favorite moment: Hulk's beat-down of Loki is an unbelievably glee-inducing scene.