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[waypoetic]

Is it the realistic ones, the Michael Bay ones or the ones that stay 99% true to it's source material? Because it's sure as hell not the Spiderman movies, everybody seem to hate those. Which films are the best ones?

We all have a different kind of superhero-"taste". I like the ones that are somewhat realistic, like Batman and Iron Man (maybe not realistic 2012, but the year 3000 realistic, maybe). The Batman movies are nowadays heavily focused on the drama, family values, character devolopement and action. The Iron Man films focuses pretty much on that extraordinary charming dude who's really smart and defeats bad guys in a really expensive metal-suit. You know, a superhero. But my observation is that one particular ingrediens is often frowned upon in superhero-movies : humour. I'm thinking of the Michael Bay Transformers movies, with the slapstick and oneliners and metal balls. Or Spiderman, he's always been a witty dude, but everytime a new Spiderman movie gets released it gets spat on because this and that - and that : "he's childish".

What do we want and what makes the superhero movies good? And what makes the bad ones bad?

 

[Tobor]

Joss Whedon.

 

[WillyFive]

They are, above all else, fun.

 

[Maklershed]

In my opinion what makes a good super hero film is ..

a. realness / seriousness
b. a villain that is bad but not comically so and believably capable of harming the hero (The Joker)
c. a hero that is vulnerable but isn't an idiot (Batman)

Basically my answer is just copy the format of The Dark Knight

An example of everything I hate about super hero movies is the 80s Superman sequels .. jokey, goofy, and Superman is a dolt.

 

[Host Samurai]

Staying close to the source material. Not doing any lame new movie look for the characters.

 

[Solo]

Same things that make non-superhero movies good. Direction, writing and acting.

 

[Tr4nce]

I like it when the writers handle the source material in a very mature way, like Nolan did with his Batman Trilogy. It has to be at least 'believable'. Not overly realistic, because it's a superhero movie after all, but it just mustn't be over the top or something.

Also, the movies must show how the superhero came to be. I think Batman Begins handled this very well.

 

[Kurita]

They need to be fun, like Avengers.

 

[The Take Out Bandit]

Same things that make non-superhero movies good. Direction, writing and acting.

I agree with this, but I also demand super heroic action. Predator is my bar for action films. I need to see you do something beyond the abilities of the commandoes in Predator.

So no Captain America pulling fucking levers please Whedon! >:|

Blade 2 is still one of my favorite superhero flicks.

 

[Slayven]

Being true to the source. If it's a big action shit is going down comic do it as such. If it is a dark noir thing do it like that. Problem is in the past they tried to make all comic movies the same.

 

[toxicgonzo]

A superhero has to be vulnerable somehow.

If a superhero is close to invulernable, where is the conflict?

 

[Sir_Crocodile]

having michael ironside voice voice Darkseid in the justice league film

are you listening dc

 

[bjork]

As long as the hero and villain are both interesting and their origins and conflict aren't completely glossed over, and the production is decent, most of these movies are fun as lazy weekend afternoon movies to me. I've never really gone in expecting a 90-minute film, or even a trilogy, to somehow properly replicate 30-60 years of a character's history or whatever.

 

[WillyFive]

A superhero has to be vulnerable somehow.

If a superhero is close to invulernable, where is the conflict?

By anything that isn't related to the superhero? There's more to a superhero story than just the main character, assuming he/she even is the main character.

 

[BadAss2961]

Batman 89, Batman Returns, Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, and The Dark Knight Rises are all good. Everything else pales in comparison.

 

[vio]

-Story (having one is a start)
-Convincing characters u care for.
-And great action scenes.

Nolan`s Batman trilogy although not perfect, really delivers on story and characters but action is where it lacks . It is just the way they are filmed. Still best trilogy in long time.

 

[MisterHero]

Just because you might have a giant budget and unlimited special effects doesn't mean the structure of movies can be ignored.

The worst possible example is Green Lantern. No characters development. No story. Awful villains.

The Dark Knight is a very good superhero movie. To be honest however, I just want a comic book movie that doesn't downplay the more abstract supernatural elements. Tim Burton did a great job designing Gotham in the 89/Returns. Krypton and the Fortress of Solitude were wonderful settings in the Superman movies.

Avengers is getting closer to what I want. For DC, the craziest and most outlandish movie they can make is a Legion of Superheroes movie. They can have a team and do all kinds of crazy things without multiple movies to set it up.

10 seasons of Smallville completely ruined the idea of grounding comic book concepts for me. Go crazy with ideas but make sure the characters are at least well-developed and there's a good conflict/enemy.

 

[stuminus3]

Hype.

 

[CorvoSol]

I hate those two Transformers in the OP. They were the crown jewel in the Royal collection of reasons why the second Transformers movie was so bad it persuaded me not to see a third. So, SO BAD.

That said, it has to be FUN. It doesn't need to be some deep, rich story. It has to be FUN. Because when you make a Super Hero movie, you're obviously shooting for the Summer Blockbuster slot, which means you want as many young people to go and see it and spread the word, and they're not gonna do that if its as bad as the Fantastic Four movies were.

 

[DominoKid]

a good villain
a half decent story (most comic book stories blow ass and we still love em. low standards)
fun (not all fun is built the same see: TDKR vs Avengers

ill be happy when moviemakers get over the hard-on they have for origin stories.
we already know how these people become superheroes. shit half the time they fuck up the story w/ changes anyway.

 

[Cth]

It helps if there's a unique visual style to the film.

After all, comics are a mesh of words AND art and no two look the same generally.

It's one reason why Bay's Transformer series have been so popular (as well as Raimi's Spidey series at the time)

Films should be the same.

In the beginning, Marvel's formula seemed to require at least one wrestling star per film

Faithfulness can vary, ideally there should be something similar, but it doesn't have to be a slave to the source material.

 

[Anth0ny]

They are, above all else, fun.

Pretty much. This is probably why I love Avengers, Iron Man and Spidey 1 and 2 so much.

Then again, I love the Nolan Batman flicks. They're fun in a different way ^_^

 

[strafer]

Heath Ledger, Hans Zimmer and Michael Caine.

 

[LiK]

Stick to the source and hire a good crew.

 

[VeryGooster]

Above things like making your heroes likable, your villains hatable or if they're anti-villains sympathetic but still rooting for the hero, making sure the audience knows what the stakes are, there is pacing. Superhero movies today are most likely going to exceed the two hour mark but some of them drag in order to give whatever hero their "I'm human and emotional" moment and it's not balanced with the action scenes well.

And be fun without getting silly to the point of insulting your audience.

There's also finding an actor who's charismatic enough and is willing to keep a mask on for more than 10 minutes onscreen.

 

[The Mana Legend]

Not being Captain America or Thor always helps.

 

[Jarnet87]

Films like Super and Kick Ass give me hope. Stuff like Spiderman, Captain America, and Green lantern do not. I guess there is too much at stake with the big commercial super hero franchises for a studio to let a director go crazy.

 

[GCX]

The director needs to have a clear focus whether he/she wants to make a serious movie (Dark Knight) or go all out with speed and explosions and just make it entertaining (Avengers). If you want it to be a little bit of everything you end up with something like the latest Spideman.

 

[Liquidsnake]

What makes a good super hero movie.

 

[Arment]

All superhero movies should strive to do it like Nolan did, albeit with their own flair.

I giggle when I imagine what the Justice League movie will be like. The costumes, my gawd. They'd do well to modernize a few of the heroes in that eventual shitflick.

 

[ReiGun]

That they understand what works about the characters, and don't shy away from the fun and fantastical elements of superheroes.

That second part is what has me worried about DC's future movie projects, since I don't believe they understand that they no longer have to apologize for superheroes. I'm afraid they'll look at Nolan's Batman and say "All our heroes need to be gritty and realistic like that!" (hilarious when you consider Marvel just made an ungodly amount of money with a movie that features a robot, a god, a green rage monster, and the star-spangled solider who leads them), even though that doesn't work for all their heroes. I suppose we'll see with Justice League.

Same things that make non-superhero movies good. Direction, writing and acting.

This above all else, though.

 

[shira]

What do we want and what makes the superhero movies good? And what makes the bad ones bad?

All about money. If it makes a tonne of money it is good. If it makes a tonne of money and it is bad - then people are just stupid.

 

[Veelk]

It depends on the hero. What works for some won't work for others.

 

[ScreenSplitter]

Beautiful cinematography and dull as fuck everything else apparently.

Spoiler

RACHEL.RACHEL.RACHEL.AAAAARGH MY FAAAACE.

 

[BadAss2961]

All super hero movies should strive to do it like Nolan did.

He did a great job as Batman was a good fit for what he wanted to do, but I wouldn't say all that. This is how he gets haters now.

 

[Tom Penny]

Less plot more action. Just entertain me like Avengers did.

 

[Slayven]

All superhero movies should strive to do it like Nolan did, albeit with their own flair.

I giggle when I imagine what the Justice League movie will be like. The costumes, my gawd. They'd do well to modernize a few of the heroes in that eventual shitflick.

 

[The Anti-Monitor]

Is it a good film? Then it's good.

Avengers was good because it was immensely fun, every single scene seemed like straight out of a comic book, the characters were likable and the action was great. The Nolan Batman movies are good because they are interesting, the characters are well written and the plot is interesting. Blade 2 was good because it's just pure fun.

There are plenty of good comic book movies, for different reasons.

 

[ReiGun]

Urgh. Wondy in pants. When will people learn, "Skirt or GTFO?" Anything else is just arguing second place.

Also, Static should have gotten the nuJL black guy nod over Cyborg, but that's just me.

 

[The Mana Legend]

Beautiful cinematography and dull as fuck everything else apparently.

Spoiler

RACHEL.RACHEL.RACHEL.AAAAARGH MY FAAAACE.

Yeah, Captain America and Thor were really shitty.

But I don't know why you think they have beautiful cinematography.

 

[MisterNegative]

It's the confrontation with the villain. It's always the villain(s) that matters. The may reason FF sucked so hard, they just got Dr.Doom so horribly wrong. back story/personality traits and he was way too weak.

( Is ready for avatar quote)

 

[The Elite]

In my opinion what makes a good super hero film is ..

a. realness / seriousness
b. a villain that is bad but not comically so and believably capable of harming the hero (The Joker)
c. a hero that is vulnerable but isn't an idiot (Batman)

Basically my answer is just copy the format of The Dark Knight

An example of everything I hate about super hero movies is the 80s Superman sequels .. jokey, goofy, and Superman is a dolt.

I couldn't disagree more with this post.

I like a film that takes itself seriously but isn't afraid to have fun with the source material which is, after all, campy and fun.


Also, wanting to cut and paste the model of another film... uhhh... I just don't know why people want this. How about more attempts at making something original and exciting.

It depends on the hero. What works for some won't work for others.

A great point as well.

 

[BadAss2961]

Urgh. Wondy in pants. When will people learn, "Skirt or GTFO?" Anything else is just arguing second place.

I wouldn't mind seeing her in both looks if this movie happens. Start her out in tight pants, and save the skirt for the last big action scene. Then work this in.

 

[AceOcelot]

A villain that almost overpowers the hero; shows hero gain strength and win barely (if at all) in an all out war

 

[TheExodu5]

A charismatic cast. This is part of what made The Amazing Spiderman so enjoyable for me.

 

[ReiGun]

I wouldn't mind seeing her in both looks if this movie happens. Start her out in tight pants, and save the skirt for the last big action scene.

This would be cool. Maybe throw in a scene with her chilling by a pool or something in the short pants. Just to get all three looks in there.

 

[ScreenSplitter]

All superhero movies should strive to do it like Nolan did, albeit with their own flair.

I giggle when I imagine what the Justice League movie will be like. The costumes, my gawd. They'd do well to modernize a few of the heroes in that eventual shitflick.

Comic books. These films are based on comic books. Colorful, cheesy, ridiculous comic books. I don't want a Spiderman film where his powers are completely made through technology and he fights a mercenary with a green bandana whose last name is "Gobline".

It's okay to stick to the source material sometimes. We know it's not real.

 

[PaleFolklore]

It can't take itself too seriously like Nolan did with his movies. It also can't be too silly like The Avengers. I guess what I'm saying is that I don't like super hero movies.

 

[Arment]

Comic books. These films are based on comic books. Colorful, cheesy, ridiculous comic books. I don't want a Spiderman film where his powers are completely made through technology and he fights a mercenary with a green bandana whose last name is "Gobline".

It's okay to stick to the source material sometimes. We know it's not real.

I have no problems with Spider-Man movies. It works for that character. Wonder Woman and Aquaman though...I think they'd look silly.

When I say do it like Nolan did it, I mean taking the strengths of the original story and making it work in a setting that looks great on screen.

The Avengers did it pretty well. Thor for instance. Captain America too. They didn't make them look overly silly and they would have looked silly in 1:1 translations of their comic book characters.

It's either that or make your movies drip with atmosphere like Burton's Batman movies. He made silly looking work because the whole world was kind of off already.

 

[Mondriaan]

Marvel's The Avengers is good, but The Incredibles is a better superhero movie in my opinion.