I’ve done many articles on my favorite character but when it comes to ranking the movies that wasn’t easy. Not only be ate there were only a few live action films, but because how they ranked wasn’t very hard to figure. Last year I ranked the top 5 worst, but that’s still not all of them. And Ive changed my mind a bit. Then this year we got a brand new movie. And it’s time to decide where I think it ranks and in order to do that I did a little rewatching.
Ok here we go worst to best, live action theatrical releases only and of course this is just opinion.
Batman V Superman
I had this the second worst last time but really it can’t get worst then this imo. I mean of course I’ll discuss it in a bit but at least Returns managed a few good scenes. This was a Batman movie with a depressed Superman tossed in. And even worst, it was slow and boring. A Superman should never be these things! True the final fight with wonder woman is decent but not worth the slog to get there. I know people like, even love, this and will resent me putting it last. But for me it’s just a slog. Superman is not Batman he’s not supposed to be dark and brooding!!!!
Superman IV
This is like Star Trek V, so bad that it’s famously bad. So bad you have to see it to believe it. It feels like scenes pretending to be a movie. Honestly the movie would be ok, bad effects and all, if the plot wasn’t beyond ridiculous. A stupid plot can hurt a movie, but here the whole nuclear weapons stuff kills it. The atrocious editing and the crappy writing..but at least our supporting cast is here and our main character is in character!
Superman III
The Superman stuff in this movie is great! Too bad that isn’t the focus. No instead we focus on Richard Pryor and Clark Kent wooing Lana Lang. yay. This movie is hard to get through and Pryor offers little relief. Making it a comedy was assinine. It’s the junkyard scene that saves the movie for me (and I’m not getting into the robot lady that traumatized me as a child). Some would say this is worse than IV but at least this feels like a complete (albeit flawed) movie.
Superman Returns
I tried to decide where this should go, before or after MOS. While Superman feels more like Superman here, the movie has other problems. It’s long, the casting was awful. The story is ridiculous. It did manage one or two nice moments, but overall it’s just lousy. This movie literally pissed me off when I first saw it. But at least it feels like it’s trying to be a Superman movie. Brandon Routh deserved better and thankfully got to try again in the Arrowverse.
Man of Steel
I decided to rewatch this movie and man does it not hold up. The first part is kinda decent even passable but that last part just gets awful. It’s just endless action with stuff blowing up which is fine if this was Transformers. And that cinematography is awful!! Stop shaking the damn camera!! Henry Cavill is decent and it has good stuff in it,the casting is solid and it’s watchable which is better than BVsS, but at the end of the day this is not the character done right. It’s not an awful movie, it’s an awful Superman movie.
Justice League
Granted Superman isn’t in this whole movie but others count it so why not me. But when he is, he’s awesome and those scenes are the best in the movie imho.
Superman II
Put those pitch forks down! Yeah I have a lot of issues with Superman II which I have gone into elsewhere. And those problems really hurt the movie for me. The stupid diner fight, that lame Niagara Falls stuff, Clark and Lois sleeping together, the way the movie drags. Yeah I like how Superman beats the villains in the end but it’s a slog to get there. It’s really the villains that elevate this one including the late great Terrance Stamp as Zod. It’s trying to be a companion to the first movie but the switch in hurts it. I’ve never seen that other cut.
Superman (2025)
As I said before, I was ready to hate this movie. But unlike Man of Steel, which did not disappoint in its badness, this movie surprised me. It seemed to do everything right and I found myself enjoying it. I admit I probably need to rewatch it. But it wasn’t dark and depressing, the story made sense and the movie felt complete. This isn’t #2 because of how much I like it. It’s #2 because of how much I dislike the others in comparison. It’s not perfect there’s a little to much plot, it moves a little fast, and while those extra characters didn’t hurt the movie they don’t help either. David Corenswet won me over and the movie was fun. Remember when these movies were fun?
Superman
The gold standard not just for Superman movies but comic book movies specifically. It’s funny when I was young I was bored to tears watching that first hour. Now of course I appreciate it. It’s a bit long and it feels like the ending was tacked on (because it sort of was) but damn what this movie does right it really does right. This is Superman and Christopher Reeve will always be the gold standard no matter how many people play the character.
So that’s my ranking, do you agree? I know Snyder fans would say MOS was an epic masterpiece but I’ve found the people who love that movie are people who normally hate Superman. But if you love it your more than free to, I don’t judge. May do a Lex Luthor list next because I have some thoughts. But we’ll see.
No comments:
Post a Comment