by R Guthrie

Created on: February 24, 2009

Approaching the topic of "the best super hero movies of all time" is best done with caution and forethought. Unfortunately for the genre, the caliber of super hero movies has only recently started to grow, and quite frankly, before this decade there was little to brag about in terms of the super hero movie. Most of the movies that the public was subjected to were more along the lines of Batman Returns and Batman Forever, rather than the more recent superhero opus of the Dark Knight. So when looking back at the 'best' super hero movies of all time, it is important to look at which movies influenced the genre most strongly, as I believe the best is still to come.

Any discussion of super hero movies must include the original Superman (1978). With a fantastic cast including the magnificent Marlon Brando and Christopher Reeve at his finest, and the ever entertaining Gene Hackman, this movie practically invented the super hero genre, proving once and for all that a medium that had only existed in comics and TV shows could hold its own on the big screen. A fantastic movie in its own right, Superman single handedly brought super heroes out of the cultural sideshow into the limelight.

Next, of course, we must discuss Batman (1989). This movie did for Batman what Superman had done for the entire genre. Batman is an important super hero - unlike Superman, he is deeply flawed and very human. One of the primary critiques of super heroes in general is that they are unrealistic, escapist fantasies - Batman does his very best to prove this with imperfection and human emotion. Once again, with Michael Keaton and Jack Nicholson, this movie proved that serious actors could be involved in these movies and maintain dignity and poise.

Skip ahead nearly a decade. Spider-man (2002) is released, bringing yet another important super hero on to the stage. Spiderman is neither the glorious beacon of humanity that Superman is, nor the brooding, tortured vigilante that Batman is. Peter Parker is a very normal human being with normal human problems, even after he recieves his super powers. His struggle to always do what is right, and the constant reminder that "With great power comes great responsibility" combined with his achingly unattainable love of Mary Jane, makes this a super hero movie that at times seems almost incidentally about super heroes. This touching and dramatic telling of the Spiderman story ensured that this movie appealed to a much wider audience than the comic book crowd,

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