by Christopher Della Valle

Created on: February 26, 2009

When it comes to creating a great superhero movie, one needs to remember the immortal words of Ben Parker, "with great power comes great responsibility." Movie makers have the responsibility to put out a product that not only puts a little coin in their pockets, but also stays true to the original version. If movie makers stray to far from the original concept of the character in the attempts of a money grab, we end up with Superman IV =)

The following is a list of superhero movies that live up to their papered counterparts. These movies flawlessly bring heroes to life, and successful entertain comic book novices.

The grand daddy of the superhero movie genre has to be Spider-man. The 2002 Mega-blockbuster brought the story of bookworm Peter Parker to millions and launched the current superhero renaissance that we are currently experiencing. Everything from casting to directing was executed perfectly. Who better than Tobey Maguire to play the underdog known as Peter Parker? And can you name a better choice for Peter's love interest, supermodel Mary-Jane Watson than Kirsten Dunst? The casting of Maguire and Dunst ranks right up there with casting Patrick Stewart as Professor Xavier in the X-men trilogy. Just think, if Spider-man didn't have the success that it did, would studios go on to film Iron Man, The Hulk, and the soon to be released Watchmen. The strong storyline, out of this world special effects, and well placed humor also helped make Spider-man the box office juggernaut that it was.

And I can't fail to mention The Dark Knight when talking about Box office juggernauts. The Dark Knight was more than a superhero movie, it belongs in a category all it's own. Words can't describe how good that movie was, it had everything. An Oscar worthy cast, strong dialogue, and Baterangs. What more could an audience ask for?

Finally I want to give a nod to Richard Donner's Superman. I don't know how many of you were alive when this movie first came out in 1978, but I got butterflies in my stomach when I first saw Superman take flight to defend the streets of Metropolis. Christopher Reeves's strong jaw and boyish charm made it seem like he was born to play Clark Kent/Superman. This movie success was doubled edged. It once again popularized superheroes, but with that success came horrible sequels that somewhat tarnished the first movie.

Well there you have it, three movies that are worthy of taking their place on the My. Rushmore of superhero movies.

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