Audiences flock to superhero movies for one real reason – to get that giddy sense of their favorite comics coming to life.
And it doesn’t matter how old you are. Those goose bumps will getcha at eight or eighty.
Not every superhero flick delivers (your Honor, may I present “Batman and Robin” and “Catwoman?”).
But when they do … wow.
- “I’m Batman” – Just about everyone scoffed when Michael Keaton won the “Batman” casting sweepstakes. But when Keaton grabs a beaten thug, lifts him up and announces “I’m Batman” to him – and us – we quickly realized director Tim Burton was on to something.
- Superman vs. General Zod and co. – The city battle sequence in “Superman II” isn’t aging well. We can see where the special effects start and stop, and there’s something hopelessly campy about the supervillains pleather ensembles. But at the time of its release it was a kick of superhero excitement, the battle royale comic book geeks (myself included) had been waiting for.
- Spidey saves Mary Jane, Part 1 – The great “Spider-Man” has more than a few moments worthy of this list, but I place my money down on the first big action sequence. The Green Golbin screams into the scene from nowhere, a rooftop terrace crumbles under Mary Jane’s feet, and Spidey bounces from balloon to balloon to save the day. It all works, and it all but announces how much fun we’re about to have.
- Wolverine packs a punch - Here’s the shortest moment on the list, but it’s still a goodie. “X-Men” opens with scenes of our hirsute hero engaging in a boxing match. Clearly, his opponents don’t know what they’re up against, but every time Wolvie throws a punch it lands with a metal “clang.” Perfection.
- Doc Ock attacks – “Spider-Man 2″ didn’t thrill me like the original, but oh, when Dr. Octavius comes crawling after Aunt May with Spider-Man racing to save her, the comic book thrills don’t come any better.
Related posts:
I'm an award-winning journalist and film critic with more than a decade of experience in newspapers, magazines and the Web. I'm a member of the Broadcast Film Critics Association, the Washington, DC Area Film Critics Association and the Denver Film Critics Society.
{ 1 trackback }
{ 12 comments… read them below or add one }
Great list, and right up my alley.
-I second your nod to the Times Square battle in Spider-Man. The scene was edited well, kept it real enough without turning into a video game, and was the first real introduction of Spider-Man. The buildup made it a palatable moment.
-Superman I: Saving Lois Lane in the helicopter. Lane was the cocky, arrogant, super assured reporter without a chink in the armor. Then she faints.
-Back to the first Spider-Man, the kiss at the end of the movie. The easy way would have made it a happy ending, but anyone who knew the character and the comic knew it couldn’t be that way. Peter pined for Mary Jane his whole life, then when he had her he had to let her go. Masterfully shot. The best ending of any comic book movie. It showed the writers and Sam Raimi had a true understanding of the character.
-My second favorite super hero ending, Iron Man. Lovable egomaniac Tony Stark just can’t hold it in. Then Black Sabbath starts cranking.
-I’ll go with Super Man II like Mr. Toto, but a different scene. The country is in rambles, Clark Kent just got his clock cleaned and realized without his powers, he isn’t the man Lois Lane loves. Then the moment the whole movie has built up to: “General, would you care to step outside?”
Since I like to cheat, I’ll add one more: The Dark Knight, when you realize Jim Gordon was driving the truck the whole damn time.
Come on guys. One of the best moments recently was the Jim Gordon speech about Batman being the Dark Knight, about Batman being the hero we need, not the hero we deserve.
I switched words. I just checked the final speech but that final speech is a top five moment.
SM-2 was one of the worst movies ever!
5 movies, 6 moments (One is a “villain” moment)
Spider-Man 2: Spiderman stops the train by using every thing he could.
Batman: The ceiling window breaks and Batman glides to a startled Jack Nicholson. Unfortunately, Joel Schumacher turned this scene (like only he can) into a parody (see Batgirl’s intro in his 2nd blasphemy).
Batman Begins: And Nolan restored the prestige of Batman when he calls in his “backup” (a bunch of bats) and jumps down several stories. Doesn’t have the surprise the first one did, but is does have a “WOW” effect (a slower, building WOW).
Dark Knight: 2 here
-Okay, not a superHERO moment, but a great moment in the film nonetheless: Joker does his “magic trick” with a pencil. (impailing a man in the head with it) At that moment, you knew that this man was a villian like none other.
-The hero moment: Batman, using his sonar vision, saves the hostages, stops the SWAT team from accidentally killing the hostages, KOs the bad guys, and takes on the Joker. Culminating in one heck of a speech by the Joker (“This is what happens when an unstoppable force, meets an immovable object”)
Superman: Superman saves Lois. Best scene in comic book film history.
Good picks, all. I must say I see “The Dark Knight” as so much more than a “comic book” translation that I didn’t include it here. Also, the early scenes in “Spider-Man” in which Parker first “tests” his powers are exceptional ….
And yeah, I agree “Spider-Man 2″ is overrated … but the Doc Ock battles are still something special.
those are all great picks but one of my favorites is Superman II where Zod utters the infamous line “Kneel Before Zod” and the scene in Hellboy 2 where they are singing barry mannilow that was priceless.
Hey Christian
Whats the skinny on Watchmen… Jerad really wants to see it…
there is not a comic book I don’t love… even the bad ones. HOw about Christopher Walken in Batman? Love Tony Stark — all of it. Can’t name one favorite though Paltrow digging in his chest…what would a woman do for love? X-Men – Wolverine leaving Gene Gray… love the love and there is always plenty on the funny pages.
i’m really looking forward to ‘Watchmen’ i have read the comic a few times over the years and it is amazing. just a word of warning for those not familiar with the comic it is definitley not for kids this is R rated and deals with issues that probably no other comic book movie has. it will be interesting to see how well this film does at the box office. When Snyder released ‘300′ a couple years ago nobody had high expectations for it and it was huge so we will find out soon
I hear the “Watchmen” movie is VERY R-rated … no holds barred. I missed the screening so I’ll have to catch up with it Friday morn/afternoon.
*I’ll add my vote to SM2’s saving-the-passengers-on-the-elevated sequence – I started to stand and applaud, but my date’s “Power Eyes” glare cut short my geek glee
*I’ll also add my vote to the Superman-saving-Lois (the first of unfortunately too many times) intro of the character in the first Reeve film: the score, the expressions, the sequence – all combined for what still stands as one of the best comics-to-film moments
*And I’ll add to the Tony Stark admission at the end of IM – perfectly-tuned to the character AND turns on its side the usual (and harder to suspend disbelief over) secret identity set up
*Violet Parr’s force-field save of her family at the climax of The Incredibles – validated her character’s growth AND a genuine superhero moment for a female, for a change.
*Samuel L. Jackson’s super-villain reveal at the end of Unbreakable – not only the then-still-novel Shyamalan Surprise Ending, but it’s perfect dovetailing into an excellent comic-book ending
The Watchmen is not for children. It is a comic book only in the strictest sense of the term; it is more commonly referred to as a graphic novel for this reason.
If viewed as a literature expressed in a sequential art form, its adaptation into film, helped by its R rating(I hope; but I’ve seen children coming out of “Saw” films), should dissuade parents from allowing children to screen it.
~ Dagnabbitt