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While posting in the Justice League Movie thread, I got an idea. A wonderful, marvelous idea. Grading all of the comic book movies that exist in the world. Taking everyone's grades and adding them, to find what the best comic book movies are for everyone on the board. Below, you can see the grades that will be available.
As more people add their grades for movies, I'll add them to the original post. Hopefully we can get a good little database going. You can even add reviews or explanations, and those will be added as well. I'm going to start off with one movie for each grade.
The only stipulations for including a movie is that its property originated in comic book form. This means animated movies, CGI movies, or even shorts can be added to the list. It simply had to have originated from comic books somewhere down the line.
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A+
The Dark Knight (JohnnyV) - Simply put, this is one of the most impressive comic book movies of all time. Engaging story, wonderful characters, and perfect progression for those characters. Not to mention Maggie Gyllenhaal being set aflame.
Superman: The Movie (Darth Primus) - I think the most underrated superhero film is Superman: The Movie, which I give an "A+;" especially in the light of Superman Returns and Man of Steel. The original Superman movie provided a wonderful origin story. I mean, the scene where baby Kal-El lifts the truck over his head to protect his newly adopted parents was awesome. Additionally, the film provided a well developed Clark Kent and Superman, which has not been duplicated in the last two films.
Iron Man (plastroncafe) - Hands down the best Comic Book Movie ever made. It's the superhero movie that people who don't love comics can get into.
The Wolverine (Deadpool) - This may just be because I watched this one at the cinema (after I re-watch something on DVD, I usually rate it lesser), but right now at least, I feel this is an A+ film. Strong story, good acting, great action, and I loved Japan. I kept looking at all the furniture in it a lot of the time! By far the best X-Men film yet. X-men Origins used to be my favourite, but it comparison, it looks a bit crappy.
X-Men: First Class (W. West) - All films are flawed and this is no exception. There is little to no development of the recruits despite the funny, charming and overall well done montage and all of the bad guys are just simply that, bad guys. Yet the relationship between Charles and Eric is so powerful it carries the entire movie. We get to see Charles Xavier befriend everyone but not see his own faults. We get to see Eric's drive to get revenge end with just that and we're happy about it despite it being straight up murder. I laughed. I cried. I absolutely love this movie and is my favorite comic book movie to watch at any time.
A
The Avengers (JohnnyV) - Just short of perfection, The Avengers is one of the most impressive special effects movie in history. Not only that, but the characters play perfectly off one another. With the plan Marvel implemented, character buildup wasn't necessary, as we had seen all of them in prior movies. Pretty much the blueprint for success in comic book movie production.
The Avengers (Sylent Assassin) - This provided the perfect blend of popcorn action, humor, suspense and superhero drama. This was capped by all the superheroes putting their egos aside to work together within a team dynamic to stop a great threat. The Justice League people need to look to this flick as a formula for silver screen superhero success.
Iron Man (Sylent Assassin) - Excellent superhero movie.
Batman Begins (Deadpool) - I love this one! Probably the best origin story on screen. I just love the dark feel in this one. Although The Dark Knight is the popular one, I actually prefer the other two Nolan films by far. I feel there's a stronger story to this film.
Wanted (Deadpool) - A lot of people don't know this is actually based on a comic-book, but apparently it is, so I can put it here! So much fun, good balance of humour and action, plus a great story! The casting is top notch!
A-
Captain America: First Avenger (JohnnyV)
Scott Pilgrim vs The World (plastroncafe) - True to the spirit of the source material and has a high rewatchability quotient.
Batman (1989) (plastroncafe) - Would be higher, but it still suffers from the "We need a romantic subplot to appeal to the wimmins" syndrome. Michael Keaton, while not as pretty as Bale, is hands down the best live action Batman ever filmed.
Mystery Men (Mister Ed) - I thought it was hilarious.
V for Vendetta (Deadpool) - I freaking love this film! Just such a good story, very enjoyable. One of the better films based of DC Comics. Even if it was just a limited series or whatever.
Scott Pilgrim vs. The World (W. West) - A fun movie. Faithful to the excellent source material for all the right reasons and enough of a difference so the movie never drags. My biggest fault with the film after countless viewings is that Ramona isn't given enough time to not seem like she's into Scott. Her distant personality is given a pass in the comics because the writer has tons of time to make up for it, but Edgar Wright's film doesn't have that time, so it hurts the character. Still, between the music and the comedy, I'm still quite happy with this film.
B+
X-Men 2 (JohnnyV)
Kick Ass (Darth Primus) - I gave this movie a B+ because it faithful to the source material, the plot line was simple and it was well acted. Nicholas Cage stayed in check and didn't go over the top.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (plastroncafe) - It hasn't aged well, but is still a damn fun movie.
Superman II (Sylent Assassin) - It would have been an "A" if it wasn't for the goofy powers: Hypnotic kiss, focused levitation, teleporting, etc. Reeve and Terrance Stamp made this movie great. Practically all of Stamp's dialogue was quotable.
The Watchmen (Deadpool) - Another excellent DC film, one of DCs better ones! Was just such a good film. Very enjoyable! I can't think of much wrong with it!
B
Blade (JohnnyV)
The Wolverine (Darth Primus) - I gave this movie a solid B because of the last 20 minutes of the film, which reverts back to the type of tone and action sequences from X-Men Origins: Wolverine, and not to mention it's predictable.
X2 (plastroncafe) - A much stronger movie than the first one. The Nightcrawler scene in the beginning is one of the best comic-screen translations yet.
Green Lantern (Space Cop) - Yes, there's a lot wrong with this but the Oa training was great. The constructs look beautiful. Hal was funny and pretty much Hal. Sure I would've preferred something else than the blob Parallax enemy. But when Hal fight that blob thing he goes from catapulting its fire back to it, to using giant springs to launch a tanker, to creating anti-aircraft guns to shoot said tanker to defending himself with a riot shield. How can anyone not like that? It's a great cinematic moment and it feels exactly like something Hal would do in the comics (I've actually used that scene to explain to people why GL is my favorite superhero). And to me, that's enough. I bought this movie the first day it came out and have watched it a half dozen or more times. I plan to keep on watching it. Good enough.
B-
Batman Returns (JohnnyV)
Iron Man 3 (Darth Primus) - I gave this movie a B-, but was considering to drop it down to a C+ because it didn't feel like an Iron Man film but rather a James Bond flick as Dr. Naysay mentioned. Tony Stark is barely in the Iron Man armor and is suffering from post tramatic stress from the alien invasion from the Avengers movie. The Iron Man armory coming to like, was like Iron Man 2, but this time they robots are on Stark's side. Killian and the Extremis soldiers were lame villains and the plot was convoluted.
Iron Man II (Sylent Assassin) - Good, but not great, and final battle was lacking.
Man of Steel (Sylent Assassin) - Superman allowing the destruction of Metropolis and not taking the battle elsewhere was unforgivable. In addition, I'm still bent that they put Supes in the impossible position of killing someone. MY Superman always found another way... and I don't give a crap about "this is the new age Superman" talk. GTFO here with that crap. Still toggling on the C+ range. I'll need to see it again.
The Punisher (1989) (Deadpool) - Personally, I think this film is so underrated. I think I'm actually being a bit harsh with ratings on this one. Dolph Lundgren is my favourite actor to portray the Punisher. I'd have liked it if he had his trademark skull, but I'm not rating this as a good Punisher film, I'm rating this as a good and an enjoyable film. I just love this film!
C+
Red (JohnnyV)
Man of Steel (Darth Primus)
C
Punisher: War Zone (JohnnyV)
Punisher: War Zone (Darth Primus) - I gave this movie a C because it's an average comic book movie. I like the origin story and thought it was entertaining.
Constantine (plastroncafe) - Barely recognizable from the source material, but...I'll be damned if it wasn't a fun movie to watch.
Plus, we get Rachel Weiss in a black bra under a white shirt...in a bathtub. That alone...
Fantastic Four (Deadpool) - Actually an underrated movie. Did have some cheesy scenes, but it was somehow still enjoyable. I think Chris Evans was ten times better as Johnny Storm than as Captain America (man Chris Evans has some range as an actor though, if he can play two vastly different superheroes well), not a favourite film, but I don't dislike it either. Would rate it above the Avengers. Slightly.
C-
Green Lantern (JohnnyV) - One of the most disappointing comic book movies of all time. Such lofty expectations from a long time Green Lantern fan. Unfortunately, four writers on the project lead to a movie that seemed to have no direction. 10-15 minutes of OA exposure. Scenes which looked to be amazing were cut short. And Parallax went the way of Galactus and was made into a fucking space cloud.
Iron Man III (Sylent Assassin) - I was really disappointed in this, and at one point fell asleep. I thought Stark became a caricature of himself and too spidey-like with all his quips; he couldn't take anything seriously. There was too much forced humor in this flick for my liking, and blowing up all the Iron Man suits at the end was stupid.
Green Lantern (Sylent Assassin) - Visually impressive, but missed its mark on story, will and characters, particularly Parallax. Poor editing didn't help any. Should have tried to stay more true to the source material.
The Avengers (Deadpool) - I admit I'm usually harsh about this movie, but so much about it pisses me off. SO cheesy, some of the worst costume design for a while, and Nick Fury was an asshole. I would have done everything so differently if I was directing and writing for it.
Green Lantern (Deadpool) - Very disappointing, I was looking forward to this for ages. Bad casting (accept for Mark Strong as Sinestro), terrible villain choices, too much CGI for my liking, and awful costumes.
X-Men Origins: Wolverine (Darth Primus) - Yes, I know this movie fucks up the X-Men cinematic continuity and some of the action is way over the top, but I found this film to be entertaining. I found the "Weapon X" lab scenes well done and as well as the rivalry between Creed and Logan. Additionally, the Blob was cute.
D
Superman Returns (JohnnyV) - The movie reaches just above failure due to the performance of Brandon Routh. It's a shame he was a part of this shitty Superman movie, because I thought he had the presence and Clark Kent dichotomy down. It's just a shame everything else in the movie was shit.
Green Lantern (Darth Primus) - I gave this movie a D+ plus because the plot, storytelling and characterization was below average. The plot of a rookie Green Lantern taking on Parallax was pretty weak and I don't think appropriate for an origins story. The storytelling had too much exposition and repeative with characters like Hector Hammond and Parallax being symbols of how the Yellow Power corrupts. Additionally, Hector Hammond gets more character development than Hal Jordan. The Hal Jordan character was off the mark.
Superman Returns (Deadpool) - (I'm agreeing with John on this): Pretty much similar reasons really, although one good thing not mentioned by Johnny is I think Lex Luther was spot on in this film. They got him perfectly in this film.
Catwoman (Deadpool) - Not that good, quite cheesy (some moments made me freaking cringe like hell) but I think it's slightly underrated. Not if I could have, I'd have given it a D-, but it's not allowed. I just don't think it's bad enough to be an E really. So it was cheesy, had some errors even an idiot like me noticed, some awful costumes, terrible casting, and ridiculess "villain", but it did manage to keep me awake, and I enjoyed the little "Easter egg" of the Batman Returns Catwoman picture.
F
Catwoman - (JohnnyV) - If you like this movie, I'm not sure what can be done for you. At the very least, I'll still fap to Halle Berry. So the movie didn't slaughter me that much.
Ghost Rider 2 - (Darth Primus) - I gave this movie an F because the plot sucked, the villains sucked, the main character, Ghost Rider sucked. Seriously, Ghost Rider has no personality or any connection with the audience. This was something like SyFy would put together.
Steel (Sylent Assassin) - I really don't need to explain this one.
Man-Thing (Deadpool) - I was looking forward to seeing this and my heart jumped when I saw the DVD lurking in HMV. Was not really anything to do with Man-Thing, just some douche bag hanging around a swamp with pretty much just a cameo from Man-Thing. he literally got two very brief scenes. the rest of the film was so dull and boring.
Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (Deadpool) - Sucked donkey balls. Now I know lots of people here love the first two reeves films, but surely you really can't stick up for this. It had what was pretty much a bare armed sun god version of Bizzaro in it (by the way, awful haircut!). I think the Clark Kent vs. Evil Superman scene was in that one. It made no sense really, although it was probably one of the better scenes in the film. I also remember thinking that superman should be wearing evil supes darker costume as it looks a lot cooler.
As more people add their grades for movies, I'll add them to the original post. Hopefully we can get a good little database going. You can even add reviews or explanations, and those will be added as well. I'm going to start off with one movie for each grade.
The only stipulations for including a movie is that its property originated in comic book form. This means animated movies, CGI movies, or even shorts can be added to the list. It simply had to have originated from comic books somewhere down the line.
-------------------------
A+
The Dark Knight (JohnnyV) - Simply put, this is one of the most impressive comic book movies of all time. Engaging story, wonderful characters, and perfect progression for those characters. Not to mention Maggie Gyllenhaal being set aflame.
Superman: The Movie (Darth Primus) - I think the most underrated superhero film is Superman: The Movie, which I give an "A+;" especially in the light of Superman Returns and Man of Steel. The original Superman movie provided a wonderful origin story. I mean, the scene where baby Kal-El lifts the truck over his head to protect his newly adopted parents was awesome. Additionally, the film provided a well developed Clark Kent and Superman, which has not been duplicated in the last two films.
Iron Man (plastroncafe) - Hands down the best Comic Book Movie ever made. It's the superhero movie that people who don't love comics can get into.
The Wolverine (Deadpool) - This may just be because I watched this one at the cinema (after I re-watch something on DVD, I usually rate it lesser), but right now at least, I feel this is an A+ film. Strong story, good acting, great action, and I loved Japan. I kept looking at all the furniture in it a lot of the time! By far the best X-Men film yet. X-men Origins used to be my favourite, but it comparison, it looks a bit crappy.
X-Men: First Class (W. West) - All films are flawed and this is no exception. There is little to no development of the recruits despite the funny, charming and overall well done montage and all of the bad guys are just simply that, bad guys. Yet the relationship between Charles and Eric is so powerful it carries the entire movie. We get to see Charles Xavier befriend everyone but not see his own faults. We get to see Eric's drive to get revenge end with just that and we're happy about it despite it being straight up murder. I laughed. I cried. I absolutely love this movie and is my favorite comic book movie to watch at any time.
A
The Avengers (JohnnyV) - Just short of perfection, The Avengers is one of the most impressive special effects movie in history. Not only that, but the characters play perfectly off one another. With the plan Marvel implemented, character buildup wasn't necessary, as we had seen all of them in prior movies. Pretty much the blueprint for success in comic book movie production.
The Avengers (Sylent Assassin) - This provided the perfect blend of popcorn action, humor, suspense and superhero drama. This was capped by all the superheroes putting their egos aside to work together within a team dynamic to stop a great threat. The Justice League people need to look to this flick as a formula for silver screen superhero success.
Iron Man (Sylent Assassin) - Excellent superhero movie.
Batman Begins (Deadpool) - I love this one! Probably the best origin story on screen. I just love the dark feel in this one. Although The Dark Knight is the popular one, I actually prefer the other two Nolan films by far. I feel there's a stronger story to this film.
Wanted (Deadpool) - A lot of people don't know this is actually based on a comic-book, but apparently it is, so I can put it here! So much fun, good balance of humour and action, plus a great story! The casting is top notch!
A-
Captain America: First Avenger (JohnnyV)
Scott Pilgrim vs The World (plastroncafe) - True to the spirit of the source material and has a high rewatchability quotient.
Batman (1989) (plastroncafe) - Would be higher, but it still suffers from the "We need a romantic subplot to appeal to the wimmins" syndrome. Michael Keaton, while not as pretty as Bale, is hands down the best live action Batman ever filmed.
Mystery Men (Mister Ed) - I thought it was hilarious.
V for Vendetta (Deadpool) - I freaking love this film! Just such a good story, very enjoyable. One of the better films based of DC Comics. Even if it was just a limited series or whatever.
Scott Pilgrim vs. The World (W. West) - A fun movie. Faithful to the excellent source material for all the right reasons and enough of a difference so the movie never drags. My biggest fault with the film after countless viewings is that Ramona isn't given enough time to not seem like she's into Scott. Her distant personality is given a pass in the comics because the writer has tons of time to make up for it, but Edgar Wright's film doesn't have that time, so it hurts the character. Still, between the music and the comedy, I'm still quite happy with this film.
B+
X-Men 2 (JohnnyV)
Kick Ass (Darth Primus) - I gave this movie a B+ because it faithful to the source material, the plot line was simple and it was well acted. Nicholas Cage stayed in check and didn't go over the top.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (plastroncafe) - It hasn't aged well, but is still a damn fun movie.
Superman II (Sylent Assassin) - It would have been an "A" if it wasn't for the goofy powers: Hypnotic kiss, focused levitation, teleporting, etc. Reeve and Terrance Stamp made this movie great. Practically all of Stamp's dialogue was quotable.
The Watchmen (Deadpool) - Another excellent DC film, one of DCs better ones! Was just such a good film. Very enjoyable! I can't think of much wrong with it!
B
Blade (JohnnyV)
The Wolverine (Darth Primus) - I gave this movie a solid B because of the last 20 minutes of the film, which reverts back to the type of tone and action sequences from X-Men Origins: Wolverine, and not to mention it's predictable.
X2 (plastroncafe) - A much stronger movie than the first one. The Nightcrawler scene in the beginning is one of the best comic-screen translations yet.
Green Lantern (Space Cop) - Yes, there's a lot wrong with this but the Oa training was great. The constructs look beautiful. Hal was funny and pretty much Hal. Sure I would've preferred something else than the blob Parallax enemy. But when Hal fight that blob thing he goes from catapulting its fire back to it, to using giant springs to launch a tanker, to creating anti-aircraft guns to shoot said tanker to defending himself with a riot shield. How can anyone not like that? It's a great cinematic moment and it feels exactly like something Hal would do in the comics (I've actually used that scene to explain to people why GL is my favorite superhero). And to me, that's enough. I bought this movie the first day it came out and have watched it a half dozen or more times. I plan to keep on watching it. Good enough.
B-
Batman Returns (JohnnyV)
Iron Man 3 (Darth Primus) - I gave this movie a B-, but was considering to drop it down to a C+ because it didn't feel like an Iron Man film but rather a James Bond flick as Dr. Naysay mentioned. Tony Stark is barely in the Iron Man armor and is suffering from post tramatic stress from the alien invasion from the Avengers movie. The Iron Man armory coming to like, was like Iron Man 2, but this time they robots are on Stark's side. Killian and the Extremis soldiers were lame villains and the plot was convoluted.
Iron Man II (Sylent Assassin) - Good, but not great, and final battle was lacking.
Man of Steel (Sylent Assassin) - Superman allowing the destruction of Metropolis and not taking the battle elsewhere was unforgivable. In addition, I'm still bent that they put Supes in the impossible position of killing someone. MY Superman always found another way... and I don't give a crap about "this is the new age Superman" talk. GTFO here with that crap. Still toggling on the C+ range. I'll need to see it again.
The Punisher (1989) (Deadpool) - Personally, I think this film is so underrated. I think I'm actually being a bit harsh with ratings on this one. Dolph Lundgren is my favourite actor to portray the Punisher. I'd have liked it if he had his trademark skull, but I'm not rating this as a good Punisher film, I'm rating this as a good and an enjoyable film. I just love this film!
C+
Red (JohnnyV)
Man of Steel (Darth Primus)
C
Punisher: War Zone (JohnnyV)
Punisher: War Zone (Darth Primus) - I gave this movie a C because it's an average comic book movie. I like the origin story and thought it was entertaining.
Constantine (plastroncafe) - Barely recognizable from the source material, but...I'll be damned if it wasn't a fun movie to watch.
Plus, we get Rachel Weiss in a black bra under a white shirt...in a bathtub. That alone...
Fantastic Four (Deadpool) - Actually an underrated movie. Did have some cheesy scenes, but it was somehow still enjoyable. I think Chris Evans was ten times better as Johnny Storm than as Captain America (man Chris Evans has some range as an actor though, if he can play two vastly different superheroes well), not a favourite film, but I don't dislike it either. Would rate it above the Avengers. Slightly.
C-
Green Lantern (JohnnyV) - One of the most disappointing comic book movies of all time. Such lofty expectations from a long time Green Lantern fan. Unfortunately, four writers on the project lead to a movie that seemed to have no direction. 10-15 minutes of OA exposure. Scenes which looked to be amazing were cut short. And Parallax went the way of Galactus and was made into a fucking space cloud.
Iron Man III (Sylent Assassin) - I was really disappointed in this, and at one point fell asleep. I thought Stark became a caricature of himself and too spidey-like with all his quips; he couldn't take anything seriously. There was too much forced humor in this flick for my liking, and blowing up all the Iron Man suits at the end was stupid.
Green Lantern (Sylent Assassin) - Visually impressive, but missed its mark on story, will and characters, particularly Parallax. Poor editing didn't help any. Should have tried to stay more true to the source material.
The Avengers (Deadpool) - I admit I'm usually harsh about this movie, but so much about it pisses me off. SO cheesy, some of the worst costume design for a while, and Nick Fury was an asshole. I would have done everything so differently if I was directing and writing for it.
Green Lantern (Deadpool) - Very disappointing, I was looking forward to this for ages. Bad casting (accept for Mark Strong as Sinestro), terrible villain choices, too much CGI for my liking, and awful costumes.
X-Men Origins: Wolverine (Darth Primus) - Yes, I know this movie fucks up the X-Men cinematic continuity and some of the action is way over the top, but I found this film to be entertaining. I found the "Weapon X" lab scenes well done and as well as the rivalry between Creed and Logan. Additionally, the Blob was cute.
D
Superman Returns (JohnnyV) - The movie reaches just above failure due to the performance of Brandon Routh. It's a shame he was a part of this shitty Superman movie, because I thought he had the presence and Clark Kent dichotomy down. It's just a shame everything else in the movie was shit.
Green Lantern (Darth Primus) - I gave this movie a D+ plus because the plot, storytelling and characterization was below average. The plot of a rookie Green Lantern taking on Parallax was pretty weak and I don't think appropriate for an origins story. The storytelling had too much exposition and repeative with characters like Hector Hammond and Parallax being symbols of how the Yellow Power corrupts. Additionally, Hector Hammond gets more character development than Hal Jordan. The Hal Jordan character was off the mark.
Superman Returns (Deadpool) - (I'm agreeing with John on this): Pretty much similar reasons really, although one good thing not mentioned by Johnny is I think Lex Luther was spot on in this film. They got him perfectly in this film.
Catwoman (Deadpool) - Not that good, quite cheesy (some moments made me freaking cringe like hell) but I think it's slightly underrated. Not if I could have, I'd have given it a D-, but it's not allowed. I just don't think it's bad enough to be an E really. So it was cheesy, had some errors even an idiot like me noticed, some awful costumes, terrible casting, and ridiculess "villain", but it did manage to keep me awake, and I enjoyed the little "Easter egg" of the Batman Returns Catwoman picture.
F
Catwoman - (JohnnyV) - If you like this movie, I'm not sure what can be done for you. At the very least, I'll still fap to Halle Berry. So the movie didn't slaughter me that much.
Ghost Rider 2 - (Darth Primus) - I gave this movie an F because the plot sucked, the villains sucked, the main character, Ghost Rider sucked. Seriously, Ghost Rider has no personality or any connection with the audience. This was something like SyFy would put together.
Steel (Sylent Assassin) - I really don't need to explain this one.
Man-Thing (Deadpool) - I was looking forward to seeing this and my heart jumped when I saw the DVD lurking in HMV. Was not really anything to do with Man-Thing, just some douche bag hanging around a swamp with pretty much just a cameo from Man-Thing. he literally got two very brief scenes. the rest of the film was so dull and boring.
Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (Deadpool) - Sucked donkey balls. Now I know lots of people here love the first two reeves films, but surely you really can't stick up for this. It had what was pretty much a bare armed sun god version of Bizzaro in it (by the way, awful haircut!). I think the Clark Kent vs. Evil Superman scene was in that one. It made no sense really, although it was probably one of the better scenes in the film. I also remember thinking that superman should be wearing evil supes darker costume as it looks a lot cooler.
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