Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

#69 at the time of writing.

Animation is as old as movies, but this film proves it can still do something that feels brand new. The exaggerated comic book style transports you to a universe where a beaten-down black kid from Brooklyn can be Spider-Man. As can a confident and graceful young woman. And a cartoon pig. All at the same time.

Yes, this film introduces the idea of infinite parallel universes where strange variations of our beloved superhero characters exist, allowing Sony/Marvel executives (and imitators) to recycle old favourites and dodge continuity problems forevermore. Which sounds immensely cynical, but it is executed with irresistible style. I can hardly believe how fresh and fun this film was, even after so many tired reboots of the same old superhero.

The animation style is seriously impressive, the story is tense and funny and bonkers and all the things you didn't know you wanted, and I applaud the confident nudge towards more diverse representation in a traditionally monochromatic genre - a trend that thankfully continues.

Yet again I find myself needled that superhero films have so dominated the Hollywood box office (and the IMDB Top 250) for so long, and yet willing to forgive because the movie is so damn good.

Avengers: Infinity War

#65 at the time of writing.

When the Marvel Cinematic Universe was first spitballed in the mid-2000s, even the most ambitious studio executives didn't dare dream how successful it would become. We're now 30 films into the arc, but for me the franchise reached an incredibly satisfying crescendo right here in film #19.

With a story so epic it needed a whole extra film (Endgame) to wrap up the loose ends, and an ending so unexpected it got me excited about the superhero genre all over again despite so much overkill, this film made watching (most of) the other 18 worth it.

This film sees a slew of comic book heroes, introduced to us in the decade since Robert Downey Jr's addictively charismatic star turn in 2008's Iron Man, come up against their biggest threat yet. But despite the ensuing battle being on the grandest scale, each character gets enough time to shine on-screen - an impressive feat given the diversity of the motley ensemble (ranging from ninjas to gods; from a blue-skinned cyber-alien to a talking raccoon).

The ultimate popcorn blockbuster - but I wonder how well the story, and the emotional beats, would stand up for someone without the context of the preceding 18 films?

This is the highest ranked Marvel Cinematic Universe film in IMDb's Top 250, but my personal MCU favourite is Thor: Ragnarok, mainly because I can't get enough of director Taika Waititi's irreverent sense of humour. I'm spellbound that despite being a MASSIVE Hollywood behemoth, Marvel Studios' creative process allows for such gratifying idiosyncracy (see also: WandaVision).

Logan

#195 at the time of writing.

I'm pretty burned out on superhero movies. Whenever I watch one I'm usually perfectly well enough entertained, but the prospect of going to the cinema for yet another terribly witty/violent comic book extravaganza is kind of exhausting. I think I only saw the first two X-Men films (and Deadpool).

But in fact there were nine X-Men films before this one. Nine. For die-hard fans, that's a huge amount of emotional investment in the characters. So when I say that this film got me emotionally engaged, I can only imagine the magnified impact it must have had on the legions of true Wolverine-worshippers out there.

You can imagine the pub conversation that sparked this film. So, says the writer, we've got these two characters - the most powerful brain in the world, and a rapid-healing fighter with anger issues. What can we do that's new, that hasn't been done before? I know! Super-brain has dementia and invincible wants to kill himself. Pretty dark, huh?

Yes, it's dark. The story doesn't shy away from the darkness, and is all the better for it. But it also succeeds in delivering a treatment of the (prolifically overdone) superhero genre that feels genuinely new. And for that, kudos.

Trivia: Upon opening at 4,071 theatres in the United States, this film became the widest opening R-rated release in cinema history. But only for a few weeks. It was surpassed by It, which opened in 4,103 theatres.

Birdman

#125 at the time of writing.

The most original film I've seen in a long time - probably in years. Having seen director Iñárritu's Amores Perros and Biutiful, I initially steered clear of this film, expecting it to be beautifully filmed, gritty, and soul-crushingly depressing. But more than once I heard friends say that this was something else - and indeed it is sublime. It's funny, hopeful, and always unexpected. The story fizzes along with captivating energy. I loved it.

It's about a washed up Hollywood superstar, famous for (long ago) playing Birdman à la Robert Downey Jr's Iron Man, who tries to reinvent himself as a respectable Broadway artiste. But he must overcome towering doubts, hubris and the bunch of wackos he calls family and friends. The style is very theatrical, with no visible cuts, plenty of backstage shenanigans and disarming magic realism.

I totally didn't realise until afterwards that Birdman was a real thing. That makes this movie the craziest adaptation since Adaptation. And that can only be a good thing.

(I just read that Antonio Sanchez's musical score, performed almost entirely by drums, was disqualified by the music branch of the Academy Awards. Why?! It's great!)

Guardians of the Galaxy

#58 at the time of writing.

Much like its predecessor Avengers Assemble, which I blogged about here, this Marvel comic book adaptation makes silliness into a virtue. It has all the wrong ingredients, yet somehow it manages to bundle them together into a witty, well-paced, ambitious and compelling story. You may even end up empathising with a talking raccoon and a fighting tree.

For me, this is the best Marvel film since Iron Man. Although I say that without having yet watched the other recent Top 250 entry X-Men: Days of Future Past. Meanwhile, the snob in me squirms at the readiness of the Top 250 list to embrace all of these brash big budget superhero flicks.

That snob impulse is mollified by the insider knowledge that director James Gunn cut his teeth making weird sexploitation films with Troma Entertainment.

The Dark Knight Rises

Unranked at time of writing.

Wow. I have a massively high opinion of the previous two instalments of this trilogy, and this is easily their match. You have to admire the scale of Christopher Nolan's ambition and his uncanny ability to pull it off.

Granted, it's a bit expositiony at times, but the bad guy's ruthless build-up to power reaches such an intensity that you're glued to the screen. The story reaches a point where you cannot imagine the good guys ever recovering - and then it gets even worse... and then the blood-curdling villain Bane really gets going.

Top off that drama with some wonderful twists (so unexpected, yet so fitting), a couple of charismatic female leads, and a bevy of breathtaking and immaculately crafted set pieces, and you have pure blockbuster cinema at its very best. I wonder how this will stand up to a second viewing given that the twists will no longer be a surprise - but if the previous two instalments are anything to go by it will just keep getting better.

Chris Nolan has said that there will not be a fourth film. I'm sure there will. The question is simply whether the franchise will degenerate into second-rate spin-off sequels (or be annoyingly re-re-booted like Spider-Man and Superman), or he takes the helm himself.

As soon as the Dark Knight trilogy is released on DVD, I'm buying.

Avengers Assemble

#124 at time of writing.

Back in 2005, an enterprising Marvel Studios executive (Avi Arad) decided to produce a slate of films about individual super-characters, to establish their identities and familiarize audiences with them, before merging the characters together in an epic Avengers movie.

They got off to an excellent start with Iron Man, which was followed in quick succession by The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man 2, Thor and Captain America. And now, finally, the motley crew are brought together.

I must admit that I expected this film to be poor. For one thing, the concept is a huge example of what Blake Snyder calls double mumbo jumbo. A god-alien in the same movie as an artificially enhanced soldier from the 1940s and a giant green id monster? Sounds dubious.

But whilst it is indeed silly, this film is never cringeworthy. Rather, it is thoroughly pacey and entertaining, gloriously irreverent, and often laugh-out-loud funny. This quote from director Joss Whedon sums up the spirit of the film: "The whole movie is about finding yourself from community. And finding that you not only belong together but you need each other, very much. Obviously this will be expressed through punching."

Legal rights issues prevented a number of "Avengers" characters from being included in this film, such as Quicksilver and The Scarlet Witch, villains Magneto, Doctor Doom and Norman Osbourne/Green Goblin. Though all characters are owned by Marvel/Disney, the X-Men and Fantastic Four characters were licensed to Fox Studios, and those of Spider-Man to Sony, before work began on an Avengers film. Marvel has said that in the future they hope to regain the rights to all licensed properties, that the aforementioned characters might have a role in subsequent Avengers films.

X-Men: First Class

#234 at time of writing.

This film inspires in me such mediocre praise as "entertaining, but...", "bit of a cash-in", and "well, the trailers were fun". Even the posters are lacklustre.

The Noughties was great for superhero movies, but with cheesy action-over-substance sequels like this competing against half-baked efforts like Green Lantern, perhaps they've had their day for now.

This is the story of how the X-Men first came together; it hijacks the events of the Cuban Missile Crisis as a backdrop. I'm sure I would have enjoyed this origins story more if I knew more of the X-Men universe, but as a stand-alone film it doesn't compare to the epic genius of the rebooted Batman films or Watchmen, nor to the charismatic wit of Iron Man or Kick-Ass.

Fun, but I predict this will have fallen off the Top 250 before you can say "when's the next X-Men sequel?"

According to IMDb trivia, the filmmakers hired an X-Men specialist to help the cast understand their roles. Coolest job title ever?

Kick-Ass

Unranked at time of writing.

I watched this film without much expectation, and was pleasantly surprised - not to mention thoroughly entertained. It functions as a very funny parody of the superhero genre whilst also being an excellent example of the genre.

It features a hapless teenage loner who decides to become a superhero, and fails catastrophically. However, his endeavours get him embroiled with a criminal gang and a duo of much more successful superheroids, including a sweary and shockingly violent eleven year old girl played memorably by Chloe Moretz. (Dude, she was born in 1997 and she's old enough to be saying c*nt in Dolby surround sound. Doesn't that make you feel old?).

Think Spider-Man meets Kill Bill. Kick-Ass indeed.

The Dark Knight

#5 at time of writing.

I've seen The Dark Knight twice - once at the UK premiere, and once at the excellent Roxy Bar and Screen on Borough High Street. Both times, I was on the edge of my seat with anxiety for the full two and a half hours. This is no mere superhero movie – it is an epic crime drama of remarkable complexity and substance, tackling sweeping themes of retribution and sacrifice.

Whether this film deserves to be scored as the fifth best film of all time - or even the #1 film as it was for a few weeks on IMDb - is moot, but it's hard to deny that it is an incredibly powerful cinematic experience. (It came out the same week as Wall·E - what a week that was for the silver screen!)



Heath Ledger’s untimely death in January 2008 ensured that the Hollywood hype machine would be in overdrive, but incredibly his performance - and the whole film - lives up to even the most excessive expectations.

Heath Ledger's apocalyptic performance is certainly Oscar-worthy. Compare the Joker to Ennis Del Mar from Brokeback Mountain and it's very hard to believe that they are the same person.

It’s not flawless. It's long, Bale’s Batman voice is sometimes over-the-top, and, well, it’s not Batman Begins. But the scale, tension and sheer dark depths of the characters will leave you in awe.

(A far cry from my opinion of Batman & Robin...)

The Incredibles

#80 at time of writing.

Pixar are a phenomenon. They blasted into the box office with Toy Story, redefining what could be done with computer animation. They followed it up with A Bug's Life, which was at least as good as DreamWorks' contemporary computer-animated ant movie (what are the odds?), Antz. Then, against all odds, they outdid the first Toy Story film with its sequel. For an encore, they produced Monsters, Inc. - a triumph of imaginative comedy.

That's when they pulled out the big guns. Finding Nemo was mind-blowing. Beautiful, touching, hilarious, epic... and absolutely impossible to follow.

The trailers for The Incredibles aroused excitement and cynicism in equal measure. Yay! Another Pixar film! But superheroes? Surely they've lost their touch after a lucky run. Surely after their first five near-perfect films they'll slip up, or lose momentum.

Couldn't be more wrong. The Incredibles is just that. Incredible.

The sheer number and variety of characters, scenes and textures raises the bar sky-high for computer animated films. The idea is simple enough: a family of undercover superheroes, while trying to live the quiet suburban life, are forced into action to save the world. But the result is sublime. A supremely comic and stunningly imaginative blend of the mundane and the fantastic. It makes me want to get up from my seat and dance. Or double over laughing. Or shed a gooey sentimental tear.

This summer, Pixar's seventh feature film will be released, Cars. Yay! Another Pixar film! But cars? Surely they've lost their touch after a lucky run...

Batman Begins

#111 at time of writing.

This is what a Batman film should be. In fact, this film outdoes all other serious superhero films, ever.

Christopher Nolan hasn't made a lot of films yet, but he already proved his capacity for genius with Memento, and now he's risen to the challenge of a big-budget blockbuster.

I have to admit I was skeptical after the last two Batman films, particularly Batman & Robin, which easily makes it into my Worst 10 Films of All Time. But this film is something special. Based on the darkest and most grounded of the graphic novels, and infused with a compelling realism, this film gets a ten out of ten from me.

The film rewrites the history of the Dark Knight, giving us glimpses into Bruce Wayne's childhood, and his reasons for becoming Batman, without ever being schmaltzy. The resulting epic makes the possibility of a Batman more believable than ever before. And it makes for a thrilling ride.

And the thing that seals the deal is that every single supporting character could stand alone. A monumental achievement considering the first draft of the script was written in less than two months. And helped along by the all-star line-up cast, of course.

It makes me proud as well that a lot of this film was done with British actors and a British studio. Gotham City is largely a full-size indoor city built in a hangar in Bedford (which was previously used for building Zeppelin-sized airships). And the Batmobile is not CGI, it is a £500,000 monster built by Brits at Shepperton Studios.

Hope is reborn for the Batman franchise.