If you pay a visit to your local cinema, there’s a very good chance that the box office listings will feature at least one superhero movie. One currently out is the recent reboot of the Superman franchise, which had previously looked like it was doomed to fail. Fortunately for producer Christopher Nolan, Man of Steel turned out to be a hit on both sides of the Atlantic
Part of the reason why Man of Steel worked is that it took a slightly different path to the superhero films of yesteryear. Rather than following a formulaic plot where the one-dimensional hero saved the day at the last minute, it focused on Superman and Clark Kent’s personality, revealing him to be more than a little flawed.
The golden touch?
When it comes to directing films in this particular genre, Nolan seems to be head and shoulders above everyone else. The reason for that is his involvement in turning around the Batman films, which had previously been ridiculed for being too cartoonish. He gave the Caped Crusader a modern persona, making him seem a little more complex.
It comes as no surprise then that many people believe that the Dark Knight trilogy of Batman films was such a success. According to a survey conducted by Ladbrokes Games, nearly one in five people said that The Dark Knight was the best superhero movie to ever make it to the big screen, finishing top of the pile ahead of some very stiff competition.
Caped Crusader cream of the crop
19% chose The Dark Knight film as their favorite in the poll, while close to 18% went for The Dark Knight Rises as their first choice. Third on the list, some way behind the two Batman films, was The Avengers, which gained close to 16% of the vote. Fourth, rather surprisingly, was Spiderman (starring Tobey Maguire) with 10%.
At the other end of the superhero movie spectrum, the worst of all time as voted for in the survey was Catwoman. A massive 22% said it was the worst ever made, a clear 7% ahead of second choice Elektra. The Green Lantern, a massive box office flop starring a miscast Seth Rogen, was third with 10.6% of total votes.
It seems that many of the more modern superhero films have proved to be more popular. Perhaps learning from past mistakes could be the reason why, but what about the future? If the Batman franchise is to continue, then it will have to be without Christian Bale, who recently hung up his cape for good