Top 12 Best Movies Based on Comic Books

Hello, loyal readers and fellow geeks, welcome to another issue of Dustin's Dirty Dozen, this week delving even deeper into the world of panels with the top 12 movies based on comic books. Before anyone gets their panties in a bunch about their favorite movies not making the list, just know that this is one of the hardest lists I have had to make to date. A lot of movies I love (based upon the source material) didn't make the list, because this is mainly for movies that can stand on their own even without the source material. I know a couple of these stray pretty far away from the comics, and some you might think can't hold up in the mainstream market of today, but its my list and my opinion, which is why I am guessing you read this in the first place. So, to make us wait no longer, let me get started.

12) Batman (1989)

Tim Burton may be one crazy son-of-a-gun, but he knows how to make a decent film every now and again. As far as live action Batmans go, Micheal Keaton will always hold a special place in my heart for his performance in this and the sequel. I thought for the longest time that no one would ever be able to top Jack Nicholson's Joker, and in some ways I was right (not taking away from Heath Ledger), especially when you take into account the type of Joker that he was (mainly based off the older comic books where Joker killed people with electric hand buzzers and laughing gas). When you take the brilliant directing, the two stars and the script, then put it all together, you get something truly amazing that has held up for over two decades. 

11) Hellboy

Another brilliant director at the helm, Guillermo del Toro, takes this film and of course gives it his own amazing touch with the convincing monster creation. Not that Ron Perlman needs any help looking like a monster in the first place, but seeing him in the red paint and shaved horns sort of made this movie as good as it was. Not to be overshadowed by the freakishly huge man, Doug Jones plays the most convincing Abe Sapien that anyone could. The scenes were gorgeous, the acting amazing, directing on a completely different echelon; the movie all in all was just outstanding.

10) Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World

Michael Cera's second best role in his acting career, right after the bit he played in "This is the End," and amazingly enough the character was based off of an awesome comic book. Something also has to be said for Mary Elizabeth Winstead seeming to grow some roots as a chameleon for the actress community. This movie basically just showed us that not all comic book movies have to be based on books that are serious and feature big name heroes (no, I didn't forget that the mask was originally a comic book). With stupendous visuals, some of the best acting that any actor in this movie has shown audiences before, and hilarious video game references throughout, this movie was a real winner. 

9) Captain America: The First Avenger

Of the "pre-Avengers" movies that led to eventual epic, this one was the best, by far. I'm not necessarily the biggest Captain America fan to begin with, but this movie was close to changing my mind about the character, if not making at least a step in the right direction. Chris Evans gets to add yet another comic book-based movie under his belt after already doing "The Losers," "Fantastic Four," and "Scott Pilgrim vs. The World." Hugo Weaving lends us his acting legend for the most convincing and real super villain that has come to us at the time this movie was released with The Red Skull, and Tommy Lee Jones even gets in on the action, giving us a command, albeit short lived, performance. Consider this article a written version of me holding my breath for "Captain America: Winter Soldier."

8) Kick Ass

When I first heard of this movie,, I was keeping current with the "limited" comic book series that was only four issues deep at the time. So my first reaction was "damn, Hollywood must really be stretching for ideas if they are basing a movie off of a series that isn't even complete," and never have been more wrong to make such a rash first impression. Even with it straying away from the source material at points, the movie was still gold, and most surprising of all, was filled with "no name" actors. Aaron Taylor-Johnson making a good first impression on the big screen with his Kick Ass characters, and Chloe Grace Moretz finally being able to escape the curse of playing bit characters in movies. The second most surprising part of this movie was them making Nicholas Cage actually seem like a real actor for a couple of minutes. The sequel gave us some good parts as well but couldn't quite capture the lightning in a bottle like this did. 

7) Superman (1978)

What can I say about this movie besides that without it I can almost guarantee that we would not have the comic book movies of today. The graphics may be a little (or a lot) dated to today's standards, but you just can't turn a blind eye to the movie that gave comic books some respectability on the big screen. Of course, the actors are legendary now for their roles; Christopher Reeve sets the standard for all actors that would dawn the red "S" after him (or at least should have been a point of reference in Brandon Routh's case). The scenes are going to live on in our memories forever, and hopefully one day this character can be given his due once again in years to come, even if I hate him.

6) V for Vendetta

Anarchy, Martial Law, Conspiracy: All great plot drivers for a movie and given to us brilliantly by rookie director James McTeigue. Hugo Weaving again givies us iconic and unreachable work as main character and "terrorist" V. Natalie Portman, thankfully being torn away from the "Star Wars" curse of not being able to find subsequent work after appearing in the franchise (taking a page from Harrison Ford) and finding a good home as love interest and "sidekick" Evey. Brilliant choreography, dialogue, and cinematography to join the acting and directing make this a must watch for anyone, even if you are not into the comic book world.  

5) Watchmen

Zack Snyder had to be getting a little full of himself after making this movie, when he followed it up with "Sucker Punch" and "Man of Steel" (at least "Sucker Punch" was half way decent). I guess I don't blame him with how absolutely amazing it was (given, this is definitely straying from the source material, but not dictating my decision making process). I would say for the year it was made, it had to have had the best writing I saw, when you take into account the four-year term of Nixon and how he would handle the Cuban missile crisis or just the ending itself. The acting was amazing across the board, but the two that stole the show were Jeffrey Dean Morgan as The Comedian and Jackie Earle Haley as Rorschach. All in all it was original (given the source material) and inspiring, if nothing else, for future movies to think about their concepts of nudity.

4) Iron Man 3

Aww, no first "Iron Man," huh? Deal with it. Somehow, this movie managed to escape the curse of not living up to the original by being superior to the first in almost every way possible (not that the first movie was bad at all). It gave Tony Stark some much needed depth and psychological crises that the character had been calling for ever since his trip to the silver screen. It gave us the most superior Iron Man villain in comparison to any of the previous installments, and even made his character original and inspiring, made even more so by Ben Kingsley's amazing acting. It not only gave Iron Man closure, but seemingly the actor that played him as well (since the series was the main revitalizing point of his career). It gave us iconic scenes and brilliant cinematography, that, if it wasn't for Pacific Rim, would have been the best of the year, if not the decade. Something has to be said for this movie also showing us that, even after the triumph that was "The Avengers," these movies will not sit back and just expect a box office from the characters that they are attached to, but instead give us a truly amazing piece of cinema to live on in our collections and hearts. Many thanks to director Shane Black for following up "Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang" with an equally amazing movie.

3) Sin City

I have a major hard on for noire-styled films, especially ones that are based off of a comic book given to us by a legend in the field, Frank Miller. Even if you take away the fact that the movie basically translated the comic book word for word (only leaving out bits and pieces, here and there), you still have an amazing piece of cinema given to us by over-the-top director, Robert Rodriguez. The cinematography was insane and showed us just what could be accomplished with the proper amount of green screen. I don't even know who I can give more respect to among the actors, when you have top performances from Bruce Willis, Mickey Rourke, Clive Owen, Rosario Dawson, Benicio Del Toro, Tommy Flanagan, Micheal Clarke Duncan, it is almost impossible. Let's just say everyone was amazing and should be given all the respect in the world for their parts. If you haven't seen this movie yet, you seriously have to question where your values are in life, because you have missed out on one of the great movies of our generation.

  

2) The Dark Knight

If Heath Ledger was alive today, I am positive that he would have made a name for himself among the acting legends that have lived in our heads for decades. Unfortunately, he only left us with a movie which should be a standard met by any Batman movie to come (one even "The Dark Knight Rises" couldn't live up to). I guess we will all have to respect that, as sad as it is. I don't think I can really say anything about this instant classic that hasn't been said before, but I guess I'll just reinforce how absolutely astonishing this movie was. The storyline was the choice element to pay attention to in this movie, even taking into account Heath Ledger. The story gave us a hero making himself out to be the villain for the greater good, a roller coaster ride of emotions to include the fake death of a certain main character and the fall of a great citizen into darkness. Anarchy was the biggest plot device of this movie, and what better character to steer our anarchism ship then the Joker? When I said that this movie should be a standard met by any Batman movie to come, I may have been too narrow minded; I think it should be the standard for DC entertainment. Period.

1) The Avengers

If the box office and anticipation for this movie wasn't enough, the fact that this film stands alone as one of the most amazing MOVIES of all time should say something. I can't stress enough just how much respect I have for Joss Whedon for not only making this movie, but some of my favorite series of all time. Any other person might have taken one the highest grossing box offices and ran, but not him; he will be back to give us a sequel and  spin off show that both have some monstrous shoes to fill. I just love that this movie could have been the most absolutely disappointing movie of all time after being hyped up for four years, but instead gave us something to be enjoyed for the rest of our lives and our children's lives. Take your pick on the reasons why this movie was so good: acting, story, cinematography, dialogue, etc. Everything in it was superior to any other movie released during the year, and I'll even go as far as to say of our generation. So, here is to hoping that the sequel doesn't suck, but it should be hard for it to with Joss Whedon at the helm again.

Honorable Mention) X2

Of this unspeakably long series, some credit has to be given to the second installment for actually being good (not that the first one was bad necessarily). After living through the disappointments of so many sequels, we still have this movie to look back on and say "hey, at least they weren't always so shitty."

Next Time on Dustin Dirty Dozen: Top 12 Worst Movies Based on Comic Books because I haven't done a list of horrible movies in a while and I still want to talk about comics.

Top 12 Comic Book Animated Movies

*Spoilers throughout this article*

Hello, loyal readers, and welcome to another issue of Dustin's Dirty Dozen. This issue will be on the top 12 comic book animated movies, marking the end of animation month. This list will not include the hybrid comic-animation series' (I.E. "Wolverine: Origins" or "Iron Man: Extremis"), nor will it contain any of the Marvel anime that was popular on "G4TV." However, it will cover the other animated pictures from both DC and Marvel. I hope you all enjoy, excelsior!

12) Ultimate Avengers 1 & 2

"Marvel" doesn't do too well with animation, but every once in a while a gem will come through all of the crap. This is an example of one of those gems (or rather 2); albeit, not exactly first place material. The voices in this range from good to awful, so I can't really make that a justification as to why this should be on here. One of the main reasons this made the list was for my favorite scene in both films, the Hulk fight, wherein the Hulk actually picks up Thor's magically imbued hammer. The hammer is supposed to be impossible for anyone but Thor (or whomever the hammer deems worthy) to lift; despite this, Hulk lifted it anyway. Besides that, you have a great prelude to the live-action films that Marvel came out with afterwards; and all-in-all, a good time.

11) Superman: Doomsday

Let me just put this out here, I am not a fan of Superman in the least; I think he is too overpowered and boring (joined that band wagon long ago), and his character could have been so much more. Maybe that is why his most popular moment (his death) made the list, because I love seeing him get owned. Even though the event itself turned out to be a hoax and superman turned out fine in the end, it was still an important point in comic book history. My favorite scene in this movie has to be the fight scene between Doomsday and Superman; really, that is the only point in the movie worth noting, but makes it good enough to make this list.

10) Green Lantern: Emerald Knights 

"Green Lantern: Emerald Knights" took on the role of telling the multiple stories of a number of Green Lanterns (much like "Batman: Gotham knight"), and turned every story into something amazing. Nathan Fillion, found his way into the voice of Green Lantern (Hal Jordan), and proved himself amazing enough to make repeat appearances. The best scenes of this movie were definitely between Mojo (the Green Lantern planet) and Laira's back story. Laira had amazing action sequences, and Mojo is just Mojo... he is a planet. He is a planet with the power of the Green Lanterns; just let that get into your head and join the rest of us in awe. 

9) Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths

I love parallel universes; the story arcs that follow them are always interesting and unique ways of looking at your favorite superheroes. So, of course, "Crisis on Two Earths" made the list based on that merit, but another good point was the voices. James Woods' acting for Owlman was sinister and sent a chill up your spine listening to it. Owlman's character was the best part of this movie by far; as a ruthless, cunning, and driven alternate to Batman, he stole the show and ended up being the baddest of bad guys. The fight between him and Batman is still one of my favorite scenes, especially Batman's line at the end: "There is a difference between you and me. We both looked into the abyss, but when it looked back at us, you blinked." Just has Batman's essence wafting over it.

8) Superman/Batman: Public Enemies

This is the closest DC came to rivaling the storyline of Marvel's superheroes, who are mostly looked at as outlaws. Finally, the characters of Batman and Superman gained a little more depth, making them go through society treated as the enemies of the free world. I love any movie that reinstates the amazing talents of Tim Daly and Kevin Conroy; they are the originals, and most people alive during the airing of the "Batman: the Animated Series" know Kevin Conroy as THE voice of Batman. The best scene in this (besides the friendly banter between the two icons the movie is based on) has to be the royal rumble between seemingly every bad guy in existence. You see all the people that use powers as weapons (such as ice, strength, size, etc) together and somehow it all just fits into one big ass kicking, the likes of which no movie could have done better. 

7) Wonder Woman

Oh, DC; it is too hard to make a live action Wonder Woman movie, yet here is an amazing Wonder Woman animated movie that holds the character in a new regard. Oh well, I guess we will have to deal with thirteen Ben Affleck Batman movies before we get the third member of "the big three." Anyways, this movie was amazing for two reasons; it held, in high regard, the Greek mythology of Wonder Woman's backstory, as well as the voices. Hades has to be the best part of this movie, showing him as a fat, arrogant, slob of a god, yet still so menacing and powerful. When he pulls out Ares' son from the pits of Tartarus and shows him to Ares as his slave, I couldn't help wanting to punch Hades for Ares. On the Female side of voices, you have Keri Russell playing the lead role as Wonder Woman, and Rosario Dawson playing the overly battle-hardened Artemis; both did amazing and made me wish for a recurring roles for them in future DC projects. On the male side, you have Nathan Fillion again as a fighter pilot and womanizer, Steve Trevor (Wonder Woman's semi-love interest), and Oliver Platt playing the aforementioned Hades and stealing any scene he was apart of. 

6) Batman: Year One

I may have loved "Batman: Begins;" however, this movie just seemed to be everything that the theatrical movie was missing. What the general public has to understand is that the comic book "Batman: Year One" which is what "Batman Begins" and this were based off, was mainly about Jim Gordon, with a few Batman scenes as filler. This movie celebrated that fact and made Jim Gordon the badass that he was supposed to be, while subsequently giving him more depth. The best scene in this movie has to be Jim Gordon giving detective Flass the beating of his life. If any other scene could come close to it, the scene in question is definitely Jim Gordon's affair, giving his character more of a dark and troubled edge. Voices in this were amazing (as always when Andrea Romano is in charge of voice directing and casting), and the major scene thieves were Bryan Cranston, Eliza Dushku and Alex Rocco. If there is any truth to Bryan Cranston playing the new Jim Gordon in the live action movies I know that he will do well since he has already done it. Alex Rocco always plays the best gangster, and Eliza Dushku hopefully will be our next Catwoman with the performance she has given here serving as her resume.

5) Batman: Under the Red Hood

The comic book this is based off of is considered one of the hardest slaps to the face of all time in the comic book community. The comic book (A death in the family) killed off Jason Todd (the second incarnation of Robin) after DC took a poll from the readers on if they should and said "he would never come back;" so when he did, it sent off more than a few loyal fans. I don't know how they did it, but, this movie is one step in the right direction of fixing that mistake. It made the revival of Jason Todd seem more believable; although it's hard to be any less believable than Superboy punching something so hard that reality itself breaks. The acting was awesome even without the original "Batman: Animated Series" cast being in it, with performances from Jensen Ackles as the Red Hood and Wade Williams as Black Mask stealing the movie.

4) Planet Hulk

The comic event that followed the "Civil War" in marvel comics was "World War Hulk," and it was brilliant in every sense of the word. "Planet Hulk" was the comic about the events leading to that amazing series, and it held up just as much as other off-shoots did. This was the movie adaptation of that comic series, and I can't help but love it all the same. Anything with Beta Ray Bill smacking the hell out of Hulk with Stormbreaker has to be nothing less than amazing. The best voice of the movie was the main one, Rick D. Wasserman as the Hulk, since the hulk had a lot more to say than "rawr." There is nothing more that I can say about this movie other than if you have any respect for comic books at all, you will go read the World War Hulk series...Now.

3) Batman: The Dark Knight Returns (Pt. 1 & 2)

Carrie Kelley is the best Robin in any Batman universe by far, and any movie designed with her in mind is going to be outstanding. Why is she the best you ask? Aside from being the most original of the four, she was also the one you could relate to the most: Obsessed fan girl that takes to the streets with a store-bought Robin costume, and gets to live all of her fantasies while she fights along side her icon in battle. Of course there is more to the movie than that, the best scene proving to be the Batman/Superman battle that ended in Batman's favor. Want to find out how? Please watch it.

2) Justice League : The Flashpoint Paradox

Remember when I said that I am a fan of multiverse storyline? Well that applies to time paradoxes as well. The voices in this movie are amazing. When you have the talents of Justin Chambers, C. Thomas Howell, and Michael B. Jordan, it's always going to be good. It's hard to pick a scene I like more. When you have a skinny, agoraphobic Superman; Thomas Wayne shooting up Gotham as Batman (instead of Bruce); and the love scene between Wonder Woman and Aquaman; the choice is almost impossible. Quite possibly the death of Hal Jordan was the best scene in the movie, but as I said, the choice is so hard. This movie, being the most recent installment from DC animation, is proof that the DC animated movies just keep getting better and better. It makes me unable to wait for the next installment.

1) Justice League: Doom

Perfection. I couldn't find one thing wrong with this movie and that is rare for me, being a cynical asshole. I loved the revival of the old "Justice League: Animated Series" cast, with the addition of Nathan Fillion, again taking the reins of Hal Jordan. The scenes are, again, almost impossible to choose from, to think about which one would be the best. Who could forget Martian Manhunter sweating out magnesium due to a poison-laced drink that was given to him by a disguised enemy, and thus being lit on fire. How about Wonder Woman being drugged, making her envision everyone she meets as Cheetah, which in turn makes her fight non-stop until her heart almost gives out. There is also a bomb being bolted through the Flash's wrist that makes him run forever, taking a page from "Speed," since if he decelerates, the bomb explodes. Hal Jordan is infected by the Scarecrow "fear toxin," and left to spend the rest of his days crying over a woman that he was too late to save. Superman is shot through the heart by kryptonite, and no one knows how to save him, since you can't simply pierce his skin. I guess the best though was Bruce Wayne being buried alive with the skeletons of his parents. I mean could you imagine that shit? Having a vendetta against your parents' murder, so strong, that you take a vow to stop crime in the city in which it happened, then being buried with their skeletons, left to spend the rest of your days looking at the very thing that drove you to a life of crime-fighting. Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant. Too bad none of the ways to kill the Justice League actually panned out. Thanks, Cyborg.

HM) Doctor Strange

Doctor Strange is my favorite superhero of all time, and I am still waiting for a live-action movie with him as the lead. The cartoon movie was only ok, but I just know I would be hating myself later if I did not put this on here. "By the light-by the Truth-by Sangreal and sword and Pendragon's Fire-by Defender's might and Dragon Circle's destiny-BEHOLD THY BANE!"

Next time on Dustin's Dirty Dozen: More comics with the top 12 live-action comic book movies.