Man Of Steel
Ah, Man of Steel. Its controversial ending caused such a stir with fans that it pretty much eclipsed the whole film. If you can get past Superman’s shocking murder of General Zod, however, Zack Snyder’s modern interpretation of the Last Son of Krypton’s origins contains a lot to like.
Firstly, the cast is possibly one of the finest ever assembled for a superhero movie. In particular, the two leads – Henry Cavill and Amy Adams – are perfect for their roles, though at times you wish the script would let the actors show their range a bit more. Meanwhile, Russell Crowe is great as Jor-El, and the opening scenes set on Krypton are so engrossing you kind of wish the film could stay there.
Yes, Snyder probably went too far with the grittiness, but if you watch it again you’ll find there’s a lot more hope, optimism and even smiles from Henry Cavill than you might remember. Despite what some fans say, some parts of the movie are 100% faithful to the classic ideal of Superman.
Fantastic Four (2005)
No, we’re not going to try and argue that 2015’s Fantastic Four reboot is any good, because it isn’t. Marvel’s First Family just aren’t a good fit for the Zack Snyder treatment… and that’s something that 2005’s original FF movie realizes. Sure, it’s campy, but that tone goes a long way to somewhat recreating the feel of those original Stan Lee comics from the 1960s.
While the cast is not as great as it could have been, at least half of the Four were well-picked. Michael Chiklis is actually a pretty faithful Ben Grimm for one. But it’s Chris Evans who – yes, we’re going to say it – is on fire as the Human Torch. Though we’re not complaining that he graduated to Captain America, it’s a bit of shame we didn’t get to see more of him as Johnny Storm.
The same thing goes for 2007’s sequel Rise of the Silver Surfer, which has the added bonus of being the only movie to date to feature one of Marvel’s coolest characters: the titular chrome-domed anti-hero. Let’s just not get into the space fart that is Galactus in the movie.