Today is apparently “National Superhero Day.” Of course, in today’s pop culture, I might argue every day is National Superhero Day,” but I digress. For the purposes of the day’s festivities, I’d like to take a moment to discuss the very best original superhero movies in recent cinematic history. By “original,” I mean just that. These (American) films are not based on any comic book, radio show, or serial. These will be in order of release date. And without further ado…
Robocop (1987)
This Orion release was one of three late-80’s action hits, alongside Lethal Weapon in 1987 and Die Hard in 1988, that basically redefined the modern American action movie. The film earned solid reviews and became a beloved “first R-rated movie” for kids of my generation. The film rode an $8 million debut weekend in mid-July of 1987 (ironically the same weekend that Warner Bros. would use for its Dark Knight sequels) to a $58m domestic total on a $13m budget.
A deeply satirical and ahead-of-its-time look at corporate fascism and the moral rot that it would bring, the Paul Verhoeven film isn’t just a would-be Jesus parable in which a murdered beat cop (Peter Weller) is resurrected as a part human/part machine crime-fighting super-cop. It’s a pinpoint (and brutally violent) look at how the very existence of such a public superhero, even one who saves the day at the end, exists as a distraction for the beleaguered masses and a mere band-aid for deep societal wounds.
As flawed as they may be, Robocop 2 and Robocop 3 actually deal with this further, to the point where our hero eventually tosses his badge and joins in with impoverished freedom fighters against jackboot governmental thugs, making the choice to combat the disease instead of crushing beleaguered symptoms. But the first Robocop is a prototypical superhero origin story, complete with a hammy scene-stealing villain (Kurtwood Smith), “ass-kicking female sidekick” (Nancy Allen, never made into a love interest and only briefly imperiled), and a “my old life is gone so I must embrace this new fate” arc that still works 29 years later.
Darkman (1990):
One of a handful of post-Batman attempts at making another superhero hit, this Sam Raimi project (based on one of his own short stories) plays around with the idea of a costumed superhero being a terrifying monster who may be just as dangerous as the baddies. Liam Neeson stars as a scientist caught up in corporate hijinks who is blown to smithereens and left with horrific injuries and some serious mental issues.
While he struggles to perfect a formula that will allow him to permanently fix his scorched features, he picks off the baddies who wrecked his life in ghoulish R-rated fashion. But can he take his revenge against the monsters who made him without becoming a monster himself? A somewhat skewed and quirky action thriller with macabre touches galore, this Universal release was something of a disappointment back in 1990.
Neeson wasn’t a household name and Francis McDormand wasn’t yet a movie star, so the biggest “get” for the film was Larry Drake (then best known as the mentally disabled Benny Stulwicz on L.A. Law) playing way against type as the primary antagonist. Still, an $8 million debut weekend and a $48m worldwide cume on a $16m budget wasn’t bad for an original (and star-less) R-rated superhero/horror movie hybrid. And yeah, you can see both a lot of Evil Dead and a lot of what Spider-Man in this funny/scary delight.
Like a lot of superhero stories, this one is as much a Frankenstein myth as it is a Resurrection parable, and you can make the case that those two stories (along with the story of Moses) form the backbone of modern superhero fiction. The film spawned two direct-to-VHS sequels with Arnold Vooslo stepping in for Liam Neeson and a plot that retcons much of the first film’s narrative, and it (like pretty much every genre film from the 1980’s and 1990’s) has something of a cult following.
The Matrix (1999):
Coming out right before the second wave of modern-day comic book movies kicked the sub-genre into overdrive, this would-be game-changer offered an “of the moment” hybrid of anime, John Woo-ish action, cyberpunk melodrama, disaffected youth hero fantasy, and a traditional superhero origin story all meshed into one. Keanu Reeves is cast perfectly to type while Lawrence Fishburne, Carrie Anne-Moss, and Hugo Weaving offer prime support.
The Wachowski sisters write/direct the hell out of this potent cinematic fantasy, and the key is that it’s a potent “beat for beat” adaptation of Joseph Campbell’s “Heroic Journey.” This violent sci-fi fantasy earned surprisingly strong reviews and shocked box office pundits who were expecting another Johnny Mnemonic. The film opened with $27 million over its Fri-Sun weekend and $37m over its Wed-Sun debut. It legged it until summer for a $171m domestic gross and took off overseas.
With $463 million worldwide (on a $60m budget), this film toppled Tim Burton’s Batman to become Warner Bros./Time Warner Inc.’s second-biggest global grosser ever behind Twister ($496m). It was the last great R-rated action franchise before post-Columbine panic and an emphasis on four-quadrant PG-13 action fantasies pushed the R-rated action movie to the brink of extinction. I actually think The Matrix Reloaded is even better (it challenges the feel-good narrative of the original), but since we're discussing "original" superhero stories I made a point to disqualify sequels.
Unbreakable (2000):
M. Night Shyamalan’s superhero deconstruction was either a couple years too early or right on time, depending on how you look at it. Sure, the comic book movie boom hadn’t begun and thus A) Disney wasn’t keen on advertising that this Sixth Sense follow-up was a buttoned down superhero origin story, B) the film needed opening titles basically explaining comic books, and C) audiences didn’t exactly jump for joy when the film revealed itself at the end of its first act to be a superhero origin story.
The film received mixed reviews and earned just $95 million domestic off a $46m Wed-Sun Thanksgiving debut. Oh, it was still a hit thanks to a $250m global gross on a $75m budget, but it was seen as a financial disappointment after The Sixth Sense’s insane $672m worldwide gross a year earlier. But had this film been released in the middle of the post-Spider-Man boom, it may well have felt less special and less of a love letter to a (then) disrespected art form.
The film, about a disgruntled security guard (Bruce Willis at his best) who comes to realize that he is physically invincible and is persuaded by a physically disabled art gallery owner (Samuel L. Jackson) to use this gift to become a costumed hero, takes the standard first act beats of an origin story and stretches them out to feature length. Shyamalan gets to the heart of the hero fantasy, the idea that doing good will also make you feel good, even as he imbues his tale with a grim sense of doom and subtly horrific violence.
In an era when comic books were still seen as a mediocre/juvenile art form, Unbreakable was a powerful valentine to the form and a subtle examination of the (male) power fantasies inherent in the classical superhero comic book tale. It’s also a hell of a drama, with razor-sharp dialogue, wonderfully empathetic characters, and a third act that is both exhilarating and chilling. Unbreakable is still one of the great superhero movies ever made. I hope we never get a sequel.
The Incredibles (2004)
This Walt Disney/Pixar superhero adventure is a gloriously awesome hodgepodge of everything from Fantastic Four to Watchmen all wrapped up in a blindly energetic and optimistic mid-life crisis drama. Like Unbreakable, the film offers a blue collar family man who has a sadness because he’s not doing what he’s supposed to be doing. But in this case, we already know that the Incredibles have superpowers, but years of litigation stemming from collateral damage has put a lid on public heroics.
But a diabolical scheme by a self-styled villain wanting to remake himself as a false hero (Jason Lee, in an ahead-of-its-time look at obsessive fandom curdled into hostility) provides the opportunity for Mr. Incredible (Craig T. Nelson) and Elastigirl (Holly Hunter) to show what it can do and save both the world and save their marriage. Like pretty much every Pixar film, this was a huge hit. It snagged a $70 million weekend in November of 2004 and then a $50m second weekend before legging it to $261m domestic and a massive $632m global gross on a $92m budget.
The film opened squarely in the Toy Story 2 to Toy Story 3 hit streak when Pixar could (give-or-take Cars 2) do no wrong. Writer/director Brad Bird used it to basically write his own ticket and he would later helm Ratatouille, Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol, and Tomorrowland. And yeah, after nearly 15 years of begging, we’re getting an Incredibles 2 in June of 2019. But this original film remains one of the very best superhero movies ever made, both because it uses the freedom that animation provides and because it offers a potent and relatable dysfunctional family drama that powers the super heroics and gives them an emotional kick beyond mere visceral enjoyment.
The film has been tagged as a kind of Objectivist fantasy (“if everyone’s special, then no one is), and really the best defense I can offer on that score is that I can’t imagine Ayn Rand telling her followers to use their superpowers to save the world and/or help others in need out of the goodness of their heart. Sure, the film criticizes a society that often implores people to hide their gifts and/or not reach their full potential, but it also loudly proclaims that those who gifts should use those gifts not for selfish betterment but to improve the world around them.
Hancock (2008):
Quick: What’s the highest-grossing non-sequel superhero movie that isn’t based on any existing source material? If you guessed Peter Berg’s unjustly maligned action comedy from the summer of 2008, you’re right! Despite withering reviews, some of which actually attacked the film for having unspoiled plot reveals and for daring to offer storytelling right up to the final reel, the Will Smith dysfunctional superhero movie earned $103 million in it Wed-Sun Independence Day weekend debut and then legged it to $217m domestic. And the $150m Sony release earned $624m worldwide, which is still his second-biggest global grosser behind Independence Day.
As for the movie, it’s not just a “Gee, let’s watch Will Smith play a drunk and disorderly superhero” farce but rather an examination of how much responsibility America should bear for the collateral damage it causes while acting as the proverbial World Police. And through the film’s arc, whereby Jason Bateman’s unblinkingly optimistic corporate do-gooder (he unquestionably wants big business to use their massive profits to save the world just because it’s the right thing to do) helps “Hancock” be a more PR-friendly superhero, the film acknowledges that America can save the world without breaking the world in the process.
If anything, Hancock’s themes of “power and responsibility” were ahead of its time in that we’re just now seeing this stuff debated in Batman v Superman and Captain America: Civil War. And that’s not even getting into Charlize Theron’s role in the story or the film’s many powerful reveals. Will Smith has a wonderful monologue explaining why he uses his powers for good, and Bateman shines as an almost delusional do-gooder in the face of a cynical society. The action is fine, but it’s the acting and dialogue that makes this parable pop, including a final scene that is heartbreaking in its unexpected goodness.
And that’s a wrap. Sorry if I left off your favorite.
