Faster than a speeding bullet, superheroes can save the day
We round up 20 films that will lift you up while making you forget the mortal world.
Holding out for a hero, especially of the super kind? You’re not the only one.
Fans of comic-book movies usually can’t wait for the summer movie season to start, but coronavirus is thwarting it like Doctor Doom and Lex Luthor combined. The rapid spread of the disease shuttered movie theaters indefinitely and sent studios back to the drawing board with their release dates: Originally slated for May 1, Marvel’s solo “Black Widow” movie is now opening Nov. 6, causing a domino effect for the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s entire upcoming slate – and the anticipated sequel “Wonder Woman 1984” shifted from June 5 to Aug. 14.
It’s a good thing, then, that there have been several big-screen adventures over the years not related with heavyweights Marvel and DC. Here are 20 films to get your superhero fix right now.
‘Brightburn’ (2019)
“Guardians of the Galaxy” mastermind James Gunn produced this nasty piece of superhero terror that flips the Superman origin story. It centers on a young alien boy (Jackson A. Dunn) raised on a Midwestern farm who becomes a masked psychopath when his powers manifest.
‘Chronicle’ (2012)
The coming-of-age thriller marries superhero and found-footage genres, imagining what really would happen if youngsters got insane abilities. (Fighting crime? Not high on the list.) A pre”Black Panther” Michael B. Jordan, Dane DeHaan and Alex Russell are Seattle teens wrestling with the new responsibilities given to them by a crystal.
‘The Crow’ (1994)
A dark, grunge-era cult film known most infamously for 28-year-old star Brandon Lee’s accidental death during filming, “The Crow” – about a rock star who’s resurrected to avenge the murder of his beloved – is a stylish showcase that hints at what could have been for Bruce Lee’s talented son.
‘Darkman’ (1990)
Before Liam Neeson became a middle-aged action hero with “Taken” – and before director Sam Raimi took on Spider-Man – Neeson donned bandages as a scientist attacked and disfigured by a mobster but is bestowed cool abilities when an experiment goes awry.
‘Flash Gordon’ (1980)
Sorry, Tom Brady, you may be the
G.O.A.T. but you can’t save every one of us. That job goes to Flash (Sam Jones), New York Jets star quarterback and reluctant do-gooder who is swept off to the planet Mongo and battles Ming the Merciless (Max von Sydow) for the fate of Earth.
‘Hancock’ (2008)
Will Smith imagines the Man of Steel as a total alcoholic jerk giving no thought to wanton destruction and human collateral damage. His antihero John Hancock needs to get a PR guy (Jason Bateman) or else go to prison. He also discovers an intriguing connection with his new pal’s wife (Charlize Theron).
‘Hellboy’ (2004)
Last year’s reboot was a frustrating disaster, but the original movie directed by Guillermo del Toro is a fun and overthe-top adventure featuring a paranormal government agency and Ron Perlman in shaved-off horns and red makeup as a grumpy, muscular demon with a protective streak.
‘The Incredibles’ (2004)
The Parr family only seems normal – in fact, they’re all relatable superpowered folks dealing with their parenting issues and kid problems but also having to save a world that made heroes take off their masks.
‘Dredd’ (2012)
The 1995 “Judge Dredd” with Sylvester Stallone as the British comic-book top cop is atrocious. The dystopian action flick with Karl Urban as the no-nonsense Dredd is aces, however, as the Judge and a rookie officer (Olivia Thirlby) bring law and order to a drug-ridden 200-story tower filled with criminals.
‘Kick-Ass’ (2010)
A superhero-loving teen (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) doesn’t have any powers but decides to throw on a DIY supersuit and fight crime anyway, and finds out it’s bloody brutal and not as easy as it looks on a comic-book page. This one’s for anyone who ever wanted to see Nicolas Cage as a poor man’s Batman.
‘Megamind’ (2010)
The animated comedy stars Will Ferrell as the blue-skinned title megalomaniac and Brad Pitt is the oh-so-heroic Metro Man. Megamind defeats his square-jawed foe, creates a new hero to keep up the villainy, but a switcheroo occurs where Megamind discovers his own good-guy mojo.
‘Mystery Men’ (1999)
Avengers they are not. Ben Stiller is Mr. Furious, William H. Macy is The Shoveler, Janeane Garofalo is The Bowler and Hank Azaria is The Blue Raja in a comedy about a bunch of B-list misfit do-gooders who are literally the last people you’d expect to protect a place called Champion City.
‘My Super Ex-Girlfriend’ (2006)
You might have had some breakups but they probably didn’t involve a lover throwing a great white shark in your general direction. Luke Wilson is the normal dude who learns his new girlfriend (Uma Thurman) is a crazy powerful crusader with a nasty jealous streak and extreme vindictiveness.
‘RoboCop’ (1987)
Paul Verhoeven’s old-school ultraviolent dystopian sci-fi action film took on capitalistic ‘80s-era greed, the media and culture satire, all with Peter Weller wearing some super-sweet armor as a cyborg Detroit cop with all sorts of identity issues.
‘The Rocketeer’ (1991)
Billy Campbell’s the title stunt pilot, cocky but a bit oblivious, who dons a prototype jet pack and helmet along the way to becoming an accidental superhero. The Rocketeer juggles a longtime girlfriend (Jennifer Connelly), Nazi shenanigans and a Hollywood icon (Timothy Dalton) with a very punchable face.
‘The Shadow’ (1994)
Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? Alec Baldwin knows! He stars in the pulpy guilty pleasure as a wealthy American who becomes an international warlord, gets a lesson on how to harness his dark heart in heroic fashion and fights Genghis Khan’s descendant as a masked vigilante.
‘Sky High’ (2005)
The Disney superhero movie that
have had a sequel, the familyfriendly high school comedy paired Kurt Russell as the world’s strongest super man with Michael Angarano as his son, a student at a school for superpowered kids wishing his own extraordinary abilities would appear.
‘The Spirit’ (2008)
Will Eisner’s 1940s comic-strip hero gets a big-screen treatment dripping in noir. Gabriel Macht is the former cop killed on duty who’s reborn as a twofisted masked vigilante, Eva Mendes is his thieving childhood sweetheart, Scarlett Johansson is a sadistic femme fatale and Samuel L. Jackson is the villainously bonkers Octopus.
’Super’ (2010)
For those who thought James Gunn’s “Guardians of the Galaxy” was subversive, wait’ll you get a load of his earlier hero’s journey. Like “Kick-Ass” but with way more indie spirit, the violent black comedy stars Rainn Wilson as Crimson Bolt, a cook dressing up as a low-rent vigilante to get his wife back, and Ellen Page is his excitable sidekick.
‘Unbreakable’ (2000)
After his hit “The Sixth Sense,” M. Night Shyamalan crafted one of the best low-key superhero (and villain) origin stories ever with Bruce Willis as a stadium security guard who survives a disastrous train wreck without a scratch and Samuel L. Jackson as his fragile-boned, comic-obsessed frenemy.