Superman: Worst to Best
7. Superman IV: The Quest for PeaceJust like Batman and Robin is the worst of the Batman movies, that I've seen, Superman IV: The Quest for Peace is definitely the worst of the Superman movies. There is no equal. It's too bad Christopher Reeve had to end his run on such a disappointing note. Especially since he is the best Superman. But the thing is, nor he or anyone else in the film is interested in this. Gene Hackman comes back after his mysterious disappearance in the third film, but he seems to have lost the greatness he had in the first two films. I would give you the plot, but there is no plot. It couldn't have taken more than an hour to come up with, because it's so stupid that a five year old could come up with it. Superman is getting rid of all the nuclear missiles on Earth, but while doing so, he must compete with a super powered punk rocker. His real name is Nuclear Man, but that's an even dumber name for the character. He is the laziest villain ever created. His powers include retractable nails for some reason. Really, retractable nails? You know what else is missing other than the creativity? The budget. In the first film, the tagline was "You'll believe a man could fly." The effects in one and two were great, for its time, but after that, they progressively get worse and worse to the point where that statement is misleading. There was supposed to be a fifth Superman adventure, but because of the awful response this one got, it never saw the light of day. We wouldn't get another Superman film for nineteen years.
Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you the film that started the fall of the Man of Steel's original series. There is one good thing about this film, but I'll wait to divulge that information. Let's start with the bad. One of the bad things about this are the villains. Gene Hackman supposedly didn't want to return for the third adventure so we end up with a villain trio that is just plain stupid. They're basically Lex Luthor knockoffs. They also create kryptonite that doesn't weaken Superman, instead it just transforms him into a jerk. The thing is though, that bad side of Superman only lasts for about twenty-five minutes. The main focus of the plot is Superman going evil, but that doesn't show up until it's past the hallway mark. A lot of unexplained nonsense goes on and for some reason a lady turns into a goofy cyborg for absolutely no reason whatsoever. Another bizarre thing about the film is Richard Pryor as his character, Gus. He was likeable and nice to root for at times, but at other times, he seems to be this character who wasn't really needed in the story. He also apparently has superpowers, because nobody falls off a building, with skis, and lands on his feet. Even if he did, his legs would've shattered and he would've died. But like the other points of the film, common sense is ignored. There's one saving grace for the film. The Good Clark Kent versus Evil Superman fight was great, although now that I reflect on it, it seems kinda lamer than I make it out to be in reality. Another problem that I have with the film is all the unfunny slapstick jokes. There's a lot a problems with the film that, while it may not be at the bottom, it's still a bad film.
In a lot of Superman rankings I've seen, Superman II is at the top of the list. Superman II is a good movie and it is better than its two following sequels, but I just find a lot of story flaws with this film. Like how does Clark manage to get his powers back after his mother specifically stated that once he does, there's no going back? Nobody knows. The script just says so. If he was just gonna get them back, why do it in the first place? The three villain scenario is alright and while I enjoy Terrance Stamp's portrayal as General Zod, I prefer Michael Shannon's portrayal of the character in Man of Steel. That doesn't mean I don't enjoy Terrance Stamp's take on him, I mean who doesn't love the "Kneel before Zod" line? The character is just given more depth to him in Man of Steel. While I think Margot Kidder is likely the best Lois Lane in the Superman run, the romance between her and Clark is corny, to put it bluntly. So many cheesy lines are said and it makes me cringe at points. Lois Lane may have successfully figured out Superman's identity, but it took her a while to do that. The action is great, but when Superman and the Krypton escapees fight each other, it's less exciting. In fact, you can see the punches going in slow-motion and they can just dodge each others kicks and punches. It's like The Matrix. Aside from a few of those problems, it's an enjoyable followup to the original with a more broader scale. Gene Hackman is back as Lex and he delivers that same good energy, before it would go away in Superman IV. Both sets of Kal-El have great moments in the film and great messages are heavily prominent. Though the film did do something that people seem to have forgotten which I'll touch on later down the line. All in all, good movie.
As we get higher and higher, the more these movies get less and less bad and now we're at the point where the Superman films don't have a lot of issues. There are only three problems I hold this movie to. First off, it's just plain boring. Sure it starts out good, but after the plane rescue scene, it just heads towards the boring area, until the near end of the movie. You can tell certain things were there just to justify its two hour and thirty-four minute runtime. I read a review of the movie that said you can put this movie on and easily fall asleep to it and that statement is ninety-nine percent true. It just didn't work on me. The second problem this movie has is that it makes Superman out to be a creepy stalker who knows very little about the meaning of privacy. It's really bothersome to see that, in a Superman film no less. The third and final problem for me is the continuity. It's been said that this film ignores the events of Superman III and IV and has it take place after Superman II. You can tell director Bryan Singer, notable for making the good X-Men films, was heavily influenced by the original series and it shows. Brandon Routh definitely looked the part, but he seems lifeless at points. Him and the rest of the cast do a great job, but because this film is supposed to be the continuation of II, where the characters were played by different actors, it's hard to connect and care about them. Although, that scene where Superman is getting beaten up by Lex and his goons still makes me tear up a bit. The plot took an interesting direction by having a son of Clark and Lois, which hasn't been done before, to my knowledge, but that storyline is dropped and never mentioned again. I didn't believe that Lois's finance, Richard White was her real finance because Lois was always going off to talk with Superman. Speaking of Bryan Singer and X-Men, James Marsden, who portrays Cyclops and Richard White, once again loses the girl he's liking to a super powered individual. First Wolverine, now Superman. I know I made it seem like it was a lot of problems, but there's a lot of great things about this film to combat the negative. Kevin Spacey makes a great Lex Luthor. He's much more crazier and wilder with his performance than Gene Hackman was, although his "evil plan" in the film was ridiculous. When there was action, it was spectacular. Especially the plane catch. There's also a great theme about whether the world needs Superman or not. Everything is done well and Singer managed to make a great Superman film.
3. Batman v Superman: Dawn of JusticeMan o man is this an interesting situation we have here. Because this is both a Batman and Superman film, you can have this in different spots when ranking the two different characters. While I can't do a Batman ranking right now, in my Superman ranking this gets the number three spot. The way I decided where to place this is judge it on how well the Superman part is. While I liked this film better than Man of Steel, part of that is because of Batman's part, so I can't include him in this kind of situation. But it still got fairly high and as you can see, the three spot isn't too bad. In a film called Batman v Superman, I didn't find the Superman part to be as exciting compared to Batman, Superman didn't have a lot presence in the film. He felt mistreated in the title fight. Batman had a lot of the advantage with little hits from Superman in between. So because of that, this film get penalized. But I loved the storyline. It builds upon the climax of Man of Steel with the public deciding what to do with Superman and if he should be treated as a threat or not. I was really nervous about Jessie Eisenberg being cast as Lex Luthor. At the time, I thought that he would've been a better Riddler than as Lex, but as soon as I saw his performance, I was blown away. Remember how I said in the Superman Returns section that Kevin Spacey's Lex is a bit crazier and more wacky. Eisenberg takes that wacky all the way up to an eleven. His performance takes what Hackman did before and grounds it more into reality. Yes, I used that word in a world where people can fly. I thought some of the Justice League cameos were a bit underwhelming, save one, and Wonder Woman was awesome in every sense of the word. I'm having a hard time believing that this film was flogged by critics with the film getting a 27% on the critic site, Rotten Tomatoes. I believe the film is better than the score suggests, but hey, that's my opinion.
2. Superman The Movie (1978)Oh yes I did. Originally this was at the number one spot, but at the last minute, I switched it. I had a feeling that I enjoyed Man of Steel better than the 1978 original. Don't get me wrong, it's a pretty darn good movie. Christopher Reeve is the best portrayal of the red-caped boy scout and will always have a place in me heart when it comes to superhero portrayals. It's just that the effects are quite dated, the campiness is often times too much, and the plot tends to slog along. As previously stated on some other post, I stated that I appreciate and respect what the filmmakers were able to accomplish back in the day. I still do, but it doesn't mean I'm gonna award it the top spot. There are cheesy lines spoken by the characters that bring it a bit down for me. Other than the plot slowing down for quite a bit, Lex Luthor's plot is threatening. I feel like the origin story is rushed, which is part of the reason why Man of Steel is higher than this. If this is the first Superman film and if I had no prior knowledge of the character, I would've found it a little bit off, because certain elements of the plot are rushed in the beginning. But these are all minor problems because it's just so darn good. I love the score. Easily one of the best scores of all time. Unlike Batman, whose score is tied between Danny Elfman's or Hans Zimmer's for me, the definitive score for Superman is John Williams iconic theme. I don't know how he didn't win the Oscar for this, it's ridiculous. Another Oscar snub, which is not uncommon, at least in my opinion. It's just so darn good. Everything came together to make one heck of a great Superman film.
For me, I would liken Man of Steel to another spectacular DC origin story, and that is Batman Begins. Just like Batman was given a wonderful origin story, Superman also got his eight years later. My statement is further cemented, because Christopher Nolan was a producer on the film. Some of you say that's a copout, I say it helps. While not the best Superman performance, Henry Cavil is more identifiable and is given more emotional depth. It's less black and white than how Reeve was. He doesn't just wear the cape and start saving people, instead he needs to learn and grow and start getting the hang of things. Whenever I see Christopher Reeve's films, he didn't have much in the way of personal problems, however with Cavil, we get to see that with the character and it's much more relateable. It's a bit bizarre having Amy Adams as Lois Lane, because of the age difference between the two actors. I really enjoyed the extended time we had on Krypton. It gives us more time to see Jor-El's relationship with Zod. I'm sorry, General Zod. While the look of Krypton is a tad bit unusual, it's definitely a lot better than an Antartica knockoff. Michael Shannon is a better Zod and he has much more of a personality. I see a lot of criticisms with this film. One of which includes too much action. I do feel that there's unnecessary explosions, which make me think Michael Bay directed this, but I think it's better than any of the action seen in the Superman films before. I mentioned when I talked Superman II that I had something I was gonna share and here it is. Another criticism I find, with Man of Steel, is how Superman is forced to kill Zod by way of a neck snap. First off, did you see Superman II? He kills all three of them. I think Lois punches one of a cliff. Why is it Superman II gets praised as being the best, yet Man of Steel is criticized as being some of the worst, when the two have a few things in common? Second off, at least Cavil's Superman felt the pain and anguish of doing it, whereas Reeve had the expressions of "Well now that that's over, let's call it a day." He didn't feel sorry at all. Back to the cast. Russell Crowe and Kevin Costner served as great father figures for Clark, though I must say that I liked Costner a bit more than Crowe. He seemed more supportive of Clark to me. I liked Lawrence Fishburne as Perry White. It's certainly a refreshing change of pace given all the previous actors that have portrayed the character. The camera movements are very aggressive thanks to Zack Snyder, but that's a small gripe considering his ability to direct the heck out of an action sequence. It's very impressive. At points, the CGI is msssy and doesn't look like it's fully rendered yet. Again, small gripe. He certainly made a lot of ambitious decisions which did pay off for him.
So that's my ranking of the Superman films. What did you think? Should I have included Batman v Superman in this ranking? What did you think of what I chose for the top spot? Would you have picked a different number one? Write those answers down in the comments section below as well as what you would like to see me rank next. Thanks for reading, I'm the Film Fanatic, bye-bye.
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