20 Best Superhero Movies Since The Dark Knight

2. Kick-Ass

This darkly comedic satire of superhero flicks, which brilliantly mixes hilarious parody with a genuinely heartfelt tribute to the power of superhero stories, might've only been made for $30 million, but thanks to the sheer brilliance of pretty much every individual element of the film it managed to trounce nearly all of its big budget counterparts.

If Bong Joon-ho ever made a superhero film, it would probably look like Kick-Ass; the mixture of different themes, moods and tones throughout the entirety of this picture is absolutely remarkable.

Kick-Ass is dark, it's brutal, it's offensive, it's incredibly thrilling, it's hysterically funny and at times it's even startlingly beautiful. It's a bizarre tonal mixture, but thanks to Matthew Vaughn and Jane Goldman's masterful screenplay, it works seamlessly. For all the different emotions Kick-Ass makes you feel, the main one will be a sense of euphoria.

It's also got note-perfect direction from Vaughn, an electrifying soundtrack, several of the best scenes in the history of the genre and five absolutely fantastic performances from Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Mark Strong, Nicolas Cage, Christopher Mintz-Plasse and most of all, Chloe Grace Moretz. Her career since this film has been disappointingly hit-or-miss, but her turn in Kick-Ass remains one of cinema's best child actor performances.

It's a shame the 2013 sequel wasn't better, but while its provocative content won't be to all tastes, Kick-Ass remains one of the best superhero movies ever made.