2. The Dark Knight
The Dark Knight is not only one of the best comic book movies ever, but also one of the best movies of the decade in which it was released. Everything that makes Christopher Nolan such a unique talent is on display here. The plot is airtight with every event being something that benefits the story and, of course, the performances being the major highlight since Nolan allows them free reign. It is an extremely difficult task to fully explore the entire idea of a specific superhero in one movie but The Dark Knight accomplishes that with significant aplomb in its exploration of Batman and his motives. It goes without saying that The Joker is, simply put, the gold standard through which all comic book villains are judged now and Heath Ledger's performance gives the audience a visceral portrait of madness reminiscent of A Clockwork Orange's charming psychopath Alex DeLarge. The Dark Knight is basically a how to guide when trying to make the perfect superhero film and, unfortunately, it doesn't appear that any other superhero will ever top it or come anywhere near close anytime soon or quite possibly ever again.