55. Punisher: War Zone (Lexi Alexander, 2008)
The Thomas Jane reboot of Punisher, based on the Welcome Back Frank comics, was brilliant. Despite his good looks Jane played the character of Castle/Punisher perfectly but was never truly believable as a man who had lost everything. In this less successful sequel, Ray Stevenson gives his take on the role and proves much more realistic. Dominic West plays Jigsaw, a New York Wise Guy who was hideously maimed by Frank Castle in his full scale war on the mob. Seeking revenge on The Punisher, Jigsaw has his psychotic brother discharged from maximum security mental institute to help get revenge on New York Citys finest vigilante. West plays a fine part as the hideous Jigsaw, but is a little too hammy for his own good. Stevens would be an excellent choice to bring back for a third film but is probably unlikely to appear in any future Avengers cameo, if the Punisher ever gets one that is.
54. Spider-Man 3 (Sam Raimi, 2007)
Sam Raimis Spidey trilogy came to an abrupt end with this lackluster effort featuring not one, not two but three evil doers in the form of Sandman (brilliant), Green Goblin II (meh) and Venom (wasted). When a bizarre black substance crash lands on Earth it bonds with our friendly neighbourhood Spiderman but quickly brings out his dark side. Now, by darkside what we actually mean is Peter Parker gets a little mardy and has an emo haircut. He struts down the street and acts like a prick a tiny bit. Imagine Toby Maguire if he was the school bully - laughable right? The black ooze quickly finds a new host in the form of Archie-esque bad boy Eddie Brock whos own personality better suits that of the symbiote. Becoming Venom, Brock sets out to destroy Parker/Spiderman resulting in the iconic battle scene that takes place within a bell tower. Youll have to watch it to see what were talking about, or alternatively get a copy of the animated series which tells the same tale. The Spider-Man trilogy changed comic book movies for ever but unfortunately, as far as endings go, despite being great fun Spider-Man 3 was a massive anticlimax.
53. The Losers (Sylvain White, 2010)
Were you disappointed by The Expendables? Why not give this adaptation of Vertigos hilarious action comic a try instead? Telling the story of a group of ex-CIA agents who, after being betrayed and left for dead, go rogue to root out the man who betrayed them and take him down. This is a classic revenge action thriller that never takes itself too seriously - not even a little bit. Some fantastic comedic lines, high impact action sequences, foul language and gorgeous women fill the screen for the full 97 minutes running time. This is a fun movie that outshines Expendables on every level. It was met with poor reviews but has found relative success on DVD and the comparisons to classic A Team have only been beneficial. If you watch one Jeffrey Dean Morgan comic book movie then make it Watchmen. If you watch two, then The Losers is a safe bet.
52. Supergirl (Jeannot Szwarc, 1984)
Superman was a pretty successful film so why not start a second franchise to run alongside it? Supergirl would appeal to the female demographic that was tired of going to see films about male superheroes with their boyfriends - sadly only 1 movie was ever made and with Helen Slater in the starring role it was only ever going to appeal to the gents. The plot - what little there actually is - revolves around Supermans sexy cousin coming to Earth to retrieve a missing orb. Of course the quest for the orb was never going to be easy as Lady Supes soon finds out in her battles with the villain of the piece, Faye Dunaway. The film received several key edits when it was released which had an adverse impact on its run at the box office. These scenes have now been restored after years of complaining by fans and the DVD is enjoying great success. No sequel followed but the character returned for the Smallville TV series decades later.
51. X-Men: The Last Stand (Brett Ratner, 2006)
Battle lines are finally drawn in this second sequel to the highly successful X-Men movie, when a cure is found that can treat mutations and cure the infected. The big problem with X3 was the lack of Bryan Singer. That being said Brett Ratner does an admirable job although the finished film split fans down the middle. Some criticised his casting choices (Vinnie Jones is awesome, dont believe the critics!) and the lack of key characters while others loved where he went especially the tease of the Sentinels in the opening sequence. Its fair to say that the film deviates quite a lot from the original source material as well as the animated series, but is a fantastic action movie that will keep you entertained provided youre not an anal retentive fan boy (like me). Had Ratner stuck closer to the original story arc this would have been the greatest film in the trilogy but unfortunately X3 spelled the end for the X-Men. Well, until First Class at least.