10. American Splendor (Shari Springer Berman, 2003)
For most a list compiling the top 10 comic book movies would not include something as unusual as American Splendor, but here at WhatCulture! we want to open your eyes to a world of comic book movies outside the realm of superhuman and superheroes. If ever a comic book movie was as far removed from the idea of comics then it has to be American Splendor, the biographical dramedy chronicling the life of the grumpiest bastard in all of comics; Hervey Pekar. Pekar is a larger than life everyman who decides to start turning the every day events of his mundane life into a comic book. Unfortunately for Pekar he cant draw to save his life so he begins to find other artists to turn his stick drawings into actual comic panels. Taking on the role of Harvey is Paul Giamatti, an actor who gives off the perfect levels of miserableness as to bring Pekar to life. You will not be able to take your eyes off the screen as Giamatti and Pekar. It is just a shame that a film this good, which transcends the genre, isnt more highly regarded or more widely known. Do yourself a favour, find it on DVD and watch it now. Then buy the comics. You wont be sorry.
09. Oldboy (Chan-wook Park, 2003)
One night, for no obvious reason, a 25 year old man is kidnapped and thrown into a room with no windows and no company, except for a television set, for a decade and a half. Then without explanation he wakes up on a rooftop dressed in a suit. But how did he get there? And who set him free? And what was the motive behind his ordeal? Oldboy is not at all what I expected. Having never read the original Manga by Garon Tsuchiya I was expecting an all out, psychological thriller with some rent-a-crazy in the main role. But the beauty in Oldboy is the films protagonist - Oh Dae-su - is a regular guy with no real physical presence. He is simply very pissed off and eager to find out exactly why hes been held captive for so long. A bonafide classic for the last decade, and voted one of the 10 best Asian films of all time by CNN, Oldboy is finally getting a Hollywood reimagining (sigh) at the hands of Spike Lee. Whether the US remake will be able to capture any of the depth and emotion that the original evokes remains to be seen. Lets just hope they dont cast some bad ass action star in the main role.
08. Scott Pilgrim vs The World (Edgar Wright, 2010)
The premise of Scott Pilgrim vs. The World is really very simple. After falling in love with a mysterious young woman named Ramona, Scott Pilgrim must prove his love by defeating seven of her evil ex-boyfriends. What guy reading this cant relate to that? Youre girlfriend still happens to be friends with her exes and you just want them to spontaneously combust on the spot. Shes your woman, damnit, hands off! Well, thats one way to look at it. A more romantic view would be that true love conquers all or that everyone has a past. You just have to get over it. Or maybe its a combination of them all? True love conquers all, even the past especially when it spontaneously combusts in front of your very eyes. Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World is as much a video game come to life as it is a comic book come to life. It is an impossible story set in a world where everyone has mad ninja skills and people explode into coins when you beat them up. It is a world that no one else could have brought to life on screen. Edgar Wright, the bespectacled brain behind Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz and Spaced is absolutely the right choice, and with Bryan Lee OMalley (@radiomaru) on hand throughout this was only ever going to be a perfect translation of the Oni Press original comics. It is also refreshing to see Wright perform at such a high level without the involvement of either of his usual collaborators Nick Frost or Simon Pegg.
07. Ghost World (Terry Zwigoff, 2001)
Daniel Clowes original comic book was a massive cult hit. It was inevitable that it would be adapted for cinema viewers, its just fortunate that it fell into the hands of Terry Zwigoff, probably the only guy in Hollywood weird enough to get it, without doing too much damage. Enid (Thora Birch) and Rebecca (Scarlett Johansson) are social outsiders who, after graduating from high school, play a prank on a middle-aged loner played by Steve Buscemi. After initially thinking the man pathetic Enid begins a strange, one-sided friendship with him in an attempt to find him a fate. When he eventually finds someone that makes him happy she grows jealous and begins an affair, ruining the guys only real shot at happiness outside of his Jazz record collection. Very little has changed between the Clowes comic and the Zwigoff movie. t is a fascinating insight into the life of a selfish, deceitful, smug teenage girl who is so busy ruining other people lives that she fails to see that her own life is going nowhere. Dont be put off by the snails pace narrative. Ghost World is another example of a genre movie that transcends its own limitations, opening itself up to a much broader audience.
06. Thor (Kenneth Branagh, 2011)
Thor has everything you could wish for as a fan: mythology, stunning visuals, great cast, genuine laugh out loud moments and high impact action. In fact, Thor ranks right up there with Iron Man as a fantastic superhero origin movie. The film begins in 965 AD with Odin, King of Asgard, waging war on the hideous Frost Giants who look like a cross between the Beelzeboss and the Djinn from Wishmaster to protect the fabled 9 realms which includes our very own small blue planet. Cut to the present day and an aging Odin is about to name his eldest son Thor (Home & Aways Chris Hemsworth) as successor to his throne. However, the centuries old truce between Asgard and the Frost Giants has been broken and a moment of revenge fueled madness will cost the titular hero his birth right and see him banished to Earth forever, which translates as about an hour in Hollywood. Ive always thought of Thor as a boring character so had low expectations of this movie. Casting an ex-Home and Away star in the lead role and hiring a director more traditionally known for his Shakespearean tendencies shouldnt have worked as well as it did so kudos to Marvel for proving me wrong and my hats off to Kenneth Branagh. Marvel Studios 2011 Thor movie is bloody brilliant.