100 Greatest Comic Book Films Of All Time

90. Sabrina The Teenage Witch (Tibor Takacs, 1996)

Forget Harry Potter and his stupid haircut and obnoxious pre-pubescent chums, when I think of young practitioners of sorcery I think of Melissa Joan Hart as Sabrina the Teenage Witch. The former Clarissa Explains It All star appears as your every day teenage girl who wakes up on the morning of her 16th birthday to find she has become a witch in this TV movie that foreshadowed a lengthy, irritating television series that€™s only real highlight was Salem the talking cat. Based on a character from the Archie Comics universe, Sabrina is your typical teen with powers movie but in this case is actually pretty well made and even a little bit funny. Salem the Cat steals most of the best lines and at 20 the film€™s star was a little too womanly for the role of a 15/16 year old which certainly helped hold the interest of the men in the audience.

89. Superman Returns (Bryan Singer, 2006)

Bryan Singer skipped directorial duty on X-Men 3 to make this camp, saccharine entry in the Superman series which is more memorable for the hammy performances of its stars (including Kevin Spacey€™s wig) than anything else. If one were to look at the film subjectively it was well received by most fans and critics alike and gained plaudits for its writing. Fans were likely just happy to finally see the Man of Steel back on the big screen after so many years in developmental Hell, but after seeing how good the story could be done on Warner Brother€™s hit series Smallville, Superman Returns just felt too corny. Christopher Reeve is always going to be a tough act to follow, but, as Tom Welling has shown, it can be done. Brandon Routh though fails to portray this character convincingly and would only come into his own in more comedic roles later in his career.

88. Blade Trinity (Stephen S Goyer, 2005)

The first entry in this list for the Blade Trilogy is easily the weakest but not so weak as to fall in to the bottom 10. Centered around a group of vampires searching for the original (Dracula) who they believe will be able to destroy the €˜day walker€™ once and for all and thus enslave humanity like the cattle we are. Ryan Reynold€™s performance truely saves this movie. His portrayal of loudmouthed, smart ass King is a real precursor to his (albeit) brief role as Deadpool in the Wolverine Origins movie. Wesley Snipes is suitably over the top as always but is cool enough to get away with it, while COO of WWE Triple H hams it up big time as a vampire heel who loves puppies. Many consider this a terrible ending to a brilliant franchise but the film is simply a victim of poor editing. A superior conclusion was cut before the film hit cinemas which fades out with our eponymous hero about to tear out the jugular of a pretty young nurse and drink her blood. Instead we get the cheap payoff with Blade embracing his humanity and refusing to turn to the dark side. Great as part of a trilogy only.

87. Elektra (Rob Bowman, 2005)

I€™ve never been a fan of the Elektra character, especially on our screens since she had the God awful playground rumble with Ben Affleck in Daredevil. That just kind of sealed her fate as far as I was concerned. I also remember her dying at the end of that movie. But this is Hollywood, and it€™s a comic book movie so of course she can be resurrected quite easily. In this case it€™s by a mysterious martial arts master played by Terrence Stamp, who teaches her some mad ninja skills that allow her to become a top assassin. Unfortunately for Elektra she falls foul of a ninja crime syndicate known as The Hand (not to be confused with The Foot) and finds herself no longer the hunter but rather the hunted. Exciting stuff, no? Critically panned and the least successful Marvel film since Howard the Duck, Elektra went on to be named in the list of the 100 worst movies of all time.

86. Ghost Rider (Mark Steven Johnson, 2007)

Nicholas Cage spent years and years trying to realise his dream of bringing his favourite comic book to the big screen, Superman. When the calling to play the Man of Steel was never realised, many believe he shouldn€™t have bothered looking at alternatives. Directed by the same man that brought us Daredevil, and based on the comic of the same name, Ghost Rider is the tale of Johnny Blaze, a fearless stunt motorcyclist who sells his soul to the Devil in exchange for a cure for his father€™s cancer. The cancer is indeed cured but Johnny€™s dad dies the next day in a motorcycle accident. Believing the Devil to have reneged on their deal, Blaze becomes the vengeful Ghost Rider, a leather clad biker with a flaming skull for a head. Stuck in limbo for almost a decade, Ghost Rider, originally slated to star Johnny Depp, was a typically dark adaptation for one of Marvel€™s less PC heroes. That being said it is a fun, in your face, popcorn movie that doesn€™t take itself seriously. Granted, it strays far from the source material but this has often been explained away as trying to make the character more relatable. Why not judge for yourself?
 
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