100 Greatest Comic Book Films Of All Time

80. Batman Forever (Joel Schumacher, 1995)

The second nod to the old Batman franchise sees the Dark Knight battle both Jim Carrey€™s Riddler and Tommy Lee Jones€™ Two-Face in this camp as cheese but thoroughly enjoyable sequel to Tim Burton€™s dark 1989 and 1992 efforts. Joining Val Kilmer€™s Bruce Wayne is Chris O€™Donnell as the arrogant Dick Grayson, aka Robin, whose character adds absolutely nothing to the film In fact Christian Bale was said to have threatened to quit the current trilogy if any mention of the boy blunder was ever made. Jim Carey is suitably over the top in his performance as Edward Nygma/The Riddler and Tommy Lee is also fine although his character is played completely for laughs also, removing any straight man from the equation which is detrimental to the feeling of Batman being in any real peril throughout. Sadly this film began the downward spiral of the entire Batman franchise ending with the aforementioned Batman and Robin. Bizarely the films director has gone on record as saying he feels no one has ever played Batman/Bruce quite so well as Val - a bold statement if ever there was one.

79. Dick Tracy (Warren Beaty, 1990)

Massively successful noir style adaptation of the classic Chester Gould comic strip. Warren Beaty produced, directed and starred in this classic gangster tale of one rogue detective out to defeat the entire mob. And not just any mob. A mob consisting of some of the most bizarre characters you€™re ever likely to see including Mumbles, a man who literally mumbles every syllable, Flattop, who€™s head is as flat as an anvil, and Pruneface who€™s face resembles ... well, you get the idea. Al Pacino, Madonna, Dustin Hoffman and James Caan all lend themselves to these oddball mobster caricatures. A sequel was planned but a disagreement over the rights put an end to that. This is the film that Sin City would have been had it been made 20 years earlier, so imagine how good Dick Tracy could be today.

78. X-Men Origins: Wolverine (Gavin Hood, 2009)

If I could be any character in the Marvel Universe I€™d have to be Wolverine. I don€™t think I€™m alone when I say that the mutton chopped mutant has some of the best abilities of any comic book character. Don€™t get me wrong, Wolverine isn€™t my favourite by any stretch but I can€™t help but covet his accelerated healing powers. And how awesome would it be to have an adamantium skeleton? On screen the X-Men franchise has been rather hit and miss all along and X-MOW is no exception. It has some really good moments but they are buffered between fanboy goading inaccuracies and out right rubbish. The special effects are poor, the dialogue would be better described as DIRE-logue and there are moments of sheer stupidity that really bring the film down. Still, if you love Wolverine then you€™ll love this. The screen-time ol€™ Logan gets is worth putting up with the rest of the drivel. Here€™s hoping the sequel/reboot can actually get things right.

77. Time Cop (Peter Hyams, 1994)

How many of you thought there€™d be a Jean-Claude Van Damme movie featured in this list? If I can possibly find a way to sneak JCVD into a feature then you can bet the house that he€™ll appear. Now, not many people remember that Time Cop was actually featured in a Dark Horse anthology back in the day and was written drawn by Chris Warner (AVP). Even fewer people actually care, but they should. Time Cop is an excellent sci-fi action epic about a U.S. Federal Agent in an alternate reality 1990€™s America who is charged with policing time travel which is being used criminally by corrupt cops and general wrongdoers. Time Cop was arguably Van Damme€™s most successful film both critically and financially, at a time where he was a regular fixture in the cinemas rather than the bargain bin of your local Poundland. A reboot has been announced by Universal which is the most exciting news in the history of Hollywood. Sadly, this is Jean-Claude€™s only entry on this list.

76. Popeye (Robert Altman, 1980)

Based on E C Segar€™s Thimble Theatre comic strip, Robert Altman€™s 1980 musical starring Robin Williams grossed almost 3 times its budget upon its release at the cinema making it a hugely successful film at the time but was critically panned for the most part given its hectic and often bizarre plot. Starring the hairiest man on the planet (c) Robin Williams as the bumbling sailor man who experiences super strength whenever he eats his spinach in a classic Popeye story in which he must battle the devilish Bluto to win the heart of his beloved Olive - a real case of beauty being in the eye of the beholder! Some catchy songs and laugh out loud moments make this a fun film for all the family.
 
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Master of Quack-Fu. Fishfinger Sandwich aficionado. Troll Hunter.