100 Greatest Comic Book Movies Of All Time
67. Hulk
Ang Lee’s Hulk lies in that weird muddle of pre-MCU Marvel movies that weren’t X-Men or Spider-Man, alongside the likes of Daredevil, Elektra, and The Punisher, but it deserves better than its reputation suggests.
Sure, the CGI leaves something to be desired, and it feels VERY long, but Lee deserves praise for trying to do something more ambitious than what much of the genre was at the time. He actually deviated from the formula and played around with tone, taking a thoughtful, introspective look at the duality of the titular character.
It’s not just about HULK SMASH, but actually trying to get to the complexities of the green ‘monster’, and even if it doesn’t fully work, the ambition and effort should be appreciated more than it is, especially compared to 2008’s lacklustre The Incredible Hulk.
[JH]
66. Atomic Blonde
Before he made Deadpool 2 even better than the original, David Leitch left Chad Stahelski to direct the John Wick sequel alone to take on another uber-violent one-person-army story in the shape of spy thriller Atomic Blonde. He took charge of a resurgent Charlize Theron who plays an agent working in the days before the fall of the Berlin Wall.
The action is - as is to be expected - absolutely unreal, with particularly great work in the fight sequences and the narrative is complex but rewarding. Theron stands out in just the same way Keanu Reeves did as Wick, too, which makes sense, given how great she usually is.
[SG]
65. The Amazing Spider-Man
Though its sequel would kill the franchise (again) and lead to the character joining the MCU, the first movie in Sony’s first Spidey reboot series actually showed some real promise.
The storyline was undercooked and the Lizard was an underwhelming villain, but where this movie really shone was with Andrew Garfield’s web-slinger and Emma Stone’s Gwen Stacy. The pair have a great, authentic chemistry that elevates all around them, and Garfield, in particular, seems to have a great grasp of what his character should be, nailing his sense of humour but not losing the deeper aspects in the process.
It may live up to its title, but it’s at least The Actually Pretty Decent Spider-Man.
[JH]