100 Greatest Comic Book Movies Of All Time
43. The Mask
Another "That was a comic book?!" entry, The Mask is better known as a vehicle for Jim Carrey to showcase his face-melding techniques to the masses.
Carrey's Stanley Ipkiss/The Mask combo is low-key one of the best comic book castings in history; a live action version of something that should've only worked through exaggerated chin lines and widened eyes on the page. Thankfully, it's not just The Jim Carrey Show out of costume, as great CG work accentuates his performance, underpinning all of the mysterious mask's abilities with an air of true demonic power.
Our new-age appreciation for comic book visuals and crossover mentalities makes this essential viewing too. Carrey was cast in his prime, and to this day there's nothing quite like watching this in motion.
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42. Kingsman
Eggsy and the tale of the secret spy gentlemen that look after the world wearing Really Nice Suits in true James Bond fashion is perfectly ridiculous. Taking its premise with a pinch of salt and delivering intense, violent actions sequences alongside princesses with proclivities for anal sex, Kingsman is the ultimate spoof on the classic spy movie that takes cliches and turns them inside out.
With names like Samuel L. Jackson and Colin Firth attached it was always going to be a hit, but Kingsman’s clever commentary is where it really shines. That, and the church sequence, which is one of the best put together fight scenes you can find in an action movie. It’s Firth doing people in with an umbrella, what more could you want?
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41. Batman Forever
It feels like it's fashionable to hate Batman Forever, but it's nowhere near the disaster it's supposed to be. Okay, so it's nowhere near as good as Batman Returns, which is a problem when it was envisioned as the film to "rescue" the franchise in commercial terms, but it's a fun blockbuster that is of its time and which is far more enjoyable than anything Batman-related post-Nolan.
The casting is great (even though Tommy Lee Jones is a little too Joker) and Jim Carrey's Riddler in particular is a complete joy. Over the years, Joel Schumacher's creative decisions have attracted derision, but there's no Batman movie that is more purely popcorn than this and that spirit is actually something to be lamented.
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