Batman V Superman: Ranking Every Movie From Worst To Best

4. Superman: The Movie

There's a group of people who readily dismisses Superman: The Movie, undercutting its status as the first big budget superhero to label it merely a legacy film; good for the time and certainly impactful, but hardly holding up by today's standards. I call this group "People who haven't seen Superman: The Movie". It's a superhero movie blueprint, with a deft mixture of serious drama, thrilling action and a lighthearted comedy leading to something that is at once faithful to the comics (all the key Superman origin beats are hit perfectly) and sufficient as a movie by itself. That does mean it has the quirks of late-seventies cinema, sure (although that's toned down by John Williams' timeless score), but the earnesty of the project carries it. From the epic destruction of Krypton to a young Clark Kent reflecting on his place in the world on a Kansas farm, the film looks incredible; with ground-breaking special effects helped along by thoughtful cinematography, it always feel real. Above all though, Christopher Reeve is the perfect Superman - powerful, righteous, but still fallible in costume - and an even better Clark Kent; with his sheepish posture and dorky manner, he really sells the oft-mocked glasses disguise. No casting of either Bats or Supes has been more perfect. The only major misstep is the ending - Superman travels back in time to save Lois Lane. Now I like the idea behind this - it captures the conflict between Superman's two fathers perfectly - but its execution (as with the death of Zod in Man Of Steel, which had interesting motivations but was butchered by poor realisation) doesn't work; does Superman travel faster than light to go back or does he simply reverse the Earth? Neither makes sense with what is shown, leaving the ending of an otherwise great film a bit flat.