part deux...

Superman
Spiderman 1 & 2
X-Men and X2
The Crow
Batman 2

Hon Mentions- (Guilty Pleasures)
Condorman
Batman
Hellboy
The Incredibles (A superhero movie, yes, but it is still animated. I was reserving my opinion for "Live Action" flicks.
Blade 1 and 2

Can't wait to see:
Constantine
Batman Begins
FF (Ehhh, I'll give it a shot, but the "Thing" looks like a cookie.)

Superhero movie popularity runs in cycles. Just like all pop movie phenomena, you need to watch the waves and see what currently makes a "hit", and what type of genre film is signalling the "Death" of that current genre. I present you with the period between 1978 to 1981 (The early Superman Years), 1989 to 1992 (The early Batman Years), and now, 2000 to present. (Or, X-men to present)

When I first saw Superman, that soundtrack stuck w/me for months. I would hum it under my breath whilst furiously pedalling my big wheel. (Again, Star Wars was my 1st hummable movie theme...but this is superhero jive, fankids.) Next up we see the "Marvel Knock-offs", Spiderman (Starring "Rolf" from Sound of Music)...although I really dug the Spidey TV series (And his special appearances on "Electric Company") because..come on- He actually fought ninjas. And he had a cool costume. (But, dude had a spare tire. So whatev.)

Marvel could never quite keep the pace that DC maintained, and most of their attempts (Spidey, and do you remember the motorcycle-ridin/helmet wearin' Captain America? Reb Brown, btw.) on syndicated TV were never met with the popularity of the big blue gun, Superman. However, the death of a franchise can signal the birth of a different franchise, which means to say that Hollywood likes to maintain control over the publics tastes- How do they do that? With the dreaded sequel....the worst supervillain evah! Supes 2 kinda jumped the shark, and 3/4 were just turrible. After Batman (89), Batman Returns made a boo-boo by introducing multiple bad-guys to the story arc. (Which only works if it is a team of super-villains.)

And so, 1992 ended the last age of SH flix (It did give us Darkman, and a brilliant director of the Evil Dead movies who became more famous for the little spider that could), giving more headway to shite Rom-Coms, Action Flix, and the heady cerebral brit film. (Shadowlands, anyone?) 1994 brought us Clerks and the "popular" Indie film, which (smattered with pop/comic references) started to smooth the pavement for the re-birth of the comic film. We almost lost hope with B & R (And all wished the hairy death of Schumacher), for even though The Crow (Delish) was a provoking comic-noir film, it didn't have the impact it should have except for "The Tragedy". Most folks didn't realize that Blade was a bit player in a Spidey comic, or even a "Punisher for Vampires". (We still stung with Dolph's "Puke-nisher") Still, Blade was cool, and paved the way to an even cooler sequel (gasp! A concept!) and amped up the public interest. (And Marvels stock...it was time.) DC, the once might powerhouse, could not score a hit if it was playing tee-ball. (Thank God for 1998, and the Matrix. A comic movie, for certain, but I still see it as "Sci-Fi"...that age was the re-birth of the MEGA Sci-Fi/Fantasy era that will be closing with Ep3. I digress)

So X-Men busted out and they did it right. Technology and a good director made it a great film (Although, technically, the 1st one was a "Wolverine" movie) The sequel, despite historical proof, kicked booty. And, even for the Mighty Morphin Green Goblin, Toby-Spidey presented us with one of the best damn "Origin" movies to date. For the seriousness of Donner's Superman, we had a kid showing how excited a kid can get when he discovers he has super powers. And wait, a sequel where they KICKED ass, and didn't fall prey to the "multi-bad-guy" angle that has fallen other sh-sequels. (I'll bet Venom will be in the 3rd film, but It'd kick MUCH ass if they could show Spidey fighting the Sinister Syndicate!) And a new director will usher in the 3rd X-film, which has historically shown the destruction of a franchise. (Could be wrong though) and they've given "Mr. Usual Suspects" the Helm of the new Superman movie...could be good.

Moments I thought they would "Jump the Shark" w/in the last 5 years- The Punisher, Daredevil, Blade 3, Cat Ass-woman and Elektra. I only saw Daredevil, which (I'll say) didn't suck as badly as it could have...but I want to kick Baffleck in the shins, so that didn't help the cause. The rest...uhhh look awful.

So Batman...still looks like a rubber-suit made to sell toys. Would it KILL them to put him in fabric tights!? I like the director, and the direction they're going with it...so I'm keeping my fingies crossed. Same with Superman. Heck, for all of the new Superhero movies that come out. They keep me in hope.


ps: On a plane ride back from London, I was able to watch "Spidey 1" many times b4 getting back to the states. (It was either that, or the "Rookie". Barf) My mom was watching it simultaneously and when we got to the part where Toby 1st flexes his new "Spider-Muscles" ...my mom w/o missing a beat pokes my stomach and sez "Better work on your sit-ups, kiddo". I love her