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Directed by: Tim Story
Cast: Ioan Gruffudd (Reed Richards/Mr Fantastic), Jessica Alba (Sue Storm/The Invisible Woman), Chris Evans (Johnny Storm/The Human Torch), Michael Chiklis (Ben Grimm/The Thing), Julian McMahon (Victor Von Doom/Doctor Doom)

As source material goes, The Fantastic Four is an inky gift from the gods. One of the most important comic books of the last 50 years, it tore the industry from its slump, igniting the superhero revolution that brought us every Marvel big-hitter from Spider-Man to the Hulk. With Stan Lee’s hip scripts fused to Jack Kirby’s dynamite art, it delivered cheap, potent pulp thrills that set your mind to melt mode. It seethed with ideas, devouring huge concepts issue after issue – Galactus, The Eater Of Worlds! Rama-Tut, Pharaoh Of The Year 3000! The Inhumans! The Negative Zone! – but at its core were the people, a flawed family of heroes you cared passionately about.

Directed by: Martin Campbell
Cast: Ryan Reynolds (Hal Jordan/Green Lantern), Blake Lively (Carol Ferris), Peter Sarsgaard (Hector Hammond), Mark Strong (Sinestro), Temuera Morrison (Abin Sur)

Given the success Marvel were having with their “second tier” characters on the big screen (Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Thor... etc.) and their own box office breaking success with The Dark Knight, it’s no surprise DC had been eyeing up a piece of the B-list pie for years, settling on intergalactic copper Hal Jordan, aka Green Lantern, as its first subject.

Directed by: Timur Bekmambetov
Cast: James McAvoy (Wesley Gibson), Morgan Freeman (Sloan), Angelina Jolie (Fox), Terence Stamp (Pekwarsky)

Mark Millar’s comics mini-series Wanted contains all the elements that make him such a hugely entertaining writer, and such an aggravating one. To produce something palatable for multiplex audiences, this adaptation has had to chuck out a lot of the bathwater, and some might think the baby’s gone flying with it, too. It’s Millar-lite. In the comic, pathetic office-maggot Wesley Gibson learns his absent father (now deceased) was actually the Killer, a supervillain assassin in the world-ruling Meta-Human Criminal Network.

Directed by: Brett Ratner
Cast: Hugh Jackman (Wolverine), Patrick Stewart (Professor Xavier), Anna Paquin (Rogue)

Blame Superman. When Bryan Singer bailed on his own, lovingly-crafted X-franchise and traded the Man of Adamantium for the Man of Steel, he left a crippling talent vacuum in his wake. Matthew Vaughn volunteered for duty, but reportedly baulked at the furious turnaround time. So the studio turned to the serviceable, exec-soothing Brett Ratner, a director with a reputation for competence rather than flash. Does he deliver? Well, let’s put it this way: it’s deeply ironic that Ratner’s calling card was a 1998 movie by the name of Rush Hour.

Directed by: Russell Mulcahy
Cast: Alec Baldwin (Lamont Cranston/The Shadow), Penelope Ann Miller (Margo Lane), Ian McKellen (Dr Reinhardt Lane), John Lone (Shiwan Khan)

Check out the talent behind the camera. Director: Russell Mulcahy, who gave us Highlander. Writer: David Koepp, who eight years later would turn Spider-Man into a movie phenomenon. That’s a promising pedigree. But The Shadow is hardly a true thoroughbred.

Directed by: Jeannot Szwarc
Cast: Helen Slater (Kara/Linda Lee/Supergirl), Faye Dunaway (Selena), Peter O’Toole (Zaltar), Peter Cook (Nigel), Mia Farrow (Alura)

With Superman at the height of his movie popularity, it’s not surprising wheeler-dealer producers the Salkinds tried to open the bank accounts of the whole Super-family. High on the success of the first three Superman films, they piled mountains of cash into this spin-off.

Directed by: Ang Lee
Cast: Eric Bana (Bruce Banner/The Hulk), Jennifer Connelly (Betty Ross), Nick Nolte (Father)

A psychological drama with a CG makeover, Ang Lee’s Hulk is – ironically, considering its subject matter – a Jekyll and Hyde of a film. Too verbose and intense for the blockbuster thrillseekers, but too full of silly monsters and outlandish action to appeal to serious cinema goers, it ended up pleasing very few indeed.

Directed by: Mike Mitchell
Cast: Kurt Russell (Steve Stronghold/The Commander), Kelly Preston (Josie Stronghold/Jetstream), Michael Angarano (Will Stronghold), Lynda Carter (Principal Powers), Bruce Campbell (Coach Boomer)

Gotta admit, we’re glad to see there’s some love for this film out there. Essentially a superhero take on Harry Potter, it’s about a cloud-based school for young superdudes. Instead of four school houses, there are only two tiers to the establishment here – you’re either a potential superhero or a potential sidekick (if you have really rubbish powers). A searing indictment of the old grammar/comprehensive system? Nah. Course not. This is America. But it does make you wonder whether the teachers think about such things as self-esteem.

Directed by: Charles Jarrott
Cast: Michael Crawford (Woody Wilkins), Oliver Reed (Krakov), Barbara Carrera (Natalia)

Perhaps the oddest thing about this Disney effort, is that the title at the time was more likely to make kids think they were going to see a film about a man who loved his cigars than about a comic artist who becomes the character he draws. Crawford stars at Woody, the artist who, through a sequence of unlikely events, becomes involved with the defection of a Russian spy. The CIA help him bring his creation to life, because, of course, international espionage can always benefit from a man with a 40-foot wing span.

Directed by: Sam Raimi
Cast: Liam Neeson (Peyton Westlake), Frances McDormand (Julie Hastings), Colin Friels (Louis Strack Jr)

Before tackling Spider-Man, Sam Raimi created his own superhero (though a very warped one) in the guise of Darkman. Liam Neeson plays Peyton Westlake, a scientist who has discovered a way to produce synthetic skin – problem is, it degrades after 100 minutes of exposure to light. When he’s horrifically burnt after some gangsters raid his lab, he’s out for revenge on the guys who did it – and he uses his invention to disguise himself with a variety of faces.

Directed by: Richard Lester
Cast: Christopher Reeve (Clark Kent/Superman), Margot Kidder (Lois Lane), Richard Pryor (Gus Gorman), Robert Vaughn (Ross Webster)

Superman II director Richard Lester remained behind the wheel for this third superflick and – unfettered by plans laid down by his predecessor this time – decided to make Carry On Superman. Much in the way that Tim Burton let his villains outshine his heroes in the Batman movies, Lester seems to be more interested in spotlighting stand-up comedian Richard Pryor in a guest role.

Directed by: Peter Berg
Cast: Will Smith (John Hancock), Jason Bateman (Ray), Charlize Theron (Mary), Jae Head (Aaron), Eddie Marsan (Red)

Superhero comedy Hancock, starring Will Smith as self-destructive, self-absorbed, drunken bum of a superhero who creates ridiculous amounts of collateral damage every time he goes out on a rescue, has a lot of promise. For the first half it’s not only very funny, but it also explores similar themes to The Dark Knight (we kid you not) in the way it questions what the public need from a superhero, though in this case, it’s a PR guru decides to help out improve Hancock’s image (because unlike Batman, he hasn’t got the self-awareness to comprehend his situation). There’s also some great CG and shaky cam footage.

Directed by: Mark Steven Johnson
Cast: Nicolas Cage (Johnny Blaze/Ghost Rider), Wes Bentley (Blackheart), Peter Fonda (Mephistopheles), Eva Mendes (Roxanne Simpson)

Pity Nicholas Cage and his big geek heart. He’s spent a lifetime pining for a shot at living out his superhero fantasies on celluloid. You suspect that the Oscar he scooped for Leaving Las Vegas was a mere balm for missing the chance to be a deeply improbable Man Of Steel for Tim Burton. From Superman to Iron Man, he’s pursued that inky childhood itch to extinction. So, to wind up in Ghost Rider must be like dreaming of cup final glory with Manchester United and ending up as star striker for Accrington Stanley.

Director: Joel Schumacher
Cast: Val Kilmer (Batman/Bruce Wayne), Chris O’Donnell (Dick Grayson/Robin), Tommy Lee Jones (Harvey Dent/Two Face) Jim Carrey (The Riddler)

Batman Returns didn’t make enough cash for the studio’s liking, so the third movie moved into the mainstream instead. Director Schumacher ditched the dark in favour of an over-the-top plot, exaggerated characters, terrible puns that harkens back to ’60s Batman and Day-Glo colour schemes (thankfully the Bat-nipples were kept in check, before blossoming big time in Batman And Robin). The big-name cast – Tommy Lee Jones, Jim Carrey, Nicole Kidman and Chris O’Donnell – say their lines and collect their paychecks. The film isn’t without its charms (Carrey is a fantastic Riddler and Jones’ Two Face is a decent interpretation) although Kilmer’s Batman is stiff to the point of rigor mortis. And why’s it called Batman Forever? It’d make sense if it were the fourth film, in a weak, punning kind of way.

Director: Philippe Mora
Cast: Alan Arkin (Captain Invincible), Christopher Lee (Mr Midnight), Kate Fitzpatrick (Patty Patria)

The film that inspired Doctor Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog… erm, possibly. Actually we have no proof Joss Whedon has ever seen it, but as it’s the only other superhero musical we can think of, we’d like to think it was an inspiration.

Director: Jonathan Hensleigh
Cast: Rebecca Romijn-Stamos (Joan), Thomas Jane (Frank Castle/The Punisher), John Travolta (Howard Saint)

The omens aren’t good. The budget was a paltry 30 million bucks; the only star is Travolta at a stage in his career when he’d appear in any old toot; and director Hensleigh previously scripted the universally-derided Saint movie. The final result, though, can happily be filed under “better than it has any right to be”.

Director: Tim Story
Cast: Ioan Gruffudd (Reed Richards/Mr Fantastic), Chris Evans (Johnny Storm/The Human Torch), Michael Chiklis (Ben Grimm/The Thing), Jessica Alba (Susan Storm/The Invisible Woman)

Although the voting in this poll would tend to suggest otherwise, at the time this sequel came out, everybody was claiming it as superior to the original, mainly thanks to a chrome bloke on a surfboard. The Silver Surfer is one of comics’ most enigmatic and eye-pleasing icons, so when he first appears, you may find yourself muttering, “Aw, that’s cool!” with the Human Torch.

Directed by: Sam Raimi
Cast: Tobey Maguire (Peter Parker/Spider-Man), Kirsten Dunst (Mary Jane Watson), James Franco (Harry Osborn), Thomas Haden Church (Flint Marko/The Sandman)

In 1977, The Fonz strapped on a pair of waterskis and made a credibility-slaying leap over a shark. 30 years later Peter Parker takes style tips from My Chemical Romance and in the space of a few emo-fringed dance moves manages to turn the wall-crawling franchise to parody. Guess that’s what happens when goo from outer space turns you bad…

在好萊塢電影裡，比帥哥美女組合能碰撞出更多火花的是什麼？

是失意的中年男人和單親的小孩。這一組合在好萊塢電影裡非常常見，男人什麼都沒有，但總是有一個小孩跟著！沒有這個小孩，這個男人就顯得不夠失意。當一個失意的男人和單親的小孩成為一個故事的主角時，故事的結局也就很容易想到，無非是男人找回了自信，孩子和他的關係也得到了改善。既要勵志，又要表現親情，拳擊這樣夠男人的題材無疑最適合不過了，《Real Steel》的故實情節其實很老套，只是加入了機器人搏鬥的元素。而正好，機器人CG是 Steven Spielberg 最擅長的。

故事發生在2020年，和2011年的今天有甚麼分別？從電影唯一能看出來的分別，就是人類搏擊運動已經不能滿足觀衆的暴力欲望所以由機器人搏擊所取代。不過十年的時間，人的生活沒多大的變化，還是開著四個輪子以汽油驅動的車子；機器人工藝雖然很精密，形體動作都接近人類，但仍是需要由人操作；日本國還沒消失，山寨中國的 Gundam 依然無法取代日本；最重要的是男人失意起來依然很失意，逢賭必輸，沒錢交租，欠債被揍，一應俱全。由於電影的重心並不放在「時代」上，所以不要期待看到一個非常科幻的未來，電影的重心是「情感」！