3 of the Best vs 3 of the Worst is exactly what it sounds like – 3 of the best examples of either an actor, film series, genre, etc. versus 3 of the worst. It’s also an opportunity for you to have your say on my choices and whether you would have placed something ahead of my best or my worst. This week…. Superhero Movies!

This was inevitable after the last two weeks and their superhero related casting. There is loads of superhero movies to choose from and I found picking the best movies easy but the rubbish ones quite difficult. These decisions are based more on potential and disappointment rather than rubbish films. So here we go…

3 of the Best

3 – Spiderman 2

I’ll always have love for Spiderman 2. It was the first big superhero sequel that I can remember being really excited about and actually delivering the goods. All the ground work had been done which meant we could get right into the action. Spiderman’s first appearance is great, the villain is amazing and the story itself is brilliant. Regardless of Maguire’s whiney Peter Parker, there is loads I love about Spiderman 2, from the action set-piece on the train to the very cool finale. I remember watching the final scenes, with Spiderman swinging through the streets, chasing the police cars, wanting to see the third installment then and there. If only I’d known…

2 – Avengers Assemble

The most ambitious movie project ever, regardless of the fact that it is superhero themed. Huge characters, a great story and amazing superhero action meant that we got the perfect superhero movie. I wasn’t expecting it to be as good as it was, in fact I expected it to be Iron Man 3 with support from other superheroes but Joss Whedon managed a precise balancing act that gave the audience everything from Avengers vs Avengers, the best Hulk on-screen yet and a huge, ambitious finale. I don’t know how this will be beaten but I can’t wait to see them try.

1 – The Dark Knight

I’ll always be biased because Batman is my favourite superhero anyway and this is as close to a perfect Batman on-screen as you’ll get. It doesn’t have to introduce the character so can focus on the villain and what a villain. Joker is the best comic book villain anyway but Heath Ledger brings him above and beyond. The things he does and says, the situations he creates and the way he look just as menacing in a nursing outfit. Add the perfect cast, fitting each role brilliantly, and you get the perfect superhero film. Take away any superhero links, you still have a pretty perfect movie anyway.

3 of the Worst

3 – Superman Returns

This is in on pure disappointment. Batman Begins was incredible and showed that a superhero could be brought to the screen without being camp, silly or relying on the classic story elements we have seen loads of time before. Superman Returns was the opposite. The action was incredible and I still love the rescue of the airplane at the beginning of the movie, but superkids, a giant kryptonite island and a very poor imitation of Christopher Reeve’s Superman, left me feeling dejected, disappointed and cheated. Lets hope Man of Steel can do what Begins did to Batman and Robin.

2 – Spiderman 3

Disappointed doesn’t even begin to cover it. Spiderman 2 is one of my favourite superhero films. Spiderman 3 almost destroys the whole series. Its everything that is wrong with the franchise amplified. Its silly but in the wrong places, it has a forced story, rewriting not just past films but Spiderman’s established history and worst of all, it has emo-Toby Maguire dancing! There was so much going for it, Venom is the best Spiderman villain and Sandman looks very cool on-screen, but handled so badly that it just became a film of embarrassments.

1 – Batman and Robin

It has featured in every worst category of each superhero themed “3 of” and for good reason. It is everything I hated about the Adam West Batman amplified. Camp, ridiculous, glossy and bearing no resemblance to the dark, gritty character that we know and love. Clooney is an awful Batman, Bane is a glorified henchman and Arnie plays the pun-obsessed Mister Freeze. It looks fantastic but it certainly isn’t Batman!

Overall, there was only ever going to be one winner. Batman is the best superhero so his best film would be the best superhero movie. Equally, the worst attempt at creating a Batman film would out-suck all others. I just hope Superman and the other Avengers films can edge into the first category and steer clear from the second. As always, feel free to agree and disagree…(but not with Batman and Robin).