It’s staggering how far superhero films have come.
Back in the late-1970s to 1980s, the only blockbuster superhero was Superman—the hero who began major superhero features. By the late-1980s, The Man of Steel’s time in the limelight ended and was replaced by The Dark Knight. Batman reigned as the sole blockbuster superhero in the 1990s, with the occasional obscure superhero adaptation (usually ending in either failure or cult status). The genre was nearly killed by director Joel Schumacher’s disastrous Batman & Robin, but then the 2000s came along and everything changed as X-Men and Spider-Man breathed new life into the dying genre—bringing with them a multitude of new and revived superhero franchises. In about a decade the superhero genre went from near-extinction to top of the food chain—continuing to grow larger each year.
Back in the 2000s, there were around two to four theatrical superhero films per year. Jump to the last few years and four has become the bare minimum. 2017 brought us a whopping nine theatrical superhero films, the most ever released in a single year. Four of these superhero films are Marvel-based (Logan, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Spider-Man: Homecoming and Thor: Ragnarok), with three of them being part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). It’s the first time the MCU has released three films in one year, and it appears they plan to continue doing so for years down the road. The other five films include three DC-based (The Lego Batman Movie, Wonder Woman and Justice League) and two oddball features (Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie and Power Rangers). Yet not only is 2017 an impressive year for its superhero film quantity, but also in terms of quality. Here, I aim to celebrate such success with a countdown of 2017’s best superhero films!
Below are 2017’s top five superhero films from 5th to 1st. Links are provided in each film's title to their review.
The Lego Batman Movie is not on the same level as The Lego Movie (my favorite film of 2014), but it does contain similar positive qualities—just to a lesser, uneven extent. The film’s greatest quality is being one, big, witty love letter to Batman’s history and, as such, can be enjoyed to different yet successful extents by both kids and veteran Batman fans. The Lego Batman Movie marks not only the finest but also one of the few well-made Batman films—both theatrically and direct-to-video—to release since The Dark Knight Rises.
The MCU bumped up its game with its 2017 sequels. Guardians of the Galaxy is one of my least favorite MCU films (alongside Thor: The Dark World). No longer hindered by setup issues of establishing five heroes in one film, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 is given more freedom and flexibility to work with its characters and story. The result is an overall improvement to its predecessor. Better character connections, character development, comedy, music, action and a far more memorable opening. Most importantly, however, Vol. 2 has a more consistent, less jarring mood throughout—avoiding mistakes such as opening your superhero comedy with the protagonist’s mom dying of cancer.
The most somber, serious and graphic film on the list. Alongside The Lego Batman Movie, Logan was one of the two 2017 films I greatly anticipated, The film makes great work of its R-rating, delivers fantastic action sequences, and has a balanced, effective dynamic between its old man and young girl. While Logan did not live up to my unreasonably high expectations, it is both the finest X-Men film made to date—excluding Deadpool, which is more its own subsection of X-Men films—and a great sendoff to Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine. Amusingly, the two films that beat Logan are films I had low expectations for.
Thor: Ragnarok is a prime example of learning from one’s mistakes. The MCU wasn’t doing so well with the Thor series. Mediocre to negative reactions from both critics and fans put the series at the bottom of their connected universe. So, they took a step back, looked over the series, and reconstructed Thor—emphasizing its predecessors’s strengths, minimizing its weak points, and utilizing elements from their more successful series (Guardians of the Galaxy, The Avengers, etc.) The result is a wild success—taking their lowest series and revamping it to both critical and financial success. Not only is Thor: Ragnarok a thoroughly entertaining film, but it also reinforces faith in the MCU’s ability (to reuse the phrase) to breathe new life into their dying series and keep their connected universe fresh and engaging for years to come.
I never thought the day would come where I ranked a DC Extended Universe (DCEU) film over an MCU film. Yet here we are.
After seeing Thor: Ragnarok, my wife asked which I enjoyed more: Ragnarok or Wonder Woman. The answer to such question is a close call—in terms of quality these two films are both very close—and yet it was an answer I knew immediately. Both Wonder Woman and Thor: Ragnarok are well-made films, with Ragnarok demonstrating the MCU can improve upon their lesser series. Yet this is as far as Ragnarok’s external qualities go, whereas Wonder Woman is so much more.
After seeing Thor: Ragnarok, my wife asked which I enjoyed more: Ragnarok or Wonder Woman. The answer to such question is a close call—in terms of quality these two films are both very close—and yet it was an answer I knew immediately. Both Wonder Woman and Thor: Ragnarok are well-made films, with Ragnarok demonstrating the MCU can improve upon their lesser series. Yet this is as far as Ragnarok’s external qualities go, whereas Wonder Woman is so much more.
Wonder Woman provides the DCEU with their first critical success and is their only film to capture and properly portray its superhero’s essential themes. Wonder Woman is the first female-lead superhero film to be both a critical and financial success. It proved female superheroes can make successful blockbuster features. Wonder Woman is also a major step forward in female directing, bringing the talented Patty Jenkins—who wrote and directed the masterpiece Monster, one of the 2000s best films—back into the spotlight to become the first female to direct an American superhero film (she was originally set to direct Thor: The Dark World, but left the project due to creative differences).
Wonder Woman is the finest film depiction of a female superhero, told through a remarkably thought-out coming-of-age story. There’s irony that the male-centric DCEU’s most critical and profitable (when taking budgets into account) success is a female-directed, female-lead film—and with Justice League bombing all-around, it’s clear Wonder Woman has become the DCEU’s Iron Man. When Wonder Woman 2 inevitably comes out, you can bet the DCEU will certainly give a lot more focus to their unexpected poster child.