Comics Movies
Comics and movies both blossomed in the cultural landscape of the 20th Century. And as they flowered they cross-pollinated one another with their brightest blooms and their most effective arrangements. The digital revolution has opened many doors to the previously unfilmable, leading to an explosion in the number of comic book adaptations.
For many people 'comics movies' mean gaudy titans in tights pounding the snot out of one another. However, if you remove the properties of the two big American companies (DC and Marvel), a broader spectrum of the fantastic and mundane is revealed.
Presenting for your selection, a cornucopia of pocket universes born of ink, transformed into light. For Superheroes peruse the DC and Marvel sub-headings under Comics Movies, stage left.
Pictured: Marv (Mickey Rourke) takes a moment to collect his thoughts in 2005's "Sin City" - cinema's most faithful comic book adaptation to date.
Black Panther (2018)
7.4/10
Director: Ryan Coogler
Starring: Angela Bassett, Forest Whitaker, Andy Serkis, Martin Freeman, Danai Jekesai Guri...
After the death of his father, T'Challa returns home to the African nation of Wakanda to take his rightful place as king. When a powerful enemy sudden... Read more
Flesh Gordon (1974)
4.7/10
Director: Howard Ziehm, Michael Benveniste
Starring: Jason Williams, Suzanne Fields, Joseph Hudgins, William Hunt, John Hoyt
In this outrageous soft-core parody of Flash Gordon, Earth is thrown into carnal chaos by a mysterious sex ray emanating from outer space. Flesh Gordo... Read more
From Hell (2001)
6.8/10
Director: Albert Hughes, Allen Hughes
Starring: Johnny Depp, Heather Graham, Robbie Coltrane, Ian Holm, Ian Richardson
London, 1888: the grimy streets of the city's poorest neighbourhood are the stalking grounds of a vicious killer unlike any before him, where a police... Read more
The Death of Stalin (2018)
7.2/10
Director: Armando Iannucci
Starring: Dermot Crowley, Jason Isaacs, Jeffrey Tambor, Karl Johnson, Michael Palin, Steve...
When tyrannical dictator Joseph Stalin dies in 1953, his parasitic cronies square off in a frantic power struggle to become the next Soviet leader. Am... Read more
Men in Black II (2002)
6.1/10
Director: Barry Sonnenfeld
Starring: Will Smith, Tommy Lee Jones, Lara Flynn Boyle, Rip Torn, Johnny Knoxville, Rosar...
The black-suited, shades-wearing dynamic duo of Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones are back for more intergalactic fun in this hit sequel. With the Earth'... Read more
Fritz The Cat (1972)
6.3/10
Director: Ralph Bakshi
Starring: Skip Hinnant, Rosetta Le Noire, Judy Engles
This x-rated cartoon by Ralph Bakshi hit a responsive chord with the counterculture audience of the seventies. This now classic cult rendition of Robe... Read more
The Rocketeer (1991)
6.4/10
Director: Joe Johnston
Starring: Alan Arkin, Bill Campbell, Jennifer Connelly, Paul Sorvino, Timothy Dalton
A glorious adventure for all, about a young pilot who is transformed into a jet-propelled hero when Nazi agents attempt to steal a top- secret inventi... Read more
Crumb (1995)
8/10
Director: Terry Zwigoff
Starring: Robert Crumb, Aline Kominsky, Charles Crumb
Robert Crumb, the multi-talented underground comic book artist, is profiled in this unique, in-depth documentary portrait. Emerging from a dysfunction... Read more
Garfield 2: A Tail of Two Kitties (2006)
5/10
Director: Tim Hill
Starring: (Voice of) , Billy Connolly, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Breckin Meyer, Bill Murray, V...
As with the original, this sequel features Bill Murray as the big, orange, CGI puss in a real-life world. In spite of the title, the story is swiped... Read more
TMNT: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2007)
6.3/10
Director: Kevin Munroe
Starring: Voices Of, Chris Evans, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Mako , Kevin Smith, Patrick Stewa...
The amphibious crime-fighters are back as computer animated 'heroes in a half shell', taking on a legion of malevolent monsters who gather just once e... Read more