Artistic Choice: Fantomas (1920s silent films series)
If we're allowed to have heroes from comic books apart from just superheroes, my list would have TANK GIRL on it too. Yeah, I know this is "Superman Through the Ages" and we're supposed to get all pissy if a hero in a movie even
smokes a cigarette, but there was something transcendentally awesome about that scene where Tank Girl, surrounded by mutant kangaroos, gives a guy the finger before hurling cans of beer at him from her giant tank gun. Lori Petti ought to give up the art and stick to character acting. It's as wasteful as seeing Michael Jordan play golf.
Modern Choice: Spiderman 2 (my wife, not a superhero fan, enjoyed it immensely as well) or the Incredibles
I liked Spider-Man 2 as well, but I wouldn't put it amongst the best superhero movies ever. For two reasons:
1) CGI Spidey. What a disappointment. There is something inherently fake about CGI technology. Claymation, though less sophisticated, at least gives you a sense of a physical object. And it's significant to note that the best movies utilizing CGI have been LORD OF THE RINGS and JURASSIC PARK (which was made in
1993). LORD OF THE RINGS's CGI worked because it was all long shots so as not to see details, and because it was used to touch up and expand on an already extraordinary physical performance. JURASSIC PARK's CGI worked because it was the special effect director's last choice instead of their first, not supplanting more impressive advanced puppetry and anamatronics.
2) Bad editing. Good Lord, was this movie ever longer than it ought to have been. You can picture poor Sam Raimi in the editing suite bawling and crying his eyes out. "NO! NO! We CAN'T cut that scene of Spider-Man buying an ice-cream cone and looking up at the sky!" Aunt May's narration was excruciating instead of inspiring because it was allowed to go on FOREVER. That scene with Hal Sparks in the elevator was a cute cameo, but it belongs to the DVD release as a cute DVD extra instead of padding out the finished film. About the only scene that was cut and edited properly was the one where Doctor Octopus's arms go haywire in the hospital. It was cut quickly like a horror movie and not surprisingly, was the best scene in the film.