Liam Hoofe rounds up what has been an exceptional year for the superhero genre…
By this point, saying that a year is a marquee year for superhero films feels a little redundant. The genre has established itself as the most financially bankable in all of cinema, and it feels as though barely a month goes by without some sort of new release.
What 2018 has been, however, is the most diverse year for superhero movies of all time. Marvel, the grandaddy of them all, has released three movies, one of which could finally snag the studio a best picture nomination, while DC has released two films, one live-action and one animated.
Not to be outdone, Sony has matched DC’s output, with the live-action half of their movies being based around one of their most iconic villains. Pixar has also thrown their hat into the mix this year as well, giving fans the long-awaited follow-up to one of their most successful movies of all time, while Fox, the other big player in the genre, released a follow-up to their most successful franchise as well.
With such a wide array of movies to choose from this year, cries of saturation in the genre seem a little premature, with 2018 proving, above all else, that there is plenty of room for innovation in the genre.
With that in mind, let’s take a look back at all of the superhero movies released in 2019 and rank them from worst to best.
9: Venom
Is Venom one of the worst superhero movies of all time? Probably not. Is it the worst superhero movie of 2018 though? Definitely.
Venom was a peculiar film in that it felt as though it was made at least 15 years ago. It seems to have been made by a director who has not seen a superhero film since Daredevil, and it had many of the same problems that films of that era suffered from.
The villain was woefully underwritten, the tone was wildly inconsistent and the actions scenes, for the most part, were a big CGI mess.
On the plus side, viewed as a superhero rom-com about a man who reluctantly falls in love with a carnivorous alien, the film is a roaring success. Hardy is, to his credit, a lot of fun in this film, and there are times where it raises a chuckle or two, but on the whole, this movie was in Venom’s word ‘a turd rolling in the wind’.
8: Teen Titans Go! To the Movies
Prior to watching this film, I can’t say I was too aware of the Teen Titans Go! TV series but it’s not difficult to tell exactly what kind of show it is, and who this movie is aimed at. Not that that is a bad thing, the movie is a perfectly competent movie for children, and there are plenty of jokes in here to make the adults laugh.
In fact, that latter point also ends up being the movie’s downfall in the long run, as the film constantly bashes you over the head with meta-jokes, which, while funny, are massively overused and lose their impact after a while.
That being said, it’s still a fun little film and one that makes the DCEU seem somewhat endearing once again.
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