Comic Book & Superhero

The origins of the Caped Crusader of Gotham City are finally brought to the big screen in this new adaptation of the perennially popular comic-book series. The young Bruce Wayne (Gus Lewis) leads a privileged life as the son of wealthy, philanthropist parents, both of whom stress their commitment to improving the lives of the citizens of crime-ridden Gotham City. After his mother and father are murdered by a mugger, however, Wayne grows into an impudent young man (Christian Bale), full of rage and bent on retribution until encouraged by his childhood sweetheart, Rachel Dawes (Katie Holmes), to search for answers beyond his own personal vendettas. Wayne eventually finds discipline in the Far East under the tutelage of Henri Ducard (Liam Neeson), a member of the mysterious League of Shadows who guides him in the study of martial arts -- and the ways in which an ordinary man can hone his senses to an almost superhuman acuity. After seven years away from Gotham, Wayne returns, determined to bring peace and safety back to the city. With the help of his faithful manservant, Alfred Pennyworth (Michael Caine), and Lucius Fox (Morgan Freeman), a scientist at his late father's corporation, Wayne develops a secret identity as Batman, a masked fighter for justice. But when a shady psychiatrist (Cillian Murphy) joins forces with the criminal underworld, Wayne realizes that putting an end to their nefarious plans will be very difficult indeed. Batman Begins also features Gary Oldman as Lt. James Gordon and Tom Wilkinson as the crime boss Carmine Falcone. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Wesley Snipes returns as legendary vampire hunter Blade in this, the third film inspired by the popular Marvel Comics character. A fearless warrior immune to vampires, Blade (Snipes) has become a hated enemy of the bloodsucking community, and as they gather in their desert compound, a group of vampires is plotting to eliminate Blade once and for all by turning the mortal community against him. The vampires have concocted a misinformation campaign that paints a picture of Blade as a ruthless murderer and has sent the FBI on the vampire hunter's trail, led by the relentless agent Cumberland (James Remar). At the same time, the vampires have brought their founding father, Dracula, back to his undead state, renaming him Drake (Dominic Purcell) and investing him with special powers that allow him to walk unharmed in daylight. After a dangerous encounter with Cumberland, Blade and his ally, Whistler (Kris Kristofferson), form an uneasy alliance with a scruffy team of human vampire slayers, the Nighstalkers, led by Hannibal King (Ryan Reynolds), and Whistler's daughter, Abigail (Jessica Biel. While Sommerfield (Natasha Lyonne), a biologist working with the Nightstalkers, researches a scientific answer to the vampire problem, Blade and his comrades take a more hands-on approach against Drake and his minions, including Danica Talos (Parker Posey), Asher (Callum Keith Rennie), and Grimwood (Triple H). Blade: Trinity was directed by David Goyer, who also wrote the screenplay for this film, as well as the first two movies in the series. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

The world's most famous team of astronauts-cum-superheroes returns in the effects-heavy sequel Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer. As the story opens, Sue Storm, AKA The Invisible Girl (Jessica Alba), and Reed Richards, AKA Mr. Fantastic (Ioan Gruffudd) prepare for their upcoming, superhero-studded wedding celebration. But Reed cannot stay focused on the nuptials - he's distracted by wire reports of a bizarre, comet-like object hurtling toward the Earth with tremendous force, triggering brownouts, blackouts, tropical storms and various other climatological disasters. When the said object hits the island of Manhattan, destroying much of the city in its wake, its identity becomes resoundingly clear: "it" is actually a "he" - a psychotic villain known as The Silver Surfer (voice of Larry Fishburne) who intends, for some unascertainable reason, to destroy much of the Earth - just as he obliterated dozens of planets before it. Feeling compelled to rally their old gang and save the day, Sue and Reed summon Ben Grimm, AKA The Thing (Michael Chiklis), and Johnny Storm, AKA The Human Torch (Chris Evans) to take on the Surfer - and end up battling not only him, but an obnoxious Army general (Andre Braugher) and the cantankerous Victor Von Doom (Julian MacMahon), who has broken out of his icy prison that held him captive at the end of the first movie. Tim Story directs. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide

A regular guy finds out just how hard breaking up can truly be when attempting to call it quits with a clingy female crime fighter who doesn't want to let love die in director Ivan Reitman's super-powered romantic comedy. Matt Saunders (Luke Wilson) was looking for love when he first met pretty brunette Jenny Johnson (Uma Thurman), and at the time it seemed as if he may had finally actually found it. Jenny isn't just your typical girl, though, because despite her outwardly normal appearance she is actually a powerful superhero dedicated to ridding the streets of crime. Her outward strength betrays a deep-rooted insecurity, too, and when Jenny begins to become a bit too possessive for Matt's laid-back taste, the troubled boyfriend does his best to end the relationship amicably. They say that breaking up isn't easy to do, however, and when your girlfriend is a superhero, that sentiment holds twice the truth as it does under any normal circumstances. Matt is determined to get on with his life, though, and as his budding romance with beautiful co-worker Hannah (Anna Faris) begins to get serious, jealous Jenny scornfully slips into G-Girl mode to prove that hell hath no fury like a woman superhero scorned. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Your friendly neighborhood web-slinger is back, only this time his sunny outlook has become partially overcast in the third chapter of director Sam Raimi's Spider-Man saga. Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst, and James Franco return to reprise their roles from the previous two installments, with Thomas Haden Church, Topher Grace, and Bryce Dallas Howard making their first appearances in the series as Flint Marko (aka Sandman), Eddie Brock (aka Venom), and Gwen Stacy, respectively. Peter Parker (Maguire) has finally leaned to walk the middle ground between being the superhero that his city needs, and the man that Mary Jane (Dunst) loves. All is well in New York City until one night, as Peter and M.J. set gazing at the stars, a falling comet streams across the sky and crashes into the ground close by. But this isn't any ordinary shooting star, and upon impact the mysterious space rock is split open to reveal a shape-shifting symbiote with the power to overtake anything that it comes into contact with. Later, as Harry Osborn acquires his late father's flying board, engineers a powerful new Goblin outfit, and takes to the sky to avenge dad's death, the mysterious space sludge infects both Peter's Spider Man suit and ambitious street photographer Eddie Brock (Grace). His strange new suit giving him a newfound sense of power as it gradually overpowers his personality, Peter discovers that escaped convict Flint Marko was in fact the man responsible for the death of Uncle Ben (Cliff Robertson). Unfortunately for Peter, Marko has recently acquired the power to morph at will and quickly completes his transformation into the dreaded Sandman. As the Sandman gives in to his darkest criminal instincts and the slithering space symbiote transforms Eddie Brock into the nightmarish fanged villain known as Venom, the citizens of New York City must once again call on Spider Man to fend off destructive forces that are far too powerful for the likes of mortal man. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Martial arts star Jet Li donned a black hat and mask to portray a comic book superhero in this pulp action tale that gets the full-blown Hong Kong treatment from choreographer Yuen Wo Ping, who later designed the fight scenes for The Matrix (1999). Li stars as Tsui Chik, leader of Squad 701, an elite commando team of genetically-engineered super-soldiers. When the unit was deemed a failure because of mental instability in some of the test subjects, the project was disbanded. Tsui now lives quietly in Hong Kong, masquerading as a shy librarian whose only friend is a cop (Lau Ching Wan). When some drug lords begin turning up dead, Tsui dons a black mask and hat to investigate the slayings and learns that his former Squad 701 comrades, led by psychotic Commander Hung (Patrick Lung), are plotting to take over the drug kingpin's illegal trade. Among their number is Tsui's ex-girlfriend Kaelin (Francoise Yip). ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide

Dr. Westlake/Darkman (Arnold Vosloo) is up to his old tricks, stealing from the bad and keeping for himself while still trying to perfect his synthetic skin which only lasts 99 minutes in the light. After stealing from industrialist and mobster/drug dealer Peter Rooker (Jeff Fahey), Westlake is approached by Dr. Bridget Thorne (Darlanne Fluegel) who is engaged to perform an operation to relieve his pain, but instead she implants in his brain a special device that enables his enemies to control him by inducing unbearable pain. With the help of double-crossing Dr. Thorne, Rooker wants to create a new drug based on Darkman's research. But Darkman strikes back by infiltrating Rooker's gang and his life. Darkman even starts to feel drawn to Rooker's wife Angela (Roxann Biggs-Dawson) and her daughter, who are neglected by the real Rooker. But in disguise, Darkman is able to cling to a normal life, posing as a family man. Even though this sequel was filmed before Darkman II: The Return of Durant, it was ultimately decided that it should be bumped back to part three. This direct-to-video sequel is however, in many ways, superior to the first sequel. Fahey makes an excellent villain combining the best of what made Larry Drake and Colin Friels so enjoyable in the original. Vosloo still can't capture the essence and power of Liam Neeson's character portrayal, but he does a good enough job. Fans of the saga will go feverish over this sequel and others with find it fun as well. ~ Sean D. MacLaggan, All Movie Guide

Mike Mignola's acclaimed comic book series about a creature from Hades who joins the battle against evil arrives on the screen in vivid form in this adaptation directed by distinctive horror filmmaker Guillermo del Toro. During World War II, the Third Reich has joined forces with the evil Grigori Rasputin (Karel Roden), who has used his occult powers to summon up a young demon from the depth of Hell to be used as the ultimate Axis weapon. However, the demonic creature is captured by American forces, and put in the care of Professor Broom (John Hurt), the founder of a top-secret organization called the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense. Under Broom's tutelage, the creature develops empathy and a desire to do good while his physical powers and paranormal talents are honed to a fine point. Sixty years later, the demon, now known as Hellboy (Ron Perlman), is part of an elite secret defense team alongside Liz Sherman (Selma Blair), a beautiful young woman who can create fire with her mind, and Abe Sapian (Doug Jones), an aquatic humanoid with the power of telepathy. Despite his many years of fighting for right, Hellboy finds himself facing his greatest challenge when the powerful Rasputin returns, determined to bring the demon back to the forces of darkness so that evil may finally rule the world. Hellboy's supporting cast also includes Jeffrey Tambor, Rupert Evans, and Brian Steele. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

An ordinary teenager finds out he's not so ordinary after all in this comedy-adventure. Will Stronghold (Michael Angarano) has his share of anxieties about starting high school, but once he arrives on campus, he discovers he's attending Sky High, a special learning facility for the children of superheroes. Will realizes his father is actually super-human crime fighter Captain Stronghold (Kurt Russell), while his mom is fellow champion Josie Jetstream (Kelly Preston). However, in Will's first few days at school, Coach Boomer (Bruce Campbell) is unable to discover any superior abilities in him, meaning that instead of joining the school's budding heroes, he's been relegated to the ranks of the lowly sidekicks. In time, Will discovers he happens to have super strength after all, but will he learn to hone his new gifts in time to fend off the bullies at school, get the girl of his dreams, and save his folks from a longtime nemesis? Sky High also features Lynda Carter, Dave Foley, and Kevin McDonald. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

In this animated tale of terror and suspense based on the best-selling comic book by Todd McFarlane, Spawn (voice of Keith David), a creature stranded in limbo between heaven and hell, finds himself in a world ruled by chaos. Government functionaries, underworld criminals, and seekers of power are all searching for Genghis Khan's War Mask, which is believed to make any man who wears it invincible. Caught in the middle of this battle, and with agents of both God and Satan determined to wipe him out, Spawn must rely on his ally Cogliostro (Richard A. Dysart) to guide him in his search for the redemptive affection of his love, Wanda, as he battles foes on all sides in the pursuit of the great mask. Spawn 3: The Ultimate Battle was produced for the premium cable network HBO, and originally aired as part of their ongoing series adapted from McFarlane's characters. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Richard Donner's big-budget blockbuster Superman: The Movie is an immensely entertaining recounting of the origin of the famous comic book character. Opening on Krypton (where Marlon Brando plays Superman's father), the film follows the Man of Steel (Christopher Reeve) as he's sent to Earth where he develops his alter-ego Clark Kent and is raised by a Midwestern family. In no time, the movie has run through his teenage years, and Clark gets a job at the Daily Planet, where he is a news reporter. It's there that he falls in love with Lois Lane (Margot Kidder), who is already in love with Superman. But the love story is quickly sidetracked once the villainous Lex Luthor (Gene Hackman) launches a diabolical plan to conquer the world and kill Superman. Superman: The Movie is filled with action, special effects and a surprising amount of humor. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Movie Guide

Directed by Brad Bird, The Incredibles revolves around former high-profile superhero Bob Parr (aka Mr. Incredible), who has not-so-successfully settled into suburban life along with his wife and kids under the watchful eye of the Superhero Protection Program. A far cry from the "glory days" during which "supers" were a welcome addition to society, the Parrs' living situation was brought on after a series of superhero-related lawsuits forced them into hiding. When not trying to fight small-time crime undercover with fellow former superhero Frozone (Samuel L. Jackson), Parr (voice by Craig T. Nelson) is muddling through the corporate world as a paunchy, emotionally unsatisfied insurance claims adjuster. His family is like any other with some notable exceptions -- his daughter has the uncanny ability to become invisible and create impenetrable force fields at will; his son, Dash, can run at incredible speeds; his wife, Helen (Holly Hunter), is known in super circles as Elastigirl, one of the most respected (and pliable) superwomen of her time. Just when it looks as if things can't get any worse for Bob, he gets a summons to show up at a remote island to receive instructions for a highly classified assignment, which he promptly accepts. Thrust back into the world of fighting crime, the Incredible family is back in familiar territory -- saving the world from Syndrome, a jilted former fan of Mr. Incredible. ~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide