Looking back, the CBM as a genre have not been fully established until the new millenium came along, with the exception of DC's banner-boys Batman and Superman, there weren't really a lot of interest in comic book stories. And since the dawn of this genre there have only been a few really memorable years, where the overall quality(both from a fanboys pov and a moviegoers pov) have been consistent.
During this article I'll provide you with a quick walkthrough of the CBM years in chronological order and give a verdict on the quality, be it good or bad, based on reviews, fan reactions and my own biased opinion. Before we get started I want to say that I realize that some might be missing but I've tried to include as many CBMs as I could possibly remember. But do feel free to write the ones missing in the comment section. So here is the list:
2000: Kicking of the millennium and seen by CBM fans as the year that kick started the vast comic book story adaptation which we are seeing unfold as you read this. X-men was the film that started it, some will maybe say that it actually started with Blade in 1998. But to better distinguish this we'll just go with the dawn of the new millenium. Side note: Plus, then we don't have to mention the disaster year of 1997, which produced 3 movies based on CBM material. GOOD
In 2001 no CBMs where produced. But after this year there haven't been a year without one!
2002: With only 3 movies based on comic book material the achievement is not really remarkable, but the year gave us Blade II(which is arguably the best of the three), Sam Mendes' brilliant Road to Perdition and finally introduced a superhero that many had been waiting for decades to see on the silver screen: Spider-man. GOOD
Now from 2002 up until 2004, there was some really good CBMs and then there was some really bad:
2003: X2: X-men United, the second sequel in the new millenium and what a sequel. Bettering all the wrongs of the first, which wasn't bad at all, and giving us one of the best CBMs so far. Now unfortunately both Hulk and Daredevil flopped, they where not all bad, they just didn't deliver two characters who had all the potential of great adaptations on the big screen. Side note: The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen didn't help this year either. BAD
2004: Spider-man 2. My oh my, what a movie. Perhaps one of the best CBMs when it comes to appealing to the average moviegoer. It had great action, romantic love scenes, scheming non-black and white villains and an amazing story. But off course Catwoman and Blade Trinity, two of the arguably worst CBMs ever, had to come along and ruin it all. Side-note: Now Hellboy was a good movie and a fine adaptation and in my eyes The Punisher wasn't really that bad. But these just didn't hide the fact that Catwoman and Blade Trinity was a punch in the face on every CBM fan out there. BAD
2005: The more real, grittier, darker take on the CBM genre and Superheroes as a whole. First off we got Batman Begins. Possibly the best origin-story so far and the first to reboot a superhero movie franchise, but certainly not the last as Superman Returns, The Incredible Hulk and Punisher: War Zone have vaguely shown and which upcoming movies like The Amazing Spiderman and The Man of Steel will hopefully copy to success. Moore's V for Vendetta was adapted for the big screen and worked wonders, Sin Ciy gave new life to both the all black and white noir sub genre and also extreme violence and lastly A History of Violence delivered a script, that just as easy could have been based off of a bestselling novel. All of these explored the darker roots of the genre to great success.
Side-note: The year also introduced the spin-off principal to the genre(extra note: Supergirl, too did this, but as Supergirl wasn't introduced in a movie before this, I wouldn't call it a spin-off), but I don't really want to talk about Elektra in the same sentence as the word CBM(Doh, just did it!). And then there was Fantastic Four - Bad! And Constantine: Meh? Can't really make up my mind about it, I guess it was a fine film. But in the end 2005 was still a great CBM year overall. GOOD The following years up till 2008, were haunted by the threequel ghost. X-men: The Last Stand and Spider Man 3 springs to mind firstly. But also the halfway reboot of Superman, in Superman Returns, the FF sequel Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer and the Nic Cage starring Ghost Rider didn't bring anything that potentially would give you and overall great annual CBM experience.
Side note: Though it all seems bad, two directors who both would go on to direct two CBMs more gave us good movies: Vaughn delivered Stardust and Snyder gave us 300. This is Sparta! BAD and
BAD 2008: Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Hellboy II: The Golden Army and The Dark Knight . These four so far is the ultimate lineup that you need to beat, when it comes to future years of CBM performing better than 08. We saw the birth of Tony Stark, a great reboot(of sorts) for our favourite Green Goliath, an arguably more true to the source interpretation of Hellboy and the best Batman movie ever(yeah I know I should use the word "arguably" here as well, but non-comicbook readers and critics worldwide have placed this as the highest rated film about The caped crusader, so I'll just take whatever trash people are gonna throw at me).
Side-note: These weren't the only CBMs of that year. Punisher: War Zone and Frank Miller's adaptation of the Spirit also saw the light of day, but all-in-all these didn't bring down the overall consensus of this year. It was by all means pure CBM gold! GOOD Then after this fantastic year came 2009. What a boring year for CBMs! After a consistent flow of at least 3 or more per year since 2002, with 2006 being the only exception. 2009 only gave us Watchmen, which was IMHO fantastic! But divided fans of the graphic novel of which it was based and another spin-off from Fox: X-men Origins: Wolverine - a real Fox'up in CBM history!
SO-SO After a boring year it was time for 2010 aka. last year. This being just last year means that I still have some catching up to do, as I still haven't seen 3 of the 5 films that premiered this year. They are Jonah Hex, which I bet nobody will recommend me seeing anyway. The Losers, which changed the tone from the comics and didn't exactly get rave reviews. And RED, which I'm planing to see in the near future. So bear in mind that I have rated 2010 from the films I've seen and the reviews and talks about the ones I've not:
2010: Last year gave us Kick-Ass and Iron Man 2. Now I know this one will be hard to swallow for some, not because of the first mentioned, Kick-Ass, which pardon the pun: Kicked Ass! But because people have never seized to either praise or trash the hell out of the second outing of Iron Man. IMHO I still think that the movie was great fun and it holds a rating over the 70% on RT. So with that said this year did good. RED also holds a very positive rating and got some good reviews, and even though it seems like it changed a lot from the comics just like The Losers, it would seem that it actually delivered.
Side note: As explained I haven't watch over half of the movie of this year, but based on what the fans and reviews have been saying about both The Losers and Jonah Hex, mostly the latter, they were quite pour adaptations and not good movies in any way other than just mindless popcorn blockbusters.
UPDATE Scott Pilgrim was another movie that appeared in 2010 and was very different from other comic book movies. In a very good way however as the movie has received almost universal acclaim from every one who have seen it. GOOD So now, after a quick stroll down memory lane, it's time to look at the score:
GOOD = 5 BAD = 4 SO-SO = 1 And at last. Let's have a look on this year's(2011 if somebody should be confused after I've thrown a lot of 4 digits around) CBMs so far:
The Green Hornet: Once again I must apologize, as I've not seen this one either. But I doubt I will, the character doesn't interest me, the story seems uninspiring and Seth Rogen isn't really my favourite actor. I guess you could persuade since Christoph Waltz is playing the villain. And also it got mixed reviews so I don't really know what to think about it.
Thor: Great story, sublime acting(for the most part, I realize now that Hiddleston should have held some of the mustache-graping back during the last fight sequence) and overall a solid performance by Kenneth Branagh and co. and IMHO Marvel's second best behind Iron Man and just better than TIH and IM2.
X-men: First Class: Even better than Thor and in every aspect a really clever period-movie, setting the X-men in the '60s were they were first published and showing the bond between Charles Xavier and Erik Lensherr better than X-men and X2 did. Now there is an accomplishment.
Now with the tally at 2,5 out of 3(yeah that's right without having seen it and seeing as it has had mixed reviews I'm gonna allow a split point for The Green Hornet) it should be interesting to see the next three: Green Lantern, Captain America: The First Avenger and Cowboys and Aliens, will live up to the hype they are slowly starting to receive. My prediction: They will rule. Why? GL has Martin Campbell directing, an underrated Ryan Reynolds when it comes to drama and Mark Strong as what could become the ace in the hall. CA:TFA is a period piece done by a man who have delivered a great superhero period piece before, set in the same freaking time period. And a cast and crew that seems to care about the story and the material it is based upon. Now C&A I don't really know that much about, but Favreau did more than a great job on bringing Iron Man on to the big screen and Daniel Craig is damn good actor, so I have faith!
So here is me hoping that my prediction turns out to be true and I can add another year to the list of great CBM years. And furthermore next year is looking very promising too. With the reboots of Superman and Spider Man. Marvel mightiest heroes assembling in The Avengers and the very last of Nolans Batman trilogy, The Dark Knight Rises. Oh and then there is the Ghost Rider sequel, not really sure what to think about that one yet.
But there you have it. Will 2011 be a great year for a CBM? Or will the last three press it down into the already overcrowded box of CBM shame? And how do you reckon 2012 will turn out? Be sure to comment and debate over this in the therefore made section and as always: KEEP ON TRUCKING!