Best Superhero Origin Story on film?

[joelozito]

With the release of "Wolverine", I've started to think about the best Superhero "origin stories" on film.

Origin stories are hard to keep interesting. No matter how inventive your setup, audiences will invariably want you to cut to the chase. Even "Batman Begins", the latest reinvention of the origin tale, suffered from a few dull spots. The problem gets worse the more well-known the character is. Let's face it, few of us were particularly well-versed in the origin of "The Spirit" (and, as it turns out, there's no reason we should've been). But when you're dealing with a character already embedded in pop culture, the filmmaker's job becomes infinitely more difficult. Just look at Ang Lee's much-maligned "Hulk". Is it his fault everyone already knows it's radiation that makes Bruce Banner go green? (Does that make him our most eco-friendly hero?) No, but it IS Mr. Lee's fault for taking an hour to make it happen. Sam Raimi, on the other hand, brought Peter Parker together with his radioactive (sorry, genetically altered) arachnid with due haste, keeping us laughing along the way. And audiences thanked him for his efforts with beau coup box office.

So with all that in mind, here are my favorite origin stories. What's yours?

Superman (1978)
Batman Begins
Spider-man

[MrBoylan]

So with all that in mind, here are my favorite origin stories. What's yours?

Superman (1978)
Batman Begins
Spider-man

Cool thread. And I'm right with ya on Superman. The scene where he first "transforms" from Clark Kent to Superman, glancing over at the 1/2-phone booth with a puzzled look, then changing in a revolving door instead, shooting straight up into the air to catch Lois Lane and saying "I've got you, miss," to which she replies, "You've got me? Who's got you?" CLASSIC cinema! I still get goosebumps from that one. But it's not without its flaws. It still bugs me that Jor El would be talking about "Einstein's theory of relativity" when the distance travelled by Kal El would have meant that he left Krpyton many thousands of years before Einstein was even born (assuming Einstein's theories were true), but I digress...

My top 5, strictly off the top of my head, and for best "origin value," not necessarily overall best films, would be:

1. Superman
2. Iron Man
3. Spiderman
4. Batman Begins
5. Darkman

But I'm looking forward to hearing about others' favorites. John Boorman's "Excalibur" probably doesn't count because King Arthur is not considered a superhero, but still, it would be in my top 10.

-CB

[chiarella]

Superman did everything right. Keep in mind that, way back in 1978, there had never been a big budget comic book movie before, so to find that perfect rendition of the quiniessential superhero's origin was no easy task. The producers hired Mario Puzo and Robert Benton (past/future multiple Oscar-winners both) to write the script (among others), and what we got was a tale that was at the same time faithful to the character's roots yet novel and fresh and fascinating to watch, for fans and non-fans alike. We must of course give credit to director Richard Donner as well, who oversaw all of the aspects which made this film the grand-slam home run that it was (and still is), from casting to art direction to the use of John Williams' music and on and on.

That being said, Spider-Man also did a great job of cutting to the chase, showing the audience who Peter Parker is, where his powers come from and why he chooses to fight crime, and off we go for the rest of the movie. Remarkably, very little was changed from Stan Lee's first version of the story from the early '60s. I prefer Spider-Man 2, but of course there wouldn't be a 2 without a successful 1.

[Peter_Suciu]

What, no mention of The Shadow? Where are all the Alec Baldwin fans.

Seriously, while The Shadow is not a great film, it does do everything an origin film should do. In fact, watch Batman Begins after watching The Shadow and you'll see some distrubing similarities!

[rachelc]

I think Superman was awesome. However, once they brought in Richard Pryor, I lost interest in everything related to the character. I am anxious to see if they can revive Spider-Man because I loved the first two flicks... not so much Emo Spider-Man though.

Other than that, I vote for Batman Begins as an obvious one. That series keeps getting better. Also want to see where Iron Man will go.

What about The Incredibles? Would love to see a follow-up of that one...

[GregRobinsonHD]

Despite Joe's mostly positive review, I'm boycotting Wolverine. The trailers give me negative vibes and I can't get over the amount of bad juju online with this one. And why do his claws look more fake NOW than they did in Singer's original X-Men?!

Superman, Iron Man and Batman Begins - LOVED them all. The best origin stories thus far. 5 stars

Spiderman - solid and energetic fun. great score. 4 stars

X-Men - LOVED it, not nearly as dull as many seem to think. 4 stars
(And on the subject of Wolvie, since he gets so much screen time and backstory explanation in X1 and X2, remind me again why he needed an origin movie?)

Hulk - had its moments, but overall "meh" 3 stars
Incredible Hulk - More a reboot than an origin story, but a BIG improvement all the same. Liked Norton a lot in this role. 4 stars

Hellboy - How can you not have fun with these movies? And ah, Selma... 3.5 stars

Daredevil and Elektra - need to see the director's cuts, but I doubt either will elevate itself above my current opinion of "meh" for each. 2.5 stars

As for the non-traditional superheroes:
Incredibles - Arguably Pixar's finest achievement to date. Bring on the Blu-ray!
Robocop - Part man, part machine, all badass. Love the steelbook DVD edition. Fitting.
Casino Royale - Bond may not be a superhero, but he sure is a super hero.

And speaking of origin stories, I am more psyched to see Star Trek this Friday night than I've been to see anything since Lord of the Rings...

[chiarella]

I'm definitely with Greg on Star Trek. Glad it's not just me, it does really have a whole "origin" feel to it, despite the fact that these are no superheoes.

Or are they?

The Director's Cut of Daredevil adds a bit more "edge" but also an enormous (and ultimately unnecessary) sub-plot where Matt Murdock is defending an innocent man (isn't he always, tho?) played by Coolio.

And Rachel's got it right on the Superman series: Meaning no disrespect to the late Richard Pryor, but what is he doing in a Superman movie?

[BADuHamel]

Hmm, yeah I'd have to go with Batman Begins and then Superman (1978) if we're strictly speaking origins films, but for overall adaptations of comic books or graphic novels, then it's definitely Sin City followed by V for Vendetta for me.

I haven't seen Star Trek yet, so I can't say how that holds up as an "origins" film, but the fact that they have to yet again trot out Leonard Nimoy ticks me off.

Anyhoo, I definitely have to go along with Casino Royale as being yet another great origins film (superhero or not). Thankfully they got got that one in before Bourne Again....err, I mean Quantum of Solace.

[MrBoylan]

As for the non-traditional superheroes:
Incredibles - Arguably Pixar's finest achievement to date. Bring on the Blu-ray!

Yeah, kinda sorta an origin story... well at least for the kids, particularly the little one.

Robocop - Part man, part machine, all badass. Love the steelbook DVD edition. Fitting.

Oh, indubitably. Awesome origin story, particularly when he gets his hand shot off right before the bullet to the brain. Oops, was that a spoiler? Hell, if it happens in the first 10 minutes of the movie, it can't be considered a spoiler, can it?

Casino Royale - Bond may not be a superhero, but he sure is a super hero.

Nice line. I think I'll steal it.

And speaking of origin stories, I am more psyched to see Star Trek this Friday night than I've been to see anything since Lord of the Rings...

Ah, but grasshopper, in high expectation there can be only disappointment. Go in with an open mind (and don't read any reviews until after you see it... yeah, I know, I'm single-handedly putting BPBS out of business with statements like that).

And speaking of unrealistically high expectations, when is "The Hobbit" coming out again?

-CB

[GregRobinsonHD]

Nice line. I think I'll steal it.

No problem. Just send me $20 every time you use it.