Super Movies
This essay was originally posted to Twitter between August 28, 2021 and September 4, 2021. It was composed of 751 words across 16 tweets.
It's hard to describe what makes SUPERMAN so unique among other superhero movies. (Even among other Superman movies!) There's an ethos to it, a whole vibe, that other movies of its kind--the X-Mens the Blades, the MCU, etc.--either can't or won't replicate.
As a public service, this thread is going be a non-comprehensive rundown of a handful of movies, superhero or otherwise, that achieve a similar vibe to SUPERMAN, with varying degrees of closeness. I'll discuss the ways I think they're similar, and maybe the ways that they differ.
Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (Radomski and Timm, 1993)
Obviously, Batman and Superman are two very different stories. But, out of all the filmed adaptations of Batman, this is the one that really cuts to the core of Bruce Wayne as a character--his earnestness, his humanity.
This is a movie of grand scope, composed of multiple acts that function as mini movies unto themselves. It's the most lavish treatment of Batman on the big screen (and yes, this was released theatrically) aside from Batman (Burton, 1989), which was decidedly un-SUPERMAN-like.
Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure (Herek, 1989)
No, this isn't a superhero movie, nor is it based on characters who originally came from a comic book. But there's no reason why it should have to be in order to be compared to SUPERMAN in terms of its vibe and its ethos.
Bill & Ted is a good-natured tale about using power that's been gifted to you as responsibly and altruistically as you can, in pursuit of an eventual utopia.
It's the same message as SUPERMAN: if we all did what we could with what we have, things would ultimately work out.
On Her Majesty's Secret Service (Hunt, 1969)
This one might require the most imagination. No, James Bond is not particularly like Superman, and I'm not going to pretend that there's a clear one-to-one relationship between this movie and SUPERMAN in any meaningful way.
Having said that, this is the only Bond movie, and perhaps the only large-scale adventure movie prior to SUPERMAN, to stake its story on the relationship between its hero and his love interest, rather than the latest villain. Bond and Tracy genuinely seem to care for each other.
John Carter (Stanton, 2012)
This movie is most remembered for its massive price tag, and for flying a little too low under the radar--ultimately flopping upon its release. But put aside its notoriety as a box office bomb and you'll find a special kind of pulp adventure.
John Carter is very much like a 1930s take on Superman, with his great leaps and two-fisted heroics. The worst you could say about it is that it's overstuffed. It shoots for the grand scope of SUPERMAN, but miscalculates, juggling a few too many subplots for its own clarity.
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (Persichetti, Ramsey, and Rothman, 2018)
I was sorely tempted to include the first two Sam Raimi Spider-Man movies in this essay. (The third, maybe not so much.) I do like them, and find them SUPERMAN-like, but Spider-Verse is a masterpiece.
Perhaps even more than Superman, Spider-Man is defined by his civilian alter-ego. Spider-Verse provides us with the conjoined journey of two self-doubting heroes: Peter B. Parker and Miles Morales. If there must be a Spider-Man movie within these ranks, it's this one.
The Rocketeer (Johnston, 1991)
As a little kid, you could put any movie with a flying person in front of me and I was sold. SUPERMAN (Donner, 1978), The Rocketeer (Johnston, 1991), Hook (Spielberg, 1991), whatever. Now that I'm older, I understand why this one works perfectly.
The Rocketeer is as tightly constructed as Back To The Future (Zemeckis, 1985) and as suffused with nostalgia as Field of Dreams (Robinson, 1989). Stick an appealing power 'n' responsibility type hero in the middle of it and you have an underappreciated classic.
And, finally...
The Iron Giant (Bird, 1999)
The Iron Giant learns its lessons from SUPERMAN, both in terms of the movie and in-universe. This is a parable about how a fictional character (fictional to them, in the movie) can be a guiding light--a leader to stir others into action.
It's a fun movie, but it plays its messaging straight, going so far as to give us a harrowing sequence of what the Iron Giant (here, a Superman analog) might be like if he had all that power without any compassion. It shows that it's not the power that makes him special.
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Published 3/9/2024
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