All Time Worst To Best Comic Adapted Movies

This one is going to stir a lot of discussion. The good folks over at Rotten Tomatoes have put up their list of the 94 Worst to Best rated comic adapted movies of all time. Some of the stuff on this list won’t surprise you at all… some will floor you. Here’s the list from worst rated to best:

94) Son of the Mask

93) Elektra

92) Catwoman

91) Garfield The Movie

90) The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (My company worked on this. Even I know it sucked)

89) Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties

88) Batman & Robin – 21.9 (Yes, the Arnold one)

87) Pathfinder – 23.1 (Who thought Vikings vs. Indians could be so boring?)

86) Virus – 23.2

85) Monkeybone – 24.0

84) Judge Dredd – 25.3

83) Alien vs. Predator – 25.8

82) Bulletproof Monk

81) Superman IV: The Quest for Peace

80) The Crow: City of Angels

79) Fantastic Four

78) Steel (Sahq Attack!)

77) Supergirl

76) Blade: Trinity

75) Appleseed

74) Tales from the Crypt – Bordello of Blood

73) The Punisher (I admit it, I kinda liked this one)

72) Ghost Rider

71) Superman III

70) Howard the Duck

69) Spawn

68) The Mostly Unfabulous Social Life of Ethan Green

67) TMNT (it was better than I thought it would be)

66) Art School Confidential

65) Richie Rich

64) Dennis the Menace

63) Barb Wire

62) The Shadow (WTF?? I LOVED Shadow!)

61) Men in Black II

60) Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2 – The Secret of the Ooze

59) Tank Girl

58) The Phantom (Billy Zane forver)

57) Casper

56) Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles – The Movie

55) Daredevil

54) Batman Forever

53) Constantine

52) Azumi

51) Timecop

50) Blade (Doug is so mad it’s this low)

49) Annie

48) Josie and the Pussycats

47) Uzumaki

46) The Addams Family

45) The Princess Blade

44) Blade 2

43) Popeye

42) Creepshow

41) From Hell

40) Heavy Metal

39) X-Men: The Last Stand

38) Ichi the Killer

37) Mystery Men (I’d put this much higher)

36) Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence

35) Spider-Man 3 (this should be lower)

34) 300 (Wow… I thought this might crack the top 10)

33) The Rocketeer

32) Hulk

31) Dick Tracy

30) Swamp Thing

29) Barbarella

28) Addams Family Values

27) Batman (Tim Burton original)

26) The Mask

25) Flash Gordon

24) Batman – Mask of the Phantasm

23) Batman Returns

22) V For Vendetta

21) Akira

20) Over the Hedge

19) Superman II

18) The Crow

17) Superman Returns

16) X-Men

15) Sin City

14) Ghost in the Shell

13) Hellboy

12) Oldboy

11) Road to Perdition

10) Metropolis (2002 animated)

9) Superman: The Movie (Christopher Reeve Original)

8) Batman Begins

7) Men in Black

6) A History of Violence (I Hated this movie)

5) X2: X-Men United (This is my #1 on this list)

4) Spider-Man

3) Ghost World

2) American Splendor

1) Spider-Man 2

So what do you think? Remember, these are in order of their ratings over on Rotten Tomatoes, averaged out from hundreds of reviews. How would your top 10 look? How would your bottom 10 look?

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35 thoughts on “All Time Worst To Best Comic Adapted Movies

  1. Here’s mine:

    10. The Punisher
    9. Constantine
    8. V for Vendetta
    7. Sin City
    6. X-Men
    5. X2
    4. Spiderman
    3. Batman Begins
    2. Spider Man 2
    1. The Crow

    I know it’s bad- but I haven’t had the chance to see 300 yet- but it’ll probably be on there when I do.

  2. you can’t have a list like this! it’s too long. Have the top 10 worst movies or something not a list of every comic adapted movie ever made.

    take a real risk and call out specific movies and explain why they are crap i wanna laugh

  3. I saw this list a while ago, with some exceptions in the middle of the pack, the overall feeling is … the list is pretty much on par with what was great and what was shyt.

    And spiderman 2 is #1 on my list.

  4. top ten,1.X-2,2.Batman(Tim Burton),3.Blade,4.Batman Begins,5.X-Men,6.Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles,7.Men In Black,8.Casper,9.Hellboy,10.Superman……no bottom list and it kills me to say this but X3 sucked

  5. Batman Begins with the Spidey movies and X-Men movies right behind. No other Batman movie should be at the top and no other Batman movies in the top fifty with Batman and Robin off the charts – the worst EVER. Personally I liked the Blade movies and 300 as well.

  6. 1. Spider-Man 2
    2. Batman Begins
    3. X2
    4. Invincibles (if I squint my brain and imagine it as a far superior adaptation of the Fantastic Four)
    5. American Splendor
    6. Sin City
    7. From Hell (yeah yeah, it’s a different beast from the massive and dense graphic novel, but on it’s own I still really enjoyed it)
    8. 300
    9. Daredevil (the director’s cut, nice to see that others agree)
    10. Riki-Oh: The Story Of Ricky (HELL YEAH!)

  7. I think Spider-Man 2 is really the numbre one of the comic adaptations. Perhaps my number two would be Batman Begins (great surptrise this movie), but I think the X-Men franchise it really good adaptation too.

  8. Thanks for distilling the list so i could read it all. It reminded me of a few i haven’t seen in a while. I’m still waiting for proper special editions of The Rocketeer & Dick Tracy.

    My top ten would be:

    10) Dick Tracy
    9) The Rocketeer
    8) Blade
    7) X-Men
    6) Daredevil (the director’s cut mind you)
    5) X-Men 2
    4) Spider-man
    3) Spider-man 2
    2) Batman Begins
    1) Superman the movie

    And you’re right John, some of that list is a joke. Popeye is better than Blade apparently.

  9. My list:
    1. Spider-Man 2
    2. Batman Begins
    3. X2: X-men United
    4. Spider-Man
    5. V for Vendetta
    6. Hulk(yes that Hulk)
    7. Sin City
    8. Blade 2
    9. TMNT(it may be nostalgia, but i loved it)
    10.Batman

    Honorable mentions: Blade, 300, teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, X-men X-Men 3 and Spider-Man 3

    as for worst i don’t have a list, but Superman Returns and Catwoman would be on that list somewhere

  10. this would be my top 10 best:

    1. Batman Begins
    2. Superman: The Movie
    3. X-2: X-Men United
    4. Ghost World
    5. Hellboy
    6. The Crow
    7. Blade II
    8. American Splendor
    9. The Rocketeer
    10. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

    Honorable Mentions:
    Batman: Mask Of The Phantasm
    Heavy Metal
    Spider-Man 2
    Daredevil (Director’s Cut)
    The Punisher (2004)

    this would be my 10 worst:
    Worst:

    1. Catwoman
    2. Captain America
    3. Batman & Robin
    4. Son Of The Mask
    5. The League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen
    6. Spawn
    7. Spider-Man 3
    8. Fantastic Four (2005)
    9. Ghost Rider
    10. V For Vendetta

  11. Son of the Mask as the worst was a given. But I didn’t remember Spider-Man 2 had been so well reviewed. I was also a little surprised that Batman Begins was only eighth and that the Tim Burton Batman’s weren’t higher.

    The list seem a little slanted towards more recent movies. I wonder if that is because older comic book movies sucked or if it is a result of some anomaly caused by the methodology they used.

  12. Chisox, sorry, Judge Dredd was horrible. And I was like 15 when I saw it too, right in the supposed demographic.

    And I thought the Fantastic Four sucked ass, but to list it below Supergirl? And Steel? And Howard the Duck? And Barb Wire? You’ve got to be kidding me? Those movies were jokes.

  13. 1. Dick Tracy- Awesome movie with award wining performances
    2. Hulk- It’s a shame people hat on this film
    3. Batman
    4. 300- Flawed but still very good. The only film that has delivered in 2007
    5. Metropolis- Excellent Aime. Better than Ghost in the shell
    6. Ghost in the Shell- This film, not Akira turned me into a Aime junkie.
    7. Blade 1&2
    8. The Shadow
    9. Judge Dredd- Not as bad as people say it is
    10. Sin City

  14. Why not top 100? Oh that’s right, there are only 94 Adaptations of Comics to film. (we must now assume)

    So this was a listing of how they all rank. From best to worst.

    Yeah, I thought the Shadow deserved much higher.

  15. Forgot about my bottom ten:

    1.Spider-Man 3
    2.Josie & The Pussycats
    3.Ghost World
    4.Addams Family Values
    5.Superman IV: The Quest For Peace
    6.Heavy Metal
    7.Batman Forever
    8.Batman & Robin
    9.Catwoman
    10.Elektra

  16. Still mystifies me how the spider-man movies(while pretty good) get anywhere near top ten lists, here’s mine for what it’s worth:

    1.The Crow
    2.Sin City
    3.300
    4.V For Vendetta
    5.Hellboy
    6.Constantine
    7.Blade 2
    8.Hulk
    9.Daredevil
    10.The Punisher

  17. Josie and the Pussycats better than Blade?!?!?!?!?

    The Addams Family better than Blade?!?!?!?!?!?!?

    Batman Returns better than Batman?!?!?!?!?!?!?

    The Hulk better than Mystery Men?!?!?!?!?!?!?

    This list is meaningless…. to me.
    As are everyone’s lists. Film is subjective after all.
    So no offense, but the only list that matters is MY list :P

    …and speaking of which, mine would go something like this (using the movies they list)

    10: 300
    9: Mystery Men
    8: X- men
    7: Batman
    6: Blade 2
    5: Superman 2
    4: Spiderman 2
    3: Blade
    2: Superman: The Movie
    1: Batman Begins

  18. If there is one movie I’m surprised and happy to see up there it is
    Batman Mask of the Phantasm

    So here is the list of my top 5

    1)Batman Begins
    2)Spider-man 2
    3)Batman: Mask of the Phantasm(Imo this is better than the Burton films)
    4)Superman 2
    5)V for Vendetta

  19. Not sure Batman Returns should be above Batman? And Superman Returns was shit – nothing happened in that film and it was way too long. Spiderman 3 is definitely better than Superman Returns!

    top 5:
    1. Sin City
    2. Spiderman 2
    3. Batman Begins
    4. Batman (Burton original)
    5. Spiderman

  20. American Splendor #2! Thats Amazing! That movie does deserve a lot of credit. Quick somebody tell harvey Peaker! I’m pretty sure I’m alone on this but that was agreat little movie that said a lot about life and stayed true to it’s source material. Definately top 5 material.
    My top 5 is like so.
    1. Superman (original)
    2. American splendor
    3. Ghost World
    4. Batman (original)
    5. 300

  21. Using their movies:

    1. Akira
    2. The Crow
    3. Spider Man
    4. Sin City
    5. Batman Begins
    6. Oldboy(didn’t know this was a manga/comic/graphic novel/strip)
    7. X2
    8. A History of Violence
    9. Hellboy
    10. Batman(Tim Burton)

    It looks like Sunday strips, manga, and graphic novels are all included. If I were to make a list of comic book movies, I wouldn’t include the sunday paper!

    Heavy Metal, V for Vendetta, Men in Black, 300, Daredevil, Creepshow, Blade, Punisher, X Men, and Superman are all great as well.

  22. What the hell? Josie and the Pussycats rate higher than The Punisher? This list has some weird slotting, but here’s my top 10.

    My Top 10:
    10. Mystery Men
    9. The Punisher (2004)
    8. Timecop
    7. Batman (Burton Original)
    6. The Rocketeer
    5. 300
    4. Batman Begins
    3. X-Men 2
    2. X-Men
    1. Sin City

  23. Batman Begins is #1 in my books. The first 2 Blade movies and The Crow should be MUCH higher. History of Violence? I didn’t realize that was a graphic novel.

  24. I would have pumped ff “AvP” off the list because it isn’t based off a comic or graphic novel. The comics were spinoffs from the films. I’d replace it with Immotal Ad Vitam.

    “Appleseed”- this is the new CGI version from a few years ago, if I’m not mistaken. Not bad, but not as good as the orginal 2-d magna animie.

    The botton five -especiially Batman & Robin, are really painful to watch.

    I know why Wes Craven’s “Swamp Thing” is so high though. Many critics around 1982 when the film was released, circled in on the high cheese pomp and the campy action which was very high-spirited. But “higher” than Rocketeer? Blade 2?

    Same goes for 1980’s “Flash Gordon”- high energy camp, some nods to the serials…

  25. my top 10 will not be popular :P
    1.Spiderman 2
    2.Spiderman
    3.X2
    4.Spiderman 3 (sorry John)
    5.X-Men
    6.Superman Returns
    7.Batman Begins
    8.Road to Perdition (didn’t know this was comic book but awesome!)
    9.Daredevil (actually really enjoyed this)
    10.Blade

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