Classic comics in the movies

I wanted to get this post in before “Batman begins” hits the screen. Hollywood has (sometimes) done justice to the comic books by crafting spectacular movies out of them. On other occasions, severe injustice has been done that still goes unpunished. Here is my “best and worst in comic book movies.”

Magnificent masterstrokes: Batman, Batman returns, Superman II, The Mask, X2 (X-Men 2), Spiderman II (yes, the sequels of these three were far better than the first movie), The Hulk, Hell boy.
Top of the heap: X2, Hellboy, The Mask

You might wonder why Sin City is missing from this list. That is because moi has seen only half the movie (the wife doesn’t share my taste in comics, and expected to see something like Spiderman when we went to the cinema. Needless to say, the shock was too much for her to bear, and we had to leave). But what little I saw was brilliant. I swear on the ashes of my ancestors that I will see the movie in totality soon and corrections will be made to the list below.

Colossal Blunders: Batman and Robin, Superman IV, Son of the Mask, Daredevil, Catwoman, Batman & Robin, Judge Dread, Elektra, Supergirl.
To be confined to the compost pit: Catwoman

Casting coups: Jack Nicholson (Batman), Michelle Pfeiffer (Batman Returns), Jim Carrey (The Mask), Toby Maguire (Spiderman), Tommy Lee Jones (Batman Returns), Hugh Jackman (X-Men, X2), Alan Cumming (X2), Christopher Reeve (Superman series), the (what I’ve seen) cast of Sin City.
Stroke of genius:
Jack Nicholson (Batman), Jim Carrey (The Mask), Alan Cumming (X2)

Good God! Why me?: Halle Berry (Catwoman), Halle Berry (X-men), Halle Berry (X2), Arnold Schwarzenegger (Batman and Robin), George Clooney (Batman & Robin), Gene Hackman (Superman IV), Ben Afleck (Daredevil).
Ultimate Travesty: Halle Berry (Catwoman), Ben Afleck (Daredevil)

Should have been better: The Hulk

Wish list: Where are the female superheroes? We want lots of Rouge in X-Men 3, Poison Ivy in Batman, and a better Catwoman movie.
A better Phantom movie (without Billy Zane)
A Green Lantern movie, with Samuel L. Jackson as the Green L.
Mandrake the Magician, with plenty of Theron, Cobra (Lucifer) and Hojo.

Eagerly awaited: Batman begins, Fantastic Four.

And your favorites were?