Last Updated on March 1, 2024
Put on your cape and play your superhero theme song. It is time to meet the top movies that are all about those special individuals that can fly and throw cars. We picked 18 films that have all the best elements including gritty fight scenes, fantastic worlds, and even sharp, witty dialogue. So, if you are in the mood for a superhero movie that doesn’t suck, we have the best lineup for you right here!
1. Hancock (2008)
IMDB Rating: 6.4
Hancock is a superhero who is openly living in Los Angeles. Well, let’s be honest. It is more accurate to call him an anti-superhero. He is constantly drunk (or hungover), rude and his idea of saving the day often leads to major structural damage in the city.
When he meets relations expert Ray Embrey, he agrees to let Embrey clear up his public image. But there is something about his PR manager’s wife who holds the key to Hancock’s missing past and she also holds the one weakness that can pierce his immortal invincibility.
2. Batman Begins (2005)
IMDB Rating: 8.2/10
Showing the start of the Batman legend, young Bruce witnesses the murder of his parents and it sets him on a mission to train as a killer. Determined to get his revenge, he trains for years as a martial artist and eventually, Bruce joins the League of Shadows led by Ra’s al Ghul.
When he learns that the league is planning to destroy Gotham because the city has too many criminals, he makes the difficult decision to turn his back on the league and return to his home as Batman. But his old Shadow comrades are not done with either Bruce or Gotham City and the stage is set for an action-packed showdown.
3. The Dark Knight (2008)
IMDB Rating: 9.0/10
Bruce Wayne finally sees the chance to hang up his cape as Batman and to live a normal life. But worried about crime and leaving the citizens unprotected, Bruce offers to support District Attorney Harvey Dent’s bid to become Gotham City’s new protector.
But there are problems with that plan – Wayne’s true love is dating Dent and after the Joker tears through Gotham City, Dent turns into a violent vigilante called Two-Face and goes on a killing spree.
Batman has to rise once more to fight both the demented Dent and the Joker who is ripping the city apart in order to force Batman to reveal his identity.
4. The Dark Knight Rises (2012)
IMDB Rating: 8.4/10
Gotham City faces its darkest hour after Batman disappears and the super-villain Bane takes over the streets and brings the justice system to its knees. In this epic conclusion of the Dark Knight trilogy, Cat Woman betrays Bruce Wayne leading to his imprisonment in Bane’s unescapable underground prison.
But when Bane and his crew threaten Gotham City with total extinction, Cat Woman regrets her actions, saves Batman and the pair team up to stop Bane’s deadly plan.
5. Venom (2018)
IMDB Rating: 6.7/10
When journalist Eddie Brock investigates several claims that bio-engineering company Life Foundation is running illegal experiments on humans, he discovers that they are indeed using unwilling people as hosts to keep a newly-discovered alien lifeform alive.
Determined to get the story, he breaks into the facility. But Brock accidentally becomes a host to one of these life forms and this entity is called Venom. As the Life Foundation fails to keep the other aliens alive, they want Venom back at all costs. But the deadly being has other ideas and reveals its terrible purpose to Brock as they try to keep one step ahead of their pursuers.
6. Aliens (1986)
IMDB Rating: 8.3/10
Ellen Ripley is rescued and resuscitated after sleeping for 57 years inside an escape shuttle. Nobody believes her story about the deadly extraterrestrials that had killed her crew and forced Ripley to destroy her ship – but one detail catches the attention of her employers at the Weyland-Yutani Corporation. Their colony has gone silent on the exomoon LV-426, the location where Ripley claims alien eggs are onboard an abandoned ship.
Ripley joins a team of Marines sent to investigate. They find the colony destroyed by the same aliens that slaughtered Ripley’s crew. The battle to survive pits her against the ferocious predators and her employers, who wants the eggs for biological warfare
7. Black Panther (2018)
IMDB Rating: 7.3/10
To the rest of the world, the nation of Wakanda appears like any other Third World country. In reality, Wakandians live in a secret, cutting-edge society that is far ahead of everyone else. Their secret is vibranium, a metal that sits at the heart of a storm threatening to expose the hidden world of the legendary Black Panther.
T’Challa is the newly-crowned king who has to deal with treacherous members of the Wakandan royal family who is stealing vibranium with the intent of spreading their advanced technology and causing a worldwide war.
8. The Matrix (1999)
IMDB Rating: 8.7/10
When hacker Neo discovers the phrase “the Matrix” online his world is never the same. He meets Morpheus who offers him a red and blue pill. Neo takes the red pill because it will show him the truth about the world. It reveals that humanity lives in the Matrix, a simulation created by intelligent machines to keep people in a dream state while the machines feed on their bioelectric power.
Neo has to square off with the deadly Agent Smith and his team to fulfil his destiny as the One, the man prophesied to free humanity.
9. Blade II (2002)
IMDB Rating: 6.7/10
In this sequel, Blade receives an unusual request. The vampires need his help to fight a terrible plague among themselves. At first, it seems like a bad idea to team up with the undead. But when he discovers that vampires and humans alike are being turned into “Reapers,” blood-thirsty creatures with a highly-infectious bite, Blade agrees.
He joins forces with the Bloodpack, an elite vampire group that had originally assembled to destroy him. The truce proves to be as dangerous as the truth about the Reapers, demanding everything Blade’s got to survive.
10. Unbreakable (2000)
IMDB Rating: 7.3/10
David Dunn is the sole survivor of a train crash disaster that claims the lives of his fellow 130 passengers. The fact that he is completely unharmed and has never suffered any other form of ill health in the past catches the attention of Elijah Price, who tries to convince Dunn that he is a real-life superhero.
At first, Dunn finds Price a little creepy but under his guidance, Dunn begins to realize that whenever he comes into physical contact with someone, he can see all the crimes that the person has committed. He rescues two children this way but when he shakes Price’s hand, he learns a terrible secret about his mentor.
11. Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008)
IMDB Rating: 7.0/10
In this sequel, Hellboy and his crew face their toughest challenge yet. Together with pyrokinetic Liz and empath Abe, they are up against a powerful Elf prince called Nuada. The latter is bitter about how humanity has broken an ancient pact with elves, which had forced his people to live underground like rats.
Hellboy has to deal with the consequences of being outed as a superhero in public, Liz’s growing discontent with their relationship, and Nuada’s determination to annihilate humanity by awakening the unstoppable Golden Army.
12. Joker (2019)
IMDB Rating: 8.4/10
This movie is another take on the origin story of the Joker, the nemesis of Batman. In this version, Arthur Fleck is a party clown and aspiring stand-up comedian. But his struggle with mental illness and laughing at inappropriate times hamper his dreams and attempts to romance one of his neighbors.
After employees of Wayne Enterprises beat Fleck up on a train, it triggers a chain of events that not only explains how Bruce’s parents were murdered but also how Fleck adopted the “Joker” name and persona.
13. Watchmen (2009)
IMDB Rating: 7.6/10
In this DC Comics adaptation, the world is an alternate America in the 1980s. Superheroes who wear costumes are nothing unusual and they are a part of everyday life. But rising tensions makes it illegal for any costumed person to work as a vigilante. As a result, some superheroes retire while others refuse.
After a superhero is murdered, masked fighter Rorschach realizes that the ban runs much deeper and that someone is set on discrediting all superheroes, a plot that even contains a plan to kill anyone with supernatural abilities. As Rorschach investigates this disturbing conspiracy, it grows to catastrophic proportions that could threaten the world.
14. The Amazing Spiderman (2012)
IMDB Rating: 7.6/10
Superhero fans who love origins stories might enjoy this take on Spiderman’s first days. After his parents’ home is mysteriously burgled, the young Peter Parker is effectively abandoned by his mother and father. They drop him off at the home of his aunt and uncle and then vanish.
Years later, Peter is investigating his parents’ disappearance when he learns that they had a connection to Oscorp. Visiting one of the laboratories, Peter is bitten by a genetically modified spider. Peter now has to deal with his growing superpowers, the burden of his role in his uncle’s death and the ever-growing threat of the Lizard, a man who gains his own superpowers and who wants to destroy Spiderman.
15. Megamind (2010)
IMDB Rating: 7.3/10
Years ago, two alien babies arrived on Earth. Metro Man was raised by rich parents and became Metro’s City superhero and a popular celebrity. The other, Megamind, became a supervillain and Metro Man’s nemesis after he was raised by prisoners.
The two constantly battle for control over the city and after Megamind defeats the hero, he realizes that his life is meaningless without an arch-nemesis. His attempts to resurrect Metro Man leads to the creation of a new villain. Megamind teams up with a reporter, Roxanne, to stop him but Megamind’s own hilarious dark side keeps getting in the way.
16. The Mask (1994)
IMDB Rating: 6.9/10
Stanley Ipkiss is a bank employee and due to his timid nature, everyone takes advantage of him. One night, while depressed over his bad luck, Stanley visits the harbor where he finds an unusual wooden mask. Once he dons the artefact, he turns into a character called “The Mask” who is his complete opposite.
Now confident, slick and able to get back at his tormentors, Stanley’s alter ego robs the very bank where he works. Things get hairy when he becomes targeted by both the police and a gang who had originally planned to rob the same bank.
17. Darkman (1990)
IMDB Rating: 6.4/10
This superhero film explains the origin story of “Darkman,” an elusive man with a bandaged face. Dr Peyton Westlake is trying to develop artificial skin for burn victims but one day, he is attacked at his workplace. When he doesn’t give the men what they came for, the attackers burn his face and body with acid which severely disfigures him.
After he wakes up from a coma, Westlake escapes from the hospital and discover that the acid burns had numbed his ability to physically feel all sensations, giving him more strength and resistance to pain. With these new abilities, he sets out to confront the mobsters who had turned his life upside down and the results are pretty dark superhero stuff.