Favorite modern Superman movie

[Kuwagaton]

Man of Steel made a very good summer great for me. I was as blown away in that theater as Pa Kent was during his dramatic exit. It had a very large amount of action, and I have to imagine that the fight scenes were in response to the previous films containing little of the sort. The cast did a great job, the aesthetics were phenomenal, and I really felt like it hit all of the Superman that SMIII didn't cover, much as I also dug that movie. A nice complement even if unintentional.

Watching it later on with different people and alone, the only gripe I have is that some of the dialogue between characters feels hollow. Michael Shannon is a good actor, but for some reason I think he had some of the weakest delivery.

BvS is really close despite me initially being too put off to see it until about 8 months after it came out. The only real knock I have is that Superman is melancholy almost entirely before his death. That has a different, imo less compelling effect than Emma Stone dying at the end of Amazing Spider-Man 2. It feels like "life sucks then you die." Between that and the Justice League commercial they stuck into the movie with no subtlety, I have to place it 2nd. 5th overall for movies featuring Superman.

I have a problem with MoS... Why would Zod and his warriors come to earth, find out the powers the yellow sun can give to them (they should have the technology to inform them that the yellow sun gives them powers of a god and a longer life span) and not want to harness it to their advantage? why would they want to go back to being a powerless as humans by creating another Krypton?? and where do you go with a plot that Superman carries all of Kryptons genetic ancestries??
Wouldn't it have worked better if they went with the Brainiac causing the destruction of Krypton root, which would have create a bigger variations of stories to go from and could have spilled into JL?

The world engine wouldn't terra form the sun, and if it did compromise their powers through the atmosphere it would still be preferable to living on regular earth.

[Jokerz79]

Superman definitely faired better in animation films than live action but for life action I've got to go with Superman Returns since MoS and BVS are the only two Superman films I can't even finish anymore and JL is still a mess at the end of the day.

[Comic-Reader Lad]

I will always love Man of Steel because it gave me a Superman that I could take seriously and it treated him as the powerhouse that he is.

I thought Michael Shannon was a great General Zod and chewed the scenery in all the right ways. He was a believable physical threat to Superman -- something no other Superman movie had before that -- not even Superman II because Terence Stamp's Zod was too regal and detached to hit you at the visceral level. Shannon and Cavill's fights felt like a gritty cage match with the fate of entire cities believably at stake. Great stuff all around.

Beyond that, I really loved Cavill as Superman. The stuff before the fight with Zod when he was arrested and was talking to Lois with the military behind the two-way glass was great because Cavill played it with such quiet confidence. He knew he was being watched and just snapped the cuffs nonchalantly and matter-of-factly informed the authorities that he was here, he was going to do his thing, and that was going to be that. Loved how Cavill played Superman as a man rather than a fratboy-manchild the way so many Marvel heroes are portrayed.

Also loved the way Clark decided to become Superman through his own agency rather than being raised that way by the Kents. He became Superman, in spite of his parents, proving that Superman is who he is naturally. In most tellings of Superman's story, it is nurture over nature that makes him Superman. Here, it's flipped, and I liked that interpretation.

[Ascended]

Not much of a competition, really.

Man of Steel got mixed reviews but all the other ones got mostly negative heat. Next to the rest, MoS looks like Citizen Kane.

But I'd be voting for MoS even if all the previous Super-films were included in this poll. No offense to Donner or Reeve, and I love those first two movies, but MoS was much better than either of them, in my opinion.

[DrNewGod]

Honestly, None Of The Above.

The animated Unbound tops all the presented options for me.

[Celgress]

Superman Returns is my personal favorite.

[daBronzeBomma]

As far as 21st century (2001 - present) theatrical/cinematic live-action portrayals of Superman go ...

1. MAN OF STEEL, by such a long shot it's in another stratosphere. And, as blasphemous as some may find it, even more rewatchable than SUPERMAN:THE MOVIE to me.

2. JUSTICE LEAGUE, only post-resurrection (and really post-Lois). We finally get a glimpse of a fully realized Henry Cavill Superman, and it is magnificent.

3. BATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE. Everything about this movie (except for Wonder Woman) was misconceived.

4. SUPERMAN RETURNS. The less said about SR, the better.

[HeroVladimir93]

Man of Steel. Great action, excellent origin, cool special effects, nuanced acting and Superman's powers feel real and natural. Also, Superman doesn't share the spotlight with anyone and always remains the star.

[Jim Kelly]

It feels like there's a movie missing in between MAN OF STEEL and SUPERMAN V BATMAN. They should have had one more Superman movie to establish him in the world. And a solo Batfleck movie, also. Then the two of them having a CIVIL WAR would have had some build up.

It's hard to see why the world is so sad about Superman in JUSTICE LEAGUE given what we see in the two previous movies. By my count, the world only saw Superman in action on three days: One day when all those people in Metropolis died and the world is confused what he did there. Another day when all those other people died--but they were terrorists and it was in some far away place that nobody cares about. And that other day when he came to Washington and all these other people died. Then the world hears that he died one night, but that wasn't broadcast on TV or social media--so on the social network it's like it never really happened.

If Superman's death was going to mean something to the world, there had to be enough screen time to establish that. But the first movie wasn't that much about Superman--it was about Clark Kent becoming Superman. And the second movie was taken over by Batman and a bunch of Justice League cameos and Lex Luthor and Lois Lane--so very little time to establish Superman as the hero of the world. We never got a real Superman solo movie with Cavill.

[stargazer01]

It feels like there's a movie missing in between MAN OF STEEL and SUPERMAN V BATMAN. They should have had one more Superman movie to establish him in the world. And a solo Batfleck movie, also. Then the two of them having a CIVIL WAR would have had some build up.

It's hard to see why the world is so sad about Superman in JUSTICE LEAGUE given what we see in the two previous movies. By my count, the world only saw Superman in action on three days: One day when all those people in Metropolis died and the world is confused what he did there. Another day when all those other people died--but they were terrorists and it was in some far away place that nobody cares about. And that other day when he came to Washington and all these other people died. Then the world hears that he died one night, but that wasn't broadcast on TV or social media--so on the social network it's like it never really happened.

If Superman's death was going to mean something to the world, there had to be enough screen time to establish that. But the first movie wasn't that much about Superman--it was about Clark Kent becoming Superman. And the second movie was taken over by Batman and a bunch of Justice League cameos and Lex Luthor and Lois Lane--so very little time to establish Superman as the hero of the world. We never got a real Superman solo movie with Cavill.

I agree completely. Henry really needed a sequel after MOS to firmly establish the character as Earth's greatest protector. We needed fully confident Superman, but if we got that BvS wouldn't work as is. Snyder needed a less confident and hopeful Superman to make his BvS plot/story work...

[Lucky]

Superman Returns. It isn't without issues, but I thought Brandon Routh was great in the role, and I always have a good time rewatching it.

[DochaDocha]

On this list, probably Man of Steel. Include animated, then it's All-Star Superman, but that's cheating.

[BenTheNerd]

What about the animated ones?

[Kuwagaton]

I agree completely. Henry really needed a sequel after MOS to firmly establish the character as Earth's greatest protector. We needed fully confident Superman, but if we got that BvS wouldn't work as is. Snyder needed a less confident and hopeful Superman to make his BvS plot/story work...

Pretty much. I don't think heading straight to a sequel full of crossovers with all new characters was a wise move, but putting a movie in between would completely change the plot of BvS. At that point the criticism is basically just, "BvS should have been a better movie."

[stargazer01]

What about the animated ones?

I meant to only include the live action films in this poll.