The Superhero Marathon's Best of 2010

Here we are once again with another look at my favorites from the year. To revisit last years best, click here... 2009

Best Live Action Film
Kick-Ass
Get used to seeing this title, as Matthew Vaughn's action packed film dominates this years awards. Exciting, brutal with a touch of humanity and humor. The movie lives up to his name and IMHO, it surpasses the comic by leaps and bounds. Kick-Ass is a blast that both teases and pays homage to the genre.

Best Animated Film
Megamind
Director Tom McGrath delivers a frequently funny, but surprisingly well told story of a villain who is thrust into the role of hero. The question of destiny vs. choice, the yin/yang of the hero/villain relationship and a great cast of actors who bring depth to their characters, makes Megamind more than the usual Hollywood eye candy.

Best Original (Not based on a comic)
Defendor
A great cast elevates this story of slow-witted man (Woody Harrelson) who dons a costume and scours the city for the evil Captain Industry. While there are funny elements, this isn't a comedy and can be rather dark - as well as moving. Kat Dennings co-stars as a hooker who helps Defendor in his cause

Best Made For TV Movie
Smallville "Absolute Justice"
Once again, there wasn't much to chose from so I'll go with this 2 hour event from the Smallville television show. While not everything works, seeing the colorful Justice Soceity -from Dr. Fate to Stargirl- was a blast.

Best Short
The Spectre
I enjoyed all of the first 3 releases from the Warners/DC line, but Spectre gets my vote as it packs in everything I love about the character in its short time frame. Made to look like a 70s detective/horror film, the animation is gorgeous, the story is scary and the voicework superb.

Best Actor
Woody Harrelson as Arthur Poppington, "Defendor"
Harrelson really brings Arthur Poppington to life – we witness his fears and frustrations, as well as his kind heart and dogged determination. Though there are laughs to be had (as when he does his "Batman" voice), the script doesn’t make fun of our hero (though some characters do) and in many ways there's a certain gentleness to it, and that's key to the success of the movie and to Woody’s performance. He makes Arthur someone I genuinely cared about.
Honorable mention: Nic Cage as Big Daddy in "Kick-Ass"

Best Actress
Chloe Grace Moretz as Hit Girl, "Kick-Ass"
There was outstanding work from Kat Dennings in Defendor and I'd love to call it a tie, but if I can only chose one - Chloe's pint sized assassin left an indelible impression and got some of the funniest –foul mouthed- lines.

Best Voice Actor
James Woods as Owl Man, "Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths"
Woods' take on the calculating sociopath existentialist was chilling.


Best Fight
Kick-Ass
Kick-Ass is rife with great action scenes. Hit Girl takes on druggies, Big Daddy tackles the mob, Hit-Girl’s one girl assault on the mob kidnappers. Honorable mention to the racetrack fight between Whiplash and Stark - who later dons the suitcase armor - "Iron Man 2".

Best Score
Kick-Ass
4 composers worked on this but instead of sounding scattershot, it works. I like the John Williams Superman tribute, the jaunty piece with the horn and the pulse pounding rocking bit when Big Daddy single handedly takes on the mob (quoted later at his death). All told a memorable score accentuated with some cool rock numbers.

Best Quotes
From Iron Man 2 Trailer:
Tony Stark: [about to jump out of a plane] Okay, give me a smooch for good luck, I might not make it back!
[Instead, Pepper kisses Stark's helmet and throws it out of the plane]
Pepper Potts: Go get 'em, boss!
Tony Stark: [diving after the helmet] You complete me!

From Iron Man 2:
Tony Stark: [to Nick Fury regarding "The Avengers" initiative] I told you I don't want to join your super-secret boy band.

From Batman: Under the Red Hood - Jason Todd’s speech to Batman near the end, asking why Joker is still alive, which concludes with... "Why? I'm not talking about killing Penguin or Scarecrow or Dent. I'm talking about him. Just him. And doing it because... Because he took me away from you."

From Megamind:
Hal: Who are you?
Megamind: [looking like Jor-El] I'm like your space dad.
Hal: Wow.
Megamind: You've been blessed with unfathomable powers.
Hal: What kind of power?
Megamind: Unfathomable. It's like, uh, without fathom...

From Defendor:
Chuck Dooney: [Being "tortured" by Defendor] Please, God, not the lime juice!

Kick-Ass has a bunch, but most are not suitible to print on my PG-13 blog. lol

Smallville: Absolute Justice

After the idiocy of last years season finale it would have taken a lot to generate renewed interest in me for this show. Bringing back Green Lantern scribe Geoff Johns, who penned my favorite episode from the '09 season (Legion) was a step in the right direction. To start, I’ll point out that I’ve got a love/hate relationship with Smallville. I like it when it’s heroic; I hate it when it embraces the overwrought soap opera. It’s fun when it’s adventurous and mysterious, ponderous with its contradictory stabs at the philosophical. Overall, I find it damn schizophrenic.

Thankfully "Absolute Justice" zeroes in on action and intrigue. With a Watchmen-esque mystery about an old school crime fighting team -the JSA- whose members are being killed off one by one. As Clark and his crew try to suss out what’s going on, they collide with this old guard, before the two put aside their differences for the greater good.

The 2-hour episode spends its first half on the mystery and introduction, which I liked. The second half focuses on the adventure, which was equally as cool as. Add it all up and I got something that was entertaining and held my interest from start to finish.

A lot of talk on this episode involved the costumes. Would they work or come off cheesy? For me they were hit and miss. This is TV and it doesn’t have the budget of a blockbuster Hollywood production so I wasn’t expecting Spider-Man levels. Sometimes they did well - as with Doctor Fate, whose helmet and glowing eyes were very effective. Sometimes it was split down the middle. Stargirl, a favorite of mine -and someone close to Geoff Johns' heart- looked good; apart from the overlarge facemask (something about superwomen and their eyes flummoxes this show… ala the ugly black makeup they’ve put around Black Canary’s peepers). With Hawkman, his headgear has always looked goofy, so there's not much they could do there. The wings were tricky and the chestpiece was ill fitting and clunky. And speaking of clunky…

The actor-playing Hawk (Michael Shanks) was decent at first but once he donned the uniform and zapped into hero mode –Phew- It was like he was doing a bad Clint Eastwood impression. Over enunciating on some of the worst dialog of the episode. Hawkman and Green Arrow were paired as combative allies; Arrow was hilarious and delivered his lines like a pro. Hawk snarled and sputtered and made me wince with every lame quip he uttered. The rest of the JSA was serviceable and kept pace with the regular cast. Stargirl (Brit Irvin) and Chloe had some good bonding moments together and I liked Brent Strait as Fate (who sounded like James Earl Jones once he put on the helmet)

I’ve heard complaints that the villain Icicle was not a worthy foe. The actor does ham it up but the character did exactly what he was meant to do. He’s a puppet of Amanda Waller (Pam Greer) and the shadowy Checkmate organization - and that’s a nice set-up for some future stories.

Other pluses: The episode is packed with goodies that comic book fans should appreciate. You’ll spot items from Flash’s helmet to the Green Lantern’s battery. It was nice to see many of my old favorites, like Ted Grant (Wildcat in civilian dress). And there was a quick peak at Martian Manhunter’s true form in all its green glory -- as well as a nod to his love for Oreos.

All in all a –mostly- satisfying event. It cleansed the pallet and served to wash out the bad taste of the 2009s season finale and got me back to the show.

Next week: The welcome return of Zatanna (pitch perfect casting there. You couldn’t do any better than Serinda Swan). And a way we go…