Let’s be clear: Cinephiles, we want films to be good. We’re movie lovers! We love movies. It’s right there in the job description.
Sometimes, though, things don’t work out. Not every movie is going to be a 10/10 winner. Or even a 8/10 winner. Or a 6/10. And when they go bad, it can go one of two ways: It might be a boring, sloppy, forgettable mess OR it might be such an epic catastrophic disaster that it twists back around to being kind of good. Or at least so compellingly watchable that you cannot look away.
That is especially true of superhero movies. When they are good, they are fabulous. But comic books often have a rough translation to the big screen. There are many ways they can go wrong. The costumes might look ridiculous. The special effects could fall flat. The acting might be pitched way over the top. Arnold Schwarzenegger might make constant puns about ice.
Working this gig for as long as I have means I’ve seen almost every comic-book movie ever made: The good, the bad, and the ugly. (If I ever turn into the Joker someday, you’ll know that watching all these junky comic-book movies were my twisted origin story.) I can recommend to you the best superhero movies. (I could also recommend the best Marvel or DC movies if you want to get territorial about it.) And, alas, I can also tell you the worst superhero movies — or, in this case, the superhero films that are so crummy, they’re actually kind of worth watching if you’re in the right mood (and possibly intoxicated).
Superhero Movies That Are So Bad They’re Good
These comic-book films may not be great, but they are kind of amazing anyway.
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The Best Box-Office Bombs in History
These films flopped in theaters — but they are worth watching now.