Sup nerds. I'm back here with my next blog entry. This week, I'd like to list off what I believe to be the BEST and WORST Superhero costumes in film. For this list, I'm only including heroes, but might do a villains list in the future. These picks are based on my opinions, but I also believe that they are the best of the best. A good costume can really put a great superhero movie up to the next level, but a bad costume can put one down in the tubes. You have to wonder what studios were thinking sometimes, but at least others managed to get it right... Anyway, enough rambling. Let's get to the picks!
THE WORST
5. Ozymandias - Watchmen
This one requires a little explaining... The costume itself isn't bad at all, in fact, it's actually pretty cool! But the reason this outfit kicks off the list is because of how much it deters from the source material. Adrien's costume from the novel is one of my favorite outfits from any hero in comics. So when I saw Watchmen, and saw how different it was from the novel, I got a little upset. I can understand that the bright colors of Adrien's outfit from the novel could be conflicting with the overall darkness of the film, but still. Anyways, Ozymandias kicks off the worst list at #5.
4. Deadpool - X-Men Origins: Wolverine
This one can speak for itself... Deadpool, or 'Weapon XI', was possibly the most disappointing part of the entire film, and his appearance surely didn't help him out. For one thing, he's disturbing to look at... His scared and deformed face along with that odd 'tattoo' just make for an overall uncomfortable appearance. I don't know what that is, but it is NOT Deadpool...
3. Green Lantern - Green Lantern
Another bad film that was made even worse by a terrible costume... WHY WAS IT CGI? The fact that the entire costume was CGI made an already disappointing costume just plain gruesome. It was extremelly easy to tell that it was CGI, which really hurts the purpose of the process... But enough about the CGI, because even if it was a real outfit, it would still be mediocre. I missed the white gloves, and the 'boots' were unnecessary and just looked poor. Poor Hal Jordan comes in at #3 on my list... Hopefully they'll get it right in the future.
2. Catwoman - Catwoman
So much to say here, but I'll try to hit the major points. I believe that this is what Michele Pfieffer's costume would've looked like if a high school girl wore it to a rave... As I've said many times, this movie was planning to sell itself ENTIRELY on the sex appeal of Halle Berry. Boy did that backfire on them. They figured they could through Hall Berry on the screen, make her half-naked, and just let the magic happen. The shreds in the pants were tacky and unnecessary, and the mask is one of the worst I've ever seen in a film. It's just...awkward looking.
1. Batman - Batman & Robin
Probably saw this one coming... There is so much going on here that it hurts to look at. Of course in the actual film, he primarily sticks to the flat black suit. The flat black suit with nipples... Not much more to say than that...
THE BEST
Now that we got that out of the way...
5. Superman - Man of Steel
I always loved this costume since the first time I saw it in a trailer. It marks the transition past the red underwear, and we are now ready for the full onesie. The suit clearly draws inspiration from Superman's suit in the New-52, and it captures some of the best parts of that great costume quite well. The darker blue matched the tone of the movie, and the larger 'fatter' "S" on his chest fills out the space nicely. The belt is still a little weird, or lack of one I suppose, but pictures from BvS have shown that the new suit will have more of a belt. Anyways, the Man of Steel comes in at #5.
4. Spider-Man - The Amazing Spider-Man 1-2
I've grown to like this costume a lot better than Toby's costume from the original Spider-Man trilogy. It's perfect for Spidey... the dark and well matched colors, the white eyes (in ASM2), the small 'web' lines going across the whole suit, all just so well executed. When comparing this suit to Toby's, I found the the larger, brighter web lines of the original suit were a bit cheap looking, and parts of the suit looked really block-y and chopped off, especially near the feet. This suit on the other hand, is gorgeous from head to toe, and comes in at #4 on my list.
3. Batman - The Dark Knight Trilogy
The best live-action Batsuit of all time comes from the best Batfilms of all time. Christian Bale get-up from the trilogy was brilliant. Dark, jagged, and BA to say just a few words. The armor plating was really a nice change from the typical rubber suits we'd seen in the past, and it makes more sense with the practical Nolan-verse. I also really loved the return of the yellow (gold) belt. I believe Black, Grey, and Yellow are really the most iconic colors when it comes to Batman's many costumes, so I was really glad to see its return. The Dark Knight's pajamas come in at #3 on my list.
2. Iron Man - Iron Man Trilogy & The Avengers
Serious props to Marvel Studios on this one. It's no easy task to create this suit for real life, but they did a FANTASTIC job at capturing the suit. I'd be willing to say that the film costume actually looks better than the costume from the comics... I don't think I can say that about any other suit on this list... They really got the colors perfect, and the lights on his chest and hand are nicely illuminated. Tony Stark's master work comes in at #2 on my list.
1. Rorschach - Watchmen
Going a little unique with my top pick. Some people might be indifferent about the film itself, but one thing's for sure... They NAILED Rorschach. Obviously, the bulk of the costume is generally easy to put together...could buy most of those clothes at a thrift shop, but that mask....ohhhh that mask. I read the novel beforehand, and it was always interesting to see what pattern would be on Walter's face in every new panel. I was really curious about how they were going to execute the mask for the film, and it's actually pretty interesting... (Seriously, Youtube how they did the mask. Pretty neat.) The moving patterns were finalized with CGI, but it's so well done that you don't even really notice that it's CG. Every scene with Rorschach was made better with this brilliant costume, and that's why it comes #1 on my list.
So what do you think? Agree? Disagree? I'm sure you have comments, so leave them below, and I'll jump in the conversation as well. That being said, what are your favorite/least favorite movie costumes?
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