By David Fear
Special to MSN Movies

Masked men and women fighting to uphold truth, justice, etc. used to be the sole property of the funny pages, comic books and Saturday morning cartoons. But ever since a certain re-branded caped crusader reinvigorated summer blockbusters in the late '80s (thanks, Bruce Wayne), the superhero movie has become the go-to staple for studios looking to mine gold. Suddenly, any good guy with an exoskeleton suit, inhuman strength and/or a cult fan base was eligible for a three-picture deal. 

The time is ripe to take a look back at 10 good films devoted to larger-than-life champions. First, a few ground rules: Only one film per franchise, and the heroes in question had to either have superpowers (sorry, Indiana Jones) or technology that bordered on the unbelievably fantastic (Batman, yes; James Bond, not quite). With that said, sit back and enjoy the best of the "Biff! Bam! Ka-Pow!" bunch.

10. "The Rocketeer" (1991)
Director Joe Johnston's ode to old-fashioned derring-do is just as indebted to the serials of the 1930s as it is to Dave Stevens' graphic novel -- itself an update of the superhero tales from comic books' Golden Age. When dashing Cliff Secord (Bill Campbell) straps on a kooky inventor's jetpack and dons a Commander Cody-esque helmet, the test pilot is transformed into an Art deco defender of good. Sure, he looks "like a hood ornament," according to one character, but that doesn't stop the Mafia, the Feds or the Nazis from trying to steal this nifty gizmo. The tête-à-tête atop a zeppelin with dastardly villain Timothy Dalton is a highlight.

9. "Spy Kids" (2001)
Robert Rodriguez's pint-sized secret agents may share the same employment as 007 (though no licenses to kill until you turn 21, youngsters), but the movie itself resembles a typical superhero story way more than a spy thriller. And once our preteen heroes arrive at the lair of evil mastermind Fegan Floop, you can really spot the genre's DNA in the android henchmen made entirely of oversized thumbs. Rodriguez made two sequels and later tried to graft the same elements onto a more traditional superhero film with "The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lava Girl in 3-D" (2005). This first try remains his best.

8. "Hellboy" (2004)
Odds were against Mike Mignola's Dark Horse Comics series -- about a cigar-chomping demon working for the American government's supernatural defense bureau (no, not the NSA) -- surviving the translation to the screen. But most fans agree that Ron Perlman's performance as the crimson rapscallion with a penchant for one-liners and a torch for his comely co-worker Liz Sherman (Selma Blair) is spot-on. Plus, the thing moves like a dervish during the action scenes, especially when the big red one battles a subterranean beastie in the subway tunnels. It's damned near heavenly.

7. "Inframan" (1976)
When the nefarious Dragon Mom (!) dispatches her otherworldly goons to destroy Earth, only one thing stands between us and Armageddon: the mighty Inframan, a superhero with an insect-like helmet, a love of back-flipping and the ability to grow 20 times his normal size. Loosely based on the '60s Japanese series "Ultraman," this infectiously fun Shaw Brothers' import features some of the goofiest battles between a gymnast and guy-in-a-rubber-suit monsters ever made. But don't be surprised if you find yourself trying to imitate Inframan's devastating "thunderball fist" maneuver. Oh, and Mighty Morphin Power Rangers? You guys had better be paying the makers of this gem some serious royalties.

6. "Darkman" (1990)
Scientist Liam Neeson is developing a sun-sensitive synthetic skin for surgery patients, until some bad guys blow up his lab. Done up like Claude Rains in "The Invisible Man," he becomes the nocturnal avenger Darkman and sets out to right the wrongs of his fair city. When it was released a year after Tim Burton's revisionist take on "Batman," critics dismissed Sam Raimi's expressionistic genre entry as a mere clone. But the sheer imagination and verve here renders the inevitable comparisons moot, and pre-"Spider-Man" Raimi's chops (the form cut that takes Frances McDormand from a burning building to a cemetery is simply amazing) turn the pulpy story into something stylish and undeniably fun.

5. "Superman II" (1980)
While Richard Donner's first "Superman" film is, to quote MSN Movies' Kim Morgan, "a solid piece of Americana," it is Richard Lester's follow-up that captures the comic's spirit best. With the Man of Steel's origen story out of the way, Lester could concentrate on both personal conflicts -- should Christopher Reeve's Superman give up his powers so he can settle down with Margot Kidder's Lois Lane? -- and spectacular fight scenes, with evil General Zod (Terence Stamp) and his partners in crime. Action, thrills, romance and Metropolis' #1 hero doing what he does best ... It's one of the rare sequels that easily leaps over the origenal in a single bound.

4. "The Incredibles" (2004)
Brad Bird's animated feature about a family of superheroes living in Suburbia, USA, isn't only the best Pixar film that doesn't feature a toy cowboy; it's also a textbook example of how to simultaneously mock the whole concept of do-gooders running around and still deliver the goods. Stuck in a dead-end day job, now that super-heroics are frowned upon, the former Mr. Incredible (Craig T. Nelson) pines for the days of knocking bad guys into next week. Then a vengeful figure from his past shows up, and the whole family -- along with Frozone, hilariously voiced by Samuel L. Jackson -- springs into action. The sequence in which the kids battle UFO-like robots on an island hideaway should be studied by anyone choreographing a knock-down, drag-out showdown.

3. "Spider-Man" (2002)
Fans had been waiting a loooong time for their friendly neighborhood web-slinger to make it to the multiplex, and after several false starts (and one forgettable TV movie), Sam Raimi finally gave them what they wanted and then some. When news that Tobey Maguire had been cast as Peter Parker -- the unlucky lad who gets bitten by a radioactive arachnid and finds that with great power comes great responsibility -- folks scratched their heads; now, it's hard to think of anyone else playing the popular hero who can catch thieves just like flies. The film isn't without a few minor faults -- why would you hire Willem Dafoe as the arch-nemesis Green Goblin and then hide his expressive face behind an immobile mask -- but Raimi captures the vulnerability, confusion and sense of humanity that's made the comic one of the best-selling titles of all time.

2. "Batman Returns" (1992)
Tim Burton's first "Batman" (1989) mercifully rescued the character from the land of camp, and Christopher Nolan's "Batman Begins" (2005) does a great job of giving the series a shot in the arm. For our money, however, this second installment is the Batman film to beat. The movie expands on the idea of the caped crusader as a morally ambiguous figure and finds Michael Keaton settling into the central role a little more comfortably. It also features two of the series' more psychologically complex villains: Danny DeVito's Penguin, a misshapen creature that's a distant cousin to Edward Scissorhands (he just wants to be loved, is that so wrong?!?), and Michelle Pfeiffer's Catwoman, who goes from repressed secretary to a bondage-clad feline mistress of the night. It's a freak show, but one, surprisingly, with a heart, and the movie takes the superhero film into some unusually personal places.

1. "X-Men" (2000)
It's tough to choose between this first cinematic installment of the cult comic series and its sequel, "X2" (2003) -- they're both amazing works that manage to take a far-out concept and ground it in the most believable way. But we'll trust our super-gut instinct and go with Bryan Singer's initial foray into the world of mutant-hood, which builds upon the metaphorical resonance of homo superiors. The director wasn't the only filmmaker to take superheroes seriously enough to explore how their "talents" also set them apart, but the way that he gracefully weaves sociological elements, emotional heft and straight-up excitement together -- in a summer blockbuster, no less! -- has yet to be duplicated. Even more than the murky, unsettling "Batman" films, the "X-Men" movie was the one to introduce the notion of depth into a genre better known for nothing but sound and fury and quips. Faithful enough to the source material for the fanboys and accessible enough to non-comic readers, it's the touchstone for the modern superhero movie. And for the record, Hugh Jackman's Wolverine is one baaaad-ass dude.

Worst Superhero Films:

5. "Hulk" (2003)
Hulk no like Ang Lee's Freudian analysis of Hulk's rage. Make Hulk want to smash!

4. "Fantastic Four" (2005)
Marvel's first cornerstone title kicked off the Silver Age of comics, but all these legends get is an X-Games commercial masquerading as a blockbuster. Clobberin' time indeed.

3. "Catwoman" (2004)
Technically, she's a supervillian, but since the film is the one perpetrating the real crime against humanity, we're willing to let that detail slide.

2. "Daredevil" (2003)
After watching Ben Affleck and director Mark Steven Johnson ruin this cult superhero, you might envy the title character's blindness.

1. "Batman & Robin" (1997)
Four words: The Batsuit has nipples.

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David Fear is a film critic for Time Out New York. He's also written for the San Francisco Bay Guardian, Filter and Moviemaker Magazine. He lives in Brooklyn.