Yep, I agree that Signs and The Village both sucked, but Unbreakable - I just can't speak a bad word against it. Conceptually, it is very rich, and even after having seen it once before, it had me on the edge of my seat as the main character unravelled more and more about himself (no sick days, sensing the gun, the weights, the drowning, the train wreck, the car crash). The criticism that his movie only revolved around one idea could also be praise - the movie had focus, and it wasn't trying to run all over the place - something perhaps the Hulk was guilty of. The idea of a real-life superhero; the true 'everyman', was presented in a fresh, believeable way.

I thought The Sixth Sense was good also, but I haven't seen it since I saw it at the cinema.

I also neglected to include Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles among the great comic book movies - I guess that's because I associate TMNT more with the cartoons. The first installment was 1hr 20mins of cinematic gold, but I watched TMNT II: Secret of the Ooze this morning, and I must say, my nostalgia was the only thing that kept me going. II is absolutely horrid (for my part, I'm glad I recorded over the VHS and only borrowed the DVD from a friend). I can only imagine III: Turtles in Time sucked worse than I thought it did when I first saw it (the lack of any real villain killed it for me).

I'm trying to be optimistic about Superman Returns, but I honestly can't see how I and II can be topped. I couldn't see how Burton's Batman was going to be topped either, but the approach meant that it didn't have to - to my mind, Begins joins the triumvirate of great Batman movies - it wasn't better or worse, it was just different, in a good way. But this Superman movie is supposed to be a sequel...mistake number one.

II was a great sequel because it was always intended, woven into the storyline, and filmed simultaneously. III and IV were just irredeemable crap.

What's more, I watched the screen tests for Superman a few days ago - who's going to have better on-screen chemistry than Reeve and Kidder? Who's going to be a better Clark Kent than Reeve? Who's going to be a better Lois Lane than Kidder? Not to mention Hackman as Luthor - brilliant - what a loveable villain!

I think I just killed my own optimism. The only way this movie was going to win was if it took a different approach. At least it's not based on Smallville, though, right?