superhero movies

I read a decent article in the Star-Ledger two Sundays ago about how movie studios finally are wising up on how to adapt comic books to the big screen. Most superhero movies either have played up the action to the exclusion of intelligence (like "Judge Dredd" or "Blade") or have played up the campiness, like the Superman movies or the third and fourth Batman movies.

"X-men," despite its flaws, actually treated the subject seriously. Bryan Singer played into the notion of superhero qua outcast because of their differences, and tied it into the fear many teens have of being different. Haven't seen "Spider-man" yet, but I'm told it does the same thing. They also eliminated some of the comicbookish stuff like the silly costumes, and replaced them with more realistic outfits, ones you actually could picture people going outside in.

It was an interesting take on the movies, though I'd have to differ with the article's contention on one point: I don't think "X-men" was the first movie to do it properly. "Unbreakable" did a much better job.