Top 10 Gritty Superhero Movies

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It's not all glamour and riches! Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the best superhero films that opt for a darker, more realistic take on superpowered vigilantism. There will be a few spoilers.

Transcript

00:00Welcome to WatchMojo and today we're counting down our picks for the best superhero films

00:15that opt for a darker, more realistic take on superpowered vigilantism.

00:19There will be few spoilers.

00:24Number 10 Dredd

00:40This Dredd continuation is full of Dredd.

00:44Set in a post-apocalyptic future, the story follows the superpowered Judge Dredd as he

00:48fights and captures the drug lord Madeline Mama Madrigal.

00:51He is helped by new recruit and protege Cassandra Anderson.

00:54Filled with corrupt judges, drugs, and gratuitous violence, Dredd is an unsparing in its bleak,

01:00desolate vision of a crime-ridden metropolis.

01:08Dredd, along with other judges, is a law unto himself, acting as both jury, judge, and executioner

01:14with extrajudicial beatings thrown in there for good measure.

01:17The film's cynicism and down-to-earth view of crime-fighting is a marked contrast compared

01:22to other sunnier superhero films.

01:32Number 9 The Punisher

01:45Bribery, police brutality, and indiscriminate murder make this film truly punishing to watch.

01:50The Punisher follows FBI agent Frank Castle in his endeavor to bring Howard Saint, a brutal

01:55mafia boss, to justice.

01:57In return, Saint orders a successful hit on Castle's entire family.

02:02Castle is no Saint either, or rather, too much like Saint.

02:14In his quest for vengeance, he turns Saint against his henchman, Glass, and kills every

02:19one of Saint's members at his club.

02:21A bleakly realistic take on retaliatory violence, the film eschews the usual romance of costa

02:27neutra honor quo for a more blurred take on superheroes.

02:30Who is the real hero and villain here?

02:46Number 8 Chronicle

03:01What happens when a mistreated teen gets supernatural power?

03:04According to this 2012 film, it's nothing at all good.

03:07Regular teen's Andrew, Matt, and Steve gain telekinetic powers when they come across a

03:11mysterious glowing crystal.

03:25Instead of using these powers for heroics, they use them to play pranks on people.

03:29While Matt and Steve shy away from the more deadly uses of their powers, Andrew's intentions

03:34turn dark quickly.

03:35It's a realistic take on the usual superhero fairy tale, showing how the victimized can

03:40turn others into victims.

03:53Number 7 Blade

04:06This bloody vampire tale is one of the first dark superhero films, definitely ahead of

04:11its time.

04:12The film follows Blade, a human-vampire hybrid who hunts down vampires with his abilities.

04:24From there, he has to contend with grisly vampire attacks, a vampire council, a corrupt

04:29police officer on the side of vampires, and a plot to use Blade's own blood for a ritual,

04:35summoning the blood god, La Magra.

04:36While Blade doesn't suffer the usual weaknesses of vampires, he still craves blood, and the

04:42cure of it, he ultimately rejects in favor of continuing his fanatical vampire hunting.

04:47This is an anti-hero indeed.

04:54Number 6 Robocop

05:06The extreme ultra-violence of this film even led to a shortened and modified version.

05:11But Robocop is more than just violent.

05:13It is an astute critique of corporate greed and the consequences of unrestrained police

05:18power.

05:19When police officer Alex Murphy is shot, he gets a new life as a cyborg via robotics.

05:26As Robocop, he is programmed to serve the corporation OCP, now in charge of the Detroit

05:31police, and called to investigate executive Bob Morton's mysterious death.

05:35As it turns out, this mystery goes all the way to the top, and Robocop must circumvent

05:40his directives.

05:41It's a grim vision of corporate authoritarianism against human justice.

05:47Number 5 V for Vendetta

05:58Remember, remember the 5th of November.

06:02Inspired by the real-life gunpowder plot, the film concerns vengeful vigilante V as

06:07he fights against the corporate fascist rulers, Norsefire, through murder and timely bombing.

06:12On November 5th, he invites the whole of London to resist Norsefire and witnesses bombing

06:17of the parliament.

06:18V is no saint though.

06:32Going beyond just murder, he proves himself unscrupulous in waging war against Norsefire

06:37and puts innocent people like Avery Hammond in harm's way.

06:41V for Vendetta blurs the line between activism and vengeance considerably, complicating the

06:46usual moral quandary.

06:57Number 4 Unbreakable

07:07In most typical superhero films, it is obvious that the protagonist has game powers.

07:12This M. Night Shyamalan film, however, complicates this trope.

07:16David Dunn begins to suspect his powers only when he finds himself the sole survivor of

07:20a train accident.

07:33Fragile art gallerist Elijah Price believes Dunn is unbreakable, with not only superhuman

07:38strength but an extra-sensory ability to know the crimes people have committed just by touching

07:43them.

07:44Dunn's attempt at typical vigilantism gets mixed results.

07:47In a twist ending, he realized that becoming a hero isn't so black and white.

07:51It's a dark vision indeed.

08:02Number 3 Watchmen

08:12This adaptation of Alan Moore's renowned comic is one of the darkest takes on superhero

08:17vigilantism yet.

08:18In a world where superheroes have essentially become illegal, Rorschach and his team attempt

08:23to solve the mystery of Edward Blake's murder, only for Rorschach to get arrested instead

08:28and Dr. Manhattan to be set up as well.

08:33Even after it's revealed who the true mastermind is, the film doesn't simplify itself to

08:38a traditional good versus evil narrative.

08:41Every major character has their morality put to the test.

08:45Almost all of them fail, and the ones who stand by their morals pay the price.

08:49There are no good guys here.

08:59Number 2 The Dark Knight

09:11He is the hero Gotham City deserves.

09:14That is perhaps no compliment.

09:15The renowned film eschews the usual superhero conventions for more realistic crime drama,

09:21becoming the blueprint of modern superhero films like 2022's The Batman.

09:26Here Batman and the Joker's usual cat and mouse games delves into issues of legal and

09:31moral corruption, terrorism, the murder of the innocent, and the creation of a whole

09:36new villain.

09:37The film also dares to deliver a bleak ending.

09:49Batman has never been your clean-cut hero, but The Dark Knight takes his mythos to a

09:54whole new level.

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10:22Number 1 Logan

10:34In some ways, it's hard to believe this qualifies as a superhero film at all.

10:39If it weren't for the fact that Wolverine is the protagonist, what you'd get is a

10:42tragic neo-western about a man protecting a daughter figure, literally it turns out,

10:47from corporate bad actors.

10:57Logan is an aging mutant taking care of X-Men leader Charles Xavier when he is called to

11:01escort a young girl to a refuge, Eton.

11:04Laura was created with mutant DNA, intended to be used by the corporation Transengen as

11:09a biological weapon.

11:10As Logan and Laura fight against Transengen's Reavers, sacrifices are made in one of the

11:15toughest superhero films of all time.

11:28What other dark superhero film do you feel truly gets real?

11:32Let us know in the comments down below and don't forget to like and subscribe for more

11:35WatchMojo videos.

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