Favorite Superhero Films, No. 39

 


Throughout 2023 I'll be sharing my favorite Superhero Films each Saturday, counting down from 50 to 1. Check back each week throughout the year for the next installment. Agree? Disagree? What to share a favorite? Post it in the comments.

The Beast: [beckoning from the darkness] We are glorious! We will no longer be afraid. Only through pain can you achieve your greatness! The impure are the untouched, the unburned, the unslain. Those who have not been torn have no value in themselves and no place in this world!

Split (2016)
Starring: James McAvoy and Anya Taylor-Joy
Director: M. Night Shymalan
About: This is probably a controversial pick on this list. Not everyone would see it as a superhero film and not everyone appreciates it. I'm aware that some feel it's unkind to those suffering from the type of mental illness it tries to portray here. I won't speak to that. All I'll say is this movie was a surprise for me. By the time it released, I wasn't as hyped for Shymalan films as I had been two decades earlier. In addition, based on the trailer, it was hard to tell where this was going. However, between a fantastic performance from McAvoy and the way Shymalan tied it into the larger superhero universe he started with Unbreakable in 2000, it is a film that has stayed with me. So, it earned its place on this list. I think it's well done and engaging, even if the central character isn't really a hero.

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