While the Marvel movie world has included hit after hit, they have had some big misses along the way. However, on the other hand, DC seems to have had more misses along the way than legitimate hits. Looking at the Rotten Tomatoes scores from most of the DC movies, both before the DC Extended Universe (DCEU) and after, and it is clear neither critics nor fans loved a lot of the DC releases through the years.
Heading back to the '80s, when DC was trying to get its movie universe off the ground, there have been a smattering of hits scattered among a series of misses. But, while people like to point out the flops in the DC catalog, those hits were massive success stories and some of the best movies in comic book history. Here is a look at the five best and five worst DC movies based on their Rotten Tomatoes scores.
WORST - CATWOMAN
Halle Berry did the unthinkable. She won an Oscar for her performance in Monster's Ball and then followed it up almost immediately with Catwoman, which earned her a Razzie. Berry took it in stride and accepted it in person. And she deserved every bit of the ridicule for this movie.
The movie ignored the beloved version of Catwoman (Michelle Pfeiffer in Batman Returns) from a decade prior. Instead, it changed it to a different character, a different origin, and fans rejected it completely. Critics on Rotten Tomatoes gave Catwoman a 9% rotten rating, and fans gave it 18%.
BEST - SHAZAM!
When DC released their trailer for Shazam!, it looked very risky. Everything about it seemed silly, and since most hardcore DCEU fans were hardcore fans of grimdark storylines, it seemed interesting to see the company moving in this direction. When Shazam! hit theaters, it ended up as a shockingly great surprise.
Zachary Levi was great as the adult Shazam!, while the kids in the movie (Asher Angel and Jack Dylan Grazer) were uniformly great in their roles. The film was a massive success, both with critics (90% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes) and fans (83% fresh).
WORST - SUPERGIRL
Supergirl is one of the most entertaining DC television shows on The CW, but it took three decades to wash the stink off the character left by the movie that featured the character. After Superman fell out of favor due to a lackluster third movie, the studio decided to give Supergirl a try.
Helen Slater was in way over her head, but she was not the worst part of this movie. Supergirl took two legendary actors in Faye Dunaway and Peter O'Toole and made them look like idiots in this disappointing DC Comics adaptation. Critics gave it a 10% rotten rating, and fans gave it 26%.
BEST - TEEN TITANS GO! TO THE MOVIES
Likely, the most shocking addition to the list of the best DC Comics movies on Rotten Tomatoes is Teen Titans Go! To The Movies, which hit theaters in 2018. The theatrical movie release was based on the cartoon that many longtime fans hated because it replaced the Teen Titans cartoon years before. However, Teen Titans Go! is one of the smartest cartoons that got no respect.
The movie was not as good as the cartoons quality-wise, but fans and critics alike loved it. With some truly inspired cameos (Nic Cage voiced Superman) and a quirky story, it was a surprising success. Critics gave it a high 91% fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes while fans, unsurprisingly, gave it a lower 72%.
WORST - SUPERMAN IV: THE QUEST FOR PEACE
The movie that killed the Superman movie franchise hit in 1987 was the fourth in the series. After Superman III was a lackluster hit and Supergirl bombed, the studio went back to Christopher Reeve and the Man of Steel one more time with Superman IV: The Quest for Peace. Based on a script that Reeve wanted to tell about nuclear disarmament, the movie was a massive failure.
For one thing, no one wanted to see Superman deal with real-world problems. On top of that, no one wanted to see Nuclear Man, arguably one of the worst villains in comic book movie history. Critics gave the movie an 11% on Rotten Tomatoes, and fans gave it a 16% rotten rating.
BEST - WONDER WOMAN
With Superman V Batman: Dawn of Justice a disappointment to many fans, the DCEU needed a hit desperately. When DCEUreleased Wonder Woman in 2017, it got the hit it needed. Patty Jenkins, who Marvel fired from Thor: The Dark World, moved on over to DC and made one of the best movies based on any of the company's characters.
Jenkins made Wonder Woman a true hero in an inspiring and fantastic story taking place in World War I. Gal Gadot made Wonder Woman into the hero that DC needed at the time. The movie was certified fresh at Rotten Tomatoes at 93%, and fans gave it a high 88% approval rating.
WORST - BATMAN & ROBIN
Tim Burton brought DC movies back to life in 1989 with Batman, and there are still people who consider Michael Keaton the best Batman on film. However, by the time the fourth movie rolled around, it looked nothing like what Burton created with his first two films in the series.
Robin himself, Chris O'Donnell, called the movie a giant toy commercial, and George Clooney has publicly apologized for the film where he starred as Batman. There is almost nothing to like about Batman & Robin, which has a rotten rating of 11% on Rotten Tomatoes and a fan score of 16%.
BEST - SUPERMAN
In the '70s, there was not a successful theatrically released superhero movie for any company, although Batman did have a few films hit in the decade before. Then, in 1978, Richard Donner brought Superman to the big screen, and people believed that a man could fly.
Marlon Brando was there as Superman's dad, Gene Hackman was signed to play the villain Lex Luger, and Christopher Reeve was the best Superman to ever appear on the big or small screen. Critics loved it, giving it a 94% positive ranking on Rotten Tomatoes while fans gave it an 86% score.
WORST - STEEL
In the '90s, there was a Superman movie in the works that would star Nicolas Cage and tell the Death of Superman storyline. Fans of the DC Comics version of his death know that the comics were followed by the introduction of four new versions of Superman. One of those was Steel, and Warner also planned out the spinoff Steel to come after the death storyline.
The Superman movie was never made, but the spinoff still arrived. The bad thing is that Steel was not a good Superman spinoff or a standalone film. It was a Shaquille O'Neal vehicle with some of the worst effects in any superhero movie. Critics gave it 12% on Rotten Tomatoes and fans gave it a 16%.
BEST - THE DARK KNIGHT
There were some great comic book movies before 2008, including X-Men, Spider-Man, Superman, Blade, and Batman. However, after the success of Batman Begins with Christopher Nolan, he created a movie that shocked the world. The Dark Knight was a movie that proved that a comic book movie could be more than just men in tights beating each other up.
The movie even won the late Heath Ledger an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for his role as Joker. The Dark Knight was the first massive financial success for any comic book movie, and it was a critical smash hit as well. Rotten Tomatoes critics gave it 94%, and fans matched that total.