Superman

One of the unavoidable aspects of watching a modern-day superhero film is that you're already primed for what it's going to be like. This audience-grooming happens not only because of the marketing overdrive but also because you've essentially seen the same film before, often more than once. So when you sit down to watch, say, a Batman movie, it helps to know which iteration you're watching: is it the self-serious billionaire of Nolan's world? Or Reeves' campy detective? These tonal preambles shape what you expect and accept from a film.

That's why, when a director is as stylistic....