Krishna Bala Shenoi on my favorite superhero movie, Unbreakable...
This is the difference between M. Night Shyamalan's "Unbreakable" and other superhero films. Most superhero origin stories seem too eager to get to the powers and the joy and excitement of being a superhero. David Dunn, on the other hand, doesn't want to have anything to do with extraordinary things like that. He wants to have a normal life like everybody else; one in which he doesn't wake up feeling that quiet sadness, like he has for the past few years.
After Unbreakable (mood), X-Men (mood), and The Incredibles (humour). After The Incredibles, I lose interest.
One question: Would the notion of a superhero be possible in a society with a state that actually provides meaningful social services and fairly distributes socially produced wealth? That's all I ask. (And, yes, I'm aware of the connection between Superman and the Golem of Prague.)