Sunday, July 22, 2012

The Top 10 Superhero Movies

In honor of the Dark Knight Rises, it is time for my own personal list of the best superhero flicks ever put on screen as of July 22, 2012. Let's get started.


10. The Amazing Spider-Man
What was, in my opinion, a better origin story for our favorite web-head makes this list's number 10 spot. With a likable, relatable, and thoroughly snarky Peter Parker (played by... Eduardo from the Social Network?!) who actually had good chemistry with his love interest Emma Stone, amazing visuals, some great action, and spot-on performances by a cast of A-listers, it's no wonder that this movie is making us all feel good about Spidey once again, and has at least one fan boy waiting for a sequel. I wanted to put this higher up on this list, and the only reason I didn't was because the film's villain, the Lizard, was downgraded to a smart version of that giant worm-thing from the X-Files.

Favorite scene: "You've found my weakness: it's small knives!"




9. Superman: The Movie
Taking 9th place is the story of a boy. His name is Kal-El. He shall be called Clark Kent. But to the world, he will be known as Superman. That's right, it's the superhero movie that began all other superhero movies, with it's fantastic, albeit simplistic, story of the savior of the modern world, featuring one of the best heroic performances of all time by way of Christopher Reeve. Let's face it, this is just a great movie period. 'Nough said.

Favorite scene: Superman ANGRYYYYY!!!!!!!!


8. Spider-Man 2
If Raimi got anything right with his movies, it was this. One of the only genre movies to show just how much being a superhero really sucks gives us a Peter Parker trying to balance his responsibitlities with incredibly mundane tasks like keeping his grades up, the stress of which is so great that it nearly prevents him from dealing with the arrival of Dr. Octupus, one of the best, most complex villains ever put on screen, played by Alfred Monlina in all his glory. Great action, great character moments, and a deleted scene with JJ Jameson in the spiderman suit. What more can you ask for?

Favorite scene: I'm gonna have to go with the bank fight between the Webhead and Doc Oc.









7. X2: X Men United
As Wolverine returns to Xavier's school, the racist (expletive removed) Col. Stryker threatens to end all mutants by kidnapping proffessor X. To stop him, the X Men must do the unthinkable: team up with Magneto. Bryan Singer brought us this epic, action-packed thrill-ride, filled to the brim with great acting, fantastically written villains, x-traodinary (oh God, did I really just make that joke) special effects, and the hilarious "mutants as gay people" metaphor ("have you tried... not being a mutant?). Not to mention the addition of Night Crawler, who along with Gambit, is one of my favorite unsung X-Men, and a bittersweet, but great none the less, ending that lead into an iffy 3rd movie.

Favorite scene: The US Army invades Xavier's school, making Wolverine do what Wolverine does.




6. Iron Man
There was a lot riding on Iron Man when it came out; the movie not only had to make people buy into it's fairly ludicrous premise, but also get the shared Marvel movie universe started for the Avengers. It did both of these things and them some. Tony Stark is a super genius irresponsible billionaire who goes missing in the middle east. He comes back a badass with a suit of armor and is now determined to save the people he screwed over. But what makes this movie great isn't the special effects or epic action scenes; it's Robert Downey Jr. in the role he was to born to play, Tony Stark ( To his robot: "If you spray me one more time and I'm not on fire, I will donate you to a community college!")

Favorite scene: When he dodges a missle and then blows up the tank that just shot at him.



5. Batman Begins 
Probably the best origin story movie of all time takes the number 5 spot. After seven years in self-imposed exile, Bruce Wayne has returned to his native Gotham (which, for reference, makes Detroit look like a nice place to live) as a ninja, dons a cape and some body armor, and fights crime as the Batman. Christopher Nolan ressurected the Batman franchise with this movie and made the unrealistic as gritty and realistic as you possibly imagine, complete with some of the best actors alive today and all around badassery.

Favorite scene: Thug: "WHERE ARE YOU!?" Batman: "Here."


4. X Men: First Class
It's the prequel X-Men deserves, AND the one it needs. If you'll pardon the Batman reference, you know what I mean. The slick, intelligent, stylish story of how the X-Men began and how Proffessor X and Magneto (with James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender filling in well for Jean Luc Picard and Gandalf) became mortal frenemies. The new directing style and faster pace, along with all the great action and special effects we've come to expect from the franchise and some fantastic performances, make this hands down the best entry in the entire franchise. Plus Kevin Bacon, always awesome.

Favorite scene: Magneto shows Shaw that he can, in fact, move the coin.


3. The Dark Knight Rises
Well of course this makes the list! As if I wasn't going to put one of the most epic conclusion to a franchise ever on here. After 8 years MIA, Batman must put the cape back one to stop Bane from burning Gotham to the ground. But it won't be that simple; not only does this boast Christian Bale's best turn as Bruce Wayne/Batman to date, but it also has one the most epic climax's ever put on screen, plus one of my favorite ambiguous endings to date.

Favorite scene: Bruce literally drags himself out of the pit to save Gotham.



2. The Avengers
After four years, Marvel had established a shared movie universe, and the Avengers was a result. Joss Whedon, who screenwrote and directed the movie, injected his own unique brand of awesome by way of witty dialogue and amazing action into this tag-team tale of six superheroes, Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, Hulk, Black Widow, and Hawkeye, who have to team up to stop Loki and his alien invasion. The first two hours are an awesome build up of the Avengers meeting and butting heads in an often hilarious way, all leading up to an absurdly awesome, climactic battle. Joss is boss. Only downside is we're probably gonna have to wait another four years for the Avengers 2.

Favorite scene: the final battle of course!

1. The Dark Knight
Do I REALLY need to explain it?

Favorite scene: "How 'bout a magic trick?"



Honorable mentions for Superman 2, Spiderman, X-Men, and Thor.

So, what's your favorite superhero movie? Comment below, let me know!

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