T5: Comic Book Movies
In a world where we get plenty of big budget comic book movies a year, we as film fans get to rank and debate our favorites. This is my top five comic book movies of all time.
5. Captain America: The Winter Soldier
The great sequel to one of the many incredible Marvel films, Captain America: The Winter Soldier is a significant change for the cinematic universe. The movie added something new to the franchise. It showed that there i
s much more to the genre in which it can transcend into other classifications. Captain America: The Winter Soldier was a true political thriller. With its heavy topic of how to stop crimes before they even happen, the film explores many different perspectives and ideas. Even the use of the relationship between Steve Rodgers and his long time friend was incredibly compelling. Without a doubt, this movie belongs in the top five.
4. Captain America: Civil War
The third entry of the ‘Captain America’ trilogy was an incredible action movie. With many people suggesting that it would only be ‘Avengers 2.5’, it still managed to maintain a very close and personal story for the hero. Steve Rodgers has been conflicted with the government before but this time was different. They wanted to have full control over him. After having just seen how corrupt it all truly was, he was not willing to conform. This put him against many of the other powerful Marvel heroes that have seen the damage that can occur without being kept in check. This division of the heroes created an awesome and incredible fight between the two sides. The amazing action was exactly what fans were begging for: a civil war.
3. Logan
Released most recently, ‘Logan’ was much more than just a comic book movie. It was an action packed western thrill. Hugh Jackman’s last ride as the fan favorite character was a truly emotional journey. The demons of a character like Wolverine have been haunting him all his life. Even Patrick Stewart gave an Oscar-worthy performance in this gripping masterpiece. The way his character cares about Logan is seen so clearly as he opens up to him, despite his suffering from old age and haunting memories. ‘Hurt’, the song used in much of the movie’s marketing, truly exemplified the story of this long running character. From the start, we see he is so much pain, both physical and emotional. There is no escaping this movie without a tear. It truly was the perfect way to end Hugh Jackman’s long career as Wolverine.
2. The Avengers
Marvel has crafted an incredible universe with movies of all types. ‘The Avengers’ was the culmination of all things we had seen up to that point. All of the heroes we had come to love were together to fight my personal favorite villain. Loki is a great part of the ‘Thor’ movies but he absolutely crushed it in this film. Tom Hiddleston’s portrayal made the movie feel like there was so much on the line. The heroes of the film had excellent comedic beats to go along with the thrilling story. Marvel has done an amazing job of connecting all of these heroes and story lines. Watching them all play out with the masterful attention to detail creates such a deep sense of awe in the audience. Joss Whedon created a perfect example of a comic book movie.
Honorable Mentions: X-Men: Days Of Future Past, Spider-Man 2, Iron Man
1. The Dark Knight
A director that needs no introduction, Christopher Nolan blew all audiences away with his dark telling of Batman’s story. To fans that were used to the older films, ‘Batman Begins’ was an incredibly dark start for Nolan’s iteration of the character. It was the best way to kick off a new trilogy. Years later, there was an uproar of all the people that couldn’t believe the casting of Heath Ledger as the famed villain, The Joker. These complaints and criticisms were silenced when we saw the flawless performance he gave. Movie goers had a truly terrifying antagonist and they absolutely loved it. Sadly, Ledger never saw the release of the film, but it was certainly of Oscar caliber. The darkness of the movie was essential to capture the meaning of Christian Bale’s Batman. This blockbuster film still remains at the top of many lists and will likely stay there for a long time to come.
