Superhero Movies From Worst to Best: 5-1

5. Spider-man 2

Directed by: Sam Raimi

Starring: Tobey Maguire, Kristen Dunst, Alfred Molina, James Franco

Released: June 2004

First watched: Midnight showing, with all my buddies

Last year when I blogged about my favorite movie series Spider-man made the number 12, but there was one mistake I made in that post. I put that the Amazing Spider-man was the best movie. While the Amazing Spider-man is a great movie, I've since come to the conclusion that Spider-man 2 takes the cake as the best Spider-man film. The thing I love about this movie is that it depicts Peter Parker as your average person, with the same problems that you and I face. It shows him trying to balance the complexities of life by being a college student, trying to make a living by struggling to manage two jobs, making time for his friends and family, and on top of that he has to be Spider-man and save the day. You usually don’t see most superheroes struggle with these types of things. These aspects of the character really helped me connect with the character. The other thing that’s great about this movie is that even though it shows these aspects of Peter Parker's life, it still has all of the emotion, drama, and action that makes a superhero movie so entertaining! This movie has easily the best villain in all of the Spider-man films in Doc Ock, and along with that comes some of the best action sequences of the series. Another strong point of this film is the relationship between Peter Parker and his best friend Harry Osborn. The tension is great between them, and whenever the two are together they make some of the best scenes of the whole movie. Still not the biggest fan of Kristen Dunst in this movie, but with that said she still doesn't detract enough to make this movie not great. This movie is funny, action packed, exciting, moving, and makes one of the best superhero movies! 

4. Man of Steel

Directed by: Zack Synder

Starring: Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Michael Shannon, Diane Lane, Kevin Costner, Laurence Fishburne, Russell Crowe

Released: June 2013

First watched: Opening day at the Cine Capri at Harkins Temple Marketplace with Friends

This movie seems to be a mixed bag with most people, with some people saying that it was a decent revival of Superman. I am not one of those people. I absolutely loved this movie! I recently wrote about it in blog post that you can read here, so I won't say too much about it here, but I do want to say a few things. First off the cast is excellent, from Henry Cavill stepping into the difficult role of Superman/Clark Kent to Kevin Costner and Russell Crowe as Clark's fathers, and Michael Shannon as the tyrant ruler General Zod. The relationship that Clark has with both his real parents and adoptive parents is one that I thought was depicted perfectly in this movie, and one of the strongest aspects of the movie. From the opening sequences on Krypton, to the final shot of Clark Kent in the Daily Planet, I was completely engaged in this movie. I felt a real connection to Clark’s journey of him trying to discover who he really is. They showed him as a lost and confused soul, who seeks to find his place in a world where he shouldn't fit in. Some people found the action to be a little overboard, and while I can see why they feel that way, I loved it. I thought that the action added such an intensity to the movie, that other Superman films, and other superhero movies are missing. I’m not sure what a lot people were expecting when they watched this film, or what they saw, but what I saw was a movie that was full of intense action, great drama, emotionally engaging, and profoundly moving. For that I can't wait to see this new universe of Superman unfold, and I'm especially excited to see how Superman and Batman will face off in the sequel.

3. X2: X-men United

Directed by: Bryan Singer

Starring: Hugh Jackman, Ian Mckellan, Patrick Stewart

Released: May 2003

First watched: The midnight showing with my brother Matt and his friends

The very best X-men movie to date takes my number 3 stop for best superhero movie! When this movie first came out I loved it so much that I saw in theaters 4 times. There are not very many movies that I have seen that many times in the theaters. First off there are so many great themes in this movie. This movie demonstrates perfectly the conflict that is so central to the X-men, which is the fear of those that are different. Rather than not addressing this central plot, like some of the other films have done, this film does not hold back in addressing this issue. It shows the hate that the main villain, William Striker, feels towards the mutants, the fear and anger that Storm has towards normal humans, and lack of understanding shown by Bobby Drake’s (aka Ice-man) not wanting him to be a mutant. It’s also demonstrates through the character Nightcrawler how love and understanding towards those that fear you can give you peace. It’s such a great narrative that does a great job at balancing these many themes and also many characters. This film also gives us some of the best action sequences in any movie. My two favorite are the opening scene which shows Nightcrawler take out the whole secret service, and the scene where Wolverine has to defend the mansion from invaders. The plot of this film is very interesting and does a great job at keeping your attention. It’s deep, but it never gets too complicated. The final scenes are incredibly intense, and also amazingly heartbreaking. While this movie has some deep themes, intense action, and serious moments, there is still a lot of fun to it. For me this was the first superhero movie that was a true masterpiece and it still holds up well today. 

2. The Avengers

Directed by: Joss Whedon

Starring: Robert Downey, Jr., Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, Tom Hiddleston, Clark Gregg, Samuel L. Jackson

Released: May 2012

First watched: Opening day, with friends at AMC

I had some high expectations for this movie and Joss Whedon and his crew surpassed them. Most movies usually meet my expectations, but very few blow past them and this was one of those movies. I've actually already blogged about this movie twice now (you can check them out here and here) so I’m not going to say too much about it, but it needs to be known that this is the seconds best superhero movie. This movie doesn't have as many emotional themes as the X-men or Man of Steel, or my number one picked, but this movie succeeded in areas that those other films didn’t. It is pure fun and incredibly entertaining. It’s almost impossible for me to watch this movie and not enjoy myself. It is surprisingly hilarious, smart, exciting, action packed, intense, thrilling, and very character driven. It does an outstanding job at blending 6 different characters, and giving each of them time to shine. Sure there are a few that shine a little bit more than others, but it’s nothing that detracts from the film. It’s such a balanced film that blends so many different factors into it and makes it one of the most entertaining movies ever made. While I’m very excited to see what Joss Whedon has in store for the next Avengers film, I don't think any other movie can ever quite entertain to the level that this movie did. But with that said, I could be proven wrong! 

1. The Dark Knight Trilogy (Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, The Dark Knight Rises)

Directed by: Christopher Nolan

Starring: Christian Bale, Liam Nesson, Heath Ledger, Tom Hardy, Anne Hathaway, Aaron Eckhart,  Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine, Gary Oldman

Released: Begins-June 2005, Dark Knight-July 2008, Rises- July 2012

First watched: Begins- Midnight showing with friends, Dark Knight- at home with my brother Matt, Rises- midnight showing at the Cine Capri at Tempe Marketplace with friends

Alright I’m kind of cheating here, but all three of these movies would have been 1 ,2, and 3 anyway. This way I don’t have to rank them (if you look at my blog from a year ago you will see that I placed The Dark Knight Rises as my favorite, but it’s always changing), and I kind of see all these movies as one big movie anyway. I’m sure this ranking is no surprise to anyone who knows me well. Like the Avengers I've blogged about these movies once before, and actually wrote a lot already about it. With that said I just want to add some further reasoning as to why these movies are my favorite. So you know those movies that every once in while you watch, and the next several hours, or even days after watching it you can't stop thinking about it? Well for me all three of these films are those types of movies. These films are not only amazing for their incredible production values (such as the amazing action, the beautiful music, the great acting, the amazing set designs, the realistic special effects, the intricate characters, the beautiful cinematography, or the incredible story), but for the way it’s helped me think about life. I love how Christopher Nolan set out to make a movie much more than just a superhero film, but a movie that allows the viewer to think about how the events in the films can have an impact on their lives. For example, the line in Batman Begins “Why do we fall? So we can learn to pick ourselves back up”, has had a great influence in my life when I have had to face hard things in my life. There are so many other themes throughout these films that influenced me or helped me understand different things about life. Now I know I'm probably a little biased since I've always been a Batman fan, but Christopher Nolan truly created a masterpiece with these three films that I think can't ever be beat. As excited as I am to see Superman and Batman duke it out on the big screen in a few years, (and I believe that Ben Affleck will make a good Batman), I don't think any other Batman movie will top these movies, and I'm totally cool with that. While I may be pleasantly surprised one day, I think that anything that comes after these movies will just be icing on the cake.





Well there it is, my list of the best superhero movies! Once again I had a lot of fun making this list, and appreciate everyone who showed their support. What should my next list be?

Its a great time to be a superhero fan. I'm probably going to have to updated this list pretty soon!This year alone we still get to see the return of Thor and Loki to the big screen, and then next year we get a new Captain America, X-men, Spider-man, and the Guardians of the Galaxy. Hopefully some of those will be able to crack my top 10! So what are some of your favorite superhero films?