The 21st century is the age of the superhero, and not just in comic books or cartoons, but on the big screen. In the last couple of months, Marvel and DC announced major plans to have 2 movies a year apiece (not including X-Men or Sony) starting in the next couple years. This trend of superheroes on the screen started with Sam Raimi's Spider-Man and the X-Men back in 2002.
So, how do a lot of these stack up? Well, here is my opinion on each of the major superhero franchises.
Marvel (Disney)
The most popular right now is the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In my opinion, this is the series that has been the most inconsistent. For every great movie, there's a stinker.
Obviously, The Avengers is one of the best ones. Its' last fight scene in New York City (for about 30 minutes) is absolutely jaw-dropping. The visual effects are awesome (in fact, it got an Oscar nomination), and I love how Joss Whedon shares the spotlight, without focusing on any one hero in particular. Even Loki gets a strong amount of screentime. The only downside, Agent Coulson (my favorite character), gets killed (at least just in the movie universe, we all know he was brought back in Agents of SHIELD, currently in its sophomore season on ABC).
The Captain America movies are a close second. Both are unique for their senses on patriotism and their style of storytelling. The original First Avenger took place almost completely in a different time (save for the last two minutes), and had such a nostalgic feel to it. And, since when do you get Alan Menken (scored most of Disney's 90's animated movies) to write a song for a movie like this? (and a pretty good one at that, "the Star Spangled man with a plan...").
Going in to seeing Winter Soldier last year, I wasn't sure how I was going to like it, especially with the 40's era a distant memory now. But, shockingly, it probably ranks dead-even with The Avengers. The action and cinematography were so impressive, and I was really into the beginning with Cap's fight with a persistent gymnast (well-sort-of) assassin. The Winter Soldier himself was a really cool foe.
Next are the Thor movies. The original Thor was decent, but it wasn't amazing. I like the characters, they seemed more lighthearted and fun than most other Marvel movies (plus who can beat Natalie Portman as a female lead?). But what makes this movie distinct is the great visuals and costumes, which make Thor seem like a mixture of The Legend of Zelda and Lord of the Rings.
The Dark World was actually an improvement over the first movie, with even more visual splendor (thank goodness there was breathing room between it and The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug). Plus, it actually had a nice sense of humor (pixelated nudity aside). This one felt like a straight-up fantasy with some really stellar elements (the red Aether was well-pieced).
Some may disagree, but Guardians of the Galaxy ranks toward the bottom (you can read my review for more). It isn't for a lack of trying (the visuals and costumes are great), but it felt almost like a rip-off of Thor in some ways. It also should be noted that the film's use of 80's music and costumes were original and cool. But, should the screenplay been more edgy (giving a finger gesture and all)? I'm not so sure.
Speaking of edgy, the Iron Man movies, while not the worst superhero movies, are kind of the weakest here for the Universe. The first one was fine, but it seemed a little too long. The second one improved on the first with some good visuals, but the tone kept getting progressively darker, to the point by the time we hit Iron Man 3, the tone just became somewhat off-putting. But, I don't know, I've never been a Tony Stark fan, though I do think Robert Downey, Jr. does a good job with what he's given here ($50 million overall paycheck is a lot for a superhero movie).
The Incredible Hulk was pretty good, but the fact that the character is played by two different actors between both movies makes for a somewhat confusing setup. And the visual effects in this particular movie don't seem to be nearly as impressive as The Avengers.
DC (Warner Bros.)
I actually have not seen any of the Batman movies yet because when they came out, I was just 10 and 13 and my discerning parents thought it was too disturbing for me to be watching them (Heath Ledger's death and his scary-looking Joker didn't sell me at the time). I do hope to catch them on TV soon though.
As far as DC is concerned, I've seen the two Superman movies (besides the three Batman movies, there isn't much else to choose from, at least not yet). The choice between the two of them is a difficult one, but I'm going to give the edge to Zach Snyder's Man of Steel. The visual effects and action in that movie are so jaw-droppingly amazing. And the cast assembled is top-notch (Amy Adams as Lois Lane and Kevin Costner as Mr. Kent!). By all means, I have to admit that this is probably one of my favorite superhero movies ever.
Many people have bashed Bryan Singer's Superman Returns, but altogether, its almost as good as the other because of one word: nostalgia. It has an old-school feel to its superman portrayal (a very solid Brandon Routh, now on another DC series, Arrow), with classy cinematography and classic-looking constumes and setpieces. Its a little long, but for a sequel of sorts, it works astonisingly well.
The DC movies actually have more plot and depth than the Marvel movies do, which might give the Superman movies a bit of an edge over at least most of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Spider-Man (Sony)
I wonder what Sony's surprisingly unfortunate recent hacking scandal has had to do with their superhero franchise? I wonder. But as far as consistency is concerned, I have to admit, I think Sony's Spider-Man franchise has done a better job than the other two major superhero universes.
The best one? Spider-Man 2. The second installment of Sam Raimi's trilogy has a thrilling premise, my favorite villain of a superhero movie so far (Doc Ock, played by the superb Alfred Molina), and just amazing special effects. Tobey Maguire did the best job playing Peter Parker, as he had such a gentle disposition about him, and seemed like he fit the character in the comics just right (glasses and all).
The original Spider-Man was good thanks to another great villain (Green Goblin), but it felt somewhat darker than the second movie's more cartoonishly bouncy and fun vibe. But Spider-Man 3, on the other hand, was the only misfire of the studio's history with the character. It had a creepy vibe and had some creepy, edgy and dark material (Topher Grace's transformation into Venom while praying in a church a bad prayer is just too creepy!). Thomas Haden Church's Sandman was decent, though not particularly memorable.
The Amazing Spider-Man, the reboot franchise, is remarkably consistent with Raimi's trilogy. The first movie worked in solid ways, though more in line with the first Raimi movie. And while Andrew Garfield isn't Tobey Maguire, his version of Peter Parker still works in some ways and the mechanical uses of Spidey's webs are actually more cooler than the straight-by-the-comic book use of the webs in Raimi's movies.
The Amazing Spider-Man 2 improved on the first movie a lot, and actually nearly ties Raimi's second installment. Its entertaining, it has superb visuals, and the amount of villains in the movie makes it even more exciting. I really wish Paul Giamatti's Rhino had more screentime, but I thought this franchise's Green Goblin was even better than the last one, and Jamie Foxx's Electro, worked mostly well, but I felt like he almost got lost behind Dane DeHaan's green shadow.
I'm actually excited to see more of Sony's efforts with Spider-Man if they keep going with the franchise (here's to hoping Marvel won't take Spider-Man away).
Fantastic Four/X-Men
I've seen snippets of the X-Men, and honestly, what I've seen is decent, but somewhat creepy. They are not the strongest superhero movies, and the content seen in them is the edgiest I've seen and heard in these types of movies. I probably will watch each one of them in their entirety once each, but probably not more than that. The most interesting character of all of them is Hugh Jackman's Wolverine, in which I will probably watch his solo movie on TV sometime.
I have seen Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, which was pretty good, but overall a fairly weak entry. The great part about it is Chris Evans doing a character that is completely opposite his later work as Steve Rogers (Captain America). And Jessica Alba and Michael Chiklis do good work too. But, it feels sometimes a little too cartoonish. A little too Saturday morning-like.
So, in the end, here are my Top 5 favorite Superhero movies to date:
#1: Spider-Man 2
#2: Man of Steel
#3: The Avengers
#4: The Amazing Spider-Man 2
#5: Captain America: The Winter Soldier
