Top Ten: Best Comic Book Movies

Well guys, The Wolverine is just around the corner, and I'm super excited. Comic book movies have always been one of my favorite genres. And with even more on their way with the Avengers phase two, and the possibility of a Justice League movie, the popularity has never been greater. Like anyone else, I have movies I like more than others, so here is my top ten list, for comic book movies.



It should be noted that I haven't seen every comic book movie out there, so there's no way of knowing if there might be one or two others that would be on this list, if I'd seen it. Also, this IS a top ten list. There are many movies that I love, that just couldn't be on there. So, with that said, here are a few honorable mentions:

• X-Men: First Class
• The Dark Knight
• The Amazing Spider-Man
• Captain America: The First Avenger
• X-Men
• Iron Man
• Batman

And now... For the list.

Number 10- Superman 2

Every time I watch this movie, I find myself not liking it. It just seems weird and out of the ordinary. I mean, the direction is great, and the writing is nearly as good, there's just something that bothers me each time. But when I finish the movie, and recall what I've just seen, all I can remember is the amazing Christopher Reeve. He is, and always will be, the perfect Superman. What makes me love this movie is it's magic. And I'm not completely sure there are any other movies that have the same amount of cinema magic as this one does. Margot Kidder, and the incredible Christopher Reeve give that to us in ways I just can't forget. You can't help but finish this movie, look back on it, and smile. 

Number Nine- Iron Man 3

Robert Downy Junior is ridiculously awesome. I think, even though we saw this in the first two Iron Man movies, he proved it in this one. 

Tony Stark is always written well, and acted even better. But what made this movie amazing, was it's "coming of age" for Tony. He starts off paranoid, and distraught over the events of New York, and meets a kid who helps him to realize who he really is. That makes this movie more enjoyable than most. All the acting was a pleasure to watch. We had Kingsley, and an amazing bad guy, Guy Pearce. But, as always, it's Robert Downy Junior that takes the cake. But the action was incredible as well. This may be one movie that gets on this list, largely for it's action. 

Number Eight- The Dark Knight Rises

This movie was one of the most powerful on this list. Batman/Bruce Wayne must confront his past, and deal with the fact that he CAN save his city, but that it will destroy him. And there's no way out of it. That's what made this movie so amazing. There's so much weight in this film, that most definitely hits you. That's not all this movie has going for it, of course, it has Tom Hardy as Bane. And he was certainly my favorite interpretation of the character. Bale was great as ever, but I think the shining star of this film was Anne Hathaway as Catwoman. She was badass, she was sexy, and she did a genuinely good job with the role. Her character was one of the most interesting of the entire series, and it was great seeing her interact with Bale.  This movie brings the Nolan trilogy, to a fantastic end.

Number Seven- Thor

I never, in a million years, would have thought this movie would be on this list. I never expected to even like Thor, when it first came out, because I was never a Thor fan. This movie changed my mind. It actually became my favorite pre-Avengers film. Stellar performances from Hemsworth, Hiddleston (what a great villain) and Portman make this movie something great, but it's also one of the most well written films on this list. Not to mention the whole concept of "magic is just technology we don't understand," just astounded me.  The film is powerful, amazing, and deserves to be on this list. Just goes to show that I get proven wrong plenty of times. This is one time in which I'm very proud of that. 

Number Six- Spider-Man 2

Spider-Man might be my favorite Superhero... ever. So it's no surprise this movie is on my list. This movie is really great at everything. It's well written, well acted, and incredibly directed. Some of the action sequences in this movie are some of the best Hollywood has ever given us. What really sells this movie for me, isn't Spider-Man, though, It's Peter Parker, played by Tobey Maguire. He's the most human of any superhero, and you see that through all of his struggles and hardships he must deal with in his life. He's just like any other guy. He has heartaches, he has money troubles, but he has super powers. All of these reasons are reasons why I loved Spidey in the first place, and they were perfectly adapted to the big screen. Perfectly.

Number Five- X2: X-Men United

There's something special about this movie. Brian Singer brings us an amazing sequel led by Hugh Jackman. He was born to play Wolverine, and I loved that about this film. He was easily my favorite character. But that's not a decision without thinking, because what makes this movie incredible, is how much character development is woven into it. Each character is expanded upon, and taken care of in ways that no other Superhero film has done. It's one of the greatest team movies out there, because of it's characters, it's thrills, and of course, it's heart. And that, is what's special about this movie. Even though it's got plenty of thrills, it never forgets that what's most important in ANY movie, are it's characters. 

Number Four- Batman Begins

All that needs to be said is that Liam Neeson is in this film. But beyond that, I love the way the origin story of Batman is told. We get plenty of focus on how Bruce Wayne finds his calling, and still plenty of Batman. Not many movies produce an origin story so efficiently, and I'm honestly a sucker for them. This is one of the best in that aspect. Of course Liam Neeson was amazing, he always is, but one person I didn't expect to be so awesome was Katie Holmes as Rachel Dawes. The scene where she slaps Bruce, despite the fact that he's holding a gun, is one of my favorites and really helps show off her character. She wants to get things done in the perfectly portrayed Gotham. And she really doesn't care who, or what gets in her way. This movie also gave us one of the best lessons and lines of any film. "It's not who I am underneath, but what I do, that defines me."

Number Three- Superman Returns

I have little idea why I like this move so much. I know I'll probably get a lot of flack for this. One thing I can say, however, is that the direction of Brian Singer is amazing. It's one of my favorite things about this film. It's just beautiful. Brandon Routh is no Christopher Reeve, but he does an exceptional job, I love the character of Lois Lane, played by Kate Bosworth, in this movie, and I think Kevin Spacey is a better Lex Luthor than Gene Hackman. I think the writing is good, and I love the way climax ends. It shows that his love for humanity, overcomes even his greatest weakness. Not to mention the love story is just phenomenal. This movie just speaks to me. I'm not really sure why, but it does. Maybe its directing, maybe its acting, who knows? Either way, I still get chills every time I hear Superman say, "I'm always around."

Number Two- Spider-Man

A good portion for why I like this movie is nostalgia. This was probably the first live action comic book movie I ever watched, and I loved it. Every single actor in this movie did an amazing job. And I felt it was a nearly perfect interpretation of my favorite Superhero, and Peter Parker. I love origin stories, and this one is another one to get it right. Willem DaFoe is a great villain and Goblin, and even Kirsten Dunst did a good job. That's rare, my friends. Most people tend to say that Spider-Man 2 is the best of the series, and while I'm inclined to agree, the magic of this movie won't let me do it. I just love this movie, and I don't feel like I need reasoning when something is this near and dear to my heart. A simple masterpiece. 

Number One- The Avengers

I don't think it's any surprise to anyone that this is here. I can't remember the last time I went to the movie theater and had such a good time. Laughed so hard, nearly cried (okay, I cried), and felt so satisfied leaving that place. It's my favorite because it combined everything I loved about all of the other movies on this list, into one movie. I loved the team atmosphere, the emotion, the acting, the simply incredible writing, and of course, the action. No one could have handled this movie better than Joss Whedon, and no one could have played better avengers than Robert Downy Junior, Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, and Chris Hemsworth. Despite their minor roles, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, and Samuel L. Jackson did just as good of a job. This film had a perfect villain in Tom Hiddleston, and some of the best writing I've EVER seen. This movie does everything it's supposed to do and more. This is easily one of my favorite films of all time, and always leaves me with a smile on my face.

I love comic book movies. It might be my favorite movie genre, simply because of my childhood. And now, they're better than ever. With The Wolverine less than two weeks away, and Thor: The Dark World coming right after that, there's no telling how many films might end up on this list sooner than you think. So what's your top ten? And what makes you think that? Let me know in the comments. Thanks for reading, and I'll see you next time!