With Collider.com doing their "Top 50 Superhero movies" There has been a lot of discussion on what are the top superhero movies to hit the big screen. Now all film is subjective, and we must understand actual differences between us movie fans and that we have different tastes. With this, this is just my personal opinion and has no factual backing with IMDB or Rotten Tomatoes scores.
25. Deadpool 2
Not as original as the first, not as funny as the first, and it doesn't have the emotional throughline like the first one had, but it doesn't make for the movie to not be good, in fact, it's a great movie. Josh Brolin as Cable is an interesting character who's motivation is well-intentioned. Ryan Reynolds really embodies the role as Deadpool, and I couldn't see anybody else play the character. What they did with X-Force was hilarious and added a significant wrinkle in the movie.
24. X-Men
This is my childhood. I remember loving the Wolverine so much and wanted to make movies out of my action figures after I saw this flick. Before the Avengers, this film brought a ton of different characters together to fight for a common goal. Some of the CGI doesn't hold up like the fight at the Statue of Liberty, but Magneto, Professor X, and Logan all made this movie enjoyable and dusted off the lousy taste that comic book movies left us with in the past.
23. Black Panther
Many people will be shocked at how low I put Black Panther. I really enjoyed this movie, and it reminds me of an old spy movie. Black Panther played by Chadwick Boseman and Killmonger played by Michael B. Jordan are the two characters who really carry this movie and bring the emotional punch it needs. Killmonger is one of the best villains in the MCU and had a very interesting character motivation with his father and the past of what black people in the world have gone through. The issue I find with this movie is it's not revolutionary, and the end fight with T'Challa and Killmonger was terrible CGI. Overall, a great film who will live in the record books for a long time.
22. Spider-Man
What probably started it all. Toby Mcguire as Peter Parker, a young man who is weak living with his Aunt and Uncle. He turns into Spiderman, and Harry Osborne wants revenge on the Spiderman. Yeah, this movie is excellent. The emotions with Uncle Ben passing, the love he feels for Mary Jane, and his anger he feels for himself and what he turned out to be. It still is a bit corny and silly, but a great origin story for the Spiderman.
21. Batman
Jack Nicholas as the Joker and Michael Keaton as the Batman. Two legendary actors who played off of each other very well. It may be a little dated, but it still is phenomenal. This movie is pretty much a Joker movie but still values the Batman well. Keaton was a solid Bruce Wayne and probably the best Batman there is.
20. Incredibles 2
I really loved this movie. Craig T. Nelsen, Holly Hunter, Samual L. Jackson, and Sarah Vowell all return to their former roles, and they are fantastic. The "ScreenSlaver" is not a good villain, and the additional character just doesn't belong in the movie. But the Parr family and Frozone are fantastic and there is one fight with the "ScreenSlaver" and Elastagirl in an apartment that is genuinely brilliant and the colors pop off the screen. The movie was well worth the 14-year wait, and I can't wait to see if they have another movie in the bag.
19. X-Men First Class
Continuity? Fox said screw it, and we'll just give you a damn good movie. Jennifer Lawrence as Mystique is an excellent casting choice with her sexy tone and her ability to do action. The Beast played by Nicholas Hoult brought the emotions of dealing with him turning into the Beast and also with his feet. But the star of the show was the backstory between Professor X played by James Mcavoy and Magneto played by Michael Fassbender. Magneto's hunt for Nazi's and wanting the mutants to come together to protect themselves against humans is a compelling backstory that made you care about the villain.
18. Wonder Woman
A compelling movie that displays the ability to star a female actress in a big budget superhero movie. Gal Gadot portrays innocence of Princess Diana but also the badass side of her as well. You feel for her because she wants to do the right thing, but doesn't want to disrespect her mother. Gadot and Pine play well together, and you genuinely feel their love for each other. The reason this movie isn't higher is that of the weak third act.
17. X-Men Days of Future Past
Logan is back baby. After the short time in First Class, Hugh Jackman's Logan came back and fought bad guys, and his adamantium claws are gone. While on the search to stop the future technology that will kill mutants caused by the anger created by Magneto, the X-Men go and fight for what they feel is right and to protect the mutant race. Logan finds who he is and how he remembers Striker and why he doesn't have his adamantium claws. We flashback to the old X-Men from the previous adaptations for an emotional ending.
16. Batman Begins
No more bat nipples! A severe dark Batman is here, and it's ready to explode! A great movie about a man who is struggling to find himself, so he leaves his multi-million dollar business to discover who he truly is. He gets trained by Ra's Al Ghul in the Leauge of Shadows. While also Ducard played by Liam Neeson turns against Bruce Wayne, and then he turns into the Batman. It's a fun start to a franchise, and Christopher Nolan knew what he is doing and made a great movie.
15. Spiderman: Homecoming
Tom Holland is the best Spiderman to ever be on the big screen. He is young, energic and innocent. This film is so much fun. From start to finish you believe this character is struggling with the girl he likes, how hard school is, and balancing the life of Peter Parker and Spiderman. The reveal that the Vulture is his love interests. Dad is one of the most enjoyable things I saw this year. Michael Keaton and Tom Holland were phenomenal in the car driving to the Homecoming dance. Add Keaton to the second best MCU villain before we see Thanos.
14. X2: X-Men United
Do you like NightCrawler? Because you get an action-packed opening scene with him! Not only is this scene phenomenal, but so is the rest of the movie. Mystique is excellent and again, sexy and can kick your butt. And the messages that come from this movie were quite impressive especially in the year 2003 with the comparisons to being gay and being a mutant. And again, like nearly all X-Men movies, Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen steal the show as Professor X and Magneto.
13. Deadpool
Wow. It's almost like Fox knows what it's doing with Superhero movies? Deadpool is one of the most fun times I've had at the theatre. Ryan Reynolds is the best person for Deadpool and will go down as one of the best cast superheroes ever along the lines of Robert Downy Jr. as Iron Man and Hugh Jackman as Wolverine. He embodies the crude, foul mothed side of Deadpool while also staring straight at the camera. This movie is so much fun and flips everything we knew about superhero movies on its head.
12. Thor: Ragnorock
I had a smile on my face through and through with this movie. It is funny, charming, and somewhat emotional. We see Thor's home in Asgard get destroyed, and some of his best friends die, which should be realized by some critics, but sadly won't. Tessa Thompson as Valkyrie is fantastic, and Loki still remains the best villain in the MCU. The home run hitters for me was Hela played by Cate Blanchett who was a great villain who is probably number three just after Loki and the Vulture. Lastly would be Odin's death. Odin was a character who wasn't perfect and had his flaws, but by the reactions of Loki and Thor, you could tell they loved their father still.
11. Spiderman 2
Oh yeah, my childhood movie. I have definitely seen this movie the most because as a kid I watched the thing nearly every day. But let's talk about what makes this movie just a great movie. Doctor Otto Octavius or commonly known as Doc Ock played by Alfred Molina is one of the best villains of all time. This movie does a lot of things well, but the best would be understanding Peter Parker's struggles with school, love, and being poor. Although he is a crime-fighting spider at night, he is a hard-working photographer by day who wants nothing more to impress his boss, but also his love interest Mary Jane. One of the best scenes in the movie is MJ looking down to not see Peter at her play.
10. Guardians of the Galaxy
Creative and imaginative. Chris Pratt is Starlord, a sleazy guy just willing to make the next buck, while the said could be said about Rocket, a modified raccoon who is a badass. Groot is a big tree who can just utter the phrase "I am Groot," and Gamora is an ass kicker who is the stepdaughter of Thanos. Here, we need to bail these losers out of prison and kill Ronan the Accusor. The villain isn't great in this movie, but that's okay! Because the characters that James Gunn decided to create were so likable that you wanted to be with them every step of the way. The colors are vibrant, and you feel like you're in their world.
9. Iron Man
I've watched this movie twice in the past week because of the "Road to Infinity War." This movie is incredible, and I remember watching this in the theatre when I was 10 and was so excited to see the after credit scene. Robert Downy Jr. is born to play this role and Tony Stark. What makes this movie so great is that there is actual character development. Stark has significant ego issue throughout the first part of his life until he gets caught by terrorists and realizes there is more to life than just being a rich asshole. Although some things don't tie into the MCU, it doesn't matter the movie is one of the greats.
8. Captian America: The Winter Soldier
Probably the best made MCU movie to date, this movie is a spy thriller that is enjoyable through and through. We find out that Bucky played by Sebastian Stan is the "villain" along with the government. At the beginning of the movie can tell you all you need to know how great this movie is. He is running trying to clear his mind, trying to find out who he truly is. After that is over, you see him talking to the "Falcon" played Anthony Mackie and they discuss current topics, he grabs a notebook and writes it down. As you can see he has a lot of things, he needs to catch up on in the current world. This is just a nice touch on how different Steve Rodgers is to other people.
7. The Incredibles
One of my favorite movies of all time, the Incredibles did something special with incorporating a superhero movie with everyday family life. When you watch this film, you begin to start to understand Mr. Increable and his trials of hiding his superhero powers while also living a day to day life and a tedious 9-5 job. This is boring for him, so he cheats. Not on his wife, but on his superhero powers and goes out with his friend to go "bowl" then, gets himself in trouble by going on a secret mission to ultimately be tricked by one of the best villains of all time, "Incredaboy" or he wants to call himself "Syndrome." Dash and Villiet are so sweet and innocent that it brings lightness to the film.
6. Superman The Movie
A light-hearted film that starts the comic book movies forever and ever. Superman the Movie is the first Christopher Reeve's Superman movie that was fun and entertaining throughout. I remember my mom buying the film on VHS, and I would watch it regularly. Although the effects don't hold up today, this movie still deals with serious issues like the romantic side of Louis Laine. Clark Kent just wants Louis's affection, and she just blows him off, but she is intrigued by Superman himself, so Clark has to deal with not showing her he's Superman, but he wants to so badly because that might be the way she will pay attention to him. A real boy scout and gives you light when you watch this movie.
5. Captian America Civil War
The longest movie of the MCU is the second best movie in the MCU. It is pretty remarkable that the Russo brothers have two of the top ten films on my list in Captian America the Winter Soldier and Captian America Civil War. This movie did a fantastic job of pitting our heroes against each other and gave each character (Ironman and Captain America) a great reason to have differences. It also provided an excellent charter development to Bucky and Tony Stark when we get to see that Bucky did, in fact, kill Tony's parents. This created great anger in Tony and made him want to kill Cap and Bucky. The best scene in comic book history is in this movie in the airport scene. The introductions to the Black Panther and Spiderman is phenomenal.
4. Marvel's The Avengers
C'mon, how was this not going to be on this list? This movie has the best villain in the MCU in Loki played by Tom Hiddleston, he gives a great fear to the Avengers, and you could understand their fear. The introduction of Bruce Banner and the new Hulk is fun, and the "who is the smartest" competition by Tony Stark and Bruce Banner is enjoyable and creates character developments in the movie. Thor thinking he is all-powerful and his relationship with Loki makes the movie very strong. But the complete nostalgia in the film is what makes it great. Seeing all of your heroes in a circle fighting the enemy is one of the best shots ever. They built these characters for several years, and now you're able to care about them.
3. Logan
Powerful. This movie is powerful in every sense of the word. It's emotional, loving, and genuine. After seventeen years of playing the characters Professor X and Wolverine, Patrick Stewart and Hugh Jackman finally hang up their sneakers that will go into the superhero movie hall of fame. Dafnee Keen is so good as Laura or X-23. This movie is a western and teaches about values that each of us holds dear to our heart and what Professor X held closest to his heart: family, and at the end of Logan, that's what Logan values the most too. His death carried weight and had me sobbing like I've never had before in a movie. Even though it came out this last year, it still is the second greatest superhero movie of all time.
2. The Dark Knight
Heath Ledger is the greatest villain of all time. I don't care what your granddad says about Jack Nickolson in Batman 1989. This movie is fast-paced, slick, and fresh. It hardly is a superhero movie instead just spy physiological thriller. Heath Ledger is so captivating that you don't want him to be off screen, but that's partially okay because Christain Bale does such a great job as the Batman and Bruce Wayne that it holds up throughout the movie. You care about everyone Bruce Wayne's life that you don't want anything to happen to them while the Joker is picking off people left and right. The score of the film is excellent and really gets you through the fast pace, and you feel the urgency of the situation happening with the Joker. It also tells you a lot about being human. That when those people on the boats have the option to kill each other to save themselves, they never do it. And shows the value of human life in a superhero movie. It will always be the greatest of all time, and if it isn't props to that movie to passing this masterpiece.
1. Avengers: Infinity War
This movie is a culmination of 19 intertwined films all leading to this movie. Avengers: Infinity War has nearly everything that you wanted in a comic book movie and this movie really dealt with important subjects like sacrifice and is one life saving worth risking billions? Not only was this movie serious, but it hit a lot of the right tones in the comedic category. The Guardians, Tony Stark, Spider-Man, and Thor really hit on a lot of comedic beats. Josh Brolin playing Thanos was one of the best villains of all time, and he also covered a lot of areas in which you need as a villain. Thanos was sympathetic when he realized he had to kill his daughter to fulfill his destiny, he was terrified when he needed to be, and he was calculated as well. He kept his promises, and it showed that he wasn't into killing if he didn't need to. One example of this was when Doctor Strange told Thanos to spare Tony Stark's life if he gave him the time stone and Thanos doesn't kill Stark. Somehow, with 24 superheroes, the Russo Brothers found a way for each character to get a moment. Iron Man got his when he fought Thanos one on one in Titan, Spider-Man got his when he saved Stark from Cull Obsidian, Doctor Strange fought Thanos on Titan, Captian America and his crew saved Scarlet Witch and Vision in Scotland, and lastly, Thor got that grand entrance into Wakanda. The movie is all about Thanos, how he had to sacrifice his daughter Gamora for the soul stone, he went searching all around the universe to find the rest of the stones, he got all six, snapped his fingers and accomplished his mission and won. In one of the most somber endings in a superhero movie, Avengers: Infinity War exeeded all expectations.
