Lady's Choice: Favorite Superhero Movies!

Guess who's taking over!

Hello, everyone! If you don't know who it could possibly be, then you might want to go back and read a few of Brian's posts. I'm Becky, and I am taking over....well every now and again. Brian will still be doing articles on my behalf, but since I'm done with school for the summer, I'll do a few. This series is basically about whatever I want. And with Avengers: Age of Ultron out for about a month now, I though I'd start off with some of my favorite superhero movies!

Now, some full disclosure is probably needed. I am a Marvel fangirl for the most part. I do love some DC; however, when compared to how much a like, Marvel wins. That's a topic for another day. I am going to do a "Top 10 List" with no actually ranking. I'm including animated and live action, newer and older. But these are all incredible watches.

Let's start this off with some honorable mentions (a.k.a. Top 22)

• Batman Forever (1995)
• X-Men: First Class(2011)
• Thor (2011)
• Man of Steel (2013)
• Justice League: Throne of Atlantis (2015)
• X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014)
• Green Lantern (2011)
• Justice League: Flashpoint Paradox (2013)
• Batman Begins (2005)
• The Amazing Spiderman 2 (2014)
• Megamind (2010)
• X-Men (200)

Now on to the top ten! (Reminder: They are not ranked.)

The Incredibles (2004)

If you haven't read any previous posts involving me, then it be known that I am a huge Disney and Pixar fan. Sometimes The Incredibles is forgotten by people for Finding Nemo or Toy Story, which is sad. This movie is more than just about a super family. It is about being comfortable in your own skin and with the world around you. Bob Parr (Mr. Incredible) is a grown man becoming more comfortable with who he was and who he has become with being a husband and father. Helen Parr (Elastigirl) has to come to terms with being a superhero and a mother. All three of the kids, Violet, Dash, and Jack-Jack, are having to learn to embrace the balance of being super and having a secret identity, though Jack-Jack not so much. The supporting cast is also incredible from the family's best bud Fro-Zone to the world famous fashion designer to the superheroes Edna Mode.

Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)

When it comes to passions aside from movies, history is probably top of the list. This is probably one of the reason I went ga-ga over the first Captain America movie (and yes it is not real history). It also helps that it is treated as a historical drama before it is a superhero movie. All of the actors are also on point, from Tommy Lee Jones to our main man himself Chris Evans. Chris was not a new comer to superhero movies when he took up the iconic shield. However, from start to end I only saw him as Captain America, not the Human Torch (Fantastic Four - 2005). Brian has already reviewed this movie if you want his point of view. I love so much about this movie from Steve's progression from a simple boy from Brooklyn to the hero who defeats Hydra and being willing to sacrifice everything in order to do so. As usual with Marvel movies, the dialogue is just as good as the action sequences. There was a love interest but it didn't dominate the movie. As with a lot of other superhero origin stories, Steve has to deal with the fact that he is no longer a "normal" person, that he has responsibility. Visually it is also stunning. The attention to detail is great. Combine everything, the visuals, the script, the acting, the special effects, and it makes for one of the best superhero movies. 

Thor: The Dark World (2013)

Yes, another Marvel movie. I promise that not all the movies are Marvel based. Thor: The Dark World is more along the lines of a "fallout" movie. We see what the god of thunder has been up to since returning to Asgard with Loki. We see how his interactions with Asgardians and other worlds has matured and become less like those of a spoiled boy and more like that of a leader. He and Jane just can't be kept apart. She's put in danger while looking for Thor, so Thor does his best to try and protect her. We also see a different side of Loki. Now I was never a Loki fan when it came to the comics. However, from the first Thor movie through this one, my love of this Loki has grown. A good part of that is how well Tom Hiddleston portrays Thor's half brother. The other part has to be all of the changes that Loki goes through from movie to movie, particularly the humanizing emotions portrayed in Dark World. The main villain was wasted, but that did not make a huge difference to me. 

Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)

Uga-Chaka. Uga-Chaka. Guardians of the Galaxy is that movie that I can watch over and over and over again. In the long run it fits in with all of the Earth based movie, but I think a huge part of its draw is just how different it is from all of the other Marvel movies and franchises. Guardians has an amazing soundtrack with both Starlord's mix tape and the score for the movie. Between the talking tree and raccoon duo (neither of which I could tell who was doing the voice work for them ) to the wrestler turned big-screen actor portraying Drax, the cast of characters was completely left field. I honestly think the script was written kind of like the Captain America script with it being a superhero movie second. This time though the dialogue lends me to think that it was written as a comedy first. The visuals are breathtaking and work well with the story. Overall, this was one of my favorite movies of 2014. 

The Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)

What can I say about this movie that Brian hasn't already. It was amazing. I loved the inclusion of Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch and Vision. The best part of this movie wasn't the action sequences. The interactions between the Avengers themselves as well as the other character. The party scene towards the beginning of the movie is one of Marvel's best so far. I laughed so hard the entire time including during Stan Lee's cameo and the competition to left Thor's hammer. Ultron was cool and definitely a threat, but I felt like this movie was more about good friends learning more about each other and where they would go from here. Hawkeye also played a much bigger part which made me extremely happy. Overall, it's an extremely good movie but I'm already looking forward to Ant-Man later this summer.

Batman: Assault on Arkham (2014)

And DC makes its first appearance on my top 10. I will definitely give DC this: its animated movies are spectacular. Assault on Arkham was the first one to grab my attention. I am a huge Harley Quinn fan. I grew up watching Batman: The Animated Series on TV and loved her and the Joker. When I saw this at the video rental store, I grabbed it off the shelf so fast that Brian knew we'd be watching it the moment we got home. In fact, Brian reviewed this movie that week as one of his Diamond in the Rough posts. This movie is wonderfully drawn and voice acted and it excels where DC tends to: the villains. This rag-tag group known as the Suicide Squad shows the variety of villains that are present in the DC universes. Though out the movie, you only really know Deadshot's true motives and come to questions everyone else's motives. Batman doesn't actually make an appearance until a good way into the movie, making it more of a Suicide Squad movie rather than a Batman movie.

The Avengers (2012)

This is movie is where I started to see a trend in Marvel movies: it isn't all about the action. Yes, the action sequences are done really well, but the strength of the movie lies in the overall story and the characters themselves. While all of the actors give really good performances, Tom Hiddleston as Loki and Clark Gregg as Agent Coulson are probably the two that stand out. Hiddleston/Loki found a huge fangirl following after this movie that wasn't really present after Thor. Gregg/Coulson had been present in most of the previous movies leading to this superhero team up. He was Captain's biggest fan and became the uniting force behind the team. The dialogue in the movie has some extremely memorable moments. A personal favorite of mine is when Iron Man and Thor are fighting over Loki in the woods. Iron Man: "Doth mother know you weareth her drapes?" There is a reason that it resonated so well with audiences worldwide.

Big Hero 6 (2014)

Technically this is a Marvel property, but I'm classifying it as a Disney movie since it was made by Disney. Big Hero 6 is somewhat about a team becoming superheroes. Mostly it is a story about Hiro Hamada and dealing with the loss of his brother Tadashi. Baymax's role in the whole movie is to be Hiro caretaker. He becomes a superhero to help Hiro's emotional state but ends up becoming his best friend. This movie was about family and striving to be more than you currently are. Big Hero 6 follows its Marvel roots with being about Hiro and his friends' journey first and being superheroes second. All the members of the team become superheroes to help Hiro then stay to help others. While I am hesitant for a sequel to Big Hero 6, I wouldn't be entirely opposed to it either.

The Dark Knight (2008)

Batman Begins made my honorable mentions list, and The Dark Knight has made it here onto my top 10 list. This movie is dark and pushes Batman to the point of breaking. Performances were all good with the best being Heather Ledger as the Joker and Gary Oldman as Commissioner Gordon. As I have said before, I'm a huge fan of DC villains, and Harley Quinn and Joker are my favorite Batman villains. Harley doesn't make an appearance in this movie, but the Joker lives up to his reputation of being Batman's #1 villain. Ledger put everything into what ended up being his last performance. He puts this edge on Joker that made him all that more compelling, especially with having others make the choices of who will live and who will die. My only hope is that the Joker in the Suicide Squad can live up to this high standard.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)

To round out the list, Captain America: The Winter Soldier. This was Brian's #1 of Phase 2 (not including Ant-Man which isn't out yet). Above everything else, this movie feels like a natural progression for Steve Rogers. He's been S.H.I.E.L.D.'s go to guy for awhile, but remember that Steve's a soldier not a spy. His actions lead to bringing down what S.H.I.E.L.D. has become, but he doesn't do it alone. Every person within this movie has to make the same choice that Rogers has to make: who am I and where do I stand? Again, Marvel made this a superhero movie with great dialogue, great visuals, great costumes, great sound, etc. I think they also threw in a bit of a spy movie. Rogers and Black Widow being tracked down reminds me of chase scenes that I have seen in the Bourne movies or the Bond series. I am doing the impatience dance to see what comes next for the Cap' in the upcoming movies. 

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