Let me start by saying that this was the hardest list I've ever done, and it's not because the movies are all of a very high quality. I'm a huge comic book nerd, I love all of my super heroes with a passion and I always loved all of the movies no matter how bad they are. You're going to see some movies on this list and think "what the hell, really dude?" because they were truly horrible movies. But some of these, I just love with a passion because of what the movies are and I don't care what others think. Some of them I know are bad and agree with people on, but still love. There are a few however, that I think are actually pretty good and don't understand why people don't feel the same. Marvel Studios is responsible for The Avengers and all of the films leading up to it including Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Thor, and Captain America. Before this change though, Marvel movies were produced by other studios like 20th Century Fox and New Line Cinema. Obviously if they were all compiled together, I think all of the Marvel Studios movies would take the top spots. The Wolverine comes out this weekend though, which is one of the franchises that was started before Marvel Studios began the first phase of their multi-film project. There were quite a few super hero and comic book movies though before this, and I enjoyed most of them. I'm going to count down my top ten favorite Marvel films outside of the universe that Marvel Studios has created since it produced Iron Man in 2008. I wonder if The Wolverine will earn a spot on this list after seeing it this weekend.
10. Punisher: War Zone (2008)
I'm going to go ahead and start by making everyone mad because a lot of people would disagree that this should make the list over some of the things I've chosen to leave off. I'm going to do my best to explain why, but I'm sure you'll just heckle this choice. I'm a huge Punisher fan, and I mean huge. I grew up loving Punisher more than almost any other character except for Wolverine and Gambit. Because of this, anything that has to do with The Punisher holds a special place in my heart. There were quite a few people who didn't like the first movie with Thomas Jane, but I thought it was great. What made this one awesome is that despite the dark nature of Frank Castle's story, this really looks and feels like a comic book movie but it's hard R-rated. Yeah, the acting is pretty corny but when do you not chuckle every once and awhile about what characters say on the pages of comics. The action is over the top, but I find that very suiting for a Punisher movie no matter how unrealistic it is. The final reason I really like this movie is because of Ray Stevenson as Frank Castle. Don't get me wrong, I really love Thomas Jane as The Punisher and he is definitely a better actor but Ray Stevenson fit the bill of the comic book look better to me, and you definitely don't doubt the level of bad ass that Ray Stevenson is on. I also love Doug Hutchison as Loony Bin Jim who really is the better bad guy, as Dominic West is kind of cartoony and comes off like a Dick Tracy villain as Jigsaw. Also this film was released on my birthday, so that has to mean something right?
9. Daredevil (2003)
Here's yet another film that the majority just didn't like, but unlike Punisher: War Zone, this one I cannot understand the hatred for. Instead of making a sequel to it, all they've wanted to do is reboot from the beginning. This film is not that bad! Like, at all! Ben Affleck is just great, we can start there. Yeah sure, he's not busting out his best skills for this role but who would for a blind super hero lawyer named Matt Murdock? Especially at the time this movie came out, all of the comic book hero films were kind of corny. But for one you have the late, great Michael Clarke Duncan playing Kingpin and despite the racial difference from the comic book, he was perfect. Then you have one of the best working actors today in Colin Farrell playing Bullseye, who was funny as hell and just as dangerous. And even then you still had Jennifer Garner as Elektra which was cool here, but obviously not the greatest idea for a movie on its own. Daredevil had plenty of action, plenty of laughs (don't forget about Favreau), and it has a really great story. I really will never understand the hatred for this movie, and I hope to all that is holy in the movie world that they end up calling Ben Affleck to work on the "reboot", but let him direct it. That movie would be the shit, I guarantee it.
8. Spider-Man (2002)
One of the first films to ever completely just blow my teenage mind was Spider-Man. I was 13 years old and there were only a few comic book movies out so it was still a fresh concept. To see the web slinger in action, live action for that matter, was just a new step in the future of filmmaking. You go back and watch it now and it seems pretty antiquated but at the time it was just some great stuff. Tobey Maguire was a pretty good choice for Peter Parker, and they nailed all of the classic bits to make it feel like it was made with care. Spider-Man is still probably one of the better comic book hero movies to be made, but the CGI amongst other things tend to make it age a bit quicker. Of course too, the villain Green Goblin being played by Willem Dafoe is just a blessing. To have such a great actor playing the villain in a super hero movie is awesome, and you also had James Franco as his son and Peter's best friend. It's a pretty hilarious movie, and it's action-packed with tons of wall crawling for all of the waiting we did to see this movie. Don't forget about the Macho Man, Randy Savage, making a cameo appearance as the fearsome amateur wrestler to bring the spider out of Peter Parker, Bonesaw. BONESAW!!!
7. Spider-Man 2 (2004)
I had to put Spider-Man 2 in the spot right above the first film because that's exactly where it is in my heart. It's pretty much just as good as the original but where the story was lacking in the first at all, the second really knocks it out of the park. The emotion present in the sequel trumped the first by a mile, and it was probably all thanks to the first movie as well. All of the same great stuff was back, Tobey Maguire (who at the time had yet to ruin Peter Parker), the emotional storylines, the sense of humor and even director Sam Raimi. The story pretty much continues where it left off in the first film, but our villain this time is another classic Spidey character, Doctor Octopus. And not only do we again get one of the classic Spider-Man villains, he's played by another phenomenal actor in Alfred Molina. Everything that Spider-Man did great, Spider-Man 2 did even better and it's one of those few times where a film is a perfect example of what a sequel should be. Bigger, better and badder (in a good way) than its predecessor.
6. X-Men: First Class (2011)
Spawning from the idea of an origins movie, along the same lines as X-Men Origins: Wolverine, this was supposed to be the X-Men Origins: Magneto one. Instead, it turned into almost an origin story film for both Magneto and Professor X, as it focused on the rise and development of the original X-Men. The film was a reboot essentially to the X-Men trilogy that failed so miserably in the end, so it really was a worrisome time when the film was being made. However, actors like James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender as Charles Xavier and Erik Lensherr respectively, make this film above and beyond what that third crappy film was in the trilogy. After such a disappointing X-Men entry, it was great to see someone take the care to make an emotionally engrossing tale with super heroes, on top of starting from the beginning and ridding themselves of most of the popular characters and debuting some of the lesser known X-Men to fans. Don't forget that this movie probably has the single greatest cameo appearance of all-time. I wish I could tell you who and why but I simply cannot ruin the surprise for you just in case you have never seen it, but I do assure you that it is the absolute best.
5. Blade (1998)
Most consider the first X-Men film as the start of the comic book hero trend, but the success of Blade back in 1998 might have also had something to do with it. I regard this as the beginning of the trend, and most forget that Blade was even part of the Marvel universe. Played by Wesley Snipes who was perfect the role, almost as good as Hugh Jackman as Wolverine but just shy by a couple notches of awesome. Also it's interesting to note that Blade was rated R, and spawned two sequels, Blade II directed by Guillermo del Toro and then Blade: Trinity starring Ryan Reynolds and Jessica Biel (pretty big snags on acting at the time for an R-rated comic book film). Blade is not only a great comic book film, though I'm not sure how faithful it is to the character, but it has held as one of the better vampire movies over the last decade and a half. I would go as far as saying outside of Coppola's Dracula and the obvious classic Interview with the Vampire, it was one of the definitive vampire films of the 90's and it was a bloody action movie based on a vampire, vampire hunter comic book character. So much awesome to be had here, and as a horror fan as well as a comic book fan this movie satisfies on both ends.
4. The Punisher (2004)
Earlier on in the list, I mentioned how much love I have for the character of The Punisher. When this movie was coming out, I was insanely excited to see it but I was not allowed to see it in the theater. I was 15 years old at the time and I remember going on vacation not long after the film came out. I bought the novelization of the movie from the book store and read it once on the way to Florida on a drive, once there, and once on the way back. I loved the novelization, and of course because it was The Punisher I was extremely obsessed. I finally was able to see the movie thanks to my dad, and we both were able to sit down and enjoy the action and badassery that was Thomas Jane in The Punisher. The story was executed perfectly, and even though John Travolta is a little over the top as the villain, it's extremely awesome. I mean, John Travolta is in The Punisher, come on. Thomas Jane made a name for himself big time in this film, and I have always maintained that he should be a part of The Expendables one day. I love everything about The Punisher, from the humor of a young Ben Foster (whom I'm a big fan of) to the hard hits delivered by Thomas Jane's Frank Castle, this movie has it all and it's rated R as well. Just like The Punisher should be.
3. The Amazing Spider-Man (2012)
I sort of find myself amazed that The Amazing Spider-Man is this high on my list, because I never figured that the first two Spider-Man films could be beat. I was extremely impressed with the post Marvel Studios reboot of the Spider-Man franchise. After the abomination that was Spider-Man 3, that was when Marvel decided to separate themselves and make sure that their film adaptations would be done correctly. After some careful thought, it was decided that there needed to be a new Spidey to rid the third movie from the memory of every dedicated comic book film fan. I have always been a big fan of Andrew Garfield since I saw him in a little indie drama called Boy A, and when I heard that he would be the new face of Peter Parker, I was extremely excited. Most people had no idea who he was at the time, but since he has made a pretty big name for himself and even leading up to The Amazing Spider-Man had worked on doing that. This movie also brought to life my favorite Spidey villain of all-time The Lizard, or Dr. Curt Connors. Not only did they improve on the original, they gave this film its own feel. Like most of the newer comic book adapted movies, this one was darker, but also Peter Parker as Spider-Man wasn't a complete nerd. Spider-Man always had the confidence that Peter didn't, and that was one of the few things they missed slightly in the original trilogy. The trash talking Spider-Man we all know and love was more than present in The Amazing Spider-Man, and just like the first two films this one did everything right.
2. Blade II (2002)
I have a soft spot for Guillermo del Toro, if you haven't picked up on this already in the past. He's the best working director today, and if there was ever a time that someone was able to reinvent the vampire genre, it was this guy. Not only did Blade II take a completely different look at the character and his enemies, it made itself its own thing. The vampires in Blade II are not only terrifying and disgusting, but they're interesting and unique. It takes a very special material and a very special handler to do something like that, and execute it perfectly. Though this film isn't critically approved like most of del Toro's others, it's definitely a good example of great original vampire film and also comic book movies. This is what I think eventually led Guillermo del Toro into the Hellboy film which he also knocked out of the park. If you're a fan of Blade II like myself, I'd like to take this opportunity to recommend the The Strain trilogy by Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan which is a series of books. Here, del Toro is able to flesh out his mythos he created for Blade II and make it completely his own and put into the real world. The first book, The Strain, is especially great but the trilogy in its entirety is definitely worth a read. Blade II is also another perfect example of a sequel done right, at least in my opinion. This is also probably one of my favorite vampire films of all-time.
1. X2 (2003)
In my opinion, the best comic book film made outside of the first Iron Man, X2 does something that few of the others have done. It's most definitely an action-packed film, but where most movies lose the emotional impact of a story or just a quality story in general with action, this didn't. It's a very superbly written and well directed action film, that just so happen to star the X-Men. One of the things I loved about this film is that they debuted one of my favorite X-Men, that being Nightcrawler. Not only did they do him pretty well, the scene where he is battling through the White House is just plain awesome. Then you get reminded of why Wolverine was such a great character in the Marvel universe, and they nail his story in this film. I would say that this movie is the exact reason that either of the stand alone Wolverine movies were made. Also, the cliffhanger with Jean Grey was just perfect and it was the single biggest nod to comic book nerds at the time. Everything about this movie is just awesome, but this is one of those rare occasions like in Iron Man where you could recommend this movie to someone who has no idea what X-Men are, and they'd be blown away. It's a movie that can exist in the real world in a way, and it's totally relatable and the story is just A++.
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