I had a great idea for this top 5 after seeing Avengers Assemble last week in the cinema (which I cannot recommend highly enough!) and I am hoping to see it for a second time soon! I was thinking about doing a top 5 and after many discussions about the film driving home I decided that it would be great to list my top 5 Marvel films. Marvel have been consistent with super-hero films over the past few years and have notched up a fair few, some great and some not so great. As I have mentioned before, I am not a huge fan of the Fantastic Four offering or Daredevil. I pulled out my DVDs and done some research online to finally come a decision on my top five and here they are:
Screen Gal's top five Marvel films:
- Spider-Man
- Iron Man
- Thor
- Captain America
- X-Men 2
1. Spider-Man (2002)
I actually seen this film for the first time on a flight to
Tenerife back in 2004 and was so excited because I missed it in the cinema!
Spider-Man is without a doubt my favourite Marvel hero and although he isn’t
part of the new Avengers film, I love the geekiness of the character
as well as the background story involving his family.
Tobey Maguire stars as Peter Parker, an outcast high school student who lives with his Aunt May and Uncle Ben in Queens, New York. Peter is secretly in love with Mary-Jane Watson (Kirsten Dunst) but is too shy to approach her about his feelings. He is also best friends with Harry Osbourne (James Franco), son of Norman Osbourn who owns Oscorp manufacturing. On a school trip to a genetics laboratory, Peter is bitten by a genetically engineered spider and later passes out in his bedroom, to wake up the next morning with perfect vision, muscles and quicker reflexes. It doesn't take long for Peter to realise that the spider's bite has given him powers and he trains himself to scale walls and swing through the city. After his Uncle Ben is tragically killed, Peter puts his powers to good use and fights crime throughout the city, however he also has to deal with the Green Goblin and stop him from destroying everything that he loves.
This film is everything that I imagined it to be, I thought
that the casting was perfect and really enjoyed seeing Toby Maguire playing
Peter Parker. I loved the choice of villain and think that the Green Goblin is
a great character and I also love how they carried this on to later films using
Harry Osboourn. My favourite scene is when Peter makes his own costume and enters
into a wrestling competition, in this scene you really see how vulnerable Peter
is and get a proper insight into this character.
It really is hard to believe that this film is 10 years old!
I was really sceptical when it was announced that they were rebooting
Spider-Man as I didn’t think that it needed to be done so soon, however I am
really looking forward to seeing Andrew Garfield in action and it will be
interesting to see what he can bring to the role and possibly a new franchise.
2. Iron Man (2008)
Iron Man is actually a character that I had never read in
the comic books until the release of the film back in 2008. I am a huge Marvel
fan (obviously!) and was really excited to see another of their heroes come to
life on the big screen. I was really surprised by how much I loved this film
and since then I have became an avid reader of the graphic novels and comic books.
Playboy Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr) who has inherited his father's comany Stark Industries is in Afghanistan with Colonel Rhodes to demonstrate a new Jericho missile, however things goes awry when the team is ambushed and Tony is captured, kept alive by fellow captivee Dr Yinsen, who places an electromagnet in his chest to stop a piece of shrapnel from killing him. In order to escape, Stark builds a suit of armour and with help from Yinsen he builds a generator called an arc reactor to power the suit. After his capture, he returns home and announces during a press conference that Stark Industries will no longer make weapons. Company Manager Obadiah Stane, does not agree with Tony on this matter and thinks that he will destroy the company. Tony then discovers that Stark Ind. have been delivering weapons used to attack Yinsen's home village and after an argument with Stane, it becomes clear who the real villian is.
Iron Man is a really hard hitting film and perhaps one of
the darkest of the Marvel films. The film involves real life issues and a lot
of it centres around middle eastern conflicts. For example, we see a father
almost being shot before his wife and child and we see Tony Stark being
captured and beaten by the Iraqi guards. I thought that Tony Stark was
perfectly portrayed by Robert Downey Jr and he brought the real arrogance and
charm that is Tony. I also loved the ‘will they, won’t they?’ relationship
between Tony and Peppa Potts. Not forgetting about Jebidiah played by the
brilliant Jeff Bridges.
The second instalment was thoroughly entertaining however
not so much as the first and it will be interesting to see if a third film gets
the green light.
3. Thor (2011)
Thor is always someone I was particularly interested in as a
child, although not in the Marvel sense. Around age 9 I studied the Vikings in
school and we learned that he was the God of
Thunder and always had a magical hammer with him. Marvel-wise it was never a hero I was wholly familiar with, however
I was always picking up and reading bits and pieces about the character.
In the realm of Asgard, king Odin wages war against the Frost Giants of Jotunheim
to prevent them from conquering the nine realms, starting with Earth. The Asgardian warriors defeat the Frost Giants and seize the source of their power, the Casket of Ancient Winters. In the present day, Odin's son Thor is awaiting to ascend the throne but is interuppted during the ceremony when the Frost Giants attempt to retrieve the casket. Thor and his gang including his brother Loki (the brilliant Tom Hiddleston!), childhood friend Sif and three other warriors decide to travel to Jotunheim to confront the Giants, a battle breaks out which Odin must intervene and saves the Asgardians, destroying the truce between the two races. As punishment for his foolishness, Odin takes Thor's godly power away from him and exiles him to Earth as a mortal accompanied by his hammer. He lands in New Mexico and meets Jane Foster, her assistant and her mentor and it is not long before Loki seizes power and tries to destroy the Earth.
I really loved this film and I am currently awaiting the DVD
to come down in price before buying it. I actually seen this film in 3D in the
cinema and as I have previously stated, I felt that the 3D added nothing extra
to the experience. The performances in this film were fantastic, special credit
is due to Chris Hemsworth and Tom Hiddleston for their biggest debut
performances of their career. It also does help that Chris is particularly easy
on the eyes. He is a great actor who can carry off humour so well and I loved
the battle scene with the Destroyer. I have also heard that there is going to
be a Thor 2 so I am really looking forward to going to the cinema to see yet
another offering from marvel.
4. Captain America (2011)
I actually only caught this film a couple of months ago and
somehow missed the release in the cinema, although I think that I was on
holiday at the time. Anyway on our Blockbuster 14 day free trial we rented
Captain America and were not disappointed. I was really happy that Chris Evans
was cast as I love many of his other films including his small role in Scott
Pilgrim VS The World.
Captain America centres around the story of Steve Rodgers, a sickly man from Brooklyn who has tried to enter the army but has been declined because of physical and health issues. While attending an exhibtion with his friend Bucky, Dr Erskine overhears Steve telling Bucky that he can't help in the war but really wants to enlist and so Dr Erskine recruits Rodgers as part of a 'super-soldier' experiment. Rodgers emerges from the experiment taller and more muscular and after Schmidt sends an agent to assassinate Dr Erskine, he is used to tour the nation in a colourful costume known as 'Captain America' to promote war bonds. During the rescue he learns what Schmidt's real plans are, and when he reports to his superiors, he forms a unit to thwart his plans and save the world.
I found this film was particularly well detailed and realistic
when it came to re-enacting the war sequences and credit is due to the design,
wardrobe and make up departments for their vision in making the audience feel
that they were back in time. To be honest I feel that the villain could have
been a little more thought out and didn't quite feel that he was bad enough.
5. X Men 2 (2003)
I absolutely love the X-Men films and it's a great series which Marvel really planned out. I first seen this offering back in 2003 in the cinema and immediately knew I was in for a treat. I am also a HUGE fan of Alan Cumming's work and was really pleased when I heard he was going to be cast as Nightcrawler. I loved the first X-Men film however the second film still remains my favourite in the series.
This film takes place several months after the X-Men defeated Magneto and imprisoned him in a plastic chamber. A mutant called Nightcrawler attemps to assassinate the President in the White House setting off a chain reaction of anti-mutant measures by the government. Professor X's school is attacked by William Stryker's forces and Logan, Rogue, Iceman and others are lucky to escape. Stryker managed to capture Xavier and it is up to Wolverine and the rest of the team to join forces with their
enemy, Magneto to stop Stryker before it's too late.
I really love this film and although I don't watch it as often as the other Marvel films, I still find it really exciting. You can imagine my excitement when visiting Casa Loma in Toronto two years ago, as this is used for X-Mansion interior shots throughout the film. I think the performances are fantastic, with Patrick Stewart and Hugh Jackman holding their own. I have yet to see X-Men: First Class or Wolverine but I'm sure I will get around to it eventually.
That's my top five Marvel films folks, please feel free to comment or add your own top five! I will be reviewing Avengers Assemble in a future update so save my blog in your favourites as you don't want to miss out! Thanks for all the views guys and apologies for not updating as often as I'd like but things will change.
