... and thus ends the superhero movie summer. It started with Green Hornet, followed by Thor, X-Men: First Class, and then Green Lantern. This is the best year for comic book hero movies over all. I would have a hard time saying that any of these movies were bad and there certainly were a lot of them this year. I know what your saying to your self, "hey, some of those are not that good of movies," but ask yourself were any of them worse than last years Jonah Hex or 2003's Daredevil. 2008 seems to come in for a close second for best year for comic movies clocking in at 6 again but that list includes The Spirit.
In Order from best to worse:
X-Men: First Class
Captain America: the First Avenger
Green Hornet
Thor
Green Lantern
X-men was a surprise to me because i feel like there were major flaws in the previous three or four files. Don't get me wrong they all had some great features, but over all they were not the best movie movies. First Class was just that, it was really a movie; I feel that even if i had know idea who the X-men were previous to the movie I would still be able to enjoy it and feel engaged.
Cap is next because this was just a great action flick, and Marvel Studios just keeps hitting it out of the park. This was a cool movie that gave cap the time he deserved. This is a character that should be just as big as Batman in popular culture, and its about time he got his due. While I'm not a die hard fan of the character I can truly say this movie made me want experience him more.
Yes, Green Hornet is third... hear me out. Again, like the others, this was a cool movie and i love a movie that can mix action and comedy well. I also really liked what they did with the characters and how they approached the story telling. I remember as a kid watching some of the original Green Hornet on reruns, and being under whelmed by the story and only 30 seconds of Bruce Lee fighting you got (as bad ass as it may have been.) This movie though made me want to see what was happening between fights, because it was funny and interesting. I hope they make another.
Thor was really cool. All the people were great, the action was great, and the story was great. While i feel that it was just a stepping stone to the Avengers movie, it was a really really good stepping stone.
Finally, Green Lantern. This was a fun movie, but the most comic booky of the bunch. I feel they really just told the story to fast and had to many wasted opportunities. I'm fine with the Ryan Reynolds and the all cgi costume, but the two enemies and the lack of Oa kinda got me. The fact that they had two enemies in the move is not bad, and they executed it alright, but if they really concentrated on only one instead of both it would have been better. It is about time GL got his brightest day in other media rather than just comics. for the next one i hope they take a page from Justice League and introduce Jon Stewart.
