Another summer, another round of awards! 2013 was full of comic book movies, from R.I.P.D. to Red 2, that made for a bigger year than usual. So much was going on, 300: Rise of an Empire had to opt out of such a crowded Summer. Once again, I’ll still be looking at the highest profile CBMs this season. (The fact that R.I.P.D. and Red 2 sucked have nothing to do with this decision ) I would have loved to see how Thor: The Dark World measures up with its peers this year, but unfortunately the November release date is a little late for me, so they’ll be missing out on the summer action!
Check out 2012 here(Best Picture: X-Men First Class)
Check out 2011 here(Best Picture: Marvel’s The Avengers)
As usual, nominees are up against each other in all categories to determine supremacy!
SPOILERS AHEAD
BEST VILLAIN
Depending on your tastes, 2013 was either a good year for comic book villains, are a really weak one. There were a lot of surprises and swerves and just some flat out over-the-top performances. That’s not to say a lot of it wasn’t a lot of fun.
Trevor Slattery (Iron Man 3)
General Zod (Man of Steel)
Shingen (The Wolverine)
The Motherf*cker (Kick-Ass 2)
Aldrich Killian (Iron Man 3)
I’m expanding to five on our opening category for obvious reasons. However, I think the less said about The Mandarin, the better. But for arguments sake, I’ll admit that Ben Kinglsey made me laugh. Guy Pearce is fine as Obediah Hammer.
The Wolverine actually had several antagonists to choose from (Yashida, Viper), but Shingen stood out as the most prominent baddie. I actually thought Christopher Mintz-Plasse was terrible as The Motherf*ker. His nomination is a throwaway.
Winner: MAN OF STEEL!
Michael Shannon was in the tough position of standing out from the classic performance of Terrance Stamp. I think he succeeds with this new take, and Zod has a surprisingly sound motivation for doing what he does, that layers the villain different from what you might expect.
BEST COSTUME
Articles have been dedicated to nitpicking costumes like Amazing Spider-Man’s suit or Captain America’s helmet. Few things matter as much to a fan as what our heroes are wearing, and how it came across on-screen.
Iron Man 3 (Louise Frogley)
Man of Steel (James Acheson, Michael Wilkinson)
The Wolverine (Isis Mussenden)
Kick-Ass 2 (Sammy Sheldon)
Iron Man 3 is business as usual for most costumes and suits, but one notable outfit is Rhodey’s new “Iron Patriot”. It actually looks pretty cool.
Kick-Ass 2 also does a good job with all the colorful cosplay at work. However, the continued changes to looks in the comic that were totally fine in the first place, continues to baffle me. Wardrobe in
The Wolverine is mostly black. Welcome to the X-Men universe. Still no mask, btw.
Winner: MAN OF STEEL!
I think the modernized look of Superman is one of the great designs in recent CBMs. The concept of making this a functional Kryptonian garb (they would wear under armor or casually) was perfect and very 'New 52-esque'.
BEST ACTRESS/CHEMISTRY
I blend chemistry in here because, often, in superhero movies, women’s arcs usually lead to a big kiss at the end. (This even happens in Kick-Ass 2!) At least they are more than damsels; At some point, each of these noms helped save the day.
Pepper Potts (Gweneth Paltrow)
Lois Lane (Amy Adams)
Mariko (Tao Okamoto)
Hit-Girl (Chloe Grace Moretz)
Amy Adams is as proactive as Lois Lane is supposed to be, unfortunately this also made her kind of annoying. Mariko and Wolverine’s romance falls completely flat. It doesn’t help that Jean Grey keeps popping up to remind us who Logan
truly loves. I love Paltrow’s Pepper Potts. She is so great with Robert Downey Jr, she’d win this if not for a horrible change that was made to her at the end of
Iron Man 3.
Winner: KICK-ASS 2!
Hit-Girl was the best thing about
Kick-Ass and she’s still the best thing about the sequel. Dealing with the death of her father, the pressures of high school, and the normalcy of not crime-fighting, made her the most interesting girl of the year.
BEST SUPPORTING PERFORMANCE
This year in comic book movies, it seemed like many supporting performances overshadowed the lead actors. Here were the best.
Don Cheadle as Col. Rhodes
Kevin Costner as Jonathan Kent
Rila Fukushima as Yukio
Jim Carrey as Colonel Stars and Stripes
I had half a mind to nominate the kid, Harley from
Iron Man 3, who seemed to have about as much screen time as Rhodey. But Cheadle really came into his own compared to
Iron Man 2, and was a worthy ally of Tony Stark. For all the pre-release attention Jim Carrey got for condemning the violence in
Kick-Ass 2, he’s possibly the most interesting character in the movie. Kevin Costner was an unequivocal highlight of
Man of Steel, bringing heart and weight to the flashbacks.
Winner: THE WOLVERINE!
But I think the standout supporting performance of the summer was also the most badass. Yukio simply rocked. Equal parts alluring, innocent, and deadly, most of that movie’s highlights involve her, and I wouldn’t mind seeing her again.
BEST FIGHT/ACTION SEQUENCE
One thing that I think was strong all around from the CBMs this summer was the action. I enjoyed it all across the board.
Attack on Stark’s home
Superman vs. the Kryptonians
Wolverine vs. the Yakuza on a Bullet Train
Hit-Girl vs. Mother Russia
Kick-Ass action is always good. The fight with Mother Russia was the most memorable showdown.
Iron Man 3 easily featured the best action of the trilogy. But many felt there could have been more of Tony in the suit. The bullet train fight is surprisingly well-executed, and very creative in the use of speed. What looked dumb in the trailers turned out to be
The Wolverine’s best action sequence.
Winner: MAN OF STEEL!
There’s no denying this one. The battles are finally worthy of a Superman film. For all the complaining the film gets, there are only two major action beats- one in Smallville, and one in Metropolis. The wanton destruction may wear some out, but as is, I found it pretty grand and glorious.
BEST ART DIRECTION
With such a variety of superhero movies, it is important that we feel like we believe the worlds they are playing in.
Iron Man 3 (Christmas time)
Man of Steel (Krypton)
The Wolverine (Japan, as subbed by Australia)
Kick-Ass 2 (The Motherf*cker’s lair)
There isn’t too much to
Iron Man 3 visually. A marked difference is the Christmas setting. Except even with the snow, it never really feels like it.
Kick-Ass 2 is also pretty standard. For a movie paying lip service to being “real world”, that means a lot of locations are going to lack visual punch. Motherf*ker’s brand new lair is the only standout. The reimagined Krypton is a revelation. I could watch an entire prequel series set on that planet. But at the end of the day, Snyder still relied on too much on green screen for sets.
Winner: THE WOLVERINE!
It is amazing to think a majority of
The Wolverine was actually done in Australia. A tsunami that hit had forced the production over there, but watching the movie, there is no telling. Fantastic job from set dressers to transform that city, making the location as much a character in
The Wolverine as anything else.
BEST FANBOY MOMENT
Ah, my favorite category. This is the geekout stuff we’ve all been waiting for.
Tony confides in Bruce
Clark Kent puts on the glasses
Professor X and Magneto bring a dark warning
Mindy’s make-over and mean girl revenge
Tony Stark has a silly bit with Bruce Banner at the end of
Iron Man 3, but it’s a nothing scene.
Kick-Ass 2 isn’t one for sneak peeks or hidden easter eggs, but there is fan service in the way of making up Hit Girl as hot as they possibly can. All those creepy feelings you had about her when she was little are still not justified.
Man of Steel has moment in that last frame, where it all comes together for Clark and he puts on the glasses- it’s practically cheer-worthy. However…
Winner: THE WOLVERINE!
Let’s face it. That Days of Future Past tag is one of the best comic book movie teases ever. To see Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellan again, with their ominous warning, and our knowledge of the upcoming X-Men crossover, touched our geekiest feelings in all the right ways.
BEST SCREENPLAY
The framework for any good movie starts at the script stage. This is the toughest category to choose. From a story standpoint, all the movies drew from the comics pretty well. So now it just comes down to how it plays out.
Iron Man 3 (Drew Pearce, Shane Black)
Man of Steel (David Goyer)
The Wolverine (Mark Bomback, Scott Frank)
Kick-Ass 2 (Jeff Wadlow, Mark Millar)
Kick-Ass 2 is the most faithful, but it’s not going to win, because it was just too cartoonish this time. Speaking of cartoonish, Iron Man 3’s adaptation of the Extremis storyline is cool, but they may have committed the greatest crime in all of CBMs in what happened with Mandarin. Drawing from Frank Miller’s classic graphic novel was an inspired idea for a Wolverine standalone picture. However, many of the ideas (immortality, the beast within) could have been fleshed out more.
Winner: MAN OF STEEL!
This is an unusual win, because unlike the other nominees, MoS doesn’t adhere to any specific comic. Instead, similar to last year’s screenplay winner,
The Dark Knight Rises, they pulled a lot of ideas from a lot different comics (
Birthright, Man For All Seasons, The Origin of Superman to name a few) and I think once again, that provides a good balance of faithfulness, while still giving them plenty of original freedom, too.
BEST ACTOR
No matter the script, or how pretty, or dark, or fun a superhero movie can be, the man in the suit still has to sell it.
Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark
Henry Cavill as Kal El
Hugh Jackman as Logan
Aaron Taylor- Johnson as Dave Lizewski
Hugh Jackman was more jacked than ever as Wolverine, and has now been the character more than anyone else has played a superhero. Henry Cavill was an excellent find for the new Superman, one of the hardest roles to cast. He was a natural. I think Taylor-Johnson is still geeky as Dave in
Kick-Ass 2, although he’s more dislikeable, and his motivations make no sense this time.
Winner: IRON MAN 3!
RDJ is always enjoyable. He could beat all the other actors in his sleep. Still makes Iron Man what it is, even if other things don’t come together. His smart-ass schtick hasn’t gotten old yet (though it’s getting pretty close).
BEST DIRECTOR
A lot of newcomers to the genre this year. Something they all have in common was the pressure of following up on what came before.
Shane Black (Iron Man 3)
Zack Snyder (Man of Steel)
James Mangold (The Wolverine)
Jeff Wadlow (Kick-Ass 2)
It was impressive that Shane Black was able to take Iron Man back to its roots in some ways. However in some other ways he really went off the rails with his ideas, and essentially made
Iron Man 3 more of a comedy than an action film. Jeff Wadlow had the same problem with
Kick-Ass 2. It feels like the first movie, but it lacks the heart and tact that Mathew Vaughn brought the first time. James Mangold gets credit for making us forget about
Origins. He’d probably take this if he didn’t blow it with Silver Samurai.
Winner: MAN OF STEEL!
I don’t understand the consensus that Zack Snyder is a bad director. His movies have only ever been epic, even as failures (
Sucker Punch), but for the most part, his style falls towards majestic and larger-than life; sensibilities that fit Superman perfectly. He put together and all-star cast, he made a serious film with gravitas, and he’s laid a great foundation for the now up-and-running DC Universe.
BEST PICTURE
Decided by a tally of the winners so far:
Iron Man 3 – 1 win
Man of Steel – 5 wins
The Wolverine – 3 wins
Kick-Ass 2 – 1 win
Winner: MAN OF STEEL!
I was expecting more of a landlside, but there were things the other movies did well, especially
The Wolverine, Superman’s closest competition. In the end, there’s no way I could say any other release was a better superhero movie this summer than
Man of Steel, which was filled with such unforgettable imagery, powerful music, and such a great response to making the character feel modern and believable. Bravo to everyone at DC, who had been having a tough time with the last son of Krypton for the longest time. Where it goes from here is as exciting as anything.
What do you think? Should Russel Crowe have gotten recognized for Jor-El? Does
The Wolverine's bullet train sequence deserve best fight of the summer? Was there a way for me to sneak
Pacific Rim in here? (Because that movie rocks, folks!)
Lemme know!