10) Blade II, "Can You Blush?"
There's lots going on in the final act of this excellent film, Nomak is given the chance to exact his revenge against his creator for making him a monster, Blade is being drained of all his blood in-order to form newer monsters, and Whistler rewards Blade's patience (in helping Whistler kick turning into a vampire throughout the course of the first-half of the film) by saving his life. But Blade is literally drained, only able to muster up the word "blood" to Whistler. Thankfully an evil fortress of vampires love blood too, so they fittingly have a waterfall of blood waiting for Blade to dive himself into. He does this, thanks to Whistler, and returns to the surface, completely rejuvenated and ready to make all you mother%$#@ers listen by kicking all kinds of ass to the films equally excellent soundtrack (the great track played during this sequence is provided by Crystal Method, and it's called "Name of the Game"). Throughout the course of the film, Blade has a rather uneasy relationship with Reinhardt, portrayed brilliantly by Ron Perlman, but he's always a step ahead of him as he's got the ability to plot his attack and the patience to know when to do so. He lets Reinhardt attempt to strike first, he fails, which gives Blade the chance to ask him the same question he asked earlier, "Can you blush?" just before slicing him in-half. In the first film, Blade coolly put his glasses back on before the final fight, this time, it's Whistler who tosses him the glasses and, after putting them on, lets Blade continue on his trek of being the ultimate comic-book movie badass with an equally badass final fight to boot. As much as I love the first, this instalment feels so much fresher as it's packed perfectly to the brim with equal doses of total fun and wicked suspense (the reapers in this are truly terrifying, most notably in the Club Hell scene, which I also considered for this spot, but this scene is much more satisfying for my money).
9) The Wolverine (Extended), "Mutation... God's Mistake!"
Why, oh why, was this film not R-rated upon its theatrical release? The obvious answer, being money, is absurd, there are tons of adults who are compelled by the Wolverine character and want to see him finally lash-out completely on the big-screen. Arguably, the closest we've come to that berserker rage is X2's mansion attack sequence, but lots of bloodless stabbing and screaming doesn't qualify, fans (and I) want to see Wolverine unleashed. Thankfully, James Mangold was given the chance to release his original cut of The Wolverine. It's a blood-soaked, deeply-layered character piece that adds much more depth to the original theatrical release (which felt rather middle-of-the-road because of its inability to "cut loose" of generic superhero tropes, mainly that irritating PG-13 "all ages" rating that studios must always insist on). We're given a bit more time with characters like Shingen, Mariko, Yashida and Yukio, but the action sequences are given much more tension because of the addition of blood and gore; most notably in the re-positioned scene where Wolverine cuts his stomach open, forcing his hand inside to fish out that pesky device latched onto his heart. The extended fight between Shingen and Yukio/Wolverine is truly suspenseful, there's not much blood in this scene, apart from the scene with Wolverine taking the device off his heart, but the expert cinematography and lighting make up for that fact quite well, it also helps that Shingen is a truly scary foe who's driven by nothing but hate, feeling betrayed by his own family and kin alike. He's a genuinely mean man who could care less about his own father and daughter, he just wants power, he wants to be above everyone else, he's also a sexist idiot (at one point, in his fight with Yukio, he jumps to the conclusion that Yukio must be sleeping with Logan, simply because she's protecting him). You genuinely hate Shingen, and when Logan finally proves that he cannot be stopped, he chooses not to kill him at first, stating that "You tried to kill your daughter... live with that", he turns his back on Shingen only to (of course) be attacked again which forces Logan to finally end Shingen's chaotic reign. Even though I hated Shingen, I liked his character a lot and he holds that rage that I wish we could see more of in Wolverine himself. Maybe one day we'll see that rage unleashed completely...
hopefully.
8) Batman: The Dark Knight Returns - Part 2, "No More! All the People I've Murdered By Letting You Live!"
Of all the excellent moments throughout this two-part epic to choose from, breaking it down to this and the Superman/Batman fight was the toughest decision I've had to make. Overall though, I found that this scene had more weight and an overall release that the other fight didn't feature because this was Batman's true enemy which he had to fight, the Ying to his Yang, The Joker. He pushes Batman to the absolute edge in this instalment, being much more terrifying and vile than he has been in his previous film/TV adaptations, this is a perfect, chilling portrait of the Clown Prince of Gotham. The Joker was voiced by Michael Emerson for these films, and he does a fine job, he's no Mark Hamill (because he obviously doesn't have the amount of screentime as Hamill did to ease into our imaginations, that chilling laugh of his still sticks with me and it's going to be hard to top when it comes to future actors), but he delivers a startling performance in a film that holds NOTHING back. Batman is voiced by Peter Weller here and he matches, if not surpasses, Kevin Conroy's consistently outstanding performance as Batman, he's spot-on here and he gives Batman that much needed grit that came with this very haunting source material from Frank Miller. If Quentin Tarantino was to ever direct a Batman film, I'd love for him to make an adaptation of this, his guest-directed scene in Sin City ironically ended up being my favourite scene, Dwight is driving a dead "PEZ-dispenser" (Johnny Boy) to the tar pits and he hallucinates that Johnny Boy is somehow talking to him. The scene is hilarious and haunting at the same time, fitting in beautifully with the tone of the rest of the film, and Batman: The Dark Knight Returns has a similar sequence where The Joker gets his neck "partially broken". I believe The Joker is already dead at this point, and Batman is simply imagining that he's still alive, telling him to finish the job in killing him, he re-directs Batman's own nervous thoughts towards him (telling him that the police will kill him for his death, even though The Joker had just killed several innocents with a pistol, it seemed necessary to finally put him down for good, but Batman's worried about the police and thinks that they'll want to kill him over The Joker being killed at his hands). It's a brilliant scene, but it's capped off by the horrifying image of The Joker gleefully smiling as he proceeds to snap his own neck, finishing the job, as he wanted Batman to do. This and the Superman/Batman fight are incredible scenes, but these two-parters are loaded to the brim with incredible action and character sequences alike, if you haven't seen it yet, do yourself a favour.
7) Man of Steel, "Krypton Had it's Chance!"
This was a difficult choice, I could have cheated and just said the whole climax/ending of this film was my favourite part, starting with the world engine bit and ending with Lois welcoming Clark "to the planet", but this scene has stuck with me for quite sometime. Seeing this film in glorious IMAX was an amazing experience, but what I wasn't expecting was to be so deeply engrossed in all of the characters, people can argue that Clark didn't have much to say in the film, but the way I view it was that it was intentional: showing audiences that even superheroes can make mistakes by listening to their elders, and that sometimes it's necessary to "take a leap of faith" in hope of a better tomorrow. Clark took that leap by surrendering himself to everyone, to the army, to Zod, to his whole planet, he made the sacrifice to never be able to see his own people again by destroying the possibility for them to make a return, but it's all thanks to Zod's idiocy. He pleads with Clark to "Stop! If you destroy this ship, you destroy Krypton!" but Clark then takes a quick moment to realize that his people are capable of nothing besides being moulded to do what society intended for them, his own father even admitted to simply being a product of his planet. It's a hard truth to swallow, but Clark only has seconds to do so, saving Lois and the others in the process, so that they can activate the device to send the other Kryptonians back to the Phantom Zone where they may be given a chance to lead new lives if they do survive. Henry Cavill does a great job with the few seconds he has to work with in this fast scene, showing his sense of urgency in preventing Zod from causing any more damage, but, at the same time, being too naive to think about the consequences (the ship blasts through several buildings on its fall back down to Metropolis, potentially killing thousands that were held up inside). I do love this film for the fact that it has the courage to show that Clark isn't perfect, he's flawed and makes mistakes, just like anyone with these unbelievable powers would, because in the midst of it all there would be chaos. The fact that he chooses right over wrong is what makes him genuinely human by the end, he chooses to kill Zod because there were no chains that could hold him, no prison that he wouldn't again escape from to continue to exact his revenge against Kal-El, there was no hope for Zod because he was a product of his planet just as Jor-El was (only he was brave and willing enough to admit it).
^ is easily my favourite line from this film, thanks to the sense of urgency, as well as Hans Zimmer's heroic, yet poignant score as soon as Superman comes swooping in to save the day.
6) Superman: The Movie, "Who Are You?"
Making his dramatic entrance, Clark dons the Superman costume in a spiral door, much to the delight of a very happy pimp, flying up to catch Lois and a falling helicopter along the way. I remember seeing a documentary about Superman, right before Superman Returns got released, on TV and it was about how real a "Superman" could potentially exist. This is one of the scenes they sort of "busted" because, when he swoops up and saves Lois in Superman: The Movie, catching her at that angle and speed would have probably killed her or at the very least critically injured her, a similar thing could be said about how he casually catches the helicopter from falling. Still, despite those real world problems, this is a comic-book movie through-and-through that never makes the mistake of taking itself too seriously, but Christopher Reeve's performance elevates the material and makes the seemingly invincible hero someone to cheer for rather than roll your eyes around constantly. His one-liners are smooth, bringing an air of fun to the film, but his line after Lois asks "Who are you?" is a genuine classic. He simply says that he's "A friend", the line is equally perfect and perfectly-delivered at the same time. The film is a classic, the world-spinning/time travel business is a bit hokey, but it allows the film to exist in its own universe, to have a Superman that can defy rules for the greater good of humanity. This and Superman II were originally intended to be one film, it would have worked well, but they work well enough alone, I just think this ending should have been saved for Superman II for a much more complete and engrossing experience. We can blame the studio for that one though, but this film still remains a classic despite all of the big-suited shenanigans going on behind-the-scenes.
5) X-Men: First Class, "Rage and Serenity"
Of all the excellent, first class scenes laced throughout this great film, this one stands out as having the biggest impact, pairing up the franchise's "old friends" in a scene that defines their ever-lasting respect for one-another in a crucial minute or two. Xavier tells Erik to mentally move a satellite that's facing away from them to make it face toward them instead, Magneto gives it his all but succumbs to his powers because of exhaustion, unable to find that perfect balance, Charles informs him that anger is a useful asset even though it's not enough. When that rage is coupled with serenity, it can be far more powerful than anything he could have ever imagined. With that said, Xavier asks Erik's permission to tap into his memories and recovers a memory that had seemingly been lost to him for quite some time, a peaceful moment between his mother and him, seemingly on his birthday. The memory is beautiful and simple enough, but it's a bit sad too that that's the only good thing Erik can remember, it's seemingly been so long since he's felt that connection with somebody like his mother, his mission of revenge has been his only driving force for years upon years and this one memory finally gives him something to hold dear and cherish for the rest of his life. This film was phenomenal all the way through, but this scene made me love it even more for the fact that it genuinely made me care for these characters on a personal level that I had never imagined before, the performances are great, Fassbender definitely should have been nominated for this film/role (especially when based around the impact of this scene in particular, along with the excellent Argentina bar sequence earlier).
4) The Dark Knight, "Do I Really Look Like a Guy with a Plan?"
It's hard to pick the best scene from a film as great as this, there's the incredible interrogation scene, the armoured car chase, the ending, but this hospital scene sets up the groundwork for the fall of who is arguably the most likeable character in the film, Harvey Dent. Watching him listen to The Joker, letting the madman's words slowly sink inside of him, is chilling to the bone. This was Gotham's "white knight" suddenly turned on his head into becoming something he never wanted to be, option-less, alone, damaged, defeated. His reign against Gotham's criminals was a success, but that very success propelled the mob into hiring the lunatic known as The Joker to take it to the extreme, take it to a level to which they couldn't control, a level that could go in any direction that the madman would see fit. The Joker says "Do I really look like a guy with a plan"? No, he doesn't, but behind it all, he does have a plan. When Two-Face points the gun at him, giving him a 50-50 chance to live as decided by a coin-flip, he seems disappointed when he says "You live", but when he says "You die" he seems genuinely joyous about it because he knows that that's the step Dent had to take in-order to complete his turn. If Joker was to die in that scene, Dent would have been revealed to be a murderous psychopath a lot quicker because the media wouldn't be focused on The Joker any more, they'd be focused on "Gotham's white knight" turned into a vengeful killer, potentially prompting the city to become just as bad as before Batman begun his crusade. The Joker knew he couldn't get Batman to "break [his] one rule", to kill someone, but he knew he could break Dent and in doing so, he also broke the Batman because he was forced to kill Harvey Dent by knocking him off the building in-order to save Gordon's son. All-in-all though, this hospital scene is just as perfect on its own as it is fitted in with the rest of the film, it's tragic and thought-provoking, as we begin to experience Dent's descent into madness.
3) Super, "Shut Up, Crime"
Quite possibly the best "superhero" film of this batch because of its unrelenting ability to connect with you on an emotional level, our main character, played to perfection by Rainn Wilson, is a bit of a psychopath. He dons his home-made mask and costume out of the desire to save his wife from the clutches of evil Kevin Bacon, but, in his "heroic deeds", he does some questionable things along the way: smashing a man and woman's face in over butting in line, assisted in beating the hell out of a guy who supposedly keyed his sidekicks' (Boltie, played by Ellen Page) friends car, among other things. However, in the end, we get this character's motivation all in one brilliant monologue when he's barking at a fallen Kevin Bacon that "You don't butt in line! You don't sell drugs! You don't molest little children! You don't profit on the misery of others! The rules were set a long time ago! They don't... change!", it simply one of the most mesmerizing moments I've ever seen in a film... period. It's tragic, poetic, beautiful, it's everything in one simple little paragraph that means the world to this man: that people know right from wrong, and they should do their best to subdue those urges. I love this film, but the ending is beyond that. In a mere 10-15 minutes, there are tons of great action beats, hilarious interactions (especially between Bacon and Michael Rooker), and literal mind-blowing twists that equally stun and satisfy the senses. The film is a violent comic-book brought to life in a way that makes the original Kick-Ass look absolutely pale in comparison, this film is gritty and disturbing, but it's also cathartic and absolutely hysterical more times than not. This is a film that genuinely deserves to be seen. James Gunn, thanks for Guardians of the Galaxy, but I'd thank you more for this any day, this is a true masterpiece in every sense of the word.
2) Unbreakable, "The Orange Man"
A classic case where showing, not telling, works beautifully at being poetic and cathartic. This is easily the best part of this incredible film, David Dunn (played superbly by Bruce Willis) takes his powers to the next level by donning a cape and cowl (of sorts), going to a public place, in this case a train station, to track down a criminal who deserves his attention. With a simple touch, he can see the crimes these citizens passing him have committed, from thievery to rape, he sees all of their sins, but he's looking for the ultimate sinner, and he finally catches his culprit when an orange man bumps into him to reveal that he has taken a family hostage in their own home. He follows the man to the house where it's revealed that he's killed the father, locked up the young daughters, and continues to humiliate the wife by having her tied to the heater, spitting beer at her while creepily standing over her, enforcing some sort of superiority this viciously evil man must feel in-order to sink to such despicable depths. David searches the home and tries to find the orange man, he releases the daughters, has more haunting visions of what the man had done previously, but he gets caught by surprise when the man pushes him off the balcony and into a covered swimming pool. With his weakness being water, he slowly sinks into the water, trapped by the cover that was used to keep the rain out, he cannot find a way out until the daughters that he previously saved help save him. His rise from the water, accompanied by the excellent score, is a visually-stunning moment, but the scene that takes the cake is when he finally gets his prey, stalking up behind him (just as was portrayed in a more menacing way before when the orange man is hidden by the curtains and knocks David over the balcony), he wraps his arms tightly around the intimidating man's neck and starts to choke him. Out of desperation, the orange man tries to bash David off, but his grip is too strong, even going as far as to toss David's back into the wall several times which causes no damage to the hero, but clearly would have hurt anyone else as the wall is dented by the force of the man's attack. Once again, the score in this particular moment is outstanding, you don't feel any sympathy for the orange man, so seeing David avenge this tormented family is deeply satisfying by the way he chokes the life out of him. In the end, he doesn't save everyone, but the daughters were sparred a horrifying fate, and another "nightmare", as David refers to it, is over thanks to his journey into heroism. This is by far my favourite M. Night Shyamalan film, as it's backed with a powerful score by James Newton Howard, riddled to the teeth with outstanding performances, and a script that keeps you guessing until the incredible climax (starting with the train station and ending with this orange man sequence). A masterpiece of a film in every sense of the word, and I really hope that more superhero films like this get the chance to see the light of day.
1) Spider-Man 2, "I Believe There's a Hero in All of Us"
A truly beautiful scene. With two tonally different franchises colliding, Raimi's Spider-Man and Webb's The Amazing Spider-Man series, it's tough to decide between one or the other. I used to find myself hating the new franchise, mostly out of my love for the originals (mostly the first and second, though I still enjoy the third for its action sequences), but I found that I only felt that way because they were so close to release as the original trilogy of films, the new films focus on Peter and make him a more fleshed out character. Raimi's Spider-Man did that too but on much more subtle ground when it came to this truly amazing sequel, the original was rather boring when it came to the action scenes, Peter just seemed like the typical "good guy" who could make few mistakes after his life-changing mistake with Uncle Ben and, after that happens, it felt like he was invincible as Spider-Man, so there never was any tension involved. With Spider-Man 2, Peter finally meets his equal, a gifted intellect and a kind man overall in Otto Octavious, he sees what his future could hold for him and Mary Jane with Otto and his wife. This seems to make Peter want to be more ambitious, he takes up Otto's advice and attempts to learn poetry, only to hilariously fumble when attempting to do so, and he believes that he can be there for her if only he wasn't Spider-Man. He gives up his powers in-turn for a (hopefully) better life, which cannot be given to him because there's that emptiness he gets whenever he hears sirens, sees wrongs being committed, because he knows he CAN make a difference but he's chosen to abandon that notion in the pursuit of happiness (similar to 2000's Unbreakable). In a sense though, Peter really did need this time, he's still conflicted by the death of Uncle Ben and eventually breaks in-order to tell Aunt May the truth about how he could have stopped Uncle Ben's killer before the murder even occurred, this, understandably, makes Aunt May unable to look at Peter for a while out of anger in knowing that he kept this from her for so long. Eventually, with her own much needed time, she forgives him in the films best scene, she's moving out of her lifelong home before they kick her out of it for being unable to pay for the bills. Despite being at the lowest of lows, she keeps her head up in the darkest of times and forgives Peter, then she tells Peter what he needs to hear, that sometimes we "have to be steady and give up the thing we want the most... even our dreams" to make ourselves feel whole again. I always thought it was a throw-away line when Peter asks "Hey, where are all my comic-books?", Aunt May reveals that she threw them away, but there's a hint that she may know for sure that he's Spider-Man: if you recall, in the first instalment, Peter drew up those illustrations of Spider-Man before building the suit, did he throw those designs away after moving out? He seems rather concerned about a simple set of comics, but I think his illustrations were more so on his mind, the fact that this is left for the viewer to interpret is masterful, proving that nothing needs to be outright told to have an understanding of what may or may not be true (a classic example in SHOW don't tell, because audiences don't need to be spoon-fed everything... especially in a movie that's only two hours long).