With Captain America: The First Avenger now released, the summer completes its major comic book movie surge. Everyone has their own takes on which did better than who, and we are now all set, and all excited for next year's Avengers. (and wherever else DC goes from here to keep up). But besides looking at box office numbers, lets look at what really matters when the dust settles: AWARDS!
12 ROUNDS returns, and this time, I'm pulling from mostly Oscar categories, with a few extra flourishes here and there for fun. Lets see who wins when the main 4 duke it out:
(SOME SPOILERS AHEAD!!)
1. BEST VILLAIN
The old saying is a hero is only as good as its villain. The summer's CBMs had an interesting variety, and some comic faves finally made their big screen debuts.
Loki (Thor)
Sebastian Shaw (X-Men: First Class)
Parallax (Green Lantern)
Red Skull (Captain America)
Red Skull looked cool as hell, but was slightly underdeveloped and just bland. Kevin Bacon worked well in X-Men, but he played Shaw like a campy Bond villain which is completely wrong for the stuffy English Hellfire Club leader he's supposed to be. Green Lantern blew it with Sinestro (obviously saving his turn for the sequel) and gave us something similar to Fantastic Four's ominous diarrhea cloud.
Winner: THOR!
Loki may not have been as much of a trickster as we're used to. But he is wonderfully conniving onscreen, and one of the best things about Thor. Insanely interesting to watch.
2. BEST COSTUME
There's nothing as iconic as a hero's threads. I believe the best ones are a part of what makes these characters popular. Lets see how they translate.
Thor (Alexandra Byrne)
X-Men: First Class (Sammy Sheldon)
Green Lantern (Ngila Dickson)
Captain America: The First Avenger (Anna B. Sheppard)
I really liked the concept of an all-CG outfit since Green Lantern's costume is technically made of energy. Could have done without all the veins though, and that mask! I had the hardest time battling with Captain America. I get the more practical approach, but watching the movie, I felt like we were still one prototype away from the “true” costume, lol. X-Men finally gave their team a splash of color. Fans still complained. The Magneto's helmet is better though.
Winner: THOR!
Thor's costume I think was the hardest to pull off, but the armor and cape looks great on camera, as do the other Asgardians, completing a believable society of gods.
3. BEST ACTRESS/CHEMISTRY
A usual beat for any tentpole adventure might be a romance. There was a legitimate babe in every one of these comic book movies. But how was the chemistry for these love interests?
Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) and Thor
Moira MacTaggart (Rose Byrne) and Xavier
Carol Ferris (Blake Lively) and Hal Jordan
Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwel) and Steve Rogers
One of the biggest criticisms from Thor was the shallow relationship between Natalie Portman and Hemsworth. You would never believe Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds were supposed to be childhood friends. Rose Byrne shares virtually no time with James MacAvoy, making her kiss at the end of X-Men completely unearned.
Winner: CAPTAIN AMERICA!
Hayley Atwel and Chris Evans had legit chemistry together, driving Captain America. She's in the type of role that makes me wish she was Lois Lane.
4. BEST MAKEUP
Mutants, monsters, and aliens. Many of these movies had an uphill battle pulling off comic characters that needed to be brought to life convincingly.
Thor (Luisa Abel)
X-Men: First Class (Fran Needham, Brian Walsh)
Green Lantern (Joel Harlow, Felicity Bowring)
Captain America (Linda Flowers, Belinda Green-Smith, David White)
Red Skull looked pretty cool. But its a red skull. Not really complicated there. There isn't really anything noticeable about Thor. The Ice giants I guess. In Green Lantern most of it was CG, but the makeup use here fully realizes. Its hilarious they made Hector Hammond look like a ballsack, though
Winner: X-MEN: FIRST CLASS!
X-Men First Class is the real competition here. The mutants look good, but a lot of people weren't into the Beast 'cat' look, and I know I was annoyed they stuck with gross 'scaley' Mystique.
5. BEST SUPPORTING PERFORMANCE
The unsung heroes of CBMs are the backup players that ground or help flesh out these tales. There were some great big names in these smaller roles.
Anthony Hopkins as Odin
James McAvoy as Xavier
Mark Strong as Sinestro
Tommy Lee Jones as Col. Phillips
This is actually a legitimately tough one to decide. James McAvoy was very good in X-Men, my only problem was that was NOT Charles Xavier. Hopkins' Odin left a godly impression, unfortunately, he's not in the movie long enough. Tommy Lee Jones was absolutely fantastic in Cap, and the movie actually had a great many more characters like Bucky, Howard Stark, and the doctor, all equally great, and could have been considered too.
Winner: GREEN LANTERN!
Mark Strong as Sinestro is the best thing about Green Lantern. But he should have been the full-on villain, but I guess we'll take what we can get. If you ever watch this movie, watch it for him!
6. BEST FIGHT/ACTION SEQUENCE
Do we have anything as memorable as the flipping 18-wheeler? Nightcrawler's White House attack? Not really. But the summer's superhero flicks offered plenty of great action for fans.
Thor vs. the Ice Giants
The Cuban Missile stand off
Green Lantern vs Parallax
street chase in New York
The Ice giant battle is a standout that makes the Loki finale seem kind of thin by comparison. I did appreciate the variety of uses of the ring in the Green Lantern fights, but in the end it still came down to just different types of guns. Aside from the use of the shield, the action in Captain America is kind of all over the place. The early street chase is a highlight.
Winner: X-MEN: FIRST CLASS!
X-men got a lot right when it came to action. The end set piece has the mutants battling in various combinations that keeps everyone on their toes. There is also a cool late night CIA seige/invasion and a nail-biting Argentinian bar sequence not to be missed
7. BEST ART DIRECTION
All of the summer's CBMs had one thing in common- the challenge of selling their settings. I think for the most part, they all succeeded. But who sold their world the best?
Thor (Asgard)
X-Men: First Class (1960s)
Green Lantern (Oa)
Captain America (1940s, WWII)
The Lanterns Corps' home world was one of the most anticipated aspects going in. Unfortunately, we are only there to listen to Sinestro's speeches. Thor did a better job with its "cosmic" setting of Asgard. But that world isn't as populated as GLs. Both settings sold me, but both weren't explored enough. Outside of some archival footage, and some cars, I never felt like I was in the 60s during X-Men at all.
Winner: CAPTAIN AMERICA!
This totally looked and felt like the 40s. From the links that tie in with Avengers to the fun touches like the war bonds campaign, First Avenger does a better job with their time period than X-Men did with its.
8. BEST FANBOY MOMENT
These are the bits that are just for us. A knowing nod to the people who made it all possible in the first place: The fans
Hawkeye at the S.H.I.E.L.D. compound
The Wolverine cameo
Sinestro's yellow ring
Post-credits Avengers teaser
Another tough category. The yellow ring was a great moment, but in truth, Sinestro should have been the villain from the get-go. Why the wait? The Avengers teaser is a moment we've all been waiting for, but the clips were so sporadic, and we still don't see all of them together in the same place (yet). Hawkeye pops up and takes aim at Thor which was cool, but that cameo was outdone...
Winner: X-MEN FIRST CLASS!
Seeing Wolverine in this movie was a mark-out moment, and the way they integrated it in, was a simple, but brilliant choice. Totally unexpected (for me, anyway) with the single most perfect line ever.
9. BEST SCREENPLAY
All obviously adapted works, all of them origin stories. I'm a little more lenient on accuracy this time around, and am just looking for the standout story.
Thor (Ashley Miller, Zack Stentz, Don Payne)
X-Men: First Class (Ashley Miller, Zack Stentz, Matthew Vaughn)
Green Lantern (Greg Berlanti, Michael Green, Marc Guggenheim)
Captain America: The First Avenger (Christopher Markus, Steven McFeely)
Thor is mostly a redemption piece for the character, and the strength is the Shakespearean family dynamic. Loki plots to steal a throne, but Thor's time on earth isn't long enough (nor is he as out of place) as I would have liked. The biggest change is ommiting Thor's alter-ego completely.
GL follows the origin pretty well. But then it becomes a bunch of tropes, a hero's journey, complete with “he's the only one who can stop the unstoppable” finale. There's some training, some scolding. And a whole lot of speeching. And why are we spending so much time with Hector?
First Class is a mix of a lot of things. It's a prequel. It's a reboot. It's X-Men Origins: Magneto. The Cuban Missile Crisis makes for an intriguing backdrop, but all in all, its not really about persecution, building the team, or even the politics of the crisis. Its a revenge movie.
Winner: CAPTAIN AMERICA!
Captain America is a great exercise in gung-ho patriotism and has a nice theme about self-worth. It may be simple, but its paced well and natural. A green lantern ring would have chosen him for sure, not the insecure Ryan Reynolds.
10. BEST ACTOR
Casting was the name of the game, going in to these big films. Who has what it takes to carry these franchises into the future? All these men, thankfully, were up to the task.
Chris Hemsworth as Thor
Michael Fassbender as Magneto
Ryan Reynolds as Hal Jordan
Chris Evans as Steve Rogers
Fassbender is as much the lead of First Class as Xavier is. He completely owns the movie, even if his accent comes in and out. Ryan Reynolds does a good job as the Lantern, and is one of the few things to like in that movie. But he still plays Hal Jordan like The Flash to me. Chris Evans had an uphill battle separating himself from his Human Torch portrayal. He succeeds and is earnest and likable, if a little one-note.
Winner: THOR!
Of all the faces this summer, Chris Hemsworth was the newest, and had, imo, the toughest sell. He wins in a bit of an upset, because he made the arrogant, but fun Thor one of the most enjoyable leads in Marvel movies.
11. BEST DIRECTOR
All the directors hired on for these movies were brought in for their specific strengths they could bring to their respective pictures
Kenneth Branaugh (Thor)
Matthew Vaughn (X-Men: First Class)
Martin Campbell (Green Lantern)
Joe Johnson (Captain America: The First Avenger)
Branuagh and Campbell are both more 'prestigious' directors working way out of their element. And with way-out-of-this-world material. Of the two of them, Kenny finds more success, with strong character dynamics and impressive action considering his background. Campbell's GL actually LOOKED better than Thor to me, but there's something flat about it overall that makes the film forgettable. Joe Johnson played up the pulp 40s aspect for Cap, and struck genius with Evans' transformation. But there was a lot of choices that could have been better esp in regards to how unbalanced the second half of the movie is to the first.
Winner: X-Men: FIRST CLASS!
It's impressive how well the film turned out having been put together in less than a year. And its really one great scene after another. It pisses me off I have to give him the win since Matthew Vaughn basically said, screw it, he's doing his own thing with First Class, and changed a lot of things to my annoyance. Curses!
12. BEST PICTURE
This will simply be a tally of the winners so far. Things stack up like this:
X-Men First Class- 4 wins
Captain America- 3 wins
Thor- 3 wins
Green Lantern- 1 win
Winner: X-MEN: FIRST CLASS!
X-Men and Cap were close, but I guess X-Men First Class takes it!
I enjoyed both, but even though First Class gave me a headache accuracy-wise, I can't deny its the only one of these I've seen twice, and there is still something inherently cool about X-Men, that makes almost ANY story they tell, something worth checking out. Captain America was a breath of fresh air, but a bit by-the-numbers.
What's funny is, months ago I predicted GL or Thor would win the season. Shows what I know. What do ya think? Am I crazy? What would you change? Thanks for reading!