TOP 10: MARVEL MOVIES

Marvel Studios is taking over Summer with the release of THOR, X-MEN: FIRST CLASS and CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER! For the last decade, movies based on Marvel Comics have dominated the Summer blockbuster, along with a few less successful off season movies...Although Marvel had tried to break into movies in the late 1980's with flops such as Captain America (1990) and The Punisher (1989) starring Dolph Lundgren. As the new millennium dawned came the release of X-Men in 2000 and Spider-Man in 2002 the new age of Marvel movies began! Not to mention the start of Marvel's very own studios and the release of Iron-Man and Incredible Hulk, Marvel shows no signs of stopping bringing their heroes to life! Over the years there have been hits (i.e. X-Men (2000) and Spider-Man (2002)), and some misses (i.e. Hulk (2003), Elektra (2005).
So, to get ready for Marvel Summer 2011 as CHERNOBOG'S BLOG Presents: The TOP 10: MARVEL MOVIES!

 #10 Daredevil (2003) A comic book fan favorite, Director Mark Steven Johnson's somewhat disappointing adaptation of the blind superhero starring Ben Afflek as Daredevil/Matt Murdock and Jennifer Garner as Elektra, and don't forget Colin Farrel as Bullseye and Michael Clarke Duncan as Kingpin had some merit. The scenes of Daredevil's "radar" vision was impressive as well as the faithful treatment of his origin. Although the film tried to entice fans with cameos from Kevin Smith and even Frank Miller the movie seemed successful enough to spawn a spin-off, namely Elektra in 2005 which failed miserably no thanks to Jennifer Garner (and really bad fight choreography)!

#9 Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007) Although The Fantastic Four (2005) presented us with a slightly campy version of the super foursome (at least it was better than the unwatchable/unreleased Roger Corman version) starring Ioan Gruffudd (Reed Richards/Mr. Fantastic), Jessica Alba (Sue Storm,/Invisible Woman), Chris Evans (Johnny Storm/Human Torch) and Michael Chiklis (Ben Grimm/The Thing). With the sequel, the film's producers introduced fan favorite The Silver Surfer (played by Doug Jones and voiced by Laurence Fishburne), bringing a more cosmic element to the sorely mediocre story of Reed Richard and Sue Storm's wedding (yawn), they also brought Dr. Doom (Julian McMahon) back for some reason...? Although fans waited to see Galactus in all his gigantic glory he appeared ijn this movie...as a cloud? WTF?

#8 Ghost Rider (2007) Although not well received by fans and critics, Nicholas Cage's depiction of Johnny Blaze/Ghost Rider offered hellish visuals but failed in bringing any real seriousness to the dark/occult laden story. Also an odd casting choice was Peter Fonda (Easy Rider) as Mephistopheles but Eva Mendes made it all better...vroom vroom!

#7 The Punisher (2004) Thomas Jane plays an impressive and sympathetic Frank Castle as he dons the white-skull symbol in Marvel's second attempt to bring the gun-toting vigilante to life. Although John Travolta as the villain Howard Saint left much to be desired. Although they did throw in Rebbecca Romijn and a young Ben Foster as sidekicks...?

#6 X-Men 2: X-Men United (2003) Director Bryan Singer returned with the enitre cast plus the addition of Nightcrawler (Alan Cumming) brought new depth and possibilites to the X-Men Trilogy which saddly fell short with X-Men 3: The Last Stand, no thanks to director Brett Ratner!

#5 Blade (1998) Wesley Snipes and writer David Goyer brought one of Marvel's most obscure characters from the 1970's into the 21st century with two successful movies including Blade II directed by Guillermo Del Toro, although the third movie Blade: Trinity severely dwindled despite Ryan Reynolds' comic relief.

#4 The Incredible Hulk (2008) Lest we forget director Ang Lee's monstrous bomb Hulk in 2003 starring Eric Bana (how we've tried!), Marvel's Hulk reboot directed by Louis Leterrier and starring Edward Norton as Bruce Banner brought new depth to the story of the green-skinned Goliath, even incorporating elements from the popular 1970's TV version.

#3 Iron Man (2008) Robert Downey Jr. is IRON MAN! Bringing the Vietnam-era story into the modern deserts of the Middle East brought new life to one of Marvel's second stringers and became one of the most popular Marvel movies next to X-Men and Spider-man! Downey's chemistry with co-star Gwyneth Paltrow as Pepper Potts makes the characters all the more believable and entertaining!

#2 Spider-Man (2002) Director Sam Raimi and actor Tobey Macguire brought the web-slinger to life in a successful trilogy! (Spider-Man 3, not so much...) Even Willem Dafoe's over-the-top performance as Norman Osborne/Green Goblin made it a quirky yet dark Sam Raimi masterpiece!

#1 X-Men (2000) With director Bryan Singer and an all star cast including Patrick Stewart as Proffesor X, Ian McKellan as Magneto and Hugh Jackman as Wolverine, the Marvel Movie Age began bringing new possibilities (and profitable Marvel properties!) to the big screen for the 21st Century!