Slade’s Top 5: X-Men Movies!

Greetings players and welcome back to another installment of Slade’s Top 5 where I examine various elements of HeroClix (and other related materials) and rank them according to my top five in a given category. If you think you can handle that, click on the “full story” link below and we’ll get this thing started.

Wow! Can you believe Marvel’s merry mutants have been gracing the screens of cinema for about 17 years now? With the latest flick in the Fox X-Men universe, Logan having such a spectacular run, I thought it a good time to look back and my top 5 out of the 10 films out there to date.


As Captain Tenneal would say, Let’s go…




5) X-Men

Sure 1998’s Blade was also a movie based on a Marvel comic character, but it wasn’t until X-Men hit the screen in 2000 that the superhero movie genera truly began.

Although the team traded their spandex for black leather, the film stayed pretty faithful to its source material, and moreover proved that superhero movies could be successful both critically and financially. It also launched the awesome Aussie, Hugh Jackman’s career into superstar status and for that alone it deserves a spot on the list.















4) X-Men: First Class

When the prequel (or is it a reboot?) was first announced I admit I had my reservations. However I went into the theater with an open mind and was pleasantly surprised for it.

Unlike the darker previous films, First Class introduced us to a more vibrant time in the X-Men’s past and played off the opposing beliefs of Magneto and Xavier to build its narrative. The lighter tone and younger cast brought the shot in the arm the franchise needed. Oh and to date the wolverine camo is still my favorite in a Marvel movie to date.












3) Deadpool

If you’re a fan of Deadpool, you already know he’s a very unconventional character. That said I don’t know that anyone knew exactly what to expect when we planter our butts in the seats.

Full of tropes galore and enough F-bombs to make Tony Montana take notice, Deadpool manages to win audiences over because at its core it’s a romantic/revenge tale. Sure seeing Deadpool filet his foes and make wacky commentaries might have been good enough, but it’s the emotional content that hold it all together in the end. (A fun fact Deadpool doesn’t even curse in the comics. He can’t curse in comics).












2) Logan

The first trailer stirred my curiosity, the second seized my attention and after a viewing I can safely say this is the Wolverine move we waited for; and man, it was worth it. The only R rated Wolverine movie to date has plenty of bloody violence and harsh language, but not simply for the sake of having either. When the blood flies and the F-bombs drop, it feels earned.

The thing about Logan is it’s not just a good superhero movie; it’s a good move period. Filled with heart and a simple yet compelling plot, Logan manages to hit all the right buttons and delivers a satifying finale for its extraordinary character.
















1) X2: X-Men United

Like any genesis film, 2000’s X-men had the obligation of introducing its characters to a wider audience while appeasing the longtime comic fans. They succeeded and in doing so, paved the way for the franchise for years to come.

In this sequel the mutants are not waging war with one another, but with an ex-military commander with villainous motives. What makes X-2 so good is that it accomplishes everything a sequel should. The stakes are raised, characters develop further and the story is advances. X2 deserves recognition among the ever lessening group of sequels that manages to not only expands on the foundation of its predecessor, but also surpasses it in almost every way.









**Honorable mentions to Days of Future Past and The Wolverine. I enjoyed both of but felt they kinda fizzled in their third acts.**

Well there you have it, my pics for the top 5 X-Men Movies. So what about you, which X-Movies (No, not those ones, silly) round out your own top 5?

Until next time, good gaming!

-Slade

I rarely comment on these, but this list is spot on. X-2 is just so good.

How is xmen origins: wolverine not on this list?

...said no one ever. Thanks for the article, slade

Do you know what happens to a toad when it's struck by lightning?

5.Days Of Future Past
4. Deadpool
3. The Wolverine
2. Logan
1. X2

My only gripe has been how Fox can mess up the continuity, the history and hierarchy of this franchise.

The terrible way they handle the female characters, Storm, Rogue, Mystique, and Kitty was a travesty. The fact Apocalypse was such a failure just shows how little the actors care about these shallow representations of some of our favorite characters, that last film was horrible!!!!

Nuff said

excelsior!

5. First Class
4. X2
3. Logan
2. Days of Future Past
1. Deadpool

It should have been proceeded by, "It croaks."

As far as actually being good solid movies, I believe Logan and Deadpool should be one and two respectively. They're excellent films in addition to being about awesome comic characters instead of the other way around.

5. X-Men
4. X-Men: First Class
3. X2
2. Deadpool
1. Logan

- Logan was fantastic, and gets better with repeated viewing. Best of the movies.

- Deadpool was fantastic, but subsequent viewings never quite as good as the first (just the unavoidable nature of humor, and Deadpool was hilarious).

- X2, the opening Nightcrawler sequence was the $#!+ and the fight between Wolverine and "Lady Deathstrike" was absolutely exhilarating.

- FIRST CLASS, Enjoyable, with the two young leads drawing you in. The supporting casts were flat, but that was a writing problem (for the most part - I'm looking at you January Jones)

- X-Men, the casting alone was a big part of the fun. Patrick and Ian are spot on as to be expected; and Hugh Jackman was a surprise but has obviously embodied the character so well for decades you can't imagine who'll take the mantle for future projects. Rogue was interesting like she never was to me in the comics, but I liked her.

Heck, I even feel the same way about James Marsden when he's in things, as I do about Cyclops in the comics: He generates that vapid, arrogant, pretty boy aura perfectly.

I'll probably get a lot of flak for this, but I don't see what's so great about Logan. It was a decent emotional story, but I couldn't stand most of the dialogue. There was a lot of swearing that made no sense from a conversational point of view. I hang around a lot of older soldiers and sailors and Logan made sound like saints with how much he swore. I'm pretty sure Deadpool had less, but was still able to keep it comical. Dropping F-bombs also felt out of place when the Prof decided to join in. Finally the ending left me disappointed from an action perspective. There was no epic final stand with the hero. There's no moment of triumph for Logan. He gets whipped like a government mule for most of the movie. I was looking for that moment when, at the cost of the hero's life, good finally triumphs over evil and the kids are safe from immediate threat. Instead we get "gg hero, you lose, now let's end the fight with a gun." That's anticlimactic in my book. Felt like Iron Monkey 2 when the three hero characters were doing all they could to survive against the big bad when suddenly a different character throws a net into the villain and they firebomb him with molotovs. All it showed was how weak the characters were and created a disappointing ending when it could have been epic. A movie that's similar to Logan, but without powers, is Gran Torino and I thought that was a much better film. Besides, when you get right down to it

SPOILERS













The legendary Wolverine died to a tree and it wasn't even an evil tree.

Also, SAYING THIS AS A JOKE, this movie goes to show that the real destination of illegal immigrants in the US is Canada

/rant

5. X III
4. X II
3. Days of Future Past
2. First Class
1. Logan

First Class is actually my favorite, but I recognize that it is not the strongest movie of the set thanks to some writing shortfalls. I particularly like the alternate takes on Xavier's and Eric's backstories.

Deadpool strikes my fancy for the same reason as movies like Demolition Man...they know exactly how strong their own writing is and how smart they are, and they play to their own strengths. No anvilicious moralizing except for comedy's sake. No pretentious reaches above their pay-grade. Self-indulgence in tropes in the form of deconstruction through loving reconstruction. Not high enough to be comedy, not low enough to be farce, just enjoyment of a story-telling form for its own sake. Though Deadpool has the added advantage of understanding that it's a movie for the 16 year old in each of us adults.

I enjoyed Logan, but felt it danced around the fine line of earning its R rating and indulging in it a little too freely. Downer stories or endings aren't a bad thing in my book, but I feel like I'd prefer a slightly recut movie that has a better understand of the art of the F-bomb.

X-2 gave me big hopes, and then X-3 hit and...well, even good things come to an end, I suppose. After that I just took the mixed bags for what they were worth and appreciated the gems hiding there.

As an X-Men fan, I'm torn with these movies.

The direction and writing are incredibly weak - but I'll try and be true to my feelings at the time.

5: X-Men Apocalypse: By now I've accepted what the X-Men movies are with all their production, direction and writing limitations. I couldn't with the others - and that is why they won't show on this list. Professor X is a main character - (worst idea ever), sigh - Okay. Quicksilver has a neat albeit impossible and absurd moment and does nothing else - it was fine, sigh - okay. Nightcrawler feels accurate. Angel is a pit-fighter - ugh. Sigh, okay...

4: X-Men: The first time seeing Wolverine in live action and he pops his claws. Waited 13 years for that moment...

3: X-2: Hey look, Wolverine is acting like Wolverine. That is cool. Can't wait to see Colossus - wait, where is he going? With the kids? But you are fighting bullets, man. Colossus would... Aw, screw it.

2: Logan - More melancholy than I wanted. Unnecessary violence and profanity - but as both an apology for the other X-movies and a swan song for Hugh Jackman, I accept it. I think a second viewing could help me appreciate it more.

1: Deadpool - we finally got an X-men fight between superheroes that felt like a fight. Not crappy wire-work, not goons vs heroes, real freakin' super-powers. 'Nuff said.

switch # 1 and 2 and i agree. logan was the best movie thing that had any X character in it. it had drama, action, loving moments, and most importantly, BOOBS!! wonderful way to send off the character. i can't wait to see where they go from here knowing they can make a movie how it's suppose to be and it do well.

Only problem I have with this list is First Class, I don't get how people liked that movie, it was terrible, almost last stand bad imo. First class was the best x-film with the younger cast, didn't even see apocalypse because of how awful I heard it was. Logan, deadpool, and the first two x-films were all great though, the first two wolverine films were both terrible though too.