Comic Book Movie Madness: Sweet 16 Gotham & Xandar Region
As promised here we go with the Sweet 16 in the Gotham & Xandar regions. So the full 16 movies left standing are up for vote the next 3 days. A few surprise match-ups but mostly not too many surprises with who's left standing. Gotham Region 1 The Dark Knight vs 4 Iron Man
Billionaire vs billionaire while these two face off! The teaser alone for The Dark Knight that just had a voice over of characters talking about the Joker got people pumped. So this trailer that gave the first taste sent people hyped! Iron Man's trailer embodied everything that was fun and cool about the movie. It's fitting that these two are going against each other seeing how these movies both sparked the direction for which the studios would take with their films. Warner Bros definitely follow that Dark Knight blueprint playing down the fantasy element, while Marvel Studios seems to fully embrace the source material with a few tweaks. Great match-up to get to the Elite 8.
1 The Dark Knight vs 4 Iron Man
11 The Mask of Zorro vs 2 Spider-Man 2
Truly this is a David vs Goliath match-up while The Mask of Zorro is looking like the Butler of this tourney. But if there was truly a giant to take down it'd be Spider-Man 2 which before The Dark Knight and Avengers you could argue was the best comic book movie out. The trailer fantastic giving a taste of Dr. Octopus and even more action! As a kid I've always loved Zorro and this movie was a ton of fun. Even if it doesn't make it past the Sweet 16 Zorro has definitely left it's mark.
2 Spider-Man 2 vs 11 The Mask of Zorro Xandar Region
1 Guardians of The Galaxy vs 4 X2:X-men United
The freight train that is Guardians of The Galaxy keeps on rolling. From the very first trailer which was just a re-issue of the Comic-Con sizzle reel that got fans fired up for this group of misfits. X2 falls into the same realm that only a few sequels fall into, surpassing the original. X-Men United topped it's predecessor in every way. The action was better the story more grand, and you didn't have any horrid lines that were so bad it made your brain hurt like "you know what happens when a toad is struck by lightening?" NO! I'll just stop right there. Point is X2 was great.
1 Guardians of The Galaxy vs 4 X2:X-Men United 3 Blade vs 2 Avengers:Age of Ultron
Another colossal throw down between two worthy opponents. No surprise that these two would meet in the Sweet 16 though the roads have been slightly different. Blade breezed through the first 2 rounds and initially Age of Ultron had a shaky start to round 2. It's funny to me as soon as something reaches a certain status like The Avengers you'll always have detractors trying to tear it down. Blade was at the very infancy of comic book movies golden age. I don't think it'd be crazy for Blade to get an upset here, but if you really break Age of Ultron down it's definitely the superior.
2 Avengers:Age of Ultron vs 3 Blade
So the full Sweet 16 is out and ready to vote upon! Getting down to the creme de la creme make sure you vote and share to see who'll make the Elite 8.
Comic Book Movie Madness: Sweet 16 New York & Metropolis Region
Here we go down to the Sweet 16 for this go round instead of showing posters or clips, I figured I'd let the trailer represent the films. For many these were our first taste at seeing our comic book characters brought to life for the first time. Granted trailers can sometime be incredibly misleading (I'm looking at you Iron Man 3), but for most of these the trailers sent our minds into a fanboy frenzy. Who'll make the Elite 8 make sure you vote and share with your friends.
New York Region
1 The Avengers vs 4 Kick-Ass
Honestly I don't even think the trailer for The Avengers properly gave justice to how awesome this movie was. But after the constant teases and the building to this powerhouse team through the solo movies this was our first taste to The Avengers. Marvel Studios closed out phase 1 with a massive explosion with this movie. I never read the Kick-Ass comic, knew very little about it, but this trailer told you this wasn't going to be a normal super-hero story. Matthew Vaughn that has established himself as a comic book movie rock star left the X-Men:First Class sequel to do this movie, so it had to be good. While initially I thought Kick-Ass was seeded to high it's made it to the Sweet 16 can it pull an upset?
1 The Avengers vs 4 Kick-Ass
3 Spider-Man vs 2 X-Men:First Class
I remember seeing the teaser trailer for Spider-Man the one they had to remove after the tragedy of September 11th because it included the Twin Towers. But seeing this had me so fired up, especially since Spider-Man is my favorite character of all time! X-Men:First Class was better than I thought, while I thought the trailer was sweet it didn't prepare me for how good the movie actually was. Now Spider-Man may be the lower seed but I definitely have this as the winner in my book. First Class revived the X-franchise but Spider-Man was the Godfather of these super-hero movies!
2 X-Men:First Class vs 3 Spider-Man
Metropolis Region 1 Captain America:The Winter Soldier vs 4 Captain America:The First Avenger
Cap vs Cap! Look I could argue that of the phase 1 solo projects Captain America:The First Avenger was the best of the bunch. But I'm sorry it's nowhere near close to the awesome that was Captain America: The Winter Soldier! The trailer for Cap 1 did a decent job getting you ready and it pretty much fit with it. The Winter Soldier's trailer was pretty awesome but again this was one that still didn't adequately indicate how great this movie really was. I've got Cap 2 moving on to the Elite 8.
1 Captain America:The Winter Soldier vs 4 Captain America:The First Avenger
3 Sin City vs 7 Spider-Man 3
One of the surprise match-ups of the Sweet 16. It's hard to call a movie that's made close to a billion dollars worldwide a Cinderella, but Spider-Man 3 seems to fit that bill. While in a lot of circles Spidey 3 seemed to have garner a negative stigma re-visiting it now reminds me of how great I thought it was when it first came out. The trailer for it sent me up the wall with joy with the small glimpse of Venom VENOM! Now Sin City I will say is the better film in my book, but I'm not writing Spidey off I used one Sin City trailer for the last round, but they were saw awesome here's another. Can't wait to see how this one shakes out.
3 Sin City vs 7 Spider-Man 3
So here we go who'll make the Elite 8! Make sure you vote and share the more involved the better this tournament gets! The Gotham & Xandar regions Sweet 16 match-ups will be up sooner than expected so stay tuned!
Comic Book Movie Madness: Round 2 Gotham & Xandar Regions
Gotham Region
1 The Dark Knight vs 8 Wanted
The Dark Knight was a tremendous movie. A film so good it was so heavily considered for an Oscar the very next year they expanded the Best Picture category from 5 to up to 10. From this opening scene Christopher Nolan was taking superhero movies to a whole new level. The 8 seed Wanted didn't have too tough a time getting past the first round. While director Timur Bekmambetov definitely had a unique style as displayed with this action sequence. This action movie doesn't have what it takes to take down this juggernaut.
1 The Dark Knight vs 8 Wanted 5 The Rocketeer vs 4 Iron Man
Some may consider this an easy pick, but The Rocketeer is a legit contender. Yes the effects don't quite hold up especially with how far special effects have come, but the fun still remains. You can't argue that without Iron Man there'd be no Marvel Studios. But I'll go a step further if Iron Man wasn't successful you'd have no Avengers & if you didn't have any Avengers you wouldn't have all these studios creating these shared universes. The Rocketeer may seem over matched by this modern wonder, but don't count the flying man out yet.
4 Iron Man vs 5 The Rocketeer 11 The Mask of Zorro vs 3 Thor
While Zorro pulled off the upset over the 6 seed Batman can his blade handle the might of Thor's mjolnir? I definitely think Mask of Zorro was under-seeded it's going up against a serious heavyweight in Thor. But Zorro told a sweet origin story with Anthony Hopkins playing the original passing the mantle onto Antonio Banderas. It was a definite surprise to me at how good Thor was, again it's a character I never had a lot of love for, but have definitely been brought over thanks to the cinematic version. Hemsworth a complete unknown hit the scene in a major way with his great portrayal of the God of Thunder.
3 Thor vs 11 The Mask of Zorro 7 X-Men vs 2 Spider-Man 2
Before Marvel Studios existed Marvel had sold the rights to their most popular titles to other studios. The results Fox's X-Men franchise and Sony's Spider-Man. While there's been good and bad from both. These two got off to strong starts right in the growing age of comic book movies. I haven't even tried to hide my love for Spider-Man 2, this was just one scene that told you this was going to the next level. X-Men brought characters we never thought we'd see on the big screen to life. 2 Spider-Man 2 vs 7 X-Men
Xandar Region
1 Guardians of The Galaxy vs 9 Thor: The Dark World
It's still insane to me that Guardians worked. I mean you were banking on relatively unknown characters to the general public. Where your biggest stars in Bradley Cooper & Vin Diesel were never going to be seen, playing a talking raccoon and an alien tree that on days "I am Groot". Yet it was magic! Thor:The Dark World was good to me not great but decent. This scene made me laugh out loud. I loved the exposure of the infinity stones. It's fitting that it's post credits tease is what led us to Guardians. Now you have two out there properties going at it.
1 Guardians of The Galaxy vs 9 Thor:The Dark World 5 Hellboy vs 4 X2: X-Men United
Another good slug fest Hellboy is a one of a kind character. All the great qualities of this big red ape were on display in this early action beat. Guillermo Del Toro seems like a master of taking on the fantastical. Character actor Ron Perlman known as mostly the tough no nonsense guy, was right at home with his take on Hellboy. The X-Men were Stan Lee's stand-ins for what was going on in the world around him during The Civil Rights era. X2 was a clear symbol of that vision while Bryan Singer used the story God Loves Man Kills for the basis of X2. While mutants are constantly being persecuted for being different, that's something many of us can relate to. While it was heady stuff to be sure, this scene was just one of the coolest moments.
4 X2:X-Men United vs 5 Hellboy
6 Incredible Hulk vs 3 Blade
So many great scenes I could've chosen from Blade but I had to go with the opening club scene. Off the wall crazy, this adrenaline fueled sequence started the movie off with a bang. While Wesley Snipes oozed the slick coolness of a complete bad mother in every scene, Blade remains to me an underrated gem. Speaking of underrated gems I don't get why Marvel Studios is hesitant to give us the Planet Hulk movie fans want, but if it could even equal the Incredible Hulk that's not bad at all. This scene not only gave us awesome Hulk action but Tim Robbins Emil Blonsky gave us a taste of how awesome a super solider could look on the big screen. Gonna be a good match-up but I like Blade here.
3 Blade vs 6 Incredible Hulk 7 Hellboy 2:The Golden Army vs 2 Avengers:Age of Ultron
Our first real dilemma came from Hellboy 2's first round while it tied with Batman Returns. After conversing with the judges panel (me & my brothers) we decided the tie breaker this go round would be based on critics rating. Seeing how Rotten Tomatoes & Metacritic both gave the edge to Hellboy 2. This scene from the Troll Market reminded everyone of Star Wars cantina scene and with the colorful creations that's hard to argue. Age of Ultron was better than The Avengers in my book, while for some reason people complained with how the Black Widow was handled (which makes no sense to me). You can deny how awesome this opening scene was! From Cap's rebuke "Language" to the introduction to the twins Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver, Age of Ultron started off with a bang and never really slowed down in my book. I freaking loved this movie it was a visual feast that almost made my mind melt, with promise of greater things to come, bring on Phase 3.
2 Avengers:Age of Ultron vs 7 Hellboy 2:The Golden Army
So there you have it Round 2 setup for the Gotham & Xandar Regions, these guys making up the remainder of the Sweet 16. Make sure you vote and spread the word to get more to vote. Also feel free to leave comments and let me know what you think, and how the competition is going.
With Round 1 complete onto the next round, while some of these movies had an easy go of it some just squeaked by. A few major upsets but the heavyweights still seem poised for a deep run. Decided to present the match-ups a little differently this round, highlighting memorable scenes from the movies. These scenes put on display why we enjoyed these films in the first place, and why there's no slowing down Comic Book Movies dominance in the future.
Round 2 New York Region 1 The Avengers vs. 8 The Wolverine
So after a decisive round 1 win The Avengers takes on The Wolverine that squeaked by Amazing Spider-Man with a 1 vote win. While The Wolverine was definitely an improvement over the first go round, it's still way out of it's league when taking on The Avengers. These two movies aren't even in the same stratosphere. While both scenes presented are great, I'm expecting another Avengers win with ease.
1 The Avengers vs 8 The Wolverine
12 The Dark Knight Rises vs. 4 Kick-Ass
Much like the NCAA tournament a 12 has upset a 5 with The Dark Knight Rises upsetting Man of Steel in the first round. It's next opponent the 4th seed Kick-Ass which just got by the Richard Donner series Superman. If you were able to see my write-up on TDKR you know I'm not a fan, but I wouldn't be surprised if it pulled another upset over Kick-Ass. Funny that the true Batman will be taking on a film with a crazier version of Batman & Robin in Big Daddy & Hit-Girl. Though Robin never talked like Hit-Girl.
(Warning Viewer Discretion Advised)
4 Kick-Ass vs 12 The Dark Knight Rises
6 X-Men: Days of Future Past vs. 3 Spider-Man
No real surprise here as both of these films breezed through the first round. Not quite a clash of titans in my book as I think Spider-Man has a way higher standing in my book. Though I know the fans love the X-Men and this movie in particular. For me Spider-Man is a gold standard, because honestly while X-Men was good and brought characters from the pages to life. Bryan Singer grounded them a a bit much like Nolan did with Batman. Spider-Man like The Avengers after it fully embraced it's comic roots and put it on full display for all to enjoy. Give me Spidey for the win.
3 Spider-Man vs 6 X-Men:Days of Future Past
7 Men In Black vs. 2 X-Men: First Class
Again no surprises here as the 2 seed X-Men: First Class faces off against the 7 seed Men In Black. First Class to me is hands down the best X-Men movie. This movie breathed new life into a franchise that had been suffering from some fatal hits after X3 and Origins:Wolverine. While it'll face a tough challenge from Men In Black, which is a movie that still cracks me up. I don't think it'll be too close as the action in First Class was off the charts. First Class made me wish they'd done that prequel with Fassbender's Nazi hunting Magneto!
2 X-Men:First Class vs 7 Men In Black
Round 2 Metropolis Region
1 Captain America: The Winter Soldier vs. 9 Iron Man 2
How fitting before next summer's Captain America:Civil War we get the main two opponents to face off here. The Winter Soldier officially made me a Cap fan, before this movie even though I greatly enjoyed Cap 1 I still love the character. With Cap 2 my perception changed dramatically. Forget comic book movie, The Winter Soldier was just a great movie period, that's something I think we'll find the with the movies that are left standing now. Again I enjoyed Iron Man 2 it's definitely not the best of the Marvel films in fact it probably isn't even top 5 but it had some really good moments. But I definitely see Cap taking him down with ease this time.
1 Captain America:The Winter Soldier vs 9 Iron Man 2
5 Blade II vs. 4 Captain America: The First Avenger
(Warning Viewer Discretion Advised)
This is definitely two heavyweights going at it! Blade II was beyond awesome to me, and I could argue that Captain America:The First Avenger was the best of Marvel Studios phase 1 solo outings. With a potential Cap vs. Cap in the Sweet 16 I don't know who's going to come out on top. But Blade II had some freaking mind-melting action scenes, yet Cap's period setting was old school action packed goodness. Wesley Snipes and the Ron Perlman led Blood Pack shined, but you got great performances form Chris Evans, Tommy Lee Jones, and the tremendous Haley Atwell. Can't wait to see who comes out on top in this one.
4 Captain America:The First Avenger vs Blade II
6 Batman Begins vs. 3 Sin City
Another interesting match-up but one where the two movies in my book aren't close. Sin City was done masterfully, I mean simply masterfully. I don't know if there's another movie on this list that was adapted better from it's comic roots. While I enjoyed Batman Begins because Nolan gave you the Year One Bat story that we'd never seen on the big screen before, there were just some moments that were a bit off to me. While Batman Begins was packed with a fantastic cast of great actors, Sin City more than held it's own with A-list talent. I loved this clip in Begins that took me back to the first time I read Year One. It was hard for me to narrow down a clip for Sin City, plus I just freaking loved THIS TRAILER!
3 Sin City vs 6 Batman Begins
7 Spider-Man 3 vs. 2 300
Which was shockingly a lot tougher fight then I thought 300 squeaks by Watchmen, while Spider-Man 3 somewhat easily gets past Red. So to be honest I'm not sure how this one is going to shake out. I'd say 300 easy seeing how these two movies are on totally different levels, but 300's struggle may leave the door open for a Spidey upset. I liked Spider-Man 3 the first half was freaking great, and I loved how they did the symbiote, but they didn't stick the landing. Looking at the clip again I kind of forgot how decent this movie was. Look if you saw my write-up from Round 1 I love love love 300. Coming right after Sin City it was equally a visual feast while the story was a lot more simple, I still can't understand how it just scrapped by.
2 300 vs 7 Spider-Man 3
So there you have it the match-ups for Round 2 of New York & Metropolis Regions! Who's going to make the Sweet 16 of the 1st Annual Comic Book Movie Madness?
Comic Book Movie Madness: Round 1 Gotham & Xandar Region
A refresher to those who may not know what's going on starting last Tuesday July 14, 2015. We started a Comic Book Movie Madness tournament. Done March Madness style most of the popular/recognizable comic book movies had been ranked and pitted against each other broken into 4 regions. Over this past weekend we just found the winners in Round 1 in the New York Region & Metropolis Region. So now to finish off round 1 here are the last 2 regions Gotham & Xandar. Most of the bugs have been worked out thanks for sticking with it have fun and vote for your favorite.
