Comic Book Movie Madness: Round 2 Gotham & Xandar Regions

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.