5) Iron Man 3 – The First Half
Iron Man 3 is one of those films that tends to get written off by people, and you can’t exactly blame them. While the movie did earn positive reviews and grossed over $1 billion worldwide, the plot twist involving Iron Man’s arch-enemy the Mandarin being a drunk British actor named Trevor earned scorn from fans and audience members, prompting Marvel Studios to release a retcon in the form of All Hail the King in 2014.
But upon rewatching the film, it stands to note that a good chunk of the movie is not only watchable, but actually really enjoyable. Writer-director Shane Black has always had a knack for balancing dark and comedic elements in his work, and we see that in the first half of Iron Man 3, as Tony Stark tries to balance maintaining his social life whilst hastily creating new suits for protection, all while dealing with the ever-looming threat of the Mandarin.
Portrayed with menacing quality by Sir Ben Kingsley, the Mandarin’s terrorist videos hearken back to the War on Terror, with some brilliant sociopolitical commentary by Black interweaved into the plot.
6) Guardians Of The Galaxy – First Encounter Creativity
If Captain America: The First Avenger proved the Marvel brand was capable, Guardians of the Galaxy proved that it was sustainable. It was one thing to actually approve a $200 million plus budget for a sci-fi comedy featuring a talking tree and raccoon, it was another to successfully market it to the masses to the point where it’s become one of Marvel’s top grossing series.
A good chunk of that success can be attributed to writer-director James Gunn. Gunn’s had a very mixed career, penning the awful live-action Scooby-Doo films, but also being the creative mind behind Slither and Zack Snyder’s Dawn of the Dead remake. Thus, Guardians of the Galaxy came as a surprise, showcasing the depths to which Gunn’s imagination could go when conceiving this brand new extension of the Marvel Universe.
And imagination there was! Guardians of the Galaxy gets a lot of praise for the lovable characters and integration of popular music, but not enough praise is given to the visuals, which, in our honest opinion, are up there with the original Star Wars in terms of creativity.
We see this best on Xandar during the first encounter between most of the would-be members of the team. Not only is all the weaponry utilized by Star-Lord and Rocket unique, but the entire mise en scène is just filled to the brim with artistry: alien residents each have a different look to them courtesy of the amazing make-up team, the architecture in the background looks like something out of a Flash Gordon comic, and the bright blue sky makes sure everything is seen in daylight. Simply beautiful.