Killing Joke - Pylon - Album Review

Album Review:

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PYLON

By Killing Joke

6 out of 5

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Born in Notting Hill in 1978, inspired by the bullshittery of Thatcher-era England and the threat of the atomic age, and forged in both the fires of punk rebellion and the molten O.G. heavy metal lava, Killing Joke spewed that out in a post-punk sound like no other band ever has, before or since.

Killing Joke are: Jaz Coleman on vocals, Kevin "Geordie" Walker on guitars, Martin "Youth" Glover on bass, "Big Paul" Ferguson on drums, and Reza Uhdin on keyboards.

They inspired almost everything I grew up listening to, and almost everything I currently listen to. Metallica, Nine Inch Nails, Nirvana, Foo Fighters, Soundgarden, Alice in Chains, Faith No More, Tool... I mean, I could keep going, but you get the picture. All of these guys loved the shit out of Killing Joke, some to point of idolization (Dave Grohl, for instance, who famously played drums on their 2003 self-titled comeback as a favor because he felt guilty that he and Kurt Cobain had accidentally ripped off Killing Joke's "Eighties" for the song "Come as You Are." Side note, Killing Joke dropped their lawsuit over that when Cobain died, out of respect for his family). Without Killing Joke, I probably wouldn't be the same person I am, because most of my influences wouldn't be the same.

Anyway, Killing Joke has been around long enough to have made an impact on music (and make an impact on comic books, which I'm quick to point out to all my Batman-lovin' friends), even if they're too abrasive to ever become full-on mainstream themselves. Being highly respected and inspiring is enough, though, I think.

On PYLON, their 16th studio album, the band sounds more more pissed off and more apocalyptic than they've ever sounded. If you know the band, then you'll know how bold a statement that is. If you don't them, then all you need do is take a listen.

I constantly, throughout the almost 56 minute run-time of the ten tracks, kept exclaiming aloud such thoughts as "Holy shit!" and "Are you fucking kidding me with that riff?!" and "Fucking hell that's awesome!" I know, pretty deep stuff.

But, while lyrically Coleman and co. are cerebral as all get out (mixing politics and anti-establishment furor with occult and spiritual leanings and a sort of tribal mentality), musically Killing Joke are to be experienced, felt, absorbed into the blood stream to fuel the fire in your belly and harden your heart a bit so you'll want to rise up as one and join some sort of revolution.

I was gonna do a track-by-track analysis like I sometimes do for album reviews, but seeing as how Killing Joke is also a band where albums take on a more classic feel - with the songs flowing one into another and creating a single full-steam-ahead emotional roller coaster, instead of more modern albums that are simply a collection of tracks or singles - I decided against it. Some of the derision that the band and their albums, including this one, receive comes from the fact that they "sound the same." First of all, I don't agree with that statement - at all. Secondly, addressing what that statement is meant to imply, I think that music artists that sound like themselves without repeating themselves are the best sort of music artists.

I will, however, mention a few tracks to check out:

"Dawn of the Hive"
"New Cold War"
"New Jerusalem"

All three of these are some of the best songs Killing Joke has ever recorded, and should be played as loudly as possible and listened to as many times as possible. They are not just masterpieces of sonic-chaos - and of the beauty that miraculously can be found within that chaos - they are supreme and sublime examples of what the art of music can be. I have not the words to describe how much I love just the things on the surface that I've absorbed on my initial listens. If you're new to Killing Joke, I can see how these might seem at first to be "hard rock / industrial-rock songs" and no more, but there's something brilliant going on here that - much like trying to understand with any sort of completeness what's going through the mind of Stanley Kubrick or David Lynch when they create their best work - I don't think I can fully wrap my head around everything these guys are doing here. I'm just not musically smart enough.

I will point out, lastly, that I purchased the Limited Deluxe Edition, which features a second disc of five songs cut off the album (these five songs run 33 minutes, by the way, so it's almost like another album). Each of these songs is, surprisingly, just as amazing as everything that made the cut. Maybe they don't fit in as well, (as I said Killing Joke's albums flow as albums, so maybe these tracks just didn't fit into that flow for some reason), but they are actually pretty damn awesome. The one exception might be the remix "Snakedance," since being a remix it stands out sound-wise, but even it's pretty great. At no point was I like, "Meh, I can see why this one didn't make it." No, I was still just as "Holy shit!" and "That's badass!" as I was listening to the album proper.

PYLON is one of the greatest albums Killing Joke has ever made, as well being one of the greatest albums of 2015. It's a MUST-OWN for anyone that listens to music that means something, for anyone who wants more out of their music than just background fodder to which you can drink your latte at the mall. This is music to re-charge your internal batteries to, to turn some screw in your head, to light some fire under your ass. Brute-forceful in its execution, forcing you, the passive audience, to hopefully become active participants in this problematic world around you. The fans of Killing Joke are referred to as The Gathering, and if that conjures images of tribal warriors war-dancing around a raging fire deep in the woods of a primal jungle... then that's accurate. Only the fire is symbolic, the jungle is made of concrete, and the tribal symbols are actually graffiti... and in that graffiti are Killing Joke song lyrics.

- gARTh -

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But, don't take my word for it...

"PYLON is some of Killing Joke's best work of their career, delivering sound and power that many bands are still trying to achieve. Take notice, the bar has been set high... We award Killing Joke's PYLON an overwhelming 10! A masterful piece of work from a legendary band!"
--- Metal Onslaught

"As the planet earth teeters on the edge of the madness that Killing Joke have sung about in their bizarrely brilliant 37 year long career the band keep on delivering the soundtrack. Where once Jaz Coleman was looked on as some kind of lunatic preacher delivering his dark sermons he now seems to be the only sane man out here."
--- Louder Than War

"The songs breathe more, moving silkily through underground tunnels spider-webbed with political graffiti. This mood of movement within a movement is the zeitgeist of rebellion, perpetrated by men whose age has given them so much more than a knee-jerk anti-establishment reaction to perceived injustices." 
--- Metal Injection

"Drummer Paul Ferguson keeps a steady, motivating beat throughout, while Geordie Walker and Youth Glover chug away on riffs that could inspire a nation to overthrow its government."
--- Consquence of Sound

"PYLON doesn't sound terribly innovative within the band's body of work, but the album's widescreen sound and bone-fracturing impact leave no doubt that Killing Joke are still deeply committed to what they do, and it's genuinely remarkable that they're still sounding this furious and effective 35 years after their debut album."
--- AllMusic

"It’s beyond dispute that the fire is still burning behind Killing Joke. Willfully unpredictable and honestly angry, most of PYLON sounds like the end of civilization as we know it."
--- Screamer Magazine

"While most of the bands in the 30-40 age range are clearly running on fumes at this point, Killing Joke have given the world a new album that doesn't let up for a second. Every minute of this thing is molten, anchored by the strongest Youth/Big Paul rhythmic interplay captured on disc since Revelations. Still one of the most innovative human beings to ever pick up a guitar, Walker is the greatest hero of PYLON, delivering perhaps his most evocative performances since the days of Thatcher."
--- Joel Gausten.com

"As we fall into an era of seemingly unsolvable crises... Killing Joke are still doing their best to provide a soundscape by which to watch the world explode. With the source material of the planet Earth of 2015, it's unsurprising that PYLON is particularly potent, pissed off and primitive."
--- Drowned In Sound

"Killing Joke are the sole proprietors to an undiminished sound that manages to be anti-authoritarian and contrarian while never giving into cynicism or defeat. Perhaps the reason they never dull with time, is because the world always feels on the brink of collapse. Who else can make sense of it all? They remain the soundtrack to our discontent, and PYLON is a welcome entry into their arsenal."
--- Smells Like Infinite Sadness

"Musically expansive, it's a testament to the band that they can sound as though they are recording in a boiler room on one song to standing on top of the mountainside the next. It's a feat very few bands can pull off."
--- Vulture Hound

"In keeping with the blackened, raging apocalyptica of their post-2002 reformation output, the original line-up of Jaz Coleman, Geordie, Youth and Paul Ferguson detail the more metallic end of the Killing Joke sound with as smart an ear for a monster hook as they had in the mid-eighties..."
---The Skinny

"Is there a badder-ass band than Killing Joke that's been actively touring since 1978? Is there a more influential band playing such vital music over 16 studio albums...? Answer: absolutely not. PYLON is sweet 16 for these 50-somethings, and honestly, it couldn't be sweeter; Killing Joke are still promoting the driving dynamics of post-punk, and still doing it better than the rest."
--- Exclaim!
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PYLON is now available through Spinefarm/Universal, wherever real music is sold.

Celebrating 15 Years of the Comic Book Movie Craze

PREFACE:

Introduction...

The year 2014 marked the 15th Anniversary (if you count the year 2000, then that's fifteen years) of the "comic book movie craze," in its modern form anyway.

Before Marvel hit the box office running, there were plenty of great, and not-so-great, comic book films. It wasn't a continuous cycle of films as it is now, however, as the decades before were instead marked by isolated starts and stops. A film would come out, become a hit, thus sparking the latest fad, and eventually it would burn itself out - diluted by films of lesser quality. Years later it would start again with another hit, and again it would burn itself out. So it had been.

Then, in 2000, Marvel entered the scene with their first theatrical hit based on a well-known property: Bryan Singer's X-Men. Why is Marvel's emergence in Hollywood so important? Well, because the other comic book publishers, DC/Vertigo, Image, Dark Horse, etc., had all run themselves into the ground by that time.

In the years leading up to the year 2000...

DC Comics had released the double-whammy of Batman & Robin and Steel in 1997, and thus movies based on DC characters were dead-in-the-water until they could figure out how to make sense of them on the big screen. With the exception of the DC-owned Paradox Press adaptation Road to Perdition in 2002, DC wouldn't have a well-known character hit the screen until 2004 with the lackluster Catwoman. Luckily, they had Christopher Nolan's Batman Begins already filming and ready to release in 2005 (which makes one wonder why the non-Batman-related Catwoman movie was made in the first place), otherwise who knows what may have happened to DC's film career.

Image Comics, never the brand name it always thought it was, bet big on their biggest character Spawn, also in 1997. The problem was that the movie wasn't nearly as cool as it should have been, and it wasn't as successful as they'd hoped it would be. By 2000, Image had gone straight to television with the "Witchblade" TV movie-turned-series, and has yet to return to the big screen.

Dark Horse Comics had a huge hit in 1994 with the Oscar-nominated, effects-filled, Jim Carrey smash hit The Mask, and that same year they also put out the Van Damme vehicle TimeCop - which was a pretty decent hit, too (and remains Van Damme's biggest movie that he's the star of). After that, though, it took 10 years to hit those sort of highs again. 1995's Tank Girl was a flop, despite its cult status. 1996's Barb Wire was a notoriously big ugly flop. 1999's Mystery Men flopped, despite receiving a decent critical reception, and also in 1999 their sci-fi/horror film Virus was another big ugly flop. They wouldn't return to the box office until 2004, with Alien vs. Predator (which was a huge hit - getting by on the love of their respective franchises more than the film itself, I believe) and Guillermo del Toro's Hellboy adaptation, which was a modest hit and found favor amongst fans.

The second-half of the 90's was just a poor time for comic book movies, all-in-all. Other films that helped kill comic book adaptations on screen include The Crow: City of Angels (1996), pissing all the coolness of the 1994 original down the toilet, and the Stallone/Schneider Judge Dredd (1995), which was another huge box office dud that most people downright hated (I think it's guilty-pleasure fun, honestly). 

There were a few exceptions, of course.

Blade was a decent hit in 1998, and helped Marvel stay out of bankruptcy long enough to get X-Men made, but it capitalized more on the box-office success of star Wesley Snipes and its visual-effects driven vampire-action story than it did on its comic book roots. Most mainstream audiences at the time didn't know it was based on a comic until they read it on the screen during the opening credits.

Men In Black was a huge box office sensation in 1997, but again, most people weren't familiar with the comics until after-the-fact. I'm pretty sure its success had more to do with being really funny and having Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones in it. (Technically it could be considered a Marvel movie, even though it was published under Aircel Comics, and then they were bought out by Malibu Comics, and then they were bought up by Marvel during the mid-90's while the comic industry was on its ass. I don't consider it a Marvel movie, however, because Marvel's name isn't on it, none of Marvel's film producers were involved, and Marvel didn't actually publish the comics title until around the time of the film's release).

So, back to the year 2000...

X-Men comes out and does pretty well at the box office ($296 million) and was well received by critics and audiences alike (all of this despite the shitty line from Storm about toads and lightning). The success of this film ignites the spark, and fills the coffers enough, to turn arguably Marvel's biggest character, Spider-Man, into a film (Marvel finally got the film rights back to him around 1999/2000 - look up the decades-long Spider-Man court cases if you want more info on that).

So, in 2002, Spider-Man was released, and was not just a success - but a box-office monster ($822 million). Spider-Man was knocking new box-office records out of the park day-after-day-after-day. Biggest opening weekend, biggest single day at the box office, biggest non-sequel ever made, etc. These days, it seems like every summer these records are broken by the next big thing, but that wasn't always the case. Spider-Man joins a summer-blockbuster list with 1989's Batman and 1993's Jurassic Park, where the summer "belongs" to it. We wouldn't have a movie, or a summer, like that again until 2008's The Dark Knight.

And so it has been, beginning with X-Men and fueled by Spider-Man's success, ever since. X-Men and Spider-Man riled up the box office well and good enough that the other companies (DC and Dark Horse and a few other independent publishers) were able to join in on the fun. There have been movies that didn't have the same success as others, there have even been some notoriously bad ones, but unlike the mid-to-late 90's these duds didn't kill the momentum of other projects. The momentum has carried on, regardless.

And now, fifteen years later, with audiences as cynical as ever and the majority of old-school film critics worn down by a "comic book craze" they never asked for, I think it's interesting that going into 2014 the word on the street was that these films may have run their course. Everyone was seemingly tired of them, suffering from Comic Book Overload, blah blah blah.

Yet, as we all know now...

Captain America: The Winter Soldier did extremely well, earning $715 million dollars, with an average critic rating of 7.5 out of 10 and a 7.8 out of 10 from audiences. And even those critics that claimed to be suffering symptoms of Comic Book Overload loved it in spite of themselves.

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 may have gotten (a bit unfairly, in my opinion) ripped apart by most critics and some audiences, but it did pretty well anyway (earning $709 million dollars). And besides, a 5.9 out of 10 average critic rating and 6.9 out of 10 average from audiences makes it hardly the "absolute garbage" some might have you believe. It's not an overwhelming success, but it's still strong enough to keep the character going. The recent news that Sony and Marvel reached an agreement to utilize the character within Marvel's universe just goes to show that the character is still a hot commodity. If The Amazing Spider-Man 2 were a complete failure, the character would've been shelved for a while - as was the case with Superman, Batman, The Crow, and every other comic property that hit a creatively inferior wall. The next Spider-Man film hits theaters, seemingly on schedule, in two years.

X-Men: Days of Future Past, on the other hand, was a resounding hit and return to form for the series that started this century off. Critics gave it an average 7.6 out of 10, and audiences gave it an average 8.1 out of 10. It's also earned $748 million dollars, making it not only the biggest movie in the X-Men franchise (by a large margin), but also the sixth highest grossing movie of 2014, and the second highest grossing comic book film.

Then there was the dark horse of the summer, known before its release as "Marvel's riskiest venture yet," James Gunn's Guardians of the Galaxy. Years from now, if any movie were said to have owned the summer of 2014, it would probably be this one. Critics loved it (a 7.7 out of 10 average), audiences loved it (an 8.2 out of 10 average), and it earned $774 million dollars at the box office, landing it as the third highest grossing film of 2014 and the No. 1 comic book film. Not bad for a movie based on characters that most people - even comics fans - weren't very familiar with.

There was also the reboot of the popular Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise, which critics hated (a 4.2 out of 10 average) and audiences were mixed on (6.0 out of 10 average). Although, despite its reputation... there seem to be plenty of people that enjoyed it. Those numbers aren't low enough to make it a complete disappointment, and it did pretty well at the box office. I mean, it earned $485 million dollars, enough to make it the biggest film in the franchise (more than doubling the box office of the original 1990 smash hit).

Towards the end of 2014, Disney released the Marvel adaptation Big Hero 6 (although without the Marvel tie-in). The film garnered great reviews (7.3 average critic rating), great audience reviews (an 8.0 average audience rating), and earned $633 million dollars at the box office. It also became only the sixth ever film based on a comic book property to win an Academy Award (not counting 1978's Superman which was given a Special Achievement Award but lost all awards for which it was nominated).

Taking all of this together, I conclude...

If 'people' are so tired of comic book films, then I'd say that the box-office successes of the last few years indicate that those 'people' are the extreme minority. The trend is actually going stronger than ever, and I don't think it will hit a ceiling anytime soon. For every movie that comes out labeled a misfire, there are ten more on the way that have fans giggling in anticipation.

So...

I want to celebrate the 15th Anniversary of the Comic Book Movie Craze. Fifteen years of movies that I dreamed about seeing when I was a kid. Movies that, as an adult, I can watch and feel like that kid again for 2 hours or so. They may not all be perfect, and I might get self-righteous like the rest of the internet at times - the comic book nerd in me must have his say from time to time - but I wouldn't have it any other way. I enjoy almost all of them, and that's enough. They may not all be my favorite movies, or the ones I respect the most, and I have no idea at this point what sort of bearing these movies might have on film history as a whole... but I can tell you this: I love the shit out of watching them!

They're fun. They're entertaining. They are the very definition of the word "spectacle." A word that these days might make someone reply with, "And... what else?" - but the very word itself shares its roots in both 17th century English theater and the invention of the film medium in the late 19th century. These "spectacle" movies are, in fact, EXACTLY what film and storytelling is all about, and have always been about. (Check mate, classic-film-minded movie critics that hate summer blockbusters).
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THE LISTS:

Now that the history lesson is over...

I've listed the Top 15 best choices, based on the reviews from both critics and audiences and the general consensus. The list of films will be determined using the average rating made up of the critics consensus as well as the fan consensus (which, contrary to what some might believe, is not the same as being 'the most vocal on the internet'). Most comic book films usually end up with an above average rating, between 5.5 and 6.5 out of 10. Almost all of the ones on these lists have a 7.0 or higher rating. For the performances and scores, I've done my research to try to find the best of popular opinion as well as some more interesting opinions backed up by good arguments (while also trying to include films that may have flown under the radar with general audiences but have loyal cult followings).

It should be noted that, as with all of my lists, only theatrically released films are included, and only those released theatrically in the U.S. (even if it was just a single showing).

Also, please take into account that the quality of an acting performance or original music score have nothing to do with the standing or overall quality of the film itself (i.e. just because a movie isn't considered the best, doesn't mean that an actor wasn't good in it or that the music wasn't solid).

The lists are broken up into Superhero comic book movies, and Non-Superhero comic book movies. This is mostly to avoid the weirdness that always comes from seeing these two very different types of films sitting uncomfortably together on a list. There are a few films that ride the line of whether they'd be considered one or the other, and concerning these just know that I did my best. Lastly, the titles or names are listed alphabetically.

Simply choose which one you think should win, and I'll tally up the results. It might not be easy. No ties, no runner-ups, no write-in-your-own-title votes... "There can be only one!"
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SUPERHERO COMIC BOOK FILMS:

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I. Best Superhero Comic Book Film of the Last 15 Years (2000-2014):

01. The Avengers
02. Batman Begins
03. Big Hero 6
04. Captain America: The Winter Soldier
05. The Dark Knight
06. The Dark Knight Rises
07. Guardians of the Galaxy
08. Iron Man
09. Kick-Ass
10. Spider-Man
11. Spider-Man 2
12. Watchmen
13. X-Men: Days of Future Past
14. X-Men: First Class
15. X2: X-Men United
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II. Best Lead Performance in a Superhero Comic Book Film of the Last 15 Years:

01. Christian Bale as Bruce Wayne/Batman - Batman Begins
02. Henry Cavill as Kal-El/Superman - Man of Steel
03. Robert Downey, Jr. as Tony Stark/Iron Man - Iron Man
04. Chris Evans as Steve Rogers/Captain America - Captain America: The Winter Soldier
05. Michael Fassbender as Erik Lensherr/Magneto - X-Men: First Class
06. Andrew Garfield as Peter Parker/Spider-Man - The Amazing Spider-Man
07. Jackie Earle Haley as Walter Kovacs/Rorschach - Watchmen
08. Chris Hemsworth as Thor - Thor: The Dark World
09. Hugh Jackman as Logan/The Wolverine - The Wolverine
10. Thomas Jane as Frank Castle/The Punisher- The Punisher
11. Tobey Maguire as Peter Parker/Spider-Man - Spider-Man 2
12. Ron Perlman as Hellboy - Hellboy
13. Chris Pratt as Peter Quill/Star-Lord - Guardians of the Galaxy
14. Brandon Routh as Superman/Clark Kent - Superman Returns
15. Wesley Snipes as Blade - Blade II
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III. Best Supporting Performance in a Superhero Comic Book Film of the Last 15 Years:

01. Bradley Cooper as Rocket Raccoon - Guardians of the Galaxy
02. Billy Crudup as Jon Osterman/Dr. Manhattan - Watchmen
03. Willem Dafoe as Norman Osborne/Green Goblin - Spider-Man
04. Aaron Eckhart as Harvey Dent/Two-Face - The Dark Knight
05. Sam Elliot as Gen. Ross - Hulk
06. Jason Flemyng as Dr. Henry Jekyll/Mr. Edward Hyde - The League of Extraordinary Gentleman
07. Tom Hiddleston as Loki - Thor
08. Scarlett Johansson as Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow - Captain America: The Winter Soldier
09. Doug Jones as Abe Sapien - Hellboy II: The Golden Army
10. Heath Ledger as The Joker - The Dark Knight
11. James McAvoy as Charles Xavier - X-Men: Days of Future Past
12. Chloë Grace Moretz as Mindy Macready/Hit-Girl - Kick-Ass
13. Gary Oldman as Jim Gordon - The Dark Knight
14. Mark Ruffalo as Dr. Bruce Banner/Hulk - The Avengers
15. Emma Stone as Gwen Stacey - The Amazing Spider-Man
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IV. Best Peripheral Performance in a Superhero Comic Book Film of the Last 15 Years:

01. Michael Caine as Alfred Pennyworth - The Dark Knight Rises
02. Kevin Costner as Jonathan Kent - Man of Steel
03. Idris Elba as Heimdall - Thor
04. Jon Favreau as Happy Hogan - Iron Man 3
05. Luke Goss as Nomak - Blade II
06. Rosemary Harris as Aunt May - Spider-Man 2
07. Frank Langella as Perry White - Superman Returns
08. Dennis Leary as Capt. Stacy - The Amazing Spider-Man
09. Anthony Mackie as Sam Wilson/Falcon - Captain America: The Winter Soldier
10. Jeffrey Dean Morgan as Edward Blake/The Comedian - Watchmen
11. Gwyneth Paltrow as Pepper Potts - Iron Man
12. Michael Rooker as Yondu Udonta - Guardians of the Galaxy
13. J.K. Simmons as J. Jonah Jameson - Spider-Man 2
14. Patrick Stewart as Charles Xavier - X-Men
15. Jeffrey Tambor as Tom Manning - Hellboy
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V. Best Superhero Theme (Score) in a Comic Book Film of the Last 15 Years:

01. Craig Armstrong - The Incredible Hulk
02. Patrick Doyle - Thor
03. Danny Elfman - Hulk
04. Danny Elfman - Spider-Man
05. James Horner - The Amazing Spider-Man
06. James Newton Howard & Hans Zimmer - The Dark Knight
07. Henry Jackman - Captain America: The Winter Soldier
08. Henry Jackman - X-Men: First Class
09. Henry Jackman & Matthew Margeson - Kick Ass 2
10. John Ottman - X2: X-Men United
11. Alan Silvestri - The Avengers
12. Alan Silvestri - Captain America: The First Avenger
13. Brian Tyler - Iron Man 3
14. Michael Wandmacher - Punisher: War Zone
15. Hans Zimmer - Man of Steel
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NON-SUPERHERO COMIC BOOK FILMS:

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I. Best Non-Superhero Comic Book Film of the Last 15 Years (2000-2014):

01. 300
02. The Adventures of Tintin
03. American Splendor
04. Death Note (2006)
05. Dredd
06. Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence
07. Ghost World
08. A History of Violence
09. Oldboy (2003)
10. Persepolis
11. RED
12. Road to Perdition
13. Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
14. Sin City
15. V for Vendetta
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II. Best Lead Performance in a Non-Superhero Comic Book Film of the Last 15 Years:

01. Tadanobu Asano as Kakihara - Ichi the Killer
02. Jamie Bell as Tintin - The Adventures of Tintin
03. Thora Birch as Enid - Ghost World
04. Louise Bourgoin as Adèle Blanc-Sec - The Extraordinary Adventures of Adèle Blanc-Sec
05. Gerard Butler as King Leonidas - 300
06. Michael Cera as Scott Pilgrim - Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
07. Min-sik Choi as Dae-su Oh - Oldboy (2003)
08. Tom Cruise as Jack - Oblivion
09. Johnny Depp as Inspector Frederick Abberline - From Hell
10. Paul Giamatti as Harvey Pekar - American Splendor
11. Tom Hanks as Michael Sullivan - Road to Perdition
12. James McAvoy as Wesley - Wanted
13. Viggo Mortensen as Tom Stall - A History of Violence
14. Karl Urban as Dredd - Dredd
15. Hugo Weaving as V - V for Vendetta
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III. Best Supporting Performance in a Non-Superhero Comic Book Film of the Last 15 Years:

01. Maria Bello as Edie Stall - A History of Violence
02. Steve Buscemi as Seymour - Ghost World
03. Hope Davis as Joyce Brabner - American Splendor
04. Ed Harris as Carl Fogarty - A History of Violence
05. Ken'ichi Matsuyama as L - Death Note: The Last Name
06. Shidô Nakamura as No. 13 - Neighbour No. 13
07. Paul Newman as John Rooney - Road to Perdition
08. Nao Ômori as Ichi - Ichi the Killer
09. Clive Owen as Dwight - Sin City
10. Mary-Louise Parker as Sarah Ross - RED
11. Natalie Portman as Evey - V for Vendetta
12. Andrea Riseborough as Victoria - Oblivion
13. Mickey Rourke as Marv - Sin City
14. Andy Serkis as Capt. Haddock/Sir Francis Haddock - The Adventures of Tintin
15. Rachel Weisz as Angela Dodson/Isabel Dodson - Constantine
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IV. Best Peripheral Performance in a Non-Superhero Comic Book Film of the Last 15 Years:

01. Jim Broadbent as Jimmy - Art School Confidential
02. Clancy Brown as Meacham - Cowboys & Aliens
03. Sharlto Copley as Adrian - Oldboy (2013)
04. Daniel Craig as Conner Rooney - Road to Perdition
05. Kieran Culkin as Wallace Wells - Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
06. Benicio del Toro as Jackie Boy - Sin City
07. Ben Foster as The Stranger - 30 Days of Night
08. Stephen Fry as Deitrich - V for Vendetta
09. Ian Holm as Sir William Gull - From Hell
10. William Hurt as Richie Cusack - A History of Violence
11. Jude Law as Maguire - Road to Perdition
12. Jô Odagiri as Bijomaru Mogami - Azumi
13. Rodrigo Santoro as Xerxes - 300
14. Tilda Swinton as Gabriel - Constantine
15. Elijah Wood as Kevin - Sin City
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V. Best Original Score in a Non-Superhero Comic Book Film of the Last 15 Years:

01. Tyler Bates - 300
02. Olivier Bernet - Persepolis
03. John Debney, Graeme Revell & Robert Rodriguez - Sin City
04. Jean-Jacques Hertz & François Roy - Renegade (Blueberry)
05. Yeong-wook Jo - Oldboy (2003)
06. Trevor Jones - From Hell
07. Kenji Kawai - Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence
08. David Kitay - Ghost World
09. M83 - Oblivion
10. Dario Marianelli - V for Vendetta
11. Richard Marvin - Surrogates
12. Paul Leonard-Morgan - Dredd
13. Thomas Newman - Road to Perdition
14. Howard Shore - A History of Violence
15. John Williams - The Adventures of Tintin
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Submit your votes to me in a Facebook Message, please, just to help keep voting anonymous and avoid people from arguing in the comments (and therefore swaying someone else's vote).

Thanks!

- gARTh -

Definitive Ranking of Marvel and DC Films

A DEFINITIVE RANKING OF COMIC BOOK FILMS

FROM BEST TO WORST:

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Introduction:

One thing that I've noticed in recent years, as the internet further becomes a battleground for differing opinions each purporting to be correct, is that people tend to overlook one crucial fact - that one person's opinion is just that, one opinion amongst billions. That's not to say that each isn't entitled to whatever opinion strikes his or her fancy, but it got me curious.

What is the actual, definitive average opinion?

I mean, we all know that the "internet voice" is pretty loud when it comes to either over-praising (can someone please make a Kanye West "The Dark Knight is the best film of all time!" meme?) or over-bashing ("The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is the worst movie ever made!" says some guy that's apparently never truly watched a bad movie... Go watch Manos: The Hands of Fate and re-evaluate that statement) films, but there are times when that voice doesn't mesh with reality. For example, despite the overwhelmingly negative consensus of the Transformers series, it's one of the highest grossing series in film history. While money does not in any way equal quality, if the films were so universally loathed then they wouldn't make the kind of money they do. Which means that the critic and cinephile opinion is but a small portion of the overall collective opinion of the entire planet's movie-going population. We can argue all we want about the questionable movie tastes of "most people," but that still doesn't change the fact that our opinions are minuscule in the scheme of things... no matter how loud we might get.

Since Avengers: Age of Ultron is the current victim of such a back-and-forth debate... (it's so weird that people are arguing and yelling over a film that both sides pretty much agree on; it's not the best, but it's a lot of fun. Details aside, I don't even understand the reasons for the argument. It's almost like we're so used to arguing over comic book films, that we do it whether there's even cause to)... Anyway, I figured I'd focus solely on comic book films. I might try this again with some other genre eventually, depending on the response to this.

Using the latest in number-averaging technology and some new-fangled device called a calculator, I've created a few lists that compile the films based on their Imdb average user rating, Rotten Tomatoes average critic rating  (not to be confused with the "Tomato Meter" ranking), Rotten Tomatoes average user rating (converted from a five-point to a ten-point rating scale), and MetaCritic average critic rating.  Then those numbers are all averaged together into one final definitive score that represents a fairly good heaping of cinephiles, general movie going public, online and indie critics, and professional critics.

I began with the Marvel Cinematic Universe films, followed by all films adapted from Marvel Comics, followed by all films adapted from DC Comics, and finally a merged list of all DC and Marvel films. Below that, I also decided to take a look at the worst box-office bombs taking into account inflation and ever-escalating budgets.

After the lists, you can view all of the numbers for yourself. Movies that are tied on the list sometimes have a slightly different actual score (I rounded up for the sake of making the list look right, but the actual scores are what I went by... i.e. a score of 6.7 might actually be a 6.675 or a 6.725, but everything is listed properly by the actual score and not the rounded score). If there was an actual tie, the titles are simply listed alphabetically.

Note: Only films that received a domestic theatrical release are included.
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Here's How the Marvel Cinematic Universe Films ACTUALLY Rank:

01. Guardians of the Galaxy - (8.1 out of 10)
02. The Avengers - (8.0)
03. Iron Man - (8.0)
04. Captain America: The Winter Soldier - (7.7)
05. Avengers: Age of Ultron - (7.5)*
06. Iron Man 3 - (7.1)
07. Captain America: The First Avenger - (6.9)
08. Thor - (6.8)
09. Iron Man 2 - (6.7)
10. Thor: The Dark World - (6.6)
11. The Incredible Hulk - (6.6)

* - Numbers subject to change as more people see it. It's too early to take these numbers as anything other than a "first impression."
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Here's How Films Based on Marvel Comics ACTUALLY Rank:

01. Guardians of the Galaxy - (8.1 out of 10)
02. The Avengers - (8.0)
03. Iron Man - (8.0)
04. X-Men: Days of Future Past - (7.9)
05. Big Hero 6 - (7.8)
06. Captain America: The Winter Soldier - (7.7)
07. Spider-Man 2 - (7.7)
08. Avengers: Age of Ultron - (7.5)*
09. X-Men: First Class - (7.4)
10. X2: X-Men United - (7.3)

11. Spider-Man - (7.2)
12. Iron Man 3 - (7.1)
13. The Amazing Spider-Man - (7.1)
14. X-Men - (7.1)
15. Captain America: The First Avenger - (6.9)
16. Thor - (6.8)
17. Iron Man 2 - (6.7)
18. Thor: The Dark World - (6.6)
19. The Incredible Hulk - (6.6)
20. The Wolverine - (6.6)

21. X-Men: The Last Stand - (6.4)
22. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 - (6.4)
23. Spider-Man 3 - (6.2)
24. Blade II - (6.1)
25. Blade - (6.1)
26. X-Men Origins: Wolverine - (5.8)
27. Hulk - (5.6)
28. Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer - (5.3)
29. Blade: Trinity - (5.2)
30. The Punisher - (5.2)

31. Fantastic Four - (5.1)
32. Daredevil - (5.1)
33. Punisher: War Zone - (4.8)
34. Ghost Rider - (4.8)
35. Elektra - (4.3)
36. Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance - (4.2)
37. Howard the Duck - (4.1)

* - Numbers subject to change as more people see it. It's too early to take these numbers as anything other than a "first impression."
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Here's How Films Based on DC Comics ACTUALLY Rank:

01. The Dark Knight - (8.7 out of 10)
02. The Dark Knight Rises - (8.2)
03. Superman - (7.7)
04. Batman Begins (7.7)
05. Superman II - (7.4)
06. V for Vendetta - (7.3)
07. Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (7.2)
08. Stardust - (7.2)
09. Batman - (7.0)
10. Batman Returns - (6.8)

11. Superman Returns - (6.7)
12. RED - (6.7)
13. Man of Steel - (6.7)
14. Watchmen - (6.6)
15. Batman: The Movie - (6.2)
16. Constantine - (6.1)
17. RED 2 - (6.0)
18. The Losers - (5.5)
19. Swamp Thing - (5.5)
20. Superman and the Mole Men - (5.4)

21. Batman Forever - (5.4)
22. Green Lantern - (5.1)
23. Superman III - (4.8)
24. The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen - (4.7)
25. The Return of Swamp Thing - (4.5)
26. Jonah Hex - (4.1)
27. Supergirl - (4.0)
28. Batman & Robin - (3.8)
29. Catwoman - (3.4)
30. Superman IV: The Quest for Peace - (3.4)

31. Steel - (3.1)
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Here's How Films Based on DC Comics AND Marvel Comics ACTUALLY Rank:

01. The Dark Knight - (8.7 out of 10)
02. The Dark Knight Rises - (8.2)
03. Guardians of the Galaxy - (8.1)
04. The Avengers - (8.0)
05. Iron Man - (8.0)
06. X-Men: Days of Future Past - (7.9)
07. Big Hero 6 - (7.8)
08. Captain America: The Winter Soldier - (7.7)
09. Spider-Man 2 - (7.7)
10. Superman - (7.7)

11. Batman Begins (7.7)
12. Avengers: Age of Ultron - (7.5)*
13. X-Men: First Class - (7.4)
14. Superman II - (7.4)
15. X2: X-Men United - (7.3)
16. V for Vendetta - (7.3)
17. Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (7.2)
18. Spider-Man - (7.2)
19. Stardust - (7.2)
20. Iron Man 3 - (7.1)

21. The Amazing Spider-Man - (7.1)
22. X-Men - (7.1)
23. Batman - (7.0)
24. Captain America: The First Avenger - (6.9)
25. Batman Returns - (6.8)
26. Thor - (6.8)
27. Superman Returns - (6.7)
28. RED - (6.7)
29. Iron Man 2 - (6.7)
30. Man of Steel - (6.7)

31. Thor: The Dark World - (6.6)
32. The Incredible Hulk - (6.6)
33. The Wolverine - (6.6)
34. Watchmen - (6.6)
35. X-Men: The Last Stand - (6.4)
36. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 - (6.4)
37. Batman: The Movie - (6.2)
38. Spider-Man 3 - (6.2)
39. Blade II - (6.1)
40. Blade - (6.1)

41. Constantine - (6.1)
42. RED 2 - (6.0)
43. X-Men Origins: Wolverine - (5.8)
44. Hulk - (5.6)
45. The Losers - (5.5)
46. Swamp Thing - (5.5)
47. Superman and the Mole Men - (5.4)
48. Batman Forever - (5.4)
49. Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer - (5.3)
50. Blade: Trinity - (5.2)

51. The Punisher - (5.2)
52. Fantastic Four - (5.1)
53. Green Lantern - (5.1)
54. Daredevil - (5.1)
55. Punisher: War Zone - (4.8)
56. Ghost Rider - (4.8)
57. Superman III - (4.8)
58. The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen - (4.7)
59. The Return of Swamp Thing - (4.5)
60. Elektra - (4.3)

61. Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance - (4.2)
62. Howard the Duck - (4.1)
63. Jonah Hex - (4.1)
64. Supergirl - (4.0)
65. Batman & Robin - (3.8)
66. Catwoman - (3.4)
67. Superman IV: The Quest for Peace - (3.4)
68. Steel - (3.1)

* - Numbers subject to change as more people see it. It's too early to take these numbers as anything other than a "first impression."
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Interesting bits of info:

As I looked over the lists, there were a couple of things that I found interesting.

First, Marvel Comics adaptations tend to have a more consistent outcome, as 22 of the 37 films (roughly 73%) were ranked a sort of "generally favorable" score, between 6.0 and 7.9. Meanwhile, only 15 of the 31 films (roughly 48%) based on DC Comics were in that same quality range.

Second, Marvel isn't reaching for greatness, necessarily, but that doesn't seem to matter. Generally when I make these sorts of lists, I consider anything with an average rating of 8.0 or higher to be a "great" film. DC has two films that are considered great (The Dark Knight - 8.7, The Dark Knight Rises - 8.2), to Marvel's three, but one with a far higher score than the best Marvel has to offer (Guardians of the Galaxy - 8.1, The Avengers - 8.0, Iron Man - 8.0). It's interesting because, generally, it seems that DC is actively trying to create great films out of their characters and Marvel is simply making great entertainment... but, Marvel has three films that are ranked very highly, while DC only has two, only one of which really stands tall over all others. Both studios have put out some "stinkers," but conversely it's interesting to note that the entire bottom six worst films come from DC, ranked below Marvel's notorious box office bomb Howard the Duck. (More on him later).

Third, while DC Comics had a jump start on Marvel at the box office, with seven films released before Marvel's first (Howard the Duck, 1986), and then another seven released before Marvel's second (Blade, 1998)... it's interesting to note how things flipped in Marvel's favor, as Marvel then produces seven films, counting Blade, before DC's next (The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, 2003). So that's 14 to 2 films before Marvel got their footing, and since 1998 Marvel has produced 35 films to DC's 16.
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Now, back to the master of Quack-Fu, I wanted to see where Howie and his notority among All-time box-office disasters actually ranked, taking the much larger budgets and such of today's blockbusters into effect.

Howard the Duck was made for $37 million in 1986 (the equivalent to roughly $80 million in today's dollars), however it actually earned back around $900,000 (roughly $2.2 million, again, adjusting for inflation) in the long run (both domestically and internationally). While that's not good, and at the time I'm sure that kind of money being spent on a comic book movie about a talking duck was outright ridiculous... But, it's not a film that's in the red, and even counting how much was probably spent on marketing the film (nowhere near the insanity currently), that's still not that bad, these days.

Here's the ACTUAL 10 Worst Box-Office Bombs

(Films Based on DC Comics AND Marvel Comics):

Note: Listed in order of how much money the film lost, or how little it profited, adjusted for inflation.

01. Supergirl (1984)
----- Budget: $35 million ($82 million)
----- Box Office: $14.3 million ($33.5 million)
----- LOSS: $20.7 million ($48.5 million)

02. Jonah Hex (2010)
----- Budget: $47 million ($51 million)
----- Box Office: $10.9 million ($11.8 million)
----- LOSS: $36.1 million ($39.2 million)

03. Punisher: War Zone (2008)
----- Budget: $35 million ($39.3 million
----- Box Office: $10.1 million ($11.4 million)
----- LOSS: $24.9 million ($27.9 million)

04. Catwoman (2004)
----- Budget: $100 million ($126.7 million)
----- Box Office: $82.1 million ($104 million)
----- LOSS: $17.9 million ($22.7 million)

05. Steel (1997)
----- Budget: $16 million ($23.8 million today, adjusted for inflation).
----- Box Office: $1.7 million ($2.5 million)
----- LOSS: $14.3 million ($21.3 million)

06. Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987)
----- Budget: $17 million ($36.2 million)
----- Box Office: $15.6 million ($33.2 million)
----- LOSS: $1.4 million ($3 million)

07. Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (1993)
----- Budget: $6 million ($10 million)
----- Box Office: $5.6 million ($9.3 million)
----- LOSS: $400,000 ($665,000)

08. Howard the Duck (1986)
----- Budget: $37 million ($80.2 million)
----- Box Office: $37.9 million ($82.2 million)
----- PROFIT: $900,000 ($2.2 million)

09. The Losers (2010)
----- Budget: $25 million ($27.1 million)
----- Box Office: $29.4 million ($32 million)
----- PROFIT: $4.4 million ($4.9 million)

10. Elektra (2005)
----- Budget: $43 million ($53.1 million)
----- Box Office: $56.7 million ($70 million)
----- PROFIT: $13.7 million ($16.9 million)

It should also be noted that there is no box office information on the low budget (even for then) Swamp Thing (1982) film, and the only info available for its sequel The Return of Swamp Thing (1989) is its box office take ($192,816). The sequel is said to have had an even lower budget... however, I'm sure if I had the amount, it still would've ended up in the red. But, alas... the only info still available on that movie is how terrible Heather Locklear's acting was in it.
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Detailed results (for those that might question the numbers):

Listed in order or release date, because is more interesting and it's kinda cool to see these things in relation to each other. This is every DC and Marvel film released theatrically - beginning in 1951 with DC's first theatrical film, which served as a pilot to their upcoming television series, all the way to Marvel's Avengers: Age of Ultron - with their current ratings (as of 8:00 PM 5/2/15, anyway).

Note: I did not include distant pseudo-third party publications (for example, Marvel bought up Malibu in 1997, around the time the film Men In Black, loosely based on a Malibu title, was coming out. None of the Men In Black films are Marvel films, though, and Malibu is merely owned by Marvel and not really a part of Marvel Comics. However, DC's darker imprint Vertigo, featuring characters like Constantine, was included, because Vertigo is a direct spin-off of DC Comics. That sort of thing).
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Superman and the Mole Men (1951)

Imdb:   5.9
RT:   4.0
RT User:   6.4
MetaCritic: ...

  5.4 (5.43)
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Batman: The Movie (1966)

Imdb:   6.5
RT:   6.2
RT User:   6.0
MetaCritic: ...

  6.2 (6.23)
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Superman (1978)

Imdb:   7.3
RT:   8.0
RT User:   7.0
MetaCritic: 8.6

  7.7 (7.725)
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Superman II (1980)

Imdb: 6.8
RT: 7.5
RT User: 6.4
MetaCritic: 8.7

7.4 (7.35)
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Swamp Thing (1982)

Imdb:   5.4
RT:   5.7
RT User:   5.4
MetaCritic: ...

  5.5
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Superman III (1983)

Imdb:   4.9
RT:   4.5
RT User:   5.4
MetaCritic: 4.2

  4.8 (4.75)
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Supergirl (1984)

Imdb:   4.3
RT:   3.2
RT User:   4.6
MetaCritic: ...

4.0 (4.033)
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Howard the Duck (1986)

Imdb:   4.5
RT:   2.5
RT User:   5.2
MetaCritic: ...

  4.1 (4.067)
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Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987)

Imdb:   3.6
RT:   2.9
RT User:   4.8
MetaCritic: 2.2

  3.4 (3.375)
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The Return of Swamp Thing (1989)

Imdb:   4.3
RT:   4.0
RT User:   5.2
MetaCritic: ...

  4.5
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Batman (1989)

Imdb:   7.6
RT:   6.6
RT User:   7.0
MetaCritic: 6.6

  7.0 (6.95)
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Batman Returns (1992)

Imdb:   7.0
RT:   6.7
RT User:   6.6
MetaCritic: ...

  6.8 (6.77)
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Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (1993)

Imdb:   7.9
RT:   6.8
RT User:   7.0
MetaCritic: ...

  7.2 (7.23)
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Batman Forever (1995)

Imdb:   5.4
RT:   5.2
RT User:   5.8
MetaCritic: 5.1

  5.4 (5.375)
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Batman & Robin (1997)

Imdb:   3.6
RT:   3.7
RT User:   5.0
MetaCritic: 2.8

  3.8 (3.775)
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Steel (1997)

Imdb:   2.7
RT:   3.0
RT User:   3.6
MetaCritic: ...

  3.1
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Blade (1998)

Imdb:   7.1
RT:   5.7
RT User:   7.2
MetaCritic: 4.5

  6.1 (6.125)
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X-Men (2000)

Imdb:   7.4
RT:   7.0
RT User:   7.4
MetaCritic: 6.4

  7.1 (7.05)
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Blade II (2002)

Imdb:   6.7
RT:   6.0
RT User:   6.8
MetaCritic: 5.2

  6.1 (6.175)
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Spider-Man (2002)

Imdb:   7.3
RT:   7.6
RT User:   6.6
MetaCritic: 7.3

  7.2
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Daredevil (2003)

Imdb:   5.3
RT:   5.2
RT User:   5.6
MetaCritic: 4.2

  5.1 (5.075)
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X2: X-Men United (2003)

Imdb:   7.5
RT:   7.4
RT User:   7.4
MetaCritic: 6.8

  7.3 (7.275)
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Hulk (2003)

Imdb:   5.7
RT:   6.2
RT User:   5.0
MetaCritic: 5.4

  5.6 (5.575)
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The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2003)

Imdb:   5.8
RT:   4.0
RT User:   6.0
MetaCritic: 3.0

  4.7
__________________________________________

The Punisher (2004)

Imdb:   6.5
RT:   4.5
RT User:   6.4
MetaCritic: 3.3

  5.2 (5.175)
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Spider-Man 2 (2004)

Imdb:   7.3
RT:   8.3
RT User:   7.0
MetaCritic: 8.3

  7.7 (7.725)
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Catwoman (2004)

Imdb:   3.3
RT:   3.1
RT User:   4.4
MetaCritic: 2.7

  3.4 (3.375)
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Blade: Trinity (2004)

Imdb:   5.9
RT:   4.4
RT User:   6.8
MetaCritic: 3.8

  5.2 (5.225)
__________________________________________

Constantine (2005)

Imdb:   6.9
RT:   5.5
RT User:   7.0
MetaCritic: 5.0

  6.1
__________________________________________

Elektra (2005)

Imdb:   4.8
RT:   3.7
RT User:   5.2
MetaCritic: 3.4

  4.3 (4.275)
__________________________________________

Fantastic Four (2005)

Imdb:   5.7
RT:   4.5
RT User:   6.2
MetaCritic: 4.0

  5.1
__________________________________________

Batman Begins (2005)

Imdb:   8.3
RT:   7.7
RT User:   7.8
MetaCritic: 7.0

  7.7
__________________________________________

V for Vendetta (2006)

Imdb:   8.2
RT:   6.8
RT User:   7.8
MetaCritic: 6.2

  7.3 (7.25)
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X-Men: The Last Stand (2006)

Imdb:   6.8
RT:   5.9
RT User:   7.2
MetaCritic: 5.8

  6.4 (6.425)
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Superman Returns (2006)

Imdb:   6.1
RT:   7.0
RT User:   6.6
MetaCritic: 7.2

  6.7 (6.725)
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Ghost Rider (2007)

Imdb:   5.2
RT:   4.2
RT User:   6.2
MetaCritic: 3.5

  4.8 (4.775)
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Spider-Man 3 (2007)

Imdb:   6.2
RT:   6.2
RT User:   6.6
MetaCritic: 5.9

  6.2 (6.225)
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Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer (2007)

Imdb:   5.6
RT:   4.8
RT User:   6.2
MetaCritic: 4.5

  5.3 (5.275)
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Stardust (2007)

Imdb:   7.7
RT:   6.7
RT User:   7.8
MetaCritic: 6.6

  7.2
__________________________________________

Iron Man (2008)

Imdb:   7.9
RT:   7.6
RT User:   8.4
MetaCritic: 7.9

  8.0 (7.95)
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The Dark Knight (2008)

Imdb:   9.0
RT:   8.6
RT User:   8.8
MetaCritic: 8.2

  8.7 (8.65)
__________________________________________

The Incredible Hulk (2008)

Imdb:   6.9
RT:   6.2
RT User:   7.2
MetaCritic: 6.1

  6.6
__________________________________________

Punisher: War Zone (2008)

Imdb:   6.0
RT:   4.2
RT User:   6.0
MetaCritic: 3.0

  4.8
__________________________________________

Watchmen (2009)

Imdb:   7.6
RT:   6.3
RT User:   6.8
MetaCritic: 5.6

  6.6 (6.575)
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X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009)

Imdb:   6.7
RT:   5.1
RT User:   7.2
MetaCritic: 4.0

  5.8 (5.75)
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The Losers (2010)

Imdb:   6.4
RT:   5.3
RT User:   6.0
MetaCritic: 4.4

  5.5 (5.525)
__________________________________________

Iron Man 2 (2010)

Imdb:   7.1
RT:   6.5
RT User:   7.4
MetaCritic: 5.7

  6.7 (6.675)
__________________________________________

Jonah Hex (2010)

Imdb:   4.6
RT:   3.5
RT User:   4.8
MetaCritic: 3.3

  4.1 (4.05)
__________________________________________

RED (2010)

Imdb:   7.1
RT:   6.3
RT User:   7.4
MetaCritic: 6.0

  6.7
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Thor (2011)

Imdb:   7.0
RT:   6.7
RT User:   7.6
MetaCritic: 5.7

  6.8 (6.75)
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X-Men: First Class (2011)

Imdb:   7.8
RT:   7.4
RT User:   8.0
MetaCritic: 6.5

  7.4 (7.425)
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Green Lantern (2011)

Imdb:   5.7
RT:   4.6
RT User:   6.2
MetaCritic: 3.9

  5.1
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Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)

Imdb:   6.8
RT:   6.9
RT User:   7.4
MetaCritic: 6.6

  6.9 (6.925)
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Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance (2012)

Imdb:   4.3
RT:   3.9
RT User:   5.2
MetaCritic: 3.2

  4.2 (4.15)
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Marvel's The Avengers (2012)

Imdb:   8.2
RT:   8.0
RT User:   8.8
MetaCritic: 6.9

  8.0 (7.975)
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The Dark Knight Rises (2012)

Imdb:   8.5
RT:   8.0
RT User:   8.6
MetaCritic: 7.8

  8.2 (8.225)
__________________________________________

The Amazing Spider-Man (2012)

Imdb:   7.1
RT:   6.7
RT User:   7.8
MetaCritic: 6.6

  7.1 (7.05)
__________________________________________

Iron Man 3 (2013)

Imdb:   7.3
RT:   7.0
RT User:   8.0
MetaCritic: 6.2

  7.1 (7.125)
__________________________________________

Man of Steel (2013)

Imdb:   7.2
RT:   6.2
RT User:   7.8
MetaCritic: 5.5

  6.7 (6.675)
__________________________________________

The Wolverine (2013)

Imdb:   6.7
RT:   6.3
RT User:   7.4
MetaCritic: 6.0

  6.6
__________________________________________

RED 2 (2013)

Imdb:   6.7
RT:   5.4
RT User:   7.2
MetaCritic: 4.7

  6.0
__________________________________________

Thor: The Dark World (2013)

Imdb:   7.1
RT:   6.2
RT User:   7.8
MetaCritic: 5.4

  6.6 (6.625)
__________________________________________

Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014)

Imdb:   7.8
RT:   7.5
RT User:   8.6
MetaCritic: 7.0

  7.7 (7.725)
__________________________________________

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014)

Imdb:   6.9
RT:   5.9
RT User:   7.4
MetaCritic: 5.3

  6.4 (6.375)
__________________________________________

X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014)

Imdb:   8.1
RT:   7.6
RT User:   8.6
MetaCritic: 7.4

  7.9 (7.925)
__________________________________________

Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)

Imdb:   8.1
RT:   7.7
RT User:   8.8
MetaCritic: 7.6

  8.1 (8.05)
__________________________________________

Big Hero 6 (2014)

Imdb:   7.9
RT:   7.4
RT User:   8.6
MetaCritic: 7.4

  7.8 (7.825)
__________________________________________

Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)*

Imdb:   8.2
RT:   6.7
RT User:   8.6
MetaCritic: 6.6

  7.5 (7.525)

* - Numbers subject to change as more people see it. It's too early to take these numbers as anything other than a "first impression."
___________________________________________________________

Ok, so... yeah. That's about all I have for now.

Thanks for reading!

- gARTh -