Top 10 Favorite Action Sequences in Comic Book Movies
One of the things that Comic Book Movies are known for are their big action sequences. So in today’s blog post I’m going to be sharing my 10 favorite action sequences in comic book movies. Let’s get started!
10. The Attack on the X-Mansion (X2: X-Men United): I haven’t really talked about the X-Men franchise a whole lot on my blog. But I’m enjoying a number of their movies, and I think an X-Men movie ranking might be coming in 2021. But one of the high points of the franchise is X2, and one of my favorite sequences in that movie is when Stryker’s men attack the X-Mansion and you have this big and extended action sequence. Where we see Wolverine in action and just seeing him destroy Stryker’s men is really fun to see. Wolverine reunites with Stryker and there are some great moments between the two of them. It’s an action sequence that works on both an emotional level and a great action level. And this is what the entire movie does really well is deliver some fantastic action sequences that work on every level. This is one of the better movies, and it brings the best sequence in any of the X-Men movies.
9. Justice League vs Steppenwolf (Zack Snyder’s Justice League): Prior to this movie I liked the 2017 Justice League movie. I thought it was a good movie. But after I watched this movie, I disliked that theatrical version of this movie. And the final battle of this movie is such a big improvement over the final battle in the 2017 movie. Where you feel the epic weight that this battle brings and the emotional weight because the movie did a great job of setting up the third act. When we see the end to Superman’s arc in the movie, he gets the black suit that we have been waiting to see. The Flash gets this epic moment that for whatever reason they cut out of the theatrical cut of the movie, and it makes you like the character even more. But it sets up where a sequel could go, with Darkseid invading Earth. So this entire final battle has emotional and some great action sequences with Superman.
8. No Man’s Land (Wonder Woman): This is the best Wonder Woman sequence that we have gotten from the DCEU. And you get chills just watching it where you have Wonder Woman reveal who she really is, and it leads into this action scene at this town that really works. And it just has this empowerment feel to it, and very few sequences can make you feel that as well as this one can. And I think that’s because Patty Jenkins knows how to direct scenes and this is maybe her best directed scene out of the two Wonder Woman movies. Like I said, it leads into this scene where Wonder Woman attacks the soldiers that have taken over this small town. And once again it’s shot very well, and once Wonder Woman takes out the soldiers you feel this sense of you can do anything. So this is easily one of the best action sequences in any comic book movie.
7. The Car Chase (The Dark Knight): And I think it’s one of the best comic book movies of all time, and just one of the best movies of all time. And the car chase in this movie is fantastic and it really works. They shot this sequence with IMAX cameras and you watch it play out and you can feel that it has this more epic tone to it. All of the explosions and tipping over the trucks actually did that, no CGI was involved. And that’s what is so great about Christopher Nolan he tries to do as much as he can with practical effects. We see the Batbike in action and it’s just such a cool looking vehicle that you kind of want to ride yourself. Joker gets really involved with the action sequences and his plan in all of this is very interesting. So this is one of the best shot sequences on this list. And it’s done because Christopher Nolan is great at shooting practical action sequences.
6. The Battle on Titan/Wakanda (Avengers: Infinity War): It’s just so epic and large in scale, and it is just such a dream come true for comic book fans. And this slot is essentially both of the big fights in the final battle. One is with Iron Man, Doctor Strange, Spider-Man, and the Guardians of the Galaxy fighting Thanos on Titan. And the other one is Captain America, Black Panther, Black Widow, and other people fighting Thanos’ army in Wakanda. Both of them are fantastic and do things that are amazing. With Titan, it’s great seeing that confrontation between Iron Man and Thanos something that you’ve wanted to see for quite some time and it’s great. Seeing Doctor Strange using a bunch of his magic on Thanos is great. With Wakanda, you get that running match between Captain America and Black Panther. It's a fun moment, and you feel the epic nature of this scene. Also, when Thor arrives in Wakanda it’s great and the best moment of the movie. And you get Captain America’s funniest line in the movie, when he meets Groot.
5. The Elevator Fight (Captain America the Winter Soldier): This is another high point for the MCU, and this movie is filled with so much fantastic action. If you were to say the highway chase was your favorite, I get it. If the fight on the boat is your favorite, I get it. If the final battle is your favorite, I get it. But for me this one just stands out the most. And the reason for that is that the other ones are ones that we’ve seen before. We’ve seen fight scenes on highways before or fight scenes on boats. But what we haven’t seen a lot of is one man fighting like 10 soldiers in an elevator in a small space. And seeing Captain America destroy all of these soldiers in a small confinement is so cool to see, and it’s one of the most badass moments of the entire MCU. One of the things that The Russo Brothers did so well in the MCU is staging such great action, and this one of the best action sequences in the entire MCU. So it easily makes the list.
4. The Warehouse Fight (Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice): Now if you’ve seen my DCEU movie rankings, or my review of this movie that I did in August 2020. You know that I’m not the biggest fan of this movie. And one of the things that I always say about this movie, is that individual moments of this movie are great. And the Warehouse fight with Batman in the third act of the movie is great, it’s one of the top 5 moments of the DCEU. I also would say this is the best action sequence that we’ve gotten in movie history. As much as The Dark Knight Trilogy is fantastic, some of the action sequences in that movie aren’t the best. This one is a Batman that is mad, and is trying to save Superman’s mom, Martha. It’s shot so well, Zack Snyder is great with shooting action and that is 100% the cast with this movie. I’m hoping that if we ever get to see a Ben Affleck led Batman movie, we get more of this type of action because it’s fantastic.
3. The Airport Fight (Captain America Civil War): Another one of the great MCU action sequences that was directed by The Russo Brothers. And this also another sequence that is a nerd’s dream and it brings me so much joy seeing different Avengers fight each other. And it’s a sequence that isn’t short. It's a solid 20-30 minutes and everybody gets a moment to shine. You get great banter between Bucky and Sam, and it started where The Falcon and the Winter Soldier continued with that bromance between the two characters. Seeing Spider-Man get in on the action with Captain America and others is fun to see. It’s also nice seeing Ant-Man turning into Giant Man and you get some funny Paul Rudd jokes thrown in there. This is such an epic comic book action sequence, and I always get a huge smile on my face everytime I watch this movie.
2. “Crashing this Plane” (The Dark Knight Rises): Now this might be an unpopular opinion to have this sequence so high up on this list. But I’ve always dug this sequence, and think it’s one of the best opening sequences in movie history. I know a lot of people prefer the opening scene to The Dark Knight, and that sequence is great. But we’ve seen a lot of bank heists in movies, but we haven’t seen a lot of sequences like this. This sequence is filled with great lines from Bane like “crashing this plane” or “the fire rises”, and it helps the audience understand that Bane is a threat, both a physical threat as well as a threat that thinks through a lot. The most impressive thing about it is there was no CGI involved in this scene, everything that you see on screen they actually did. And that just adds this extra layer of greatness to it. This is truly one of the best openings to any movie for me, and it is high up on this list.
1. The Avengers vs Thanos (Avengers Endgame): Now for this placement, like Infinity War I’m counting the entire final battle of the movie. Because this final battle, this third act is truly one of the greatest, maybe the greatest movie scenes of all time. I remember sitting there in the theater on April 25th, 2019 and you get to that Captain America moment (I don’t want to say what it is because my mom is watching the MCU, and I don’t want to spoil it for her). And my theater and I went crazy, but then the portal started to open and that moment of the portal opening and that big wide shot of everybody. And then Captain America says those two magic words, it’s the greatest movie scene of all time for me. But everybody gets a moment to shine, Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, Star-Lord, Spider-Man, and Scarlet Witch being the first ones that come to mind. So easily, without question the final battle in this movie is the greatest action sequence in comic book movie history.
There you have it, my 10 favorite action sequences in comic book movies. What are some of your favorites? Thanks for reading!
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