The Avengers vs. The Dark Knight vs. X2: X-Men United

by Eric James Stone (05/14/2012 08:35 am)

I saw The Avengers a few days ago, and I thought it was a lot of fun, despite the fact that it had a few plot holes the size of the Incredible Hulk.

A while back, when The Dark Knight was all the rage, I wrote up a little comparison On the Codex Writers forum between that film and X2: X-Men United, which I consider to be the best comic-book superhero movie ever. I updated it after seeing The Avengers, and now I’ve turned it into the chart below. WARNING: SPOILERS FOR ALL THREE MOVIES ARE PRESENT!

	The Dark Knight	X2: X-Men United	The Avengers
Acting	I will grant that Heath Ledger’s performance was great. Cast includes at least three Oscar winners. A+	No Oscar nominations for actors for these performances, but cast includes two Oscar winners and a nominee. A-	I doubt there will be Oscar nominations for actors for these performances. Cast includes one Oscar winner and four nominees. A-
Great action sequences/fights	Begins with the Joker’s bank robbery plan, which is pretty cool. But none of the action sequences compare to => B+	Begins with Nightcrawler singlehandedly invading the White House. Also includes the very memorable sequences of Wolverine’s defense of Xavier’s mansion and his battle with Lady Deathstrike. A+	Black Widow’s escape after the interrogation is pretty cool, and Hulk versus Loki was played perfectly, but I don’t think either of those matches <= B+
Prison escapes	The Joker plants a cell-phone activated bomb in the stomach of a guy we’ve barely seen at all, which he then activates with a phone call in order to escape. An interesting plan, although we really see no setup for it. B	Magneto’s prison guard has proven himself a despicable character, we see him seduced by Mystique and injected with something, and then we get the unexpected payoff when Magneto says, “Too much iron in your blood.” And, since Stryker’s plan to kill all mutants has already been revealed, we are actually rooting for Magneto to escape. A	Avengers presents two prison escapes: both Loki and Thor were locked in the round glass cell. Neither of their escapes was particularly awesome. C
Character transitions from good to bad	Harvey Dent is a very good guy, and then the Joker kills his fiancee and burns his face, and Harvey responds by instantly becoming insane and evil. C	Pyro starts as one of the good guys, but through a gradual and progressive change he eventually switches over to Magneto’s side. A	Hawkeye instantly transitions from good to bad when Loki touches him with a high-tech scepter. He transitions back after being hit on the head. D
Heroic sacrifices	Batman decides to let himself be blamed for Harvey Dent’s murders so Dent’s reputation will be unsullied. This choice at the climax is just talked about, with the smashing of the bat-signal as a symbolic way of showing it. C	Jean Grey decides to sacrifice her life for her friends. This choice at the climax is shown onscreen, as she lifts the plane out of the path of the flood and then is swept away. A-	Iron Man decided to take the nuke missile through the portal, risking the possibility that he might not make it back through. This choice at the climax is shown onscreen. He makes it back, so it was merely a potential sacrifice. B-
Superpowered female characters with important roles	F	Jean Grey, Storm, Mystique, Rogue, Lady Deathstrike A	Black Widow C
Distinguished elderly British actors	Michael Caine A	Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellan A+	F
Distinguished African-American actors	Morgan Freeman A	Halle Berry A	Samuel L. Jackson A
Average Grade	B-	A-	C

The Dark Knight

X2: X-Men United

The Avengers

Acting

I will grant that Heath Ledger’s performance was great. Cast includes at least three Oscar winners.

A+

No Oscar nominations for actors for these performances, but cast includes two Oscar winners and a nominee.

A-

I doubt there will be Oscar nominations for actors for these performances. Cast includes one Oscar winner and four nominees.

A-

Great action sequences/fights

Begins with the Joker’s bank robbery plan, which is pretty cool. But none of the action sequences compare to
=>

B+

Begins with Nightcrawler singlehandedly invading the White House. Also includes the very memorable sequences of Wolverine’s defense of Xavier’s mansion and his battle with Lady Deathstrike.

A+

Black Widow’s escape after the interrogation is pretty cool, and Hulk versus Loki was played perfectly, but I don’t think either of those matches
<=

B+

Prison escapes

The Joker plants a cell-phone activated bomb in the stomach of a guy we’ve barely seen at all, which he then activates with a phone call in order to escape. An interesting plan, although we really see no setup for it.

Magneto’s prison guard has proven himself a despicable character, we see him seduced by Mystique and injected with something, and then we get the unexpected payoff when Magneto says, “Too much iron in your blood.” And, since Stryker’s plan to kill all mutants has already been revealed, we are actually rooting for Magneto to escape.

Avengers presents two prison escapes: both Loki and Thor were locked in the round glass cell. Neither of their escapes was particularly awesome.

Character transitions from good to bad

Harvey Dent is a very good guy, and then the Joker kills his fiancee and burns his face, and Harvey responds by instantly becoming insane and evil.

Pyro starts as one of the good guys, but through a gradual and progressive change he eventually switches over to Magneto’s side.

Hawkeye instantly transitions from good to bad when Loki touches him with a high-tech scepter. He transitions back after being hit on the head.

Heroic sacrifices

Batman decides to let himself be blamed for Harvey Dent’s murders so Dent’s reputation will be unsullied. This choice at the climax is just talked about, with the smashing of the bat-signal as a symbolic way of showing it.

Jean Grey decides to sacrifice her life for her friends. This choice at the climax is shown onscreen, as she lifts the plane out of the path of the flood and then is swept away.

A-

Iron Man decided to take the nuke missile through the portal, risking the possibility that he might not make it back through. This choice at the climax is shown onscreen. He makes it back, so it was merely a potential sacrifice.

B-

Superpowered female characters with important roles

Jean Grey, Storm, Mystique, Rogue, Lady Deathstrike

Black Widow

Distinguished elderly British actors

Michael Caine

Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellan

A+

Distinguished African-American actors

Morgan Freeman

Halle Berry

Samuel L. Jackson

Average Grade

B-

A-

Now, I actually liked The Avengers better than The Dark Knight, so obviously I’m not letting my personal feelings affect my grading. But this chart clearly shows that X2 is the best of the three movies.

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