Ranked in no particular order.
1. Black Panther—a geopolitical action film which delves into isolationism versus globalization as well as the often-overlooked schisms between native Africans and diasporic Africans.
2. Captain America: The Winter Soldier—a political action-thriller centering on global conspiracy theories and personal privacy debates.
3. Iron Man—the film offers a critique of the military industrial complex and the diplomatic hypocrisies that it often yields.
4. The Batman—a classic film noir centering around a superb detective (Batman), his shrewd cop sidekick (Gordon) and their antagonist—the wily, erratic and violent Riddler.
5. The Dark Knight—an allegory on domestic terrorism embodied by Heath ledger’s Joker, and the lines (I.e. privacy) that are often crossed to snuff it out.
6. Joker—this is not a comic book movie but rather a film about mental illness gone way awry, in an increasingly cold world.
7. Logan—this “lesson before dying” tackles reluctant parenthood, dealing with aging (I.e. Alzheimer’s) and ultimately death.
8. Man of Steel—a fascinating exploration into Superman as a foreigner/outsider as well as his grappling with the conflict between his Earth and Kryptonian identities.
9. V for Vendetta—this dystopian movie uses a nearly indestructible protagonist, who is the byproduct of the same totalitarian state that he ultimately hopes to topple through guts, revenge and the uncanny use of knives.
10. X-Men: Days of Future Past—this film is an allegory on racism and intolerance with the scorned mutant group saving the day in a world that still largely disapproves of its kind.
