Marvel movies.. Rank 'em (SPOILERS)
hornhead
Posts: 137
So there was some discussion on the Ant-Man movie review episode and a few have ranked the movies in the Ant-Man spoilers thread.. Thought I would start up this one- if it's been done elsewhere, my apologies.
I'll preclude by saying that I've enjoyed most of the Marvel slate of movies, so this will be like comparing a single to a home run in some cases.
JUST OKAY
12. Captain America: The First Avenger
Because it gave me a little more gravitas to the scenes where he reappeared in the second film as the Winter Soldier, I was glad I saw the scenes with Steve & Bucky in this first film. Beyond that, there wasn't much that got me excited. Just okay.
11. Guardians of the Galaxy
10. The Incredible Hulk
Basically interchangable. I did like the Incredible Hulk- I just didn't find it memorable. Same with Guardians- my interest was really piqued with the stuff that tied into the other films. I found Chris Pratt fun as Star-Lord but there was nothing that made me care about the others, and I thought Rocket was mostly annoying. Ronan didn't wow me either. Some good laughs.
9. Iron Man 3
I know why they decided to do what they did with the Mandarin. Quite a gutsy twist. I get it. But my gut feeling when I first saw it was, I was disappointed- I did want to see the Mandarin as a legit threat. The early part of the film made him out to be a terrifying villain that I cared about. I was left wondering what the movie could have been if things went differently. The film has improved for me on subsequent viewings but not enough to place higher.
8. Iron Man 2
I had fun with this one, and didn't really get the prevailing opinion being so negative. It wasn't great, but it was enjoyable enough. It suffers from comparisons to the original, as nearly all sequels do.
AWESOME WITH SOME ISSUES
7. Thor: The Dark World
6. The Avengers: Age of Ultron
I had a great time with both. But I found myself coming out of each of them thinking, "that was great, but.." The issues with both movies that others have had are well-documented and without re-listing them all, I'll just say that I felt similarly. Mainly felt that the villains raised a few questions for me.. I wasn't quite sold on the portrayals of Malekith OR Ultron. But still really enjoyed both films, I had a blast with both.
GREAT NIGHT AT THE MOVIES
5. Ant-Man
4. Thor
I had a great time with both of these films and they both did a great job of introducing characters, while still offering a lot to longtime fans. Like with the first Iron Man film, I came into Ant-Man knowing very little, but I came out as a new fan of the character, having had a lot of fun. That's a big win.Thor gets the slight edge with a lot of humor plus Hiddleston's performance as Loki which was excellent.. I was so excited to actually see Thor in a movie and I thought they really nailed the family dynamics and drama that's a big part of so many Thor stories.
STONE CLASSICS
3. The Avengers
2. Iron Man
Very hard for me to pick between these two films. In the end it came down to this: while Avengers was great, I did feel like a lot was shoehorned into it and I did feel like you needed to see most of the other films to really get the stakes and some of the payoff to the world-building that was done in the previous films. The first Iron Man was a total blast and the ideal kickoff to the MCU. As with a few other of these movies, I came into it a blank slate with Tony Stark and I came out a fan of him.
1. Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Full disclosure: I skipped this in the theater, based on being completely underwhelmed with the first Cap film and not ever having much passion for the character. However, I found Cap to be MUCH more compelling as part of a small ensemble with Black Widow and Falcon, as opposed to mostly solo in the first film. They did a magnificent job of making this work as a standalone movie with ties to the universe, if you missed the first film, and they totally sold the high stakes facing our protagonists masterfully. I can often be bored by the whole action-espionage genre, there is so much in many of those films that we've just seen before.. but this was an absolutely thrilling film throughout and I'm all in for the next Cap film, and this is as a fan who was never remotely interested in the character prior to the first Avengers movie.
I'll preclude by saying that I've enjoyed most of the Marvel slate of movies, so this will be like comparing a single to a home run in some cases.
JUST OKAY
12. Captain America: The First Avenger
Because it gave me a little more gravitas to the scenes where he reappeared in the second film as the Winter Soldier, I was glad I saw the scenes with Steve & Bucky in this first film. Beyond that, there wasn't much that got me excited. Just okay.
11. Guardians of the Galaxy
10. The Incredible Hulk
Basically interchangable. I did like the Incredible Hulk- I just didn't find it memorable. Same with Guardians- my interest was really piqued with the stuff that tied into the other films. I found Chris Pratt fun as Star-Lord but there was nothing that made me care about the others, and I thought Rocket was mostly annoying. Ronan didn't wow me either. Some good laughs.
9. Iron Man 3
I know why they decided to do what they did with the Mandarin. Quite a gutsy twist. I get it. But my gut feeling when I first saw it was, I was disappointed- I did want to see the Mandarin as a legit threat. The early part of the film made him out to be a terrifying villain that I cared about. I was left wondering what the movie could have been if things went differently. The film has improved for me on subsequent viewings but not enough to place higher.
8. Iron Man 2
I had fun with this one, and didn't really get the prevailing opinion being so negative. It wasn't great, but it was enjoyable enough. It suffers from comparisons to the original, as nearly all sequels do.
AWESOME WITH SOME ISSUES
7. Thor: The Dark World
6. The Avengers: Age of Ultron
I had a great time with both. But I found myself coming out of each of them thinking, "that was great, but.." The issues with both movies that others have had are well-documented and without re-listing them all, I'll just say that I felt similarly. Mainly felt that the villains raised a few questions for me.. I wasn't quite sold on the portrayals of Malekith OR Ultron. But still really enjoyed both films, I had a blast with both.
GREAT NIGHT AT THE MOVIES
5. Ant-Man
4. Thor
I had a great time with both of these films and they both did a great job of introducing characters, while still offering a lot to longtime fans. Like with the first Iron Man film, I came into Ant-Man knowing very little, but I came out as a new fan of the character, having had a lot of fun. That's a big win.Thor gets the slight edge with a lot of humor plus Hiddleston's performance as Loki which was excellent.. I was so excited to actually see Thor in a movie and I thought they really nailed the family dynamics and drama that's a big part of so many Thor stories.
STONE CLASSICS
3. The Avengers
2. Iron Man
Very hard for me to pick between these two films. In the end it came down to this: while Avengers was great, I did feel like a lot was shoehorned into it and I did feel like you needed to see most of the other films to really get the stakes and some of the payoff to the world-building that was done in the previous films. The first Iron Man was a total blast and the ideal kickoff to the MCU. As with a few other of these movies, I came into it a blank slate with Tony Stark and I came out a fan of him.
1. Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Full disclosure: I skipped this in the theater, based on being completely underwhelmed with the first Cap film and not ever having much passion for the character. However, I found Cap to be MUCH more compelling as part of a small ensemble with Black Widow and Falcon, as opposed to mostly solo in the first film. They did a magnificent job of making this work as a standalone movie with ties to the universe, if you missed the first film, and they totally sold the high stakes facing our protagonists masterfully. I can often be bored by the whole action-espionage genre, there is so much in many of those films that we've just seen before.. but this was an absolutely thrilling film throughout and I'm all in for the next Cap film, and this is as a fan who was never remotely interested in the character prior to the first Avengers movie.
Comments
2) Guardians of the Galaxy
3) Captain America
4) Ant-Man
5) Avengers
6) Age of Ultron
7) Iron Man
8) Thor: The Dark World
9) Iron Man 3
10) Thor
11) Iron Man 2
12) Hulk
12. Incredible Hulk
Not Terrible But Did Not Work For Me:
11. Thor 2
10. Guardians of The Galaxy
Good But Should Have Been Better:
9. Iron Man 3
8. Iron Man 2
7. Avengers 2
Very Good:
6. Antman
5. Thor 1
Great:
4. Iron Man 1
3. Capt America 1
2. Avengers 1
1. Capt America 2
2. Avengers 2
3. Avengers 1
4. Iron Man 1
5. Cap 1
6. Guardians of the Galaxy
7. Ant Man
----
8. Thor 1
9. Thor 2
10. Iron Man 3
11. Incredible Hulk
12. Iron Man 2
I found my top seven very enjoyable, and the bottom five somewhat or mostly forgettable; I can barely recall any scenes from those films. Only the bottom film, IM2, did I actively dislike.
However; my top five in no particular order would probably be...
Iron man
AoU
Avengers
Winter Soldier
GotG
1.) Cap 2
2.) GOTG
3.) Avengers 1
4.) Punisher War Zone (produced under the Marvel Knights banner, but by Marvel Studios)
5.) Cap 1
Really liked Punisher as well,but that was made by a different studio so can't put it on this list. Everything else from Marvel studios has been complete crap imo, including most of the crap made by Fox and Sony. Refuse to watch Ant Man, unless I come across it on free TV at some point down the road.
12. The Incredible Hulk
11. Iron Man 2
10. Cap 1
Really good movies, but some improvements needed...
9. Thor 1
8. Thor 2
7. Ant man
Love these movies, but fall just below the rest...
6. Iron Man
5. Iron Man 3
4. Avengers 2
Classics...
3. Cap 2
2. Guardians
1. Avengers 1
I dug Ant-man & found it very reminiscent to Iron Man. I liked it better than Ultron because it didn't suffer form the heavy editing & cutting that ultron did. it was a simple straightforward story.
1. Winter Soldier
2. Guardians of the Galaxy
3. Avengers
4. Iron Man
5. Thor: The Dark World
6. Captain America
7. Ant-Man
8. Incredible Hulk
9. Thor
10. Iron Man 2
11. Iron Man 3
12. Ultron
I can't choose between them. Each is so different, yet each achieves exactly what I want them to. As a huge Cap guy, I am thrilled and completely satisfied with both.
3: The Avengers.
An incredible ride that manages to stay centered upon the characters despite so much going on.
4: Ant-Man.
In many ways, this was the most Marvel-y movie of them all for me. Specifically late 70s-early 80s Marvel, which was my favorite period.
5: Iron Man.
The template was established for everything to come, and dammit, they just got it all right.
6: Guardians of the Galaxy.
So much world-building, yet the characters are what carry the film. Fun & exciting.
7: Age of Ultron.
Yes, it's cluttered and somewhat cold, but it really delivers the Pure Comic-y Goodness.
8: Iron Man 3.
It's all about repercussions, especially of The Avengers. Stark's likability in spite of his arrogance is an incredible accomplishment, good writing, brilliant casting, and a career-defining performance by Downey.
9: Iron Man 2.
Suffers a bit from letting too much of the film focus on the villain. Iron Man movies need to be about Tony Stark.
10. Incredible Hulk.
It's OK. Some good moments. Banner isn't likable enough, though. Recasting for The Avengers was a very good move.
11: Thor.
Too much emphasis on the non-Asgardians. Especially Jane Foster.
12: Thor 2: The Dark World.
All the problems with Thor, plus a barely-coherent plot.
Helmsworth and Hiddleston are fantastic.
Sif, Heimdall and The Warriors Three are excellent.
Yet somehow, I've found both films to be ponderous and dull.
They were both so unmemorable, it's a toss-up.
M
I haven't seen Agents of SHIELD or Agent Carter.. I don't think I will anytime soon. I'm sure I'd appreciate some of the extra world-building but there don't seem to be characters in them that I would really feel like I had to follow.
However the Netflix Daredevil would rank as my #1 Marvel Studios in-house production, if we considered ranking the MCU movies and TV.
:D
No accusation was intended, I was simply amused.
There's something so thrilling about seeing your favorite character done right.
I'd be happy with televisual Booster Gold.
11) Hulk
10) Iron Man 2
9) Thor: The Dark World
8) Captain America
7) Thor
6) Ant-Man
5) Age of Ultron
4) Avengers
3) Guardians of the Galaxy
2) Iron Man
1) CA: The Winter Soldier
M
M