DreamTheaterForums.org Dream Theater Fan Site
General => Movies and TV => Topic started by: bosk1 on November 26, 2022, 12:53:40 AM
-
Alright, here we go!
In this thread, we rank all MCU phase 1 through MCU phase 3 films, from Iron Man to Endgame (well, technically, Far From Home)
Note: We will NOT rank MCU phase 4 films (yet). We will not rank other Marvel films.
We will rank all the movies, so rank 'em all! I will count down all the movies in order, and they will be taken from lists of anyone who wants to send me theirs via PM. Do not post them on the forum here. Send them to me via PM. I will take all of the lists and come up with the cumulative list and do the countdown from 23 to 1.
The rules:
-Movies must be listed from 23 to 1 in order (in reverse order), with no ties. No having two or three movies tied for rank #2 or anything like that. Any such lists will be disregarded. DO NOT list your movies with the points total. List them in your order (I will figure out the points on my end).
-Any list submitted with the movies not numbered will be ignored.
-Anyone wanting to submit a list must do so by the end of day, Friday, December 9. I will then begin the countdown shortly thereafter.
-The list will be tallied numerically in a simple way. On each list, whatever show is at number 1 gets 23 points, number 2 gets 22 points, number 3 gets 21 points, etc.
-PROOFREAD YOUR LISTS BEFORE SENDING THEM. Any list with the same movie mentioned twice will be not be counted.
Feel free to post in this thread as well that you have PM'd me, if for no other reason than to bump this back up for others who may want to participate who may not have seen the thread yet.
This ranking engine link below works great if you have too much difficulty making one on your own. You can input all of the shows you want, and then you pick your favorite of every 1 on 1 matchup and then it spits out your list.
https://rankingengine.pubmeeple.com/
Here are the movies, in release order:
Iron Man
The Incredible Hulk
Iron Man 2
Thor
Captain America: The First Avenger
The Avengers
Iron Man 3
Thor: The Dark World
Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Guardians of the Galaxy
Avengers: Age of Ultron
Ant Man
Captain America: Civil War
Doctor Strange
Guardians of the Galaxy 2
Spider Man: Homecoming
Thor: Ragnarok
Black Panther
Avengers: Infinity War
Ant Man and the Wasp
Captain Marvel
Avengers: Endgame
Spider Man: Far from Home
-
I'm in, of course! I'll send my list soon! Thanks again for running this!
-Marc.
-
-PROOFREAD YOUR LISTS BEFORE SENDING THEM. Any list with the same album mentioned twice will be not be counted.
Sent!
I made sure to proofread list of movies :biggrin:
-
Sent my singer list in too soon. So I'll be doing a few variations of my list between now and December 5th or so and then see which one feels right and send that one in.
-
-PROOFREAD YOUR LISTS BEFORE SENDING THEM. Any list with the same album mentioned twice will be not be counted.
Sent!
I made sure to proofread list of movies :biggrin:
:rollin
I didn't even notice that! Haha I also proofread my list and added the proper hyphens to Ant-Man and Spider-Man.
-Marc.
-
I love you all so much I'm going to let that slide.
-
I'll hammer a list out tomorrow
-
I'll hammer a list out tomorrow
Appropriate.
:banhammer:
-
I'll hammer a list out tomorrow
Appropriate.
:banhammer:
Unfortunately he won't even see the top ten.
-
Interestingly, with 3 lists in already (including mine), I am seeing a clear top 5 emerge that I think will probably hold up throughout (although not sure of the final ordering). Likewise, a pretty clear bottom 5.
-
Sent my ranking. One thing to note, I don't hate any movie in the 23 long list. Even my least favorite movie that is ranked 23 is at least a 7.5/10. Still entertaining overall.
I will have to do a rewatch as I feel my top 10 have changed a lot since the last time I ranked them.
-
Sent
-
We have a clear favorite running away with last place.
Also, anyone who hyphenates Ant Man or Spider Man will have their list disregarded and burned with fire.
-
We have a clear favorite running away with last place.
Also, anyone who hyphenates Ant Man or Spider Man will have their list disregarded and burned with fire.
I'll re-submit my list then.
01. Thor: The Dark World
23. 22-Way Tie
-Marc.
-
We have a clear favorite running away with last place.
Well now I’m wondering if it’s Captain Marvel or The Incredible Hulk.
-
We have a clear favorite running away with last place.
Also, anyone who hyphenates Ant Man or Spider Man will have their list disregarded and burned with fire.
??? You object to writing the names correctly?
-
We have a clear favorite running away with last place.
Also, anyone who hyphenates Ant Man or Spider Man will have their list disregarded and burned with fire.
??? You object to writing the names correctly?
Yeah, that's the correct spelling of those two. Similar to X-Men.
-
Sent
-
Did a third ranking today. Top 5 are solid. Bottom 2 are solid. Rest seem to shift, some considerably. I'll keep doing these every few days and then send what seems like the best representation.
THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT!
-
Sure, I'll join this one too.
-
I have no doubt my list will appear “weird” to some, but we all have our preferences. There are some flavors of the MCU that I absolutely love and some I don’t care for much. So regardless of how popular or highly-regarded a certain film is among the fans, if I don’t care about the character(s) then it’s not going to rank high.
-
As each person sends theirs to me, after I input it, I have been sending a "received" message back that quotes the original list so that I don't have to deal with a slew of PM's once the rankings start asking for lists to be sent back for those who didn't keep theirs. :lol Guys, let me know if any of you didn't get the response back.
-
:lol yeah that was me with the TV shows because I did it on the fly. I did this one with that rankings engine though so I've still got the csv with my results.
-
Sent.
-
I remembered to cc myself this time :lol
-
15 lists in. The last few definitely had some anomalies that shook some things up near both the top and bottom. Anyone else who is thinking of playing, get those lists in!
-
List sent.
It was tougher than I thought. I hated my first list, so I did it twice and the second list I was much happier with, so I sent that as is.
-
Worked mine into tier lists first.
6 Great Movies (phase 4 adds 1)
9 Good Movies (phase 4 adds 3)
5 Solid Entries (phase 4 adds 2)
3 Less than Average (phase 4 adds 1).
I honestly don't think there has been a outright bad MCU film yet.
-
I honestly don't think there has been a outright bad MCU film yet.
I agree. Even the worst MCU movie is better than the bulk of the DCU movies.
-
I honestly don't think there has been a outright bad MCU film yet.
I agree. Even the worst MCU movie is better than the bulk of the DCU movies.
Agreed. Even #23 on my list is still a movie I would rewatch and enjoy.
-
I honestly don't think there has been a outright bad MCU film yet.
I agree. Even the worst MCU movie is better than the bulk of the DCU movies.
Agreed. Even #23 on my list is still a movie I would rewatch and enjoy.
Yup. 23 and 22 were easy for me, but I can still enjoy them. And they would both rank above a few of the phase 4 movies.
I did my rankings like 6 times. First 6 or 7 were always the same and my bottom 2 were always the same. And oddly my number 10 was always the same. The rest switched around a lot so I just put together what seemed to be close enough. I was never good at rankings so a movie being 20 instead of 14 probably isn't a huge indicator for me.
-
I honestly don't think there has been a outright bad MCU film yet.
I agree. Even the worst MCU movie is better than the bulk of the DCU movies.
Agreed. Even #23 on my list is still a movie I would rewatch and enjoy.
Yup. 23 and 22 were easy for me, but I can still enjoy them. And they would both rank above a few of the phase 4 movies.
There is one phase 4 movie that challenges my #23 for the bottom spot - but I'd really have to watch that movie again though before deciding which is the worst.
-
Thor 4 is worse. Trust me.
-
Thor 4 is worse. Trust me.
I was referring to Wakanda Forever.
-
Thor 4 is worse. Trust me.
I was referring to Wakanda Forever.
And you and I are back to disagreeing. Mmmm, home sweet home.
-
Thor 4 is worse. Trust me.
I was referring to Wakanda Forever.
And you and I are back to disagreeing. Mmmm, home sweet home.
I was joking as you were (?) we both know the worst movie of phase 4 is clearly Spiderman : No Way Home, right?
-
Thor 4 is worse. Trust me.
I was referring to Wakanda Forever.
And you and I are back to disagreeing. Mmmm, home sweet home.
I was joking as you were (?) we both know the worst movie of phase 4 is clearly Spiderman : No Way Home, right?
Oh I wasn't joking. I thought Thor 4 was one of the worst MCU movies I've seen. Granted MoM and Eternals aren't much better.
-
Thor 4 is worse. Trust me.
I was referring to Wakanda Forever.
And you and I are back to disagreeing. Mmmm, home sweet home.
I was joking as you were (?) we both know the worst movie of phase 4 is clearly Spiderman : No Way Home, right?
Oh I wasn't joking. I thought Thor 4 was one of the worst MCU movies I've seen. Granted MoM and Eternals aren't much better.
Eternals is truthfully the one. But I'd need to see it again, as I saw it on D+ as my expectations were low based on the negativity that it generated. I remember halfway though I was really quite enjoying it - but the second half took a plot turn that really soured the film for me. Thor 4 is in the Solid tier for me - which means there are at least 4 films I like less.
-
Thor 4 is worse. Trust me.
I was referring to Wakanda Forever.
Oh god I hope you forgot to put this in green font.
-
The votes are in, they have been tallied, and the countdown is ready to begin! Stay tuned for #23 early tomorrow.
-
The votes are in, they have been tallied, and the countdown is ready to begin! Stay tuned for #23 early tomorrow.
Bosk…thank you for doing this
-
The votes are in, they have been tallied, and the countdown is ready to begin! Stay tuned for #23 early tomorrow.
Bosk…thank you for doing this
Yup agree. Should be fun.
-
:corn
-
:corn
-
:corn
-
Let's GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
Coming in at #23 in our phase 1 - phase 3 ranking: Thor: the Dark World
Highest ranking: #12 (DreamTeam)
Lowest ranking: #23 (TheLetterM, hefdaddy42, lonestar, axeman90210)
Interesting stats: Out of 17 lists, this film finished in the bottom 4 on 13 of them.
The second film for Thor's solo outings. Even in the comics, Thor has proven to be a difficult character to work with. His storylines have been all over the place. And I think the MCU had similar struggles with him. He's a great character with some great stories. But making him fit into the first three phases of the MCU was a challenge, and the results were mixed. But while this film may not have been upper tier as a standalone, a lot of what happened in it had really big payoffs in the latter half of phase 3. That said, I understand why it's hard to hold a movie in high esteem in the Marvel canon when its main protagonist is hard to relate to, its main antagonists feel generic, and its secondary antagonist turned hero is probably the best character on screen at this point.
I also have to say that, while this film stayed in the bottom 5 for the entire time I was getting submissions, it didn't fall below #21 until the last few lists, where it continued to receive low marks, but two films that had been below got boosts from unexpected high rankings.
Personally, I ranked this one at 20. Prior to the MCU, superhero movies were hit and miss. And even the best ones still didn't feel like "great" movies to most viewers. To me, this film felt more like some of the best of those non-MCU movies. It was quirky, and the full-on cosmic aspect of it made it different from most of what we had up to this point. But it also felt like kind of a logical extension of where we were going next after The Avengers. And by the end of the end-credits scene, we were again starting to feel like we were building to something much bigger than what was going on in just this film. Despite some beats of the movie feeling a bit off, I really enjoyed it. And for the first three phases of the MCU, I largely disagree with the Marvel villain critique, and that goes for this film as well--yeah, Malekith and the dark elves may have felt "generic" and one-dimensional, but it was fine and worked in the context of the story.
-
Well, obviously I agree wholeheartedly with this first ranking. :lol
IMO, the least of these, although not a terrible film, all things considered.
-
I had Dark World at 18, and I really think it gets a bad rap. In fact, it has gone up in my rewatch of the MCU, and I feel the movie has aged ridiculously well. I love the storyline with the Dark Elves, the ether, and Loki’s redemption.
I know that people tend to rate it really low but last place is a bit disappointing. I actually like it better than Ragnarok at this point.
-
21 for me.
I think there are 3 weaker MCU movies in the first 3 phases - and this is the best of those. It's biggest crime is that's its just a bit bland and forgettable and adds very little to the MCU.
-
First, I'll say that outside of the bottom 3 MCU movies (to be revealed), every movie is at worst, a good movie.
I ranked this at 16. Probably could have moved up a bit more, maybe landed lower on a different day, but overall I think it's a fine movie. I've been on the "I don't get the hate for this movie" train since it came out. I enjoyed it in 2013, and still think it's a good movie. I thought that Malekith was fine as a villain, given the back story it received.
-
This was dead last on my list. Just completely forgettable, with the most generic villain of the MCU.
-
My main reasons for having this higher than expected in the rankings is primarily due to Hiddleston, for me definitely his finest performance in the MCU and I really disliked how he became Bro Loki later on. He is perfectly dark, devious, and edgy in TDW. I guess the 2nd reason is I just prefer the movies featuring the main 6 Avengers more than others.
-
First, I'll say that outside of the bottom 3 MCU movies (to be revealed), every movie is at worst, a good movie.
Quoted for truth. Malekith was such an uninspirational villain, and with all the lore of the Dark Elves in the comics, I think they were largely wasted in this story. It was one thing for Thor to be foolishly arrogant in the origin movie, but to be so stupidly arrogant in this one trying to destroy the aether was smdh. Lots of other minor nits I had with this one, but it - despite being not great - is still fairly enjoyable. #22 for me.
-
The Dark World - number 21 for me. I have to admit I haven't watched this whole movie for a while so I am judging my ranking on my feelings at the time. But I thought this movie was a major let down and had a very weak villan.
-
I think people who ranked this at 23 are severely underrating it and being extremely unfair.
I had it at 22.
Honestly, it's a film I mostly enjoy when I'm watching. I don't think the MCU has any bad movies (at least not till phase 4) but this one definitely qualifies as less than good. A lot of it is really enjoyable, especially Loki and the stuff with Friga. Thor is...there....I guess...and doing what the plot calls on him to do. But the villain is just really what drags this down. There's nothing inherently bad about whatever their names are, but there's nothing inherently....anything about them. They are bad guys for the sake of having bad guys. Their motivation is to bring darkness to the universe cause they like it dark? Ugh. Not buying that. At all. Beyond that the actors are playing them with all of the charisma of a dead mop.
So in the end you have some great moments, with some really interesting action, centered around a plot that has no impact on us or invites an investment and villains who don't even try to be memorable or worthy of our concern or interest.
But yea. Not surprised this is so low. Still an enjoyable movie, but really seemed to lose its way.
-
23. Thor: The Dark World
22. ?
21. ?
20. ?
19. ?
18. ?
17. ?
16. ?
15. ?
14. ?
13. ?
12. ?
11. ?
10. ?
09. ?
08. ?
07. ?
06. ?
05. ?
04. ?
03. ?
02. ?
01. ?
I'm not surprised to see I wasn't the only one who placed TDW last. For me, the film's only redeeming qualities are Loki's arc, the reframing of certain events post-TDW, and the end-credits scene which sets up the Collector nicely. Otherwise, it's another case of "Wasted Potential Villain" and a meandering plot that made Jane a damsel-in-distress. It felt like a victim of the "We need to have an Infinity Stone as the center of a film" scenario more so than films like GOTG Vol. 1 and Doctor Strange 1.
-Marc.
-
#22: And Man and the Wasp
Highest ranking: #13 (ZirconBlue)
Lowest ranking: #23 (jingleboy)
Stats of note: Finished pretty consistently in the 17-22 range. But those late votes I mentioned earlier that took another film up a couple of places knocked this one down.
The second Ant Man film, much like the first one, came after a bigger, more action-packed Marvel team-up movie. Like the first one, it felt like just a fun, lighthearted pallet cleanser...until that post-credits scene telling us just where this fit into the timeline. The movie was a logical extension of the first film, had a lot of tie-ins, and built up all the characters to the point where the post-credits scene and beginning of Endgame had emotional impact. To me, this was a great solo effort, and is right up there with the other solo film sequels (and better than some).
I had this one at #17. There wasn't really anything I disliked about it or anything that took me out of the moment. So it's hard for me to see why some ranked it last or second to last, other than other films just being better. Only thing that was a bit out of place is Janet inexplicably having powers. But in the context of a make-believe universe where powered people, the quantum realm, the multiverse, and aliens exist, and others have gotten powers in hokey ways, it didn't feel that out of place. It was fun. It had sufficient stakes. And I just enjoyed it. Not to mention it got me ever more hyped for Endgame.
-
Pretty on spot so far...
23- Thor 2
22- Ant Man and the Wasp
I should say even at the bottom, I still occasionally visit these films. I just love MCU films as disposable entertainment in general.
-
I had this at # 20. Good, but not spectacular.
-
Wow, much lower.
I had it at 18 I think.
Not a perfect movie and sadly a waste of a great actor as the villain, but overall a lot of fun. I think it needed a re-write to be even better but the ideas were all solid and the actors sold the parts well. The action was a lot of fun, the visuals were great, and of course it was charming as hell.
Really enjoyed it but it definitely isn't a the top of my rewatch list cause it did feel a bit empty.
-
#18 for me.
Not a bad movie at all, pretty enjoyable and a good follow up to the first Ant Man. Good acting all around, I just think Ghost was a bit forgettable, just not a good villain. And Walton Goggin's character felt out of place.
Overall, good movie, just needed some more work to be a great movie.
-
Completely unmemorable for me, and I found it incredible that I could care less about a villain than Malekith. I genuinely have zero recollection about this film. Ghost was the villain, but I don't remember what or why for. I also seem to remember them trying just a little too hard with Pena's storytelling cutscene.
-
Ant Man and the Wasp - agree it is a completely forgettable movie but I still didn't think it would rank as low number 22. I had it at 18.
-
20 for me. Worst of the solid tier, perfectly watchable but also rather forgettable. And yes ghost was a weak villain, and I never really got the love for Pena's fast cut storytelling. Also Scott seemed dumbed down for comic effect.
-
22 for me. Literally the most forgettable Marvel movie, I couldn't tell you a single thing about it besides the post-credits scene without looking it up on wiki first.
-
You all have hurt me deeply. (I mean, even more than Jingle does on a regular basis)
-
(https://media.tenor.com/1hBFa0ddYKcAAAAC/kingsley-iaintevenmad.gif)
-
#22: And Man and the Wasp
Highest ranking: #13 (ZirconBlue)
Lowest ranking: #23 (jingleboy)
Stats of note: Finished pretty consistently in the 17-22 range. But those late votes I mentioned earlier that took another film up a couple of places knocked this one down.
23. Thor: The Dark World
22. ?
21. ?
20. ?
19. Ant-Man And The Wasp
18. ?
17. ?
16. ?
15. ?
14. ?
13. ?
12. ?
11. ?
10. ?
09. ?
08. ?
07. ?
06. ?
05. ?
04. ?
03. ?
02. ?
01. ?
And Man... I don't think it was THAT bad. Definitely a lower-tier MCU film for sure, but like it's fellow 2nd-film Thor: The Dark World, I think it'll benefit from some reframing and future stories that'll expand upon things that were set-up in that film, like the return of Ghost in Thunderbolts, or who Sonny Birch's mysterious buyer was. Either way, it did feel like they were trying to cram a lot into a sequel for a film that already had a stacked ensemble cast. It seems like Ant-Man is following in the steps of Thor in terms of his trilogy - decent-to-good origin film, a middling sequel, and a third film that most folks (will) love.
-Marc.
-
And then a fourth that is an absolute steaming pile of shyte?
-
I will say any man and wasp was one of the hardest movies to know where to place.
-
Maybe I just had somewhat of an "advantage" not being familiar with Ghost from the comics, in that I didn't feel let down by the character. The thing is, the stakes in this film were fairly "low" in the grand scheme of things. This wasn't a world-ending sort of threat or beyond. And Eva wasn't really a true "villain" in most senses of the word. She was wronged by her circumstances and the government, and just wanted to be normal again. She was desperate and ruthless in her methods, but it was understandable. I thought she worked in that context, and that the stakes in the film were appropriate to what was going on. And, as such, I liked it. Anyhow, not trying to persuade anyone. Just explaining why I dug it. And all that said, I still ranked it fairly low as well, all things considered.
Anyhow, as far a rankings, I'm in a different physical location today and won't have access to my spreadsheet until later tonight, so I'm unfortunately going to be a bit late posting the next one. I'll either post it late tonight, or I'll double dip tomorrow. Feel free to speculate what the next two will be. Honestly, the bottom 5 probably won't surprise many.
-
Ghost is very different in the comics, but I think that's for the best.
In the comics, from what I've seen of him, Ghost was just a thief who could phase. I don't remember any interesting back story or character arc. So the changes were good, they just were rushed through in the movie. It was a great idea that needed to be fleshed out a lot more. Maybe getting rid of the whole benefactor whatever plot may have helped give it time.
The main villain that I feel was very ruined from the comics was Taskmaster. That was a super fun and charismatic character stripped down a zombie almost.
-
If I had to guess, I would say the next two movies will be from Phase 1 :)
-
Feel free to speculate what the next two will be. Honestly, the bottom 5 probably won't surprise many.
I was expecting Incredible Hulk in the bottom 2. Surely that'll be very soon?
-
I suspect a phase 3 film that would've been better in phase 1.
-
I suspect a phase 3 film that would've been better in phase 1.
I would be very surprised if anyone ranked that higher than me.
-
I suspect a phase 3 film that would've been better in phase 1.
I would be very surprised if anyone ranked that higher than me.
I definitely didn’t.
-
I never even knew Ghost from the comics, so I had no frame of reference. She just didn't click whatsoever with me. Maybe I'll have a different opinion when I re-watch both Ant-Man movies leading up to Quantumania.
-
#21: The Incredible Hulk
Highest ranking: #10 (jingle.boy)
Lowest ranking: #23 (bosk1, Vmadera00, faizoff, ZirconBlue)
Stats of note: The vast majority put this one in the bottom two. But a few late votes that ranked it much higher lifted it above #22 and #23.
I remember at the time this came out, I didn't know it was necessarily connected to Iron Man and didn't know it wasn't connected to the Ang Lee Hulk film. But it was better. Overall, this was a good film, but the MCU was still finding its feet. I think my initial reaction was along the lines of, "Hmm, not bad." And that's still about how I feel. It was good, but not great, and that was fine. I ranked it at #23 personally. But no hate at all. It just didn't do it for me like a lot of the other films.
#20: Captain Marvel
Highest rank: #7 (soupytwist)
Lowest rank: #23 (MetalJunkie, Adami, Joe, DarkChestofWonders)
Stat notes: This one was kind of all over the place within the range outlined above, but got quite a few last place finishes.
This movie had issues. By and large, it was a character few wanted or felt we needed to see. But it was a character that brought hope after the snap. But the CGI was at times REALLY bad (on the de-aging), the writing was at times VERY poor, character beats were juvenile and inconsistent with other things built up, the main character's power level was REALLY inconsistent, Captain Marvel wasn't a likeable character, Brie Larson did her absolute best to make herself even more unlikeable during her press junkets...and yet, this movie had a lot of really fun beats as well. What they tried to do by showing Danvers struggling to learn to pick herself up and be her own person, and by showing her struggles to regain her memory AND her personhood, were hit and miss. But when they hit, they were actually charming and done pretty well, and I gave the film a few points for that. That's why it isn't last. Still a fun, good movie. But it felt like they missed more than they hit with this one, which was a shame, because I really wanted it to be better.
-
#21: The Incredible Hulk
Highest ranking: #10 (jingle.boy)
Lowest ranking: #23 (bosk1, Vmadera00, faizoff, ZirconBlue)
Stats of note: The vast majority put this one in the bottom two. But a few late votes that ranked it much higher lifted it above #22 and #23.
#20: Captain Marvel
Highest rank: #7 (soupytwist)
Lowest rank: #23 (MetalJunkie, Adami, Joe, DarkChestofWonders)
Stat notes: This one was kind of all over the place within the range outlined above, but got quite a few last place finishes.
23. Thor: The Dark World
22. The Incredible Hulk
21. ?
20. ?
19. Ant-Man And The Wasp
18. Captain Marvel
17. ?
16. ?
15. ?
14. ?
13. ?
12. ?
11. ?
10. ?
09. ?
08. ?
07. ?
06. ?
05. ?
04. ?
03. ?
02. ?
01. ?
Both aren't bad movies, but are definitely in the lower tiers of my rankings. I think TIH tried to do a lot but couldn't accomplish everything it wanted to do, but now that they've been bringing back elements of that film since Phase 3, it could improve with the future of the MCU. Just give us Betty back.
As for Captain Marvel, the ensemble cast was great but everything else felt a bit flat for me. The de-aging tech on Fury and Coulson was one of the best things about the film IMO. I know a lot of folks dislike the portrayal of Carol here, but given she was brainwashed by the Kree, it's easy to understand why she was so stiff and emotionless most of the film. I think The Marvels will show us what Brie can really do as Carol, which was only hinted at in Endgame.
-Marc.
-
So, apparently I liked TIH the most? Hmph. Not sure why it gets slagged so much. I guess I just don't see to many glaringly obviously flaws that I have to overlook to enjoy the movie. I liked that we didn't get an true origin story the way every other OG character did. I felt the pace was good, the action good, the acting good, the motivations of Bruce, Ross (both of them), Blonski were all fleshed out and believable, and the plot circumstances connected logically to a fitting conclusion.
And I still like the CGI for Norton-Hulk better than Ruffalo-Hulk.
-
Looks like I had Hulk at 17 and CM at 23.
I didn't hate either movie. I actually really enjoyed Hulk. I just liked 16 other movies more.
And for CM.....it was just boring to me. Ben was great as the Skrull, but everything else felt flat for me. I did tear up at the Stan Lee cameo, and I really love Brie Larson. I don't blame her at all. I just feel like the writers or directors didn't really have a strong vision for who they wanted Carol to be, so they were just left with not much at all. And you can credit her blah ness to whatever you want in the story, but you're still left with a mostly lifeless character.
I know the character can be better and I have full trust in Brie Larson to do that. She just needs to given a more strongly written character or be better directed.
-
Incredible Hulk - #23
Captain Marvel - #20
TIH is a fine movie, but it is by far the one MCU movie I have no desire to see again. Even my #22 (yet to be revealed) is much more enjoyable to me. Maybe I need to rewatch it to remind myself why I didn't like it, who knows maybe it will change my mind.
CM - Agree with everything Bosk and Adami said about this movie. Not a bad movie overall, just felt flat most of the time and there was little charm to the character itself. I hope in her future appearances is a bit better.
-
Definitely enjoy both, though Hulk a bit more, never really got the animosity for it. I can totally understand some of the criticism on Marvel, mostly centered around Brie's flat delivery of the character.
23- Thor 2
22- Ant Man and the Wasp
21- Captain Marvel
19- The Incredible Hulk
-
I had Hulk at 11 and Captain Marvel at 14. Peter David had an incredible (ha ha) run as the writer of TIH comic for over 10 years in the 80s and 90s, really developing a great storyline of Banner as a split personality and his relationship with his (abusive) father, Betty, Ross etc. Most of this run featured the intelligent Hulk so there was no limit on what he could do with the character. Near and dear to me.
-
The Incredible Hulk - I had this at 22 and am surprised it got higher than that overall, mainly because it is a bit of a forgotten movie - definitely is for me anyway. Seen it once, thought it was ok.
Captail Marvel - I had at 20. I really just do not like Brie Larson in the part of Captain Marvel, I'm just not a fan of the way she plays the character. To me she doesn't play the character in a way that resonates and connects with the audience, her performance is detached and withdrawn and lacking any feeling. She may as well be a female Terminator. She is obviously in for the long haul though so will see if she can improve her performance going forward.
-
Hulk at 22 - meh.
Captain Marvel at 7. Yeah loved it, loved we finally got a movie with Nick Fury front and centre, loved Ben as Talos, loved that we actually got a plot twist (as long as you don't read the comics), loved the arc of the main character, loved Goose and the Coulson cameo was fun.
Brie is fine in the role, her little pick me up to Peter Parker in Endgame shows what she can do now the character is fully developed.
.
-
#19: Iron Man 2
Highest ranking: #3 (DarkChestofWonders)
Lowest ranking: #23 (TheRealm, soupytwist)
Stat notes: Aside from the outlyer at #3, the next highest ranking was two people ranking this at #10 (DreamTeam and Joe). Otherwise, about 2/3 of the votes put this one in the bottom 5.
The second Iron Man flim wasn't as good as the first. There isn't much controversy there. The spectacle was bigger, and the effects budget appeared to be as well. But the stakes were relatively low, the villain was "just ok" (some would say he was really bad, but I wouldn't go that far), and the story wasn't hugely groundbreaking. But a lot of people largely didn't care. We liked the first movie more than we thought we would, and this was giving us more character development for a character we found that we already liked, in a new comics universe that was promising something big on the horizon, and we were just happy to see it unfolding. As solo efforts go, it is definitely not in the upper tier for most. But it was setting the table for things to come, and the MCU was still findings its feet, and it worked just fine in that context.
For me, I ranked this one very low: #22 in fact. I didn't really like where they were going with Tony's character for a good portion of the movie. But at the same time, it totally fit. In many ways, he was hitting bottom. He was still DEEP in the character flaws that we learned about in the first movie, but was now still the spoiled rich kid with newfound popularity and abilities that were taking him down a bad path, and the events of this film helped provide a means for nudging him down a path of course-correction. I liked this film, but it isn't one I want to go back to very often. And I'm embarrassed for Tony's character for the first act, which doesn't help. I think if I had to re-rank these again, I would put it a spot or 2 higher--still bottom 5, but probably higher in that batch.
-
I had this at 20.
I actually enjoyed this more on the rewatches that I thought I would. My problem isn't really with the villains, as each is good on their own. Justin Hammer is a great villain that needed more time and development. Angry Russian dude could have been a great villain if he had more time and development. Having both of them at the same time meant both were half baked, but I still liked them. They each had good motivations and were played well. Neither wanted "Darkness for the universe" or to have power for the sake power. One was a mirror image of Tony Stark as opposed to Iron Man and one was a mirror version of Iron Man as opposed to Tony Stark. Good potential there with good actors, just needed to not be in the same movie.
My issue is the meandering of the story. It just kind of goes here and then there and then there without much purpose of sense of direction. So it was hard to really connect with what was happening as they seemed to be making it up as they went. Which is odd since they WERE doing that on the first Iron Man but it didn't feel like that.
Also might be easier to do the rating thing too.
23. Captain Marvel
22. Thor: The Dark World
21. ??
20. Iron Man 2
19. ??
18. Ant Man and The Wasp
17. The Incredible Hulk
16. ??
15. ??
14. ??
13. ??
12. ??
11. ??
10. ??
9. ??
8. ??
7. ??
6. ??
5. ??
4. ??
3. ??
2. ??
1. ??
-
I like this one...and always enjoy it on a re-watch. Granted it introduces my favorite MCU character in Natasha, so that definitely influences my enjoyment of it. Very surprised to see this below IM3.
23- Thor 2
22- Ant Man and the Wasp
21- Captain Marvel
20-
19- The Incredible Hulk
18-
17-
16-
15- Iron Man 2
14-
13-
12-
11-
10-
9-
8-
7-
6-
5-
4-
3-
2-
1-
-
@Adami: I see what you are saying about Hammer and Vanko, but I actually think they worked fine in the same movie together, and they played well off of each other.
@RJ: I liked the introduction of Natasha in IM2 as well. If I had thought about that, that also would have likely bumped it up a couple of spots in my ranking as well. I had kinda forgotten that that is her introduction, but it was done pretty well. They didn't try to do too much with her, but set the stage nicely. We got just enough that everything we saw from her in Avengers (1) was believable and logical and (2) added depth to someone we already knew, even though we didn't know much. And I get that part of the reason they probably didn't do too much with her in IM2 is because they didn't yet know what they wanted to do with her. But that worked, so win-win.
On a different note, now that we have the bottom 5 fleshed out, here's another observation: 2 are from phase 1, 1 from phase 2, and 2 from phase 3. So it is spread out among all 3 phases. Which is cool. Without spoiling, I'll say that that remains true up and down the list.
-
#19: Iron Man 2
Highest ranking: #3 (DarkChestofWonders)
Lowest ranking: #23 (TheRealm, soupytwist)
Stat notes: Aside from the outlyer at #3, the next highest ranking was two people ranking this at #10 (DreamTeam and Joe). Otherwise, about 2/3 of the votes put this one in the bottom 5.
23. Thor: The Dark World
22. The Incredible Hulk
21. ?
20. ?
19. Ant-Man And The Wasp
18. Captain Marvel
17. Iron Man 2
16. ?
15. ?
14. ?
13. ?
12. ?
11. ?
10. ?
09. ?
08. ?
07. ?
06. ?
05. ?
04. ?
03. ?
02. ?
01. ?
Had IM2 at 17th, and now I'm wondering if my 20th and 21st ranked films are coming up soon.
I remember loving this when it came out because we got War Machine and some awesome action scenes, as well as a great performance from Rockwell as Hammer, but it hasn't aged as well as I'd hoped upon rewatches. Whiplash is a bit of a let-down villain, but not awful, but the film is just OK over-all.
-Marc.
-
My 23.
This one is as close to bad as these movies get. Apart from Black Widow there is nothing of note in this movie - bland villains, meandering plot, no decent action (and that God Awful Monaco sequence), Tony's gone from being a loveable asshole to a straight out unlikeable asshole.
The Eternals might be worse though!
-
Tony's gone from being a loveable asshole to a straight out unlikeable asshole.
Exactly my point. But even though I didn't like that, in the context of his overall MCU arc, I'm...kinda glad they did it that way.
The Eternals might be worse though!
"Maybe?" No, it definitely is. Worst MCU movie by a long shot, and one of the worst movies I have ever wasted my time seeing. Probably did more to sour me on the MCU as a whole than anything else, which is saying a lot given how lackluster phase 4 has been as a whole, film-wise.
-
Got some catching up to do
Ant Man and the Wasp I had at 22.
I was spot on with this one. I still love it, and it's important to the story arc moving forward, but this is one of the few where I thought the villain was poor. (I disagree with most people about poor MCU villains most of the time, but not this one) I'm curious to see where the third movie will take Michelle Pfieffer's character as I thought that was actually brilliant casting. For the short time she was in the film she did really well.
I have The Incredible Hulk at 15
I actually like this one a lot. As someone pointed out, this one actually gets better with repeated viewings. Great character motivation and an excellent job establishing the character by Ed Norton. It's too bad he was unwilling to play ball and just go with the what the MCU was writing. (My understanding was that since he already had some acclaim as a writer himself, Marvel should have let him in the writing room. They didn't want an actor from the team to have more pull in the writing department than the others. This led to a less than friendly split) But ultimately, I think the more mellow version of Bruce we got from Mark Ruffalo worked better for the Avengers team moving forward. Not sure Ed Norton would have been happy taking a back seat to RDJ and CE....the established "leaders".
Captain Marvel #17
I did think Brie played it a bit too wooden, but the story sticks with me. My wife grew up in an extremely misogynistic household (her father almost divorced mom just for getting a job) and I'm actually very touched by the over arcing theme of this person continuing to get back up no matter how many times she gets pushed down by those who tell her she shouldn't be "playing with the boys". So I look at this as Carol's "awakening" and it works on that level. (still don't like the "Just a Girl" music on the final battle. I get that the lyrics are a perfect match, but the music is way too "jaunty" for a final battle scene. There are so many angry girl anthems from that time period that would have worked so much better. Something from L7 or Hole or Liz Phair.)
Iron Man 2 is #20 for me
Close to the aggregate on this one. In retrospect, I have IM3 rated a tad lower, and now I think that was a mistake and if I had to do it over again I would probably switch them. IM2's villains were better (a lot better) but Tony's character arc is so much more personal in IM3. Between those two things, I have them very close in the rankings. But as far as IM2 goes, I actually really like Vanko and Hammer. "That is not my bird." Tends to be a line that cracks me up a lot. But the motivations are spot on. Hammer is the weasel who is jealous of Tony, and Vanko wants revenge...and is also jealous of Tony. Personally I like how well written Tony is in this movie. Because that tends to be the case with these types. Billionaire playboy gets to a point where he feels untouchable, only to have everything blow up in his face. Even his own friends. This is absolutely necessary to the next phase of his story arc. Meh....maybe I'm back to liking IM2 more. It's honestly almost a coin toss.
-
Iron Man 2 - number 23 for me. Yep, something had to be on the bottom. I just really didn't like this movie and thought it was a huge let down after the first Iron Man. I also haven't revisited it so maybe I would feel different if I did a rewatch but as it stands this is where it ends up.
-
#18: Guardians of the Galaxy 2
Highest ranking: #8 (DarkChestofWonders)
Lowest ranking: #22 (faizoff)
This one was ranked all over the place. I personally had it at 19. It has climbed a bit because it truly has some great emotional beats and further develops the "family" theme, and it does a good job of that. But it is also overly crass and childish, which is why it is so low. And Ego just didn't really work for me. Seemed like a concept that could have been cool that just feel flat in the end. Not much more to say than that.
-
My 14.
Odd one for me. Left the cinema on first viewing disappointed by it, but re watched it a couple of times since and enjoyed it more.
-
Iron Man 2: #19 for me.
Enjoyable movie, but the plot itself felt force. Highlight is that this is the first time we see Natasha.
Guardians of the Galaxy 2: #12
This is a movie that really depends on my mood. Is a fun film, enjoyable with just enough drama. On a bad day, it could drop to 17-19. But I think #12 is as high as I would ever put it. The issue I had with this movie is that you cannot introduce Ego, such a powerful being, and have him so easily defeteated (in a way).
-
Exactly where I had it. Entertain, but really not mind blowing for me.
23- Thor 2
22- Ant Man and the Wasp
21- Captain Marvel
20-
19- The Incredible Hulk
18- Guardians of the Galaxy 2
17-
16-
15- Iron Man 2
14-
13-
12-
11-
10-
9-
8-
7-
6-
5-
4-
3-
2-
1-
-
#18: Guardians of the Galaxy 2
Highest ranking: #8 (DarkChestofWonders)
Lowest ranking: #22 (faizoff)
23. Thor: The Dark World
22. The Incredible Hulk
21. ?
20. ?
19. Ant-Man And The Wasp
18. Captain Marvel
17. Iron Man 2
16. ?
15. ?
14. Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2
13. ?
12. ?
11. ?
10. ?
09. ?
08. ?
07. ?
06. ?
05. ?
04. ?
03. ?
02. ?
01. ?
I had GOTG Vol. 2 at 14th, very middle-of-the-road MCU. I enjoy it a lot, but it's not quite top ten material for me.
-Marc.
-
Pretty close to where I had this one. It's been a while since I watched it, but my recollection is that it was trying to do too much. Bringing the Ravagers back together in a whole Kumbaya moment seemed forced. Though, Yondu/Mary Poppins was great. The opening sequence was a bit of a hot mess, imo... and Nebula's turn seemed completely out of left field. Good flick none-the-less.
23. Ant Man and the Wasp
22. Thor: The Dark World
21. Captain Marvel
20. Iron Man 2
19
18
17
16. Guardians of the Galaxy 2
15
14
13
12
11
10. The Incredible Hulk
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
-
Catchup time;
The Incredible Hulk I had at 18. I think this catches a little bit of unnecessary flak from MCU fans in retrospect because of the casting change, but it was an OK movie. I found Blonksy much more interesting in his recent run on She-Hulk than here though.
Captain Marvel was #13 on my list. It's certainly not a perfect origin movie, but I also feel like it suffers from essentially being a phase 1 movie released in the middle of phase 3.
Iron Man 2 I put at 21. I agree with a lot of what Adami said, a few different interesting threads but they didn't tie together well.
Guardians 2 was #19 for me. This one dropped in the rankings because of a very underwhelming villain. The cast was still great, and I really liked Yondu's arc through it.
-
Guardians 2 - number 20 for me. This one really didn't resonate with me the same way the first Guardians did. I felt this movie was bloated and overly long.
Interesting that all the movies revealed so far are my 18th to 23rd ranked movies but none in the exact spot as the actual reveal.
Actual
23 Iron Man 2 19
22 The Incredible Hulk 21
21 Thor: The Dark World 23
20 Guardians of the Galaxy 2 18
19 Captain Marvel 20
18 Ant Man and the Wasp 22
-
GOTG2 was #19 for me.
Even though I thought Kurt Russell did the character extremely well, and I thought the father/son angle was a good idea, I thought the motivation of just “getting his seed out there til something lived” was really really stupid. But in spite of that, I thought the reveal that he had given cancer to his mom was a huge emotional moment that stuck the landing they were going for. And then stacking that on top of the Vondu declaration of being his daddy brought all the emotions to a great climactic moment.
Yup…I totally cried. Mission accomplished.
-
And then stacking that on top of the Vondu declaration of being his daddy brought all the emotions to a great climactic moment.
Yup…I totally cried. Mission accomplished.
Agreed, Yondu's sacrifice was probably the best part of the film for me as well. A real shame that even the good father figures in the MCU have to die.
-Marc.
-
#17: Iron Man 3
Highest ranking: #2! (DarkChestofWonders [she REALLY likes Iron Man])
Lowest ranking: #21 (Adami, Joe, jammindude)
Stats of note: Aside from that outlier of a high ranking, there were a decent number of votes in the #11-#13 range, and then quite a few in the bottom 4.
Even for those who may not have liked this movie much, it was some REALLY good character development for Tony that gave some insight into a lot of things that happen right up to his death in Endgame. Some good Rhoadie, Happy, and Pepper moments as well. And we got to see some cool variations of the IM armor.
For me, we have now crossed over from "these are decent MCU movies but have some things that bug me and drag them down" to "I really like this movie!" territory. I really like Iron Man 3. I had it at #12. Yeah, there are a couple of plot beats that are maybe a little clunky, but I thought it was well done overall. I LOVED the darkness around Trevor's Mandarin, the darkness of Tony's PTSD and psychological struggles, and the twist of Trevor being a fake. LOVED all of that. Overall, thought it was a great story, even if it isn't one I revisit all that often.
-
#17: Iron Man 3
Highest ranking: #2! (DarkChestofWonders [she REALLY likes Iron Man])
Lowest ranking: #21 (Adami, Joe, jammindude)
Stats of note: Aside from that outlier of a high ranking, there were a decent number of votes in the #11-#13 range, and then quite a few in the bottom 4.
23. Thor: The Dark World
22. The Incredible Hulk
21. ?
20. Iron Man 3
19. Ant-Man And The Wasp
18. Captain Marvel
17. Iron Man 2
16. ?
15. ?
14. Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2
13. ?
12. ?
11. ?
10. ?
09. ?
08. ?
07. ?
06. ?
05. ?
04. ?
03. ?
02. ?
01. ?
At 20th place, this definitely sits in my bottom quarter of Infinity Saga films. It's not completely awful, and even has some redeeming qualities, but I think the unusual twist did taint my feelings on the film at the time. I also wish there were more buddy-cop moments between Tony and Rhodey. I think in future rewatches, I may appreciate this one more, but as it stands, 20th place is as high as it gets for me.
-Marc.
-
11 For Me.
A lot of heart in this one, with Tony back to being likeable (after IM2) - doesn't break the top ten due to a somewhat formulaic finale.
-
I had this at #20, which in retrospect feels a little bit low. Solid movie, better sequel than IM2.
-
18th for me. For all the good points (mentioned already), there were too many that just bugged the crap out of me. Like, the individual pieces of armour can fly from Tennessee to Miami and Tony can predict within seconds of when it's all going to arrive? Tony sans-armour gets all brave and super-heroey? And don't get me started with the barrel-full-of-monkeys scheme that saves the AF1 crew. I liked the twist with Trevor, but Killian as a villain was just bleh. Right down there at the bottom of the pile of MCU antagonists. And lastly... he might as well have saved Pepper with the snap of his fingers. I didn't like how they just wrapped that up by just wrapping it up.
So yeah... bottom 1/3rd for sure.
-
#15 for me, not much to say than what has been said already. Some fun moments, other questionable ones, but overall a good movie and good follow up to the fight in NY.
-
Had Guardians 2 at 15.
Not a bad movie, but one that just didn't leave me with much. It was fun but felt a bit misguided. I actually DID enjoy the Nebula/Gamora storyline, but the idea that Ego gave Pete's mom cancer just felt super out of left field for me. The rest has already been stated. Some amazing moments, and overall an enjoyable movie.
Had Iron Man 3 at 21.
Again, not a BAD movie. Still largely enjoy it, but they just went way too far too often. Didn't mind The Mandarin twist, and thought the origins of AIM were good, but then when they turned him into a dragon person and the ending was empty drones vs dragon fire people, I just didn't care at all. First 2/3 are good, and the last act just drags is way down. And as Chad pointed out, too many moments of implausibility. Even for an MCU movie.
-
I had Iron Man 3 as number 16. As others have said, this movie has some good moments but overall it didn't reach any real amazing high points like many of the movies still to come.
-
I liked the twist with Trevor, but Killian as a villain was just bleh. Right down there at the bottom of the pile of MCU antagonists.
For those who may not be aware, Killian was not originally supposed to be the (main) villain. Maya Hansen was. What we ended up getting was due to executive meddling by Marvel executives like Ike Perlmutter.
-
#16: Thor
Highest rank: #7 (faizoff)
Lowest: #22 (Vmadera00)
Stats: Nothing really to note. This one was all over the place.
This was the point where phase 1 was starting to feel like something big. We now had all the Avengers in place except Captain America, and we knew he was coming. In and of itself, the movie wasn't great. But it was good, and the characters were likeable, and it was truly starting to feel like we were building toward something big. And Thor had a personality that was different from other heroes.
I had this one at #18. Not one I revisit often, and the cosmic stuff was kinda just there. But the earth-based story was really good.
-
I had Thor at 12, I think this is my biggest outlier to the consensus so far. I really like this movie. It is pretty simple and doesn't go overboard but was a really good introduction for Thor into the MCU.
-
#16: Thor
Highest rank: #7 (faizoff)
Lowest: #22 (Vmadera00)
Stats: Nothing really to note. This one was all over the place.
23. Thor: The Dark World
22. The Incredible Hulk
21. Thor
20. Iron Man 3
19. Ant-Man And The Wasp
18. Captain Marvel
17. Iron Man 2
16. ?
15. ?
14. Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2
13. ?
12. ?
11. ?
10. ?
09. ?
08. ?
07. ?
06. ?
05. ?
04. ?
03. ?
02. ?
01. ?
Looks like my bottom 7 have been 7 of the bottom 8 over-all, which seems comforting to me.
As far as Thor, it's not bad. I just remember all the Dutch angles. There's just so many of them! Surprised to see even at 21st, I wasn't the one who ranked it lowest. On average, I wonder if Thor's trilogy ranked lower than Iron Man, especially since both IM2 and IM3 have ranked lower than Thor.
Also, is it possible to get the revealed list in the OP? I was trying to see the list so far but couldn't find it anywhere. Here it is if anyone needs it:
23. Thor: The Dark World
22. Ant-Man And The Wasp
21. The Incredible Hulk
20. Captain Marvel
19. Iron Man 2
18. Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2
17. Iron Man 3
16. Thor
-Marc.
-
I had this at #15. We're firmly in the territory now of movies that I think are overall well done and don't have any major nitpicks with, the remaining movies were just better.
-
23. Captain Marvel
22. Thor: The Dark World
21. Iron Man 3
20. Iron Man 2
19. ??
18. Ant Man and The Wasp
17. The Incredible Hulk
16. Thor
15. Guardians of the Galaxy 2
14. ??
13. ??
12. ??
11. ??
10. ??
9. ??
8. ??
7. ??
6. ??
5. ??
4. ??
3. ??
2. ??
1. ??
Yea. Had this at 16. Not a bad movie at all, just not 100% sure what it wants to be. Chris Hemsworth did a great job as Thor, Stellan was great, Natalie was fine, and Kat had her two major assets. The introduction of Hawkeye was well done, and it was a good time when Coulson was all over the place. I miss that dude.
The stakes were low and I am fine with that. The universe being in jeopardy is just rarely compelling. The world building was interesting, and the tone was pretty consistent.
Sadly the most recent Thor movie kind of undoes everything Thor learned in this movie, but such is life.
-
Didn't submit a list, but Thor is a top-10 MCU film for me (and only slightly behind Ragnarok).
I love, love, love the 'stranger in a strange land' premise, and the movie has a ton of re-watch value for me, mostly because of the brilliant casting and the very palpable chemistry.
Obviously, Thor goes on a long and winding journey from here, but I'll echo Bosk and say that this represented the point in the time where the MCU had earned my attention going forward.
-
I love, love, love the 'stranger in a strange land' premise, and the movie has a ton of re-watch value for me, mostly because of the brilliant casting and the very palpable chemistry.
Yeah, I agree with those sentiments. I almost feel like I should have ranked it higher. But it's not that it was bad--it's just that the films I ranked ahead of it were just better (or, more accurately, I liked them more).
After we get through ranking the phase 1-3 films, we can also discuss in this thread where we put the phase 4 films in the overall rankings. I did an actual ranking on my own, and I won't prematurely post about that. But I will say that the phase 4 films overall did not fare well against their Infinity Saga counterparts. Of 30 films total, none of phase 4 cracked the top half. But we'll get to that...
-
#13 for me. Thor has always been on of my (if not the) favorite Marvel heroes, back from my teenage years in actually collecting comics. Very good way to tell the origin story not just of Thor, but of Asgard in general. A lot of setup was done with this movie, and for a Phase 1 film, it delivered perfectly what it needed to deliver. I think they fast-tracked the regaining of his worthiness simply by sacrificing himself to the Destroyer, but that's only a minor beef.
-
Very good way to tell the origin story not just of Thor, but of Asgard in general.
Yeah, and I should clarify that when I was referring to "the cosmic stuff" above, that was about the frost giants, and not Asgard. The Asgard stuff actually was cool. What frustrated me, which wasn't this film's fault, was when we got to Ragnarok, and it was like "OK, based on what we've seen in all 3 films, Asgard is pretty cool, but...where's the rest of it?"
-
Well I'm probably the only one that had Thor 2 above Thor. Not that I think Thor is TERRIBLE by any means BUT . . . I have a couple of big problems with this movie. Thor is 1500 years old and learns humility and falls in love in 3 days. Nope not buying it, never will. Very poorly written. Another thing . . . apparently Frost Giants have the same near-immortality that Asgardians do because Thor and Loki are the same age?!?!? WTH. So Loki kept this deception and jealousy and subterfuge under check for hundreds or years . . . ok. Anyway, enough of that stuff. I'm with Bosk on where the hell is the rest of Asgard and its inhabitants?? This is even more of a major problem in Ragnarok for me anyway. There's a couple hundred people on the lifeboat.
Now the earth stuff . . . a lot of it was pretty hokey and goofy. Thor slamming that glass on the floor. They're portraying Thor like he's 14 not 1500. And then when Sif and the Warriors 3 get there it looks like bad Cosplay in a cardboard town, it visually just didn't convince me. Thor overpowers a few guards just using brute force and Coulson is like "where did you learn your skills?" :lol.
Anyway I'll stop complaining, there were a lot of things to like. The leads were good but Hemsworth wasn't 100% sure how to portray the character yet. Got a lot better. Of the Phase 1 films this is the one I definitely liked the least. I had it in the 15-19 range if I remember right.
-
Well I'm probably the only one that had Thor 2 above Thor. Not that I think Thor is TERRIBLE by any means BUT . . . I have a couple of big problems with this movie. Thor is 1500 years old and learns humility and falls in love in 3 days. Nope not buying it, never will. Very poorly written. Another thing . . . apparently Frost Giants have the same near-immortality that Asgardians do because Thor and Loki are the same age?!?!? WTH. So Loki kept this deception and jealousy and subterfuge under check for hundreds or years . . . ok. Anyway, enough of that stuff. I'm with Bosk on where the hell is the rest of Asgard and its inhabitants?? This is even more of a major problem in Ragnarok for me anyway. There's a couple hundred people on the lifeboat.
Now the earth stuff . . . a lot of it was pretty hokey and goofy. Thor slamming that glass on the floor. They're portraying Thor like he's 14 not 1500. And then when Sif and the Warriors 3 get there it looks like bad Cosplay in a cardboard town, it visually just didn't convince me. Thor overpowers a few guards just using brute force and Coulson is like "where did you learn your skills?" :lol.
Anyway I'll stop complaining, there were a lot of things to like. The leads were good but Hemsworth wasn't 100% sure how to portray the character yet. Got a lot better. Of the Phase 1 films this is the one I definitely liked the least. I had it in the 15-19 range if I remember right.
Man .... now you make me wish I rated it lower! :lol
-
#15: Ant Man
Highest ranking: #5 (MetalJunkie)
Lowest ranking: #22 (DreamTeam; DarkChestofWonders)
Stats: Most votes were in the #9-13 range, but it got a few bottom 5 votes that pulled it down a bit.
I remember that all the old school Marvel fans were really excited about the prospect of an Ant Man movie, and then when it came out, nobody was sure what to make of it, since the comedy was ramped WAY up and the tone was very different from other MCU films. Ultimately, I think that worked well for this film and its direct sequel. Ant Man, the movie, was lighthearted and didn't take itself seriously. And yet, it still managed to fit nicely in the MCU. And its lower stakes were a nice "reset" when it began to feel like things were just building and building in a way that some felt wasn't sustainable. This film was a nice, refreshing change of pace.
I ranked it at #16, so I was close to the general consensus. Cross/Yellowjacket felt a bit generic and "phase 1 villain-ish," but that was fine. It's a movie I thoroughly enjoy, even if it isn't a movie I love.
-
^ Pretty much describes my thoughts on the movie. Nothing terribly wrong with it, but nothing terribly impressive about it either.
My rankings so far.
23. Ant Man and the Wasp
22. Thor: The Dark World
21. Captain Marvel
20. Iron Man 2
19. Ant Man
18. Iron Man 3
17.
16. Guardians of the Galaxy 2
15.
14.
13. Thor
12.
11.
10. The Incredible Hulk
9.
8.
7.
6.
5.
4.
3.
2.
1.
-
#15: Ant Man
Highest ranking: #5 (MetalJunkie)
Lowest ranking: #22 (DreamTeam; DarkChestofWonders)
Stats: Most votes were in the #9-13 range, but it got a few bottom 5 votes that pulled it down a bit.
23. Thor: The Dark World
22. The Incredible Hulk
21. Thor
20. Iron Man 3
19. Ant-Man And The Wasp
18. Captain Marvel
17. Iron Man 2
16. Ant-Man
15. ?
14. Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2
13. ?
12. ?
11. ?
10. ?
09. ?
08. ?
07. ?
06. ?
05. ?
04. ?
03. ?
02. ?
01. ?
Looks like my bottom 10 are slowly filling in with Ant-Man at 16th for me. This is a pretty good origin story and first movie for what might one of the better trilogies in the MCU (assuming Quantumania does well). Paul Rudd makes this film, but the rest of the cast is pretty spot on. Very enjoyable, but in terms of villain and plot, still middle-of-the-road MCU (which isn't a bad thing).
-Marc.
-
Well I'm probably the only one that had Thor 2 above Thor.
Well, I had this Thor 1 at #22 when Thor 2 at #16 :)
Seriously, this movie had good premise, and some really fun moments. Overall, just missed on a few points.
Ant Man I had at #11. Fun movie, great characters, and good introduction to Scott. My only issue with this movie is the generic villain.
23: The Incredible Hulk
22: Thor
21:
20: Captain Marvel
19: Iron Man 2
18: Ant Man and the Wasp
17:
16: Thor: The Dark World
15: Iron Man 3
14:
13:
12: Guardians of the Galaxy 2
11: Ant Man
10:
9:
8:
7:
6:
5:
4:
3:
2:
1:
-
23. Captain Marvel
22. Thor: The Dark World
21. Iron Man 3
20. Iron Man 2
19. ??
18. Ant Man and The Wasp
17. The Incredible Hulk
16. Thor
15. Guardians of the Galaxy 2
14. ??
13. Ant Man
12. ??
11. ??
10. ??
9. ??
8. ??
7. ??
6. ??
5. ??
4. ??
3. ??
2. ??
1. ??
Had this at 13.
I really like this movie. I am biased, however, as I am a huge Paul Rudd fan and it's hard for me not to like something he's in. But I thought the characters (minus the Villain) were charming and well done. I thought the action was inventive and new for the MCU and I really liked the humor of it all. Of course the story of a man trying to win back his daughter is great.
Cross.....yea. They got a good actor and even thought of a good motivation but just kind of left it barely developed. The idea of Cross both wanting SO hard to make Hank into an approving father figure and also having his mind screwed with by the experiments themselves would've sold. But they just kind of mentioned it a little and didn't explore it to any meaningful degree, leaving him as a pretty generic bad guy.
I also remember reading about this movie as it developed. If I'm not mistaken, they announced the possibility of Paul Rudd and Rashida Jones as the leads but didn't specify who they'd be playing. It was odd since Hank and Janet were founding Avengers in the comics, so much so that Janet gave them the name, but they were not to be seen in Phase 1 at all. Then of course you had Ultron, who was made by Hank, but who was now made by Tony. So the idea of Paul playing Hank just seemed off. Then they announced he was Scott and it made a bit more sense but I was confused why they'd skip all the way to the second Ant Man and ignore the first. So casting Douglas as Hank and making him basically a retired government hero was clever, but I feel like a good Hank story would've been cool. Ah well. Glad they didn't go with Rashida Jones in the end. I like her a lot too but she's done too much with Paul Rudd and I didn't want this to feel like something we've seen in other comedies a bunch.
-
Thor at 18.
Such an great start, once it gets to earth it slows down - which is fine, but the end battle is weak, almost like they ran out of funds!
Ant-Man at 10.
Just pure fun, love Rudd in this role - the finale battle is actually super inventive and at times laugh out loud (Thomas the Tank).
-
Glad they didn't go with Rashida Jones in the end. I like her a lot too but she's done too much with Paul Rudd and I didn't want this to feel like something we've seen in other comedies a bunch.
So, Leslie Mann would've been a no-go for you as well? :lol
-
Glad they didn't go with Rashida Jones in the end. I like her a lot too but she's done too much with Paul Rudd and I didn't want this to feel like something we've seen in other comedies a bunch.
So, Leslie Mann would've been a no-go for you as well? :lol
In the movie? Correct. For other purposes? Hmmmm.
But they could've just made it a Judd Apatow movie. Paul as Scott, Leslie Mann as whomever his ex wife is, Maude and Iris as their kids, Seth Rogen as Luis, Robert Smigel as Hank, Adam Sandler as who cares, etc etc.
-
Glad they didn't go with Rashida Jones in the end. I like her a lot too but she's done too much with Paul Rudd and I didn't want this to feel like something we've seen in other comedies a bunch.
So, Leslie Mann would've been a no-go for you as well? :lol
In the movie? Correct. For other purposes? Hmmmm.
But they could've just made it a Judd Apatow movie. Paul as Scott, Leslie Mann as whomever his ex wife is, Maude and Iris as their kids, Seth Rogen as Luis, Robert Smigel as Hank, Adam Sandler as who cares, etc etc.
Part of me wishes I could visit the alternate universe where Judd Apatow directed Marvel Studios' Ant-Man instead of Edgar Wright or Peyton Reed. It definitely would have stood out amongst the rest of the MCU, but I feel like it would've been TOO comedic for the sake of comedy. I'd still watch it though.
-Marc.
-
Ant Man - my number 14. I enjoyed this movie, it is fairly simple and straightforward but very watchable.
-
Ant Man was 16th on my list. Good intro to the title character, and a fun changeup from some of the larger scale movies that had come before it. Paul Rudd was, as always, a delight.
-
I'm going to be out for the next few days, so...Merry Christmas! Here's a bundle of 3 to tide us over. You can read them all at once, or go one a day for the next three days. Up to you.
#14: Spider Man: Far From Home
Highest rank: #10 (Vmadera00, MetalJunkie, Adami)
Lowest rank: #19 (ZirconBlue)
Stats: LOTS of votes in the 14-16 range, so 14 is probably about right.
The third movie appearance of Tom Holland's Spider Man. I remember fans being SO excited when he made his debut in Civil War, and most seemed to instantly fall in love with this version of the character. This installment not only did the character justice, but also served as the "gentle exhale" after the Infinity Saga. It felt like a fitting epilogue and peek into what was coming. Some may not have liked how Mysterio was handled, but I think they really tied him in well with what was already going on in the MCU. I had this at #14.
#13: Doctor Strange
Highest rank: #6 (MetalJunkie, Joe)
Lowest rank: #23 (DreamTeam)
Stats: Other than that #23 finish and a pair of #19s, most of the votes were clustered around 14-16 and 6-10.
This was really our first introduction to interdimensional magic in the MCU, and that was bound to be divisive. Many loved it. Many couldn't connect. But most agreed that the character arc and the visuals were really great. The biggest problems with these types of characters and their powers is that they can be as powerful as you want them to be, given the scenario, and that can vary widely and feel inconsistent. Still, great film overall. I had it at #15.
#12: Captain America: The First Avenger
Highest ranking: #7 (MetalJunkie)
Lowest ranking: #21 (DarkChestofWonders)
Stats: Other than the 21st place, the lowest were three votes at #17.
People were pretty hyped for Cap after getting prior hints dropped. But given that he came out of WWII, how was this going to work? They actually pulled it off really well, IMO. And by giving us such rich characters in Bucky, Peggy, and Howard, we ere really building a solid, character-driven backstory for our modern MCU. To me, this and Iron Man were real highlights of Phase 1 prior to the big team up, and these solo films were already head-and-shoulders above any superhero films that had come before. This is why the MCU was so special (and shows why they have fallen so far in sliding back to "typical mediocre action blockbuster" in phase 4). I had this at #11.
-
23: The Incredible Hulk
22: Thor
21:
20: Captain Marvel
19: Iron Man 2
18: Ant Man and the Wasp
17: Captain America - First Avenger
16: Thor: The Dark World
15: Iron Man 3
14:
13:
12: Guardians of the Galaxy 2
11: Ant Man
10: Spider Man: Far from Home
9: Doctor Strange
8:
7:
6:
5:
4:
3:
2:
1:
Spider Man: FFH - #10 - Fun movie. Not much to say, but its just a fun movie. Mysterio was a great villain (IMO). While his motivations felt recycled from other MCU films (IM3, Ant-Man), it was done in a more delicate and clever way.
Doctor Strange #9 - Great movie. Some questionable choices when it comes to the plot, but easy to get pass them.
Captain America #17 - Not a bad movie at all. It was a great introduction to Captain America, and good jump to Avengers. Only reason why I rate it low is because when this movie came out, Captain America was by far my least favorite Avenger, so there is some Bias (Even though the next two Captain America Movies were Much Much better).
-
23. Captain Marvel
22. Thor: The Dark World
21. Iron Man 3
20. Iron Man 2
19. Doctor Strange
18. Ant Man and The Wasp
17. The Incredible Hulk
16. Thor
15. Guardians of the Galaxy 2
14. Captain America: The First Avenger
13. Ant Man
12. ??
11. ??
10. Spider Man: Far From Home
9. ??
8. ??
7. ??
6. ??
5. ??
4. ??
3. ??
2. ??
1. ??
So I had Doc Strange at 19. Pretty low. So low, in fact, that Bosk messaged me concerned since I hadn't spoken ill of the movie. And he's right. I'm not sure 19 is high enough, but that's where it ended up. I do think Mads as a villain was very wasted and the idea of, again, of evil for power, or whatever is just not convincing or anything enough for me. And his minions were meaningless. I liked the rest of the movie well enough, I guess it just didn't connect with me on an emotional level.
Cap at 14. Loved this movie. It has one major issue though. It's basically a book end. It is the beginning of a great movie and the end of a great movie, and then just turn the middle into a quick montage. I would have liked Cap to get the Iron Man treatment and have 2 movies before Avengers. I wanted to really get into his WWII time and have that be the whole movie, and then second movie can be about whatever causes him to lose Bucky and eventually get frozen. Basically it just felt like two movies cut into one and missing a lot of good meat. But I love Cap, and I really dug the changes made to Bucky and such.
Far From Home at 10. Another great movie. Mysterio worked for me and was played well. I just liked 9 other movies more. Not much else I can say that hasn't been said.
-
#14: Spider Man: Far From Home
Highest rank: #10 (Vmadera00, MetalJunkie, Adami)
Lowest rank: #19 (ZirconBlue)
Stats: LOTS of votes in the 14-16 range, so 14 is probably about right.
#13: Doctor Strange
Highest rank: #6 (MetalJunkie, Joe)
Lowest rank: #23 (DreamTeam)
Stats: Other than that #23 finish and a pair of #19s, most of the votes were clustered around 14-16 and 6-10.
#12: Captain America: The First Avenger
Highest ranking: #7 (MetalJunkie)
Lowest ranking: #21 (DarkChestofWonders)
Stats: Other than the 21st place, the lowest were three votes at #17.
23. Thor: The Dark World
22. The Incredible Hulk
21. Thor
20. Iron Man 3
19. Ant-Man And The Wasp
18. Captain Marvel
17. Iron Man 2
16. Ant-Man
15. ?
14. Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2
13. ?
12. Doctor Strange
11. Spider-Man: Far From Home
10. ?
09. ?
08. Captain America: The First Avenger
07. ?
06. ?
05. ?
04. ?
03. ?
02. ?
01. ?
Far From Home was actually Tom's fifth appearance as the web head, following on from Civil War, Homecoming, Infinity War and Endgame. This one just barely missed my Top Ten, but still a solid Upper-Half MCU film for me!
The same for fellow Phase 3 film Doctor Strange. While it didn't have the best villain, he was OK for an origin film. Everyone else was great though!
And The First Avenger is the first film here to crack my top ten, and I'll always enjoy this one. It's one of three origin films in my top ten and definitely deserves its spot with the other two.
-Marc.
-
I really need to get caught up on this thread
-
#14: Spider Man: Far From Home
Highest rank: #10 (Vmadera00, MetalJunkie, Adami)
Lowest rank: #19 (ZirconBlue)
Stats: LOTS of votes in the 14-16 range, so 14 is probably about right.
#13: Doctor Strange
Highest rank: #6 (MetalJunkie, Joe)
Lowest rank: #23 (DreamTeam)
Stats: Other than that #23 finish and a pair of #19s, most of the votes were clustered around 14-16 and 6-10.
#12: Captain America: The First Avenger
Highest ranking: #7 (MetalJunkie)
Lowest ranking: #21 (DarkChestofWonders)
Stats: Other than the 21st place, the lowest were three votes at #17.
Spider Man: Far From Home - I had this at 17. Some great moments but the whole villan thing didn't work for me. I have actually only seen this movie once in the cinema so might be due for a rewatch at some stage.
Doctor Strange - I had at 15. I really like the character of Doctor Strange and thing Benedict Cumberbatch is great in the role. I enjoy this movie but am still waiting for a great Doctor Strange movie...
Captain America: First Avenger - my 13. I wasn't a big fan of this movie on my first viewing but it has grown on me in time but Cap would go onto much bigger and better things in the MCU.
-
I'm pretty close with the consensus here
Spidey FFM - 15
Dr. Strange - 14
Cap 1st Avenger - 17
Spidey ... decent enough, but too many moments of "really? Peter/Spidey isn't this dense". Loved the setup for the Skrulls.
Dr. Strange ... I had no problem with Mads as the villain, but to Adami's point, his henchmen were awful. I also would've liked to see more of Dormammu. I thought the pacing to build his origin story was done effectively. The visuals were off the charts good, imo.
Cap 1st Avenger ... Good movie, but I found it to be a little dull, especially (as Adami pointed out) the sequence in the middle where he was just a cheerleader selling bonds. Similar to Dr. Strange, I thought it was a very well paced and well done origin story, but I also think it's the least-best of the Phase 1 pre-Avengers origin stories.
-
I had Cap at #9. I generally do not like war/military movies but this was well done and I have come to appreciate it more over time. They spent the proper amount of time developing the character of Steve before he got the serum and it was a great choice to show the growing pains, not just "BAM now he's immediately a hero and saving the world from threats". GREAT casting by the way.
-
Okay, I'm back and plan to keep these more regular once again. Hope everyone had a great Christmas or whatever holiday you might celebrate. Without further ado...
#11: Black Panther
Highest rank: #5 (axeman90210)
Lowest rank: #21 (Vmadera00, DreamTeam)
Stats: This mostly fell in the 9-12 range, so no surprise that it ended up at #11.
Our first solo film for the character introduced in Civil War and our first introduction to Wakanda, a location that would prove to be important to events in phase 3 and beyond. The movie is beautiful, the characters are well developed and likeable, the action was mostly pretty good, and the story was solid. Most agree that this is a very good film on just about every level.
I liked this movie. But from the first time seeing it in theaters, I have always felt that it is overrated. All the things I said above describe my feelings about the film, which are entirely positive. I just don't get the gushing this film often elicits. It wa good, but not great. It's pretty standard MCU Infinity Saga solo film fare, and that's more than enough to get a thumbs up from me. A bit part of that is that I have never felt that Killmonger was all that great. He was fine. Nothing negative to say. But I don't find him nearly as compelling or special a villain as a lot of people seem to. I have this one at #13. For awhile after seeing it, I would probably have ranked it a few spots lower. But while I have always felt it was solid, I have come to appreciate it a bit more after the fact.
-
I realize this is one of those "OMG you HAVE to love this movie to be accepted in society" but yeah kind of like what Bosk said. I just don't care about the characters that much outside of Shuri. Haven't seen Wakanda Forever yet but I hope they gave her a lot of stuff to do.
-
I just don't get the gushing this film often elicits.
Congratulations on realizing you're not the target audience. :lol :lol
I rated it about the same as you did (12th), but not for any of the reasons you listed. For the most part, I simply liked the movies still to come more than it. I get that I'm not primarily who the message and motivations and morals were geared towards. Regardless, I thought Killmonger is one of the better villains, tbh - better than others still to come (Ronan, I'm looking at you). His motivations were probably the most real (and realistic) and understandable that the MCU has put forth. I'd hoped for more out Klaue than a quick death without much development of him as a villain. I thought there was a lot more they could have done with him other than to be a plot device for Killmonger's story. The story of the T'Challa isn't anything terribly impressive ... rise to a powerful position with relative ease; knocked down to the depths of despair; rise up and overcome your adversary/adversity, all while (re)uniting a group of disparate factions.
For those reasons, right smack in the middle of the list is about right ... maybe a little higher now that I think about it, but I'm good with 12th.
And now that we're past 1/2 way, here's the story so far for my list [and DTF rating]. Hulk is my only outlier, and otherwise, I'm 9/10 for the top 10.
23. Ant Man and the Wasp [22]
22. Thor: The Dark World [23]
21. Captain Marvel [20]
20. Iron Man 2 [19]
19. Ant Man [15]
18. Iron Man 3 [17]
17. Captain America: The First Avenger [12]
16. Guardians of the Galaxy 2 [18]
15. Spider Man: Far from Home [14]
14. Doctor Strange [13]
13. Thor [16]
12. Black Panther [11]
11.
10. The Incredible Hulk [21]
9.
8.
7.
6.
5.
4.
3.
2.
1.
-
I just don't get the gushing this film often elicits.
Congratulations on realizing you're not the target audience. :lol :lol
No, I think that actually badly misses the point. I'm talking about quality of the movie in terms of how we generally measure movies (or at least, how we measure these movies against each other), not whether it resonated highly with a certain demographic. The latter wasn't my point at all.
While we're on the subject, I think Marvel has done its best when its "target audience" is something along the lines of "people who like superheros/comic books or action movies, and who want to see something a cut above anything that anyone ever put out before iron Man." IMO, when they have aimed at other "target audiences" for the MCU, IMO that has quite often led to some of the least-liked films/shows, although that definitely is not a problem with this particular movie.
-
I just don't get the gushing this film often elicits.
Congratulations on realizing you're not the target audience. :lol :lol
No, I think that actually badly misses the point. I'm talking about quality of the movie in terms of how we generally measure movies (or at least, how we measure these movies against each other), not whether it resonated highly with a certain demographic. The latter wasn't my point at all.
While we're on the subject, I think Marvel has done its best when its "target audience" is something along the lines of "people who like superheros/comic books or action movies, and who want to see something a cut above anything that anyone ever put out before iron Man." IMO, when they have aimed at other "target audiences" for the MCU, IMO that has quite often led to some of the least-liked films/shows, although that definitely is not a problem with this particular movie.
Before I jump to any other conclusion(s), I'd really like to know what you mean by "other".
-
23. Captain Marvel
22. Thor: The Dark World
21. Iron Man 3
20. Iron Man 2
19. Doctor Strange
18. Ant Man and The Wasp
17. The Incredible Hulk
16. Thor
15. Guardians of the Galaxy 2
14. Captain America: The First Avenger
13. Ant Man
12. ??
11. ??
10. Spider Man: Far From Home
9. ??
8. ??
7. Black Panther
6. ??
5. ??
4. ??
3. ??
2. ??
1. ??
Had this at 7. Maybe a bit too high, maybe influenced by having seen Wakanda Forever recently as well.
But it's a great film. I remember the first time I saw it, I though the 3rd act was a very boring CGI fest but on my rewatch it went a lot faster than I thought and didn't really take me out of it as much. Still too much CGI blah blah blah, and that's something Marvel needs to reign in, but the human element helps it. Sadly Daniel whatever's character got short changed and was severely under developed, given how important he's supposed to be. But I agree with the consensus that Killmonger is great. Michael B Jordan brought so much human rage to him. It wasn't just a believable motivation, but it was a deeply human motivation. While Marvel continued the good guy fighting the bad version of himself, they added depth to it by matching their human elements as well. Both had their father's murdered, both had to work to figure out who they really are and because one was given a kingdom and one was given nothing, they went where they went. It's easy to see how if T'Challah had lived Killmonger's life, maybe he would have turned out similar. And in the end? T'Challah actually learned from Killmonger and changed Wakanda forever after being inspired by him. Not something we really see in the MCU.
But yea, good film. Really love it.
-
Black Panther - I had at 9. Really liked this movie, actually thought it may have ranked a bit higher overall in the countdown.
-
I remember the first time I saw it, I though the 3rd act was a very boring CGI fest but on my rewatch it went a lot faster than I thought and didn't really take me out of it as much. Still too much CGI blah blah blah, and that's something Marvel needs to reign in, but the human element helps it.
Same here.
-
Ok...finally getting around to this thread, apologies for anyone hanging on by a thread on where I stood with these films...
23- Thor 2
22- Ant Man and the Wasp
21- Captain Marvel
20-
19- The Incredible Hulk
18- Guardians of the Galaxy 2
17- Iron Man 3
16- Dr. Strange
15- Iron Man 2
14- Thor
13- Black Panther
12- Spiderman- Far From Home
11- Captain America- First Avenger
10-
9- Ant Man
8-
7-
6-
5-
4-
3-
2-
1-
I'm pretty in line with the group rankings, mostly within 2 or 3 spots with the exception of Ant Man. I personally adored this one, it was the slapstick approach to MCU films for me, done to perfection. It had properly tempered humor without getting stupid (see latter Thor films), and was still able to tug at the heartstrings just right, especially when it came to Scott's relationship with Cassie.
Iron Man 3, I actually enjoyed this one, even with the slight idiocy of the Mandarin and his plot.
Dr. Strange was a solid film, held its own in all regards.
Thor was a fun introduction to the character, but the low budget approach to the sets in the final battle kind of killed it for me.
Black Panther was really good, and I loved that it stretched its tentacles to my home area of Oakland.
Far From Home was the weakest of the Spiderman films. It was good and all, but not mind blowing.
First Avenger was outstanding, a solid introduction for the character.
-
#11: Black Panther
Highest rank: #5 (axeman90210)
Lowest rank: #21 (Vmadera00, DreamTeam)
Stats: This mostly fell in the 9-12 range, so no surprise that it ended up at #11.
23. Thor: The Dark World
22. The Incredible Hulk
21. Thor
20. Iron Man 3
19. Ant-Man And The Wasp
18. Captain Marvel
17. Iron Man 2
16. Ant-Man
15. ?
14. Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2
13. ?
12. Doctor Strange
11. Spider-Man: Far From Home
10. ?
09. Black Panther
08. Captain America: The First Avenger
07. ?
06. ?
05. ?
04. ?
03. ?
02. ?
01. ?
Definitely worthy of being a Top 10 MCU film, even after phase four. A very solid solo film and revisiting it after Chadwick's passing makes me even more sad we would never see him in the role after Endgame. It just also makes this film more special in retrospect. The only thing that I dislike about it, as others have mentioned, is the dodgy CGI, especially in the final fight between T'Challa and N'Jadaka. Otherwise, fantastic film, great acting and wonderful musical score. A film that definitely deserved all its awards and acclaims, and then some.
-Marc.
-
And we enter into the top 10!
#10: Avengers: Age of Ultron
Highest ranking: #4 (DreamTeam, ZirconBlue)
Lowest ranking: #19 (faizoff)
Stats of note: This one probably has the widest disparity. It was all over the place, as you can see. In addition to the two #4 votes, it finished #6 on 3 other lists.
Given a lot of negative feedback after this one was released, I was not sure it would finish so high. This was only the second full Avengers ensemble film, and reviews were mixed. Lots loved it. Lots hated it. I think the haters mainly disliked the treatment of Ultron, from what I recall.
There was a lot going on in this film. In addition to the traditional Avengers, War Machine joined the fray for awhile. We also got Wanda and Pietro. And Klau. And Vision. And hints at Wakanda. For everything going it, it felt busy. But I think it worked.
I liked this film. I had it at #6, but am not bothered at all by a #10 finish. I probably had to suspend belief more for this film than most in the first 3 phases, but it was done just well enough that it didn't overly take me out of the moment. If anything to critique, I think maybe it's just that, for the threat Ultron posed, the resolution seemed fairly quick. But again, it was fine. There was lots in that third act that made up for it and made it work well enough. And for all its shortcomings, it is FAR better than the third act of just about any non-MCU or MCU phase 4 film.
-
And we enter into the top 10!
#10: Avengers: Age of Ultron
Highest ranking: #4 (DreamTeam, ZirconBlue)
Lowest ranking: #19 (faizoff)
Stats of note: This one probably has the widest disparity. It was all over the place, as you can see. In addition to the two #4 votes, it finished #6 on 3 other lists.
23. Thor: The Dark World
22. The Incredible Hulk
21. Thor
20. Iron Man 3
19. Ant-Man And The Wasp
18. Captain Marvel
17. Iron Man 2
16. Ant-Man
15. ?
14. Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2
13. Avengers: Age Of Ultron
12. Doctor Strange
11. Spider-Man: Far From Home
10. ?
09. Black Panther
08. Captain America: The First Avenger
07. ?
06. ?
05. ?
04. ?
03. ?
02. ?
01. ?
I had AOU at 13th, which seems about right for me. Just under the halfway mark, but it's still a fairly solid film. Like bosk said, it had a LOT to do to move the Infinity Saga forward, including Thor's cave-spring side-quest, and introducing a genius scientist we never hear from again. Still, one of my favorite MCU action moments is the "splash page" of Thor, Vision, and Iron Man blasting at Ultron at the end - easily one of the most comic-book-y moments in the MCU and I love it.
I'll be surprised if my 10th and 15th place films aren't in the next two or three spots.
-Marc.
-
Oh yeah, I forgot about the cave pool. Yeah, they kind of wrecked that scene a little bit by cutting it down. It still sort of made sense, but seemed off.
-
I made the mistake of watching every trailer, TV-spot, vignette, featurette etc... prior to the release. I think once I added it all up, I'd probably seen close to 20 minutes of the movie before release date, and deeply regretted it. Since then, I only watch the official trailers - I don't want to be over-exposed to a movie like that again. For all the things that this movie did right, there were a few things that just were off-putting - the opening "one'r" was far too much like a video game than a movie. It's a very complex and convoluted plot - for both Ultron, and The Avengers. It's a fantastical series of events for everything to progress as it did - but that's ok... I mean, it's comic-book lore, so this is to be expected. Quicksilver's death seemed entirely forced just to kill someone and not make the Avengers look completely invincible.
I liked a lot of the deleted scenes, and wish those had been included (the comic bits with Skarsgard/Hemsworth at the University are gold!). The full 'birth' of Vision and the full pool/Norn scene should've been used, imo.
I rated it #11. It ended up being a fantastic way to wrap up Phase 2, and launch into (the best) Phase 3.
-
I figured I would be the highest ranker of Ultron but glad to see someone else up there with me. There's so much I love about this movie; great character moments and interactions (party scene), awesome scenes setting up or foreshadowing Infinity war/Endgame, etc. The only nitpick that I kinda agree with is once again having a large generic expendable CGI army in the final battle. I get it, you can't have a bunch of humanoids getting bloodily slaughtered in PG-13, but it was kind of "been there done that" after the first Avengers movie. At first I hated the Bruce/Natasha thing but came to terms with it, and I think some of the stuff at Clint's house was a little forced but all in all still very re-watchable for me. And of course we got Lizzie :metal.
-
Right on target with that one...
23- Thor 2
22- Ant Man and the Wasp
21- Captain Marvel
20-
19- The Incredible Hulk
18- Guardians of the Galaxy 2
17- Iron Man 3
16- Dr. Strange
15- Iron Man 2
14- Thor
13- Black Panther
12- Spiderman- Far From Home
11- Captain America- First Avenger
10- Avengers- Age of Ultron
9- Ant Man
8-
7-
6-
5-
4-
3-
2-
1-
I seem to be progressing into the 'pick my favorite child' realm of this list, where aside from the top 3 which I'm pretty firm on, the rest are interchangeable. The only outlier for me is that empty #20 spot...
-
23. Captain Marvel
22. Thor: The Dark World
21. Iron Man 3
20. Iron Man 2
19. Doctor Strange
18. Ant Man and The Wasp
17. The Incredible Hulk
16. Thor
15. Guardians of the Galaxy 2
14. Captain America: The First Avenger
13. Ant Man
12. ??
11. Avengers: Age of Ultron
10. Spider Man: Far From Home
9. ??
8. ??
7. Black Panther
6. ??
5. ??
4. ??
3. ??
2. ??
1. ??
Had this at 11. It's a really mixed bag for me. The stuff I like, I REALLY like, the stuff I don't....it's pretty meh.
So the good stuff is pretty obvious so I won't go over all of it. But the birth and depiction of Vision is just so well done. I have loved everything about The Vision in the MCU and this was a great start to him. I also really enjoyed Wanda and Pietro, despite their accents. Ultron was a really cool choice as well, even if he was ultimately wasted in this film. The party scene was great writing and a great moment of humanity that we need more of.
But the bad....eh. It keeps it out of my top 5 and even my top 10. Ultron's sinister plot was ultimately half baked and too much like a Bond Villain. His drones were a bland army as well and I'm sad he's gone (assuming he is). Beyond that it felt exactly like it was. A good movie with 3 other movies smashed into it. They were trying to set up too many future projects at the expense of the story they had, with the obvious example being Thor and his whole thing.
Also the Bruce/Natasha thing. The idea of them is...fine....I don't love it but whatever. But their whole conversation about how he's a monster for obvious reasons but she's a monster cause she can't have kids? Jesus christ. What an awful way to handle whatever trauma they were trying to depict with her.
But yea, could've been one of the greats but too many cooks and clearly a writer/director who got burned out during it.
-
...But their whole conversation about how he's a monster for obvious reasons but she's a monster cause she can't have kids? Jesus christ. What an awful way to handle whatever trauma they were trying to depict with her.
It really bugs me whenever I see that dialog interpreted that way because that wasn't what she said at all. Her point was that she is a monster, not because she can't have kids, but because the Red Room completely dehumanized her and made her into a cold, emotionless killer. The forced sterilization was just one of the examples she gave of what they did to her to accomplish that, but it isn't itself the basis for her..."monsterness" at all. That's an unfortunate misinterpretation of what she was trying to say. I mean, I get that it's easy to misinterpret it that way because quite a few people did. But that isn't what she was saying.
-
...But their whole conversation about how he's a monster for obvious reasons but she's a monster cause she can't have kids? Jesus christ. What an awful way to handle whatever trauma they were trying to depict with her.
It really bugs me whenever I see that dialog interpreted that way because that wasn't what she said at all. Her point was that she is a monster, not because she can't have kids, but because the Red Room completely dehumanized her and made her into a cold, emotionless killer. The forced sterilization was just one of the examples she gave of what they did to her to accomplish that, but it isn't itself the basis for her..."monsterness" at all.
I can see that, but then that's a reflection of how poorly written it is if so many people (including myself) are interpreting it that way. Clearly my interpretation is not the only one or even necessarily the correct one, but it is a complaint about the writing however you interpret it.
-
...But their whole conversation about how he's a monster for obvious reasons but she's a monster cause she can't have kids? Jesus christ. What an awful way to handle whatever trauma they were trying to depict with her.
It really bugs me whenever I see that dialog interpreted that way because that wasn't what she said at all. Her point was that she is a monster, not because she can't have kids, but because the Red Room completely dehumanized her and made her into a cold, emotionless killer. The forced sterilization was just one of the examples she gave of what they did to her to accomplish that, but it isn't itself the basis for her..."monsterness" at all.
I can see that, but then that's a reflection of how poorly written it is if so many people (including myself) are interpreting it that way. Clearly my interpretation is not the only one or even necessarily the correct one, but it is a complaint about the writing however you interpret it.
Yeah, I get that criticism and see what you mean. From my perspective, I would disagree and just say it is "unfortunate writing," not "poor" writing. I don't think it even occurred to anyone that was involved in the writing or screening of it that it would be misinterpreted that way, and since most people took it the way it was intended, I don't think that's a "failure" of the writing, for lack of a better term. It doesn't necessarily have to be "bad" writing for a lot of people to have taken it differently than it was intended. And I think that real life conversations about things like what Natasha was describing are bound to be clumsy and use imprecise language. To me, it just felt real, given what she was trying to convey. :dunno:
-
I never interpreted that scene as her infertility making her a monster, I always saw it as her pointing out that the 'normal family life' wasn't an option for her as well.
-
Hey, anything I can do to bring you two closer together is a win for me. And maybe even reason enough to bump this movie up. :biggrin:
-
Hey, anything I can do to bring you two closer together is a win for me. And maybe even reason enough to bump this movie up. :biggrin:
Eh..broken clock and all that...
-
#9: Guardians of the Galaxy
Highest rank: #4 (lonestar, jammindude)
Lowest rank: #20 (DreamTeam)
Stats: 4 bottom 10 finishes, with all of them being fairly high in the bottom 10 other than DreamTeam. Otherwise, this one mostly scored very well.
Did anybody outside of Marvel think this would be a success prior to seeing it? Anybody? Really? I didn't. I was pleasantly shocked to love this movie from the getgo. I wish I could watch it for the first time all over again to recapture that surprise. The characters were great. The difference in tone and setting were great. The action was great. The storytelling was great. Ronan was great (shut up!)
The color palette for this film was amazing. This was just such an unexpected gem in every respect. It loses a couple of points for the humor at times being crude and juvenile, but otherwise top notch in all respects. I ranked this at #5.
-
23. Captain Marvel
22. Thor: The Dark World
21. Iron Man 3
20. Iron Man 2
19. Doctor Strange
18. Ant Man and The Wasp
17. The Incredible Hulk
16. Thor
15. Guardians of the Galaxy 2
14. Captain America: The First Avenger
13. Ant Man
12. Guardians of the Galaxy
11. Avengers: Age of Ultron
10. Spider Man: Far From Home
9. ??
8. ??
7. Black Panther
6. ??
5. ??
4. ??
3. ??
2. ??
1. ??
Had this one at 12.
This is an odd movie for me. I actually AM a big Guardians fan from the comics. Not necessarily the original Guardians (now known as Guardians 3000) but the ones we currently know. All the way from the Annihilation Wave until now. Even during that weird phase where Groot talked like a douchebag snob (glad he's back to I Am Groot). So I was familiar with these characters. So much so that I had a voice in my head for Rocket from the comics (which was literally just Jason Statham for some reason). So I had a bit to adapt to for this movie. This was not the Peter Quill I knew from the comics. This was definitely not the Drax. And now Rocket had a weird not English voice.
But they crushed all of that. Except maybe Drax who has become too much of a comic relief over time. And now when I read Rocket in the comics, he has Bradley Cooper's voice. And I must say, I love his voice work here. So many actors these days doing voice work just talk as themselves and I'm glad Bradley continues to actually put on a distinct voice for Rocket.
I loved Nebula, Groot, the Ravagers, and was okay mostly with Gamora. Just felt she was a bit....flat.
That said, this is a case where the villain completely drags it down for me. And not because Ronan is worse than everyone else (though he's close). It's because the rest of the movie and writing is SO good that the bad writing (in my opinion Bosk) for Ronan and even Thanos in this movie just hit even harder and dragged it down out of my top 10. I still really enjoy this movie and I'm sad we're likely seeing the end of most of them in the next one.
-
#9: Guardians of the Galaxy
Highest rank: #4 (lonestar, jammindude)
Lowest rank: #20 (DreamTeam)
Stats: 4 bottom 10 finishes, with all of them being fairly high in the bottom 10 other than DreamTeam. Otherwise, this one mostly scored very well.
23. Thor: The Dark World
22. The Incredible Hulk
21. Thor
20. Iron Man 3
19. Ant-Man And The Wasp
18. Captain Marvel
17. Iron Man 2
16. Ant-Man
15. Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 1
14. Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2
13. Avengers: Age Of Ultron
12. Doctor Strange
11. Spider-Man: Far From Home
10. ?
09. Black Panther
08. Captain America: The First Avenger
07. ?
06. ?
05. ?
04. ?
03. ?
02. ?
01. ?
I had this in 15th place, just below Vol. 2. To be honest, I like both just about the same so they could've been a tie for me, but I ended up putting the sequel just ahead of the first one, which is still really good. I remember hearing about this before it came out and thinking it was Marvel Studios' biggest risk yet! And it came out the same year as The Winter Soldier! What a year for the MCU! James Gunn really made his mark with this film and made one of the more memorable MCU first-films in the whole franchise.
-Marc.
-
#8: Spiderman: Homecoming
Highest ranking: #4 (bosk1)
Lowest ranking: #16 (DreamTeam)
I usually hold of on my personal feelings until the end of a post. But since I was the highest ranker for this film, I'll just jump right in and say that I loved pretty much everything about it. This is the highest I ranked any solo, non-ensemble film, which tend to be my favorites, and the next one wasn't too close. I loved the portrayal of Peter/Spiderman. I loved his struggle to want to be more than what Stark wanted him to be--that was such a great arc. And given both his youth and his newness in the role of "superhero," his arc in that area was totally believable. I loved the supporting characters. Vulture was a GREAT MCU villain. If not for Thanos and Loki, he might be the best. The pre-homecoming dance sequence from the moment he opens the door at the house through his monologue to Peter in the car at the school was perfectly written/acted/paced. The characters portrayed in this movie are different from the portrayals during the times I was actively reading Spiderman, and from the two prior film versions. But yet, they never felt out of place or untrue to the Spiderman universe. I can't speak highly enough about this movie. It was everything I could have wanted from a Spiderman film.
-
#8: Spiderman: Homecoming
Highest ranking: #4 (bosk1)
Lowest ranking: #16 (DreamTeam)
23. Thor: The Dark World
22. The Incredible Hulk
21. Thor
20. Iron Man 3
19. Ant-Man And The Wasp
18. Captain Marvel
17. Iron Man 2
16. Ant-Man
15. Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 1
14. Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2
13. Avengers: Age Of Ultron
12. Doctor Strange
11. Spider-Man: Far From Home
10. Spider-Man: Homecoming
09. Black Panther
08. Captain America: The First Avenger
07. ?
06. ?
05. ?
04. ?
03. ?
02. ?
01. ?
And there it is! Now My top 7 are the same as the rankings top 7, which just feels right. At number ten, which is definitely a deserving space, is where I feel like Homecoming was a fantastic reboot of the Spider-Man franchise. Sure it leaned a little TOO heavy on Stark/MCU but I think that's what many of us wanted. It had a youthful exuberance about it that set it apart from anything else in the MCU up to that point. I'm still mad that they left the Scorpion dangling, though, but I blame Sony for that.
-Marc.
-
23. Captain Marvel
22. Thor: The Dark World
21. Iron Man 3
20. Iron Man 2
19. Doctor Strange
18. Ant Man and The Wasp
17. The Incredible Hulk
16. Thor
15. Guardians of the Galaxy 2
14. Captain America: The First Avenger
13. Ant Man
12. Guardians of the Galaxy
11. Avengers: Age of Ultron
10. Spider Man: Far From Home
9. ??
8. Spider Man: Homecoming
7. Black Panther
6. ??
5. ??
4. ??
3. ??
2. ??
1. ??
Had this at 8. Love this movie. Probably my 2nd favorite Spider-Man movie of all time. Marvel just completely crushed this highly anticipated film. People were very nervous about MCU Spider-Man. They wowed us with his role in Civil War and people felt a bit better. But we had just come off the two Garfield ones, the second of which I still haven't seen to this day, and a lot of people were burned out on the idea of yet another reboot. Then this movie just blew us away. Can't say enough how perfect Tom is for this role. I actually didn't dig the MJ twist at first but have really come to love Zendaya and her interpretation of MJ. And of course Michael Keaton. That god damn car ride scene is top notch. It's hard not to love Keaton. He could have easily phoned this in but didn't, and I actually really miss his character. I can't tell if his character is even in the MCU anymore, given what I've seen about the end of Morbius. But I hope we see him again in the MCU.
-
Yeah, Sony really mucked things up and dropped the ball with respect to Vulture and Scorpion.
-
I had this one at #6. I think Bosk's writeup is spot on. This was about as perfect as we could want/hope for to bring Spidey into the MCU. Very smart NOT to make it an origin story*, and Keaton is definitely Top 3 MCU villain. It's really hard to call Loki a villain, as his only *fully* villainous role was in Thor, and every appearance by Loki after that was A) more anti-hero, and B) a better performance by Tom.
-
I’d say Loki was full on Villain in Avengers :lol
-
23- Thor 2
22- Ant Man and the Wasp
21- Captain Marvel
20-
19- The Incredible Hulk
18- Guardians of the Galaxy 2
17- Iron Man 3
16- Dr. Strange
15- Iron Man 2
14- Thor
13- Black Panther
12- Spiderman- Far From Home
11- Captain America- First Avenger
10- Avengers- Age of Ultron
9- Ant Man
8-
7-
6- Spiderman- Homecoming
5-
4- Guardians of the Galaxy
3-
2-
1-
Guardians was MCU humor done right, tempered with the film without being overbearing or stupid. First propere introduction of the infinity stones as well as Thanos himself. Great arc for Peter, and really set the groundwork for Yondu's arc in Pt 2. Loved everything about this film.
Spiderman was just wonderful, managed to keep that 'neighborhood Spiderman' vibe while still melding with the MCU at large. And agree with everyone, Keaton is just amazing as a villain.
-
I’d say Loki was full on Villain in Avengers :lol
True. I don't know what I was thinking... :facepalm:
-
I’d say Loki was full on Villain in Avengers :lol
True. I don't know what I was thinking... :facepalm:
You disgust me.
-
I’d say Loki was full on Villain in Avengers :lol
True. I don't know what I was thinking... :facepalm:
You disgust me.
Not to worry... I got enough of that all on my own!
-
Oh man, a lot of catch-up for me to do.
Spider Man: Far From Home- 11 for me. Very enjoyable, Jake Gyllenhaal was a solid Mysterio and it gave a good first look at life after Endgame. I also loved them bringing back JK Simmons as editor of the Daily Bugle
Dr. Strange- Came in at 9. A very good intro movie for a new hero. Perfect casting for the title character and some cool visualizations of magic at work. Mads Mikkelsen was his usual great self, and if the writing for Kaecilius had been better he'd probably be in the top tier of MCU villains.
Captain America: The First Avenger- I had this at 14, which feels a touch low in retrospect. No complaints from me about any aspect of it, and the WWII setting helps differentiate it a little bit from most of the rest of the MCU.
-
Black Panther- I rated this the highest at #5. This has so much going for it. Chadwick Boseman is of course iconic as Prince T'Challa, and Killmonger is a combination of being well written/motivated and Michael B Jordan crushing it in the role. Top tier MCU villain. The supporting cast is also great, strong debuts for Shuri and Okoye, who I've enjoyed following in subsequent MCU appearances, Martin Freeman's agent Ross has been a good way to connect happenings in Wakanda to the wider world, and Angela Bassett and Forest Whitaker brought gravitas to their respective minor turns.
-
A lot to catch up on:
23: The Incredible Hulk
22: Thor
21: Black Panther
20: Captain Marvel
19: Iron Man 2
18: Ant Man and the Wasp
17: Captain America - First Avenger
16: Thor: The Dark World
15: Iron Man 3
14: Spiderman - Homecoming
13:
12: Guardians of the Galaxy 2
11: Ant Man
10: Spider Man: Far from Home
9: Doctor Strange
8: Guardians of the Galaxy
7:
6: Avengers: Age of Ultron
5:
4:
3:
2:
1:
Black Panther: Yes, I find this movie massively overrated. I could probably move it up a few spots, but I think at best, it would move to 18.
Homecoming: Fun movie and good first solo Spiderman. Good character development and story.
Guardians: Not much to say about this. Marvel took some characters most people did not know and did a great job in portraying them. Great movie.
Age of Ultron: Given how much hate this movie gets, I was expecting it to end at the bottom half/third. Surprised to see it in the top 10. I love this movie. The story is great, Ultron is a great villain here.
-
Hope we get to number seven soon! I've been waiting since last year! ;)
-Marc.
-
Avengers: Age of Ultron- I had this at 17. Not bad, but the least impressive of the team-up movies. James Spader's voice work as Ultron is a highlight, but the villain is disappointingly written.
Guardians of the Galaxy- #8 on my list. I feel like this was the first movie that was a big risk in the MCU as the Guardians were much less well known than the other heroes featured to that point. I had no idea what to expect going in. James Gunn and co knocked it out of the park though. Well cast and with a fun, irreverent tone that the MCU hadn't seen much yet. And the soundtrack is great too.
-
#7: Thor: Ragnarok
Highest rank: #1 (Joe, DarkChestofWonders)
Lowest rank: #23 (jammindude)
This one generally scored high. But even aside from the last place finish, there were a couple of other very low scores.
Many felt that this is where Marvel started to get the character of Thor right after mishandling him and having him go down a path that was hard to care about. The lighter side of Thor was good, and mixed well with the serious side. We also got to see Loki again and got some great new characters.
This movie had a lot going for it. It has some really iconic sequences. It made even a lot of skeptics fanboy out. And yet, some things seemed off at times. The humor mixed with the dark tones of the imminent destruction of Asgard didn't quite jibe at times. Hela was ridiculously overpowered...except when she wasn't. The scale of Asgard was off. I mean, it was cool...but where was the rest of it? I had this at #10. Overall, I really liked it. But there were flaws that kept it lower than I wanted it to be.
-
23: The Incredible Hulk
22: Thor
21: Black Panther
20: Captain Marvel
19: Iron Man 2
18: Ant Man and the Wasp
17: Captain America - First Avenger
16: Thor: The Dark World
15: Iron Man 3
14: Spiderman - Homecoming
13:
12: Guardians of the Galaxy 2
11: Ant Man
10: Spider Man: Far from Home
9: Doctor Strange
8: Guardians of the Galaxy
7:
6: Avengers: Age of Ultron
5:
4: Thor: Ragnarok
3:
2:
1:
#4 for me, this was just a great movie. I had it at #3 at one point, but put it down because there are some things in the movie that felt...random and out of place. Love the treatment for Thor in this movie.
-
23- Thor 2
22- Ant Man and the Wasp
21- Captain Marvel
20- Thor - Ragnorok
19- The Incredible Hulk
18- Guardians of the Galaxy 2
17- Iron Man 3
16- Dr. Strange
15- Iron Man 2
14- Thor
13- Black Panther
12- Spiderman- Far From Home
11- Captain America- First Avenger
10- Avengers- Age of Ultron
9- Ant Man
8-
7-
6- Spiderman- Homecoming
5-
4- Guardians of the Galaxy
3-
2-
1-
Love and Thunder would've never been the absolute train wreck it was if it wasn't for Ragnorok. I know I'm in the minority with this opinion, but it's just not a runaway hit for me. As I said earlier pretty much every MCU flick is entertaining, but I'd consider Ragnorok very low on my re-watch list.
-
I didn't mind the humour of it, as that was largely left on Sakaar - though I wasn't a big fan of making Korg a doofus sidekick - in the comics, he was Hulk's #1 guy, and largely a commander of their army. I agree that the scale of Asgard was a miss. But other than that, there was a lot more to like about this movie than to dislike. The Hulk v Thor battle was terrific; the continuation of Loki's arc was good; the rise of "King Thor" worked out well, and they made all the right connections into Infinity War. Oh, and Cate Blanchett was marvellous - both acting, and on the eyes.
#7 for me, so I'm spot on with the group (or is it the group that is spot on with me?? hhmmmm... :lol)
-
#7: Thor: Ragnarok
Highest rank: #1 (Joe, DarkChestofWonders)
Lowest rank: #23 (jammindude)
23. Thor: The Dark World
22. The Incredible Hulk
21. Thor
20. Iron Man 3
19. Ant-Man And The Wasp
18. Captain Marvel
17. Iron Man 2
16. Ant-Man
15. Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 1
14. Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2
13. Avengers: Age Of Ultron
12. Doctor Strange
11. Spider-Man: Far From Home
10. Spider-Man: Homecoming
09. Black Panther
08. Captain America: The First Avenger
07. ?
06. Thor: Ragnarok
05. ?
04. ?
03. ?
02. ?
01. ?
I had Ragnarok at sixth place, so pretty close here. It almost makes my Top 5 of the Infinity Saga, but not quite there. It's definitely in my S-Tier of MCU films, sitting at the bottom of that tier, with seven other films (five from the Infinity Saga, two from the Multiverse Saga/Phase Four). It's really enjoyable and probably one of the best blends of comedy, action, tension, and a villain that wasn't completely wasted at the time. 2017/2018 were great years for MCU Villains, between Killmonger, Vulture, and Hela (and of course, Thanos in Infinity War). Great film, easily re-watchable, never fails to entertain!
-Marc.
-
23. Captain Marvel
22. Thor: The Dark World
21. Iron Man 3
20. Iron Man 2
19. Doctor Strange
18. Ant Man and The Wasp
17. The Incredible Hulk
16. Thor
15. Guardians of the Galaxy 2
14. Captain America: The First Avenger
13. Ant Man
12. Guardians of the Galaxy
11. Avengers: Age of Ultron
10. Spider Man: Far From Home
9. Thor: Ragnarok
8. Spider Man: Homecoming
7. Black Panther
6. ??
5. ??
4. ??
3. ??
2. ??
1. ??
Had this one at 9. It's a good fun movie. Humor goes a bit too far and there it Hela was a bit of a toss away, sadly, but the Loki/Thor arc was great, I actually did like Kor, and most of the humor really worked for me. Sad that the follow up would be near the bottom of my list.
-
Having not seen all of the movies I opted not to participate but Ragnarok is my number one of the ones I've seen with the first Guardians as number two, both well above the rest. Being originally uninterested in the typical comic booky type superhero movies Guardians got me interested in Marvel due to its style and by the time I got around to Ragnarok that style mixed with the superhero fanfare melded so well together that it hit the sweet spot.
I should get around to finishing the movies as I was watching them in order but some of the last movies weren't available for streaming so I gave up. I think I'm really only missing Far From Home, Infinity War, and Endgame at this point.
-
Having not seen all of the movies I opted not to participate but Ragnarok is my number one of the ones I've seen with the first Guardians as number two, both well above the rest. Being originally uninterested in the typical comic booky type superhero movies Guardians got me interested in Marvel due to its style and by the time I got around to Ragnarok that style mixed with the superhero fanfare melded so well together that it hit the sweet spot.
I should get around to finishing the movies as I was watching them in order but some of the last movies weren't available for streaming so I gave up. I think I'm really only missing Far From Home, Infinity War, and Endgame at this point.
So, basically, a REALLY good one, and the best them?
-
:lol yeah pretty much
-
#6: Iron Man
Highest rank: #3 (faizoff)
Lowest rank: #15 (MetalJunkie, ZirconBlue)
What could be more metal than Iron Man at #6? The O.G. MCU film. If you like the MCU, you like this film. It set a tone that carried through to Endgame. It showed us that a super hero film could be so much more than just blockbuster action. And it promised something much bigger that Marvel Studios delivered on over and over and over, and so much bigger than we could have imagined. It would have been a special film if the MCU ended with The Avengers. It is even better in retrospect in the context of the entire Infinity Saga.
I had this at #8. This is my second highest ranking solo (non-ensemble) film behind Homecoming (or third if you count Civil War as a solo film; even though it was a "Captain America" film, it felt like an "Avengers" film because everybody up to that point, other than the Guardians, was in it).
-
#6: Iron Man
Highest rank: #3 (faizoff)
Lowest rank: #15 (MetalJunkie, ZirconBlue)
23. Thor: The Dark World
22. The Incredible Hulk
21. Thor
20. Iron Man 3
19. Ant-Man And The Wasp
18. Captain Marvel
17. Iron Man 2
16. Ant-Man
15. Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 1
14. Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2
13. Avengers: Age Of Ultron
12. Doctor Strange
11. Spider-Man: Far From Home
10. Spider-Man: Homecoming
09. Black Panther
08. Captain America: The First Avenger
07. Iron Man
06. Thor: Ragnarok
05. ?
04. ?
03. ?
02. ?
01. ?
Iron Man sits at 7th for me, and is easily the best film in the Iron Man franchise. What a way to kick off the MCU, with all the doubts and risks that surrounded it. Wild to think that it came out the same summer as The Dark Knight (and fellow MCU film The Incredible Hulk). I will never be tired or bored of this film, and I'm pretty sure that whenever it was on TV (back when I had cable), if it was on I would keep it on. It's just so rewatchable! It's not perfect but it's minor flaws are outshined by everything else good about the film.
Also, two entries in one day? You spoil us! I'm excited to see how the final five land in comparison with my top five!
-Marc.
-
23- Thor 2
22- Ant Man and the Wasp
21- Captain Marvel
20- Thor - Ragnorok
19- The Incredible Hulk
18- Guardians of the Galaxy 2
17- Iron Man 3
16- Dr. Strange
15- Iron Man 2
14- Thor
13- Black Panther
12- Spiderman- Far From Home
11- Captain America- First Avenger
10- Avengers- Age of Ultron
9- Ant Man
8-
7-
6- Spiderman- Homecoming
5- Iron Man
4- Guardians of the Galaxy
3-
2-
1-
The respect I have for what they did in this film is pretty endless. The alpha and omega of the MCU, and such a great start it was. RJD crushed the role from the first moment, a smooth plot, and a solid villain all melded together into a solid promise of what was to come. I wonder if any of them in the beginning had even an inkling of how damn big this thing would get.
-
#9 on my list. I can't argue or disagree with anything already mentioned. The redemption arc for Tony - as well as RJD - was simply perfect. The opening sequence was fantastic, and the build up to the point where he dons the armour in full colour was amazing. That moment of seeing IM come to life stlll gives me goosebumps.
-
#9 on my list. I can't argue or disagree with anything already mentioned. The redemption arc for Tony - as well as RJD - was simply perfect. The opening sequence was fantastic, and the build up to the point where he dons the armour in full colour was amazing. That moment of seeing IM come to life stlll gives me goosebumps.
Is that Robert Junior Downey, or Robert Jowney Dunior? ;)
-Marc.
-
Amazing start for the franchise, my only nit-pick is Stane being able to use the armor perfectly without any test runs or anything. Especially because he's not a genius like Tony. Other than that, Downey is the #1 reason the MCU was able to take off and thrive. Redemption for his real-life story as well.
-
23: The Incredible Hulk
22: Thor
21: Black Panther
20: Captain Marvel
19: Iron Man 2
18: Ant Man and the Wasp
17: Captain America - First Avenger
16: Thor: The Dark World
15: Iron Man 3
14: Spiderman - Homecoming
13: Iron Man
12: Guardians of the Galaxy 2
11: Ant Man
10: Spider Man: Far from Home
9: Doctor Strange
8: Guardians of the Galaxy
7:
6: Avengers: Age of Ultron
5:
4: Thor: Ragnarok
3:
2:
1:
#13 for me. Great film, and I respect everything this movie did. On a good day, it creeps onto the top 10. This was the second time came out of a movie impressed with how great the casting was, first time being Hugh Jackman in X-men.
-
#9 on my list. I can't argue or disagree with anything already mentioned. The redemption arc for Tony - as well as RJD - was simply perfect. The opening sequence was fantastic, and the build up to the point where he dons the armour in full colour was amazing. That moment of seeing IM come to life stlll gives me goosebumps.
Is that Robert Junior Downey, or Robert Jowney Dunior? ;)
-Marc.
I'm so used to those three letters being in that order for Ronnie James Dio. Muscle memory.
No offense, RJ ;)
-
I assumed it was RJ DAMMIT!
23. Captain Marvel
22. Thor: The Dark World
21. Iron Man 3
20. Iron Man 2
19. Doctor Strange
18. Ant Man and The Wasp
17. The Incredible Hulk
16. Thor
15. Guardians of the Galaxy 2
14. Captain America: The First Avenger
13. Ant Man
12. Guardians of the Galaxy
11. Avengers: Age of Ultron
10. Spider Man: Far From Home
9. Thor: Ragnarok
8. Spider Man: Homecoming
7. Black Panther
6. Iron Man
5. ??
4. ??
3. ??
2. ??
1. ??
Matched with DTF on this one, having it at number 6. This was a movie that DID what a bunch of lesser movies feel like they did; write it as they go, make it up, improvise, change course with the wind. Yet somehow this movie pulled it off. Not enough great things to say about this and there's a reason it was such a game changer and it wasn't just Fury showing up at the end. It was just very clever and well done and the CGI is actually more impressive than some of Marvel's modern CGI.
-
5. ??
4. ??
3. ??
2. ??
1. ??
I wonder how many of the lists had the same top five as me, and apparently, the final countdown/ranking. We all know which films these are, but I'm curious who else had all five as their top five (in any order).
-Marc.
-
5. ??
4. ??
3. ??
2. ??
1. ??
I wonder how many of the lists had the same top five as me, and apparently, the final countdown/ranking. We all know which films these are, but I'm curious who else had all five as their top five (in any order).
-Marc.
(https://www.fayerwayer.com/resizer/C4I3cu-lCmw5_vg3qAeTwpbEpbI=/1440x1080/filters:format(jpg):quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/metroworldnews/PXX6WKWRFBCB7NZJRDFGC7SES4.jpg)
-
The thing is, the top 5, which is also mine and other people's top 5, is not at all controversial. While some people may have their favorites outside of it, the top 5 are insanely well regarded and are a pretty obvious top 5. Curious about the order though.
-
Of the 5 remaining they are all in my top 6 - I have Guardians of the Galaxy at 5.
-
No spotlighting!
-
My guess for the top 5 in order are
5. Aquaman
4. Shazam!
3. Wonder Woman
2. The Suicide Squad
1. Zack Snyder's Justice League
But that's just my guess and not necessarily my top 5 MCU fulms.
-
My guess for the top 5 in order are
5. Aquaman
4. Shazam!
3. Wonder Woman
2. The Suicide Squad
1. Zack Snyder's Justice League
But that's just my guess and not necessarily my top 5 MCU fulms.
Weird, cuz I was gonna say:
5. X-Men: Days Of Future Past
4. Deadpool 2
3. Deadpool
2. Logan
1. Spider-Man 2
-Marc.
-
#5: Captain America: Civil War
Highest rank: #2 (Vamadera00, soupytwist)
Lowest rank: #16 (DarkChestofWonders)
Stats of note: There were a LOT of 5th place votes (5 of them). Other than the lone #16, the lowest was #8, so if we were to remove statistical outliers, this would be top 10 on every statistically relevant list. This is the first movie that that is true of (and 3 of the remaining 4 are top 10 on EVERY list, without removing statistical outliers). This also means all 3 phases are represented in the top 4.
Stating the obvious, but: This felt like an "Avengers" movie more than it felt like a "Captain America" title. But if you had to pick an individual that had the most dominant role, I think Cap comes out on top, with Tony behind him, and T'Challa next (although you could argue Bucky for the #3 spot as well; maybe co-#3's?).
Really good movie. I ranked it at #7, which is slightly below the average group ranking, but I still enjoyed it quite a bit. It took a little while for it to move up this high on my list. I certainly understood what they were going for. And what they were going for was emotionally hard hitting. But for some reason, it just didn't completely hit with me for awhile. I still liked it--it's just that the emotion of it didn't impact initially. I guess part of the reason for that is that the airport fight scene felt like a giant distraction for awhile. Yeah, it was cool seeing everyone. And there were a lot of good ideas in that whole scene. But the fact that they were pulling their punches and not wanting to fight, but at the same time being willing to fight just felt a bit off to me. And with that scene being such a huge centerpiece of the film, again, it just felt like a big distraction from what the film was trying to do. So while there is some good stuff, I just felt like they were rushing to do the civil war storyline and cram it into a 3-hour film, and it just moved along too quickly to do it justice. I mostly got over that and just enjoy it now for what it is. And honestly, there are some HUGE moments for the films that came afterward, as well as some of the stuff that made TFATWS as good as it is.
-
#5: Captain America: Civil War
Highest rank: #2 (Vamadera00, soupytwist)
Lowest rank: #16 (DarkChestofWonders)
Stats of note: There were a LOT of 5th place votes (5 of them). Other than the lone #16, the lowest was #8, so if we were to remove statistical outliers, this would be top 10 on every statistically relevant list. This is the first movie that that is true of (and 3 of the remaining 4 are top 10 on EVERY list, without removing statistical outliers). This also means all 3 phases are represented in the top 4.
23. Thor: The Dark World
22. The Incredible Hulk
21. Thor
20. Iron Man 3
19. Ant-Man And The Wasp
18. Captain Marvel
17. Iron Man 2
16. Ant-Man
15. Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 1
14. Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2
13. Avengers: Age Of Ultron
12. Doctor Strange
11. Spider-Man: Far From Home
10. Spider-Man: Homecoming
09. Black Panther
08. Captain America: The First Avenger
07. Iron Man
06. Thor: Ragnarok
05. Captain America: Civil War
04. ?
03. ?
02. ?
01. ?
Looks like I match the ranking again placing CACW in fifth place. Often dubbed "Avengers 2.5", this was the still a great conclusion to the then-known Captain America Trilogy. It strengthened the bonds between Steve and Bucky, and focused on Steve's ever growing disconnect from the those he's trusted. Not counting any Avengers films, the Captain America trilogy is my favorite trio of MCU films. I could watch these without any of the others and still really enjoy it, but Civil War definitely takes advantage of fans who had been watching MCU films for eight years and paid close attention. It intersected so many character arcs and plot lines while setting up new ones with Spider-Man and Black Panther, two more highly successful franchises within the MCU. Civil War had a LOT to do and IMO, it crushed those goals and then some. I might have very minor nitpick, but overall this is a worthy Top 5 MCU film and will likely stay there for awhile (unless things like CA4 New World Order, Thunderbolts, Fantastic Four, or the next two Avengers films knock it down several places).
-Marc.
-
I keep wanting to say that few if any of those titles other than the Avengers excite me, at least in concept. But I have to remind myself that, from the getgo, the MCU repeatedly did films centering around characters I had zero interest in from the comics, and made me love them. So :dunno: But to add to the list, Ant Man 3 has me really excited and looks like it could rank VERY high for me. But maybe I should temper that with the fact that Thor 4 and Strange 2 also looked like total bangers from the trailers as well, but were disappointments. So :dunno:
-
#5 on my list. Terrific film, start to finish. Amazing the way the story unfolded and pulled together so many things, providing a relevant role for every one of the heroes. My only beef is how convoluted Zemo's plan is, and if just one part of it had a hiccup, the whole thing falls apart. But, in the context of comic book lore, it is what it is. This set the stage for IW, and established the Russo Bros as the best MCU storytellers, by far.
-
I might have very minor nitpick, but overall this is a worthy Top 5 MCU film and will likely stay there for awhile (unless things like CA4 New World Order, Thunderbolts, Fantastic Four, or the next two Avengers films knock it down several places).
I have Spider Man : No Way Home in my Top 5 (at number 2). Obviously couldn't be included in this list though.
As for CW I have it at number 2, it's just a great movie from start to finish.
-
23: The Incredible Hulk
22: Thor
21: Black Panther
20: Captain Marvel
19: Iron Man 2
18: Ant Man and the Wasp
17: Captain America - First Avenger
16: Thor: The Dark World
15: Iron Man 3
14: Spiderman - Homecoming
13: Iron Man
12: Guardians of the Galaxy 2
11: Ant Man
10: Spider Man: Far from Home
9: Doctor Strange
8: Guardians of the Galaxy
7:
6: Avengers: Age of Ultron
5:
4: Thor: Ragnarok
3:
2: Captain America - Civil War
1:
I mentioned earlier when CA - First Avengers was revealed that he was my least favorite character going into the MCU, and the first movie did not help at all. However, I think the treatment he received in following movies was just top notch, and his solo movies were done very well. Great movie, and I loved that we saw different side to most heroes here while staying true to their character.
-
Thor: Ragnarok- #4 on my list. I loved everything about this. The humor was spot on, the performances were great both new and old (gold bless you Jeff Goldblum), and it led right into Infinity War. Easily my favorite of the Thor films.
Iron Man- My #12. The OG, it's amazing what this movie ended up being spawning. I remember going back to see it a second time because I heard there was a post credit scene eventually setting up an Avengers movie. Little did I know what I would would follow. They could not have nailed the Tony Stark casting any more than they did, without RDJ carrying this movie who knows if we even get an MCU.
Civil War- I put this up at #3. Basically an Avengers movie in all but name. The Cap vs Tony story was very well executed and holy crap you guys that airport scene. THAT AIRPORT SCENE :hefdaddy
-
Amazing start for the franchise, my only nit-pick is Stane being able to use the armor perfectly without any test runs or anything. Especially because he's not a genius like Tony.
This is one of my pet peeves: villains getting the same powers as the hero and instantly being able to stand toe-to-toe with the hero that has a lot more experience using said powers. Zod in Superman is another example. Yellowjacket in Ant-Man, too.
-
23. Captain Marvel
22. Thor: The Dark World
21. Iron Man 3
20. Iron Man 2
19. Doctor Strange
18. Ant Man and The Wasp
17. The Incredible Hulk
16. Thor
15. Guardians of the Galaxy 2
14. Captain America: The First Avenger
13. Ant Man
12. Guardians of the Galaxy
11. Avengers: Age of Ultron
10. Spider Man: Far From Home
9. Thor: Ragnarok
8. Spider Man: Homecoming
7. Black Panther
6. Iron Man
5. ??
4. Captain America: Civil War
3. ??
2. ??
1. ??
Had this at number 4.
I remember when this was announced and being quite concerned. I am a HUGE fan of the original Civil War comic line. Even if people disagreed about Cap and Tony being on their respective sides, I was fine with it. I was very skeptical that they could do it justice. At the time it was announced, we only whomever was in Age of Ultron. So I was like....how the hell are they going to do this massive story justice with such a tiny cast? You need the FF. You need Spider-Man. You need The New Warriors. You need dozens and dozens of characters for the registration to even make any sense. How are they going to sum up what takes months in the comics into a 2-3 hour movie? I was not thrilled.
But then time went on. Spidey joined the cast. Black Panther joined the cast. The character development leading up to it was taking more shape. Then we saw the story they decided on, which is not even a little related to the original Civil War. And I loved it. If they had tried to make it more comic accurate, it would've been awful. They made the character arcs be a perfect extension of what we've seen so far. We knew exactly why Tony was where he was. We knew why Cap was where he was. We knew why their teams joined them. It all made sense. The bad guy wasn't just a big guy to punch, he was trying something Marvel had never done before or since. He tried to out wit them only and didn't want power or anything evil at all.
On top of that you got an amazing intro to Spider-Man. I remember being in the theater and the crowd erupting when QUEENS showed up on the screen. Doubt the mention of Queens will ever get an applause like that ever again. How they handled his entire origin/catch phrase in a minute or two was just brilliant. Can't say enough about that. Of course the into of Black Panther was so damn cool. The chase scene between him and Bucky was just insane.
On top of all of that you have the incredible action, topped off by the obvious and now famous airplane scene. I am not even going to discuss it since we're all aware of it and all know how good it is.
But yes, the movie is Avengers 2.5 and I have no problem with that. It's incredible and I love every minute of it.
-
I remember when this was announced and being quite concerned. I am a HUGE fan of the original Civil War comic line. Even if people disagreed about Cap and Tony being on their respective sides, I was fine with it. I was very skeptical that they could do it justice. At the time it was announced, we only whomever was in Age of Ultron. So I was like....how the hell are they going to do this massive story justice with such a tiny cast? You need the FF. You need Spider-Man. You need The New Warriors. You need dozens and dozens of characters for the registration to even make any sense. How are they going to sum up what takes months in the comics into a 2-3 hour movie? I was not thrilled.
But then time went on. Spidey joined the cast. Black Panther joined the cast. The character development leading up to it was taking more shape. Then we saw the story they decided on, which is not even a little related to the original Civil War. And I loved it. If they had tried to make it more comic accurate, it would've been awful. They made the character arcs be a perfect extension of what we've seen so far. We knew exactly why Tony was where he was. We knew why Cap was where he was. We knew why their teams joined them. It all made sense. The bad guy wasn't just a big guy to punch, he was trying something Marvel had never done before or since. He tried to out wit them only and didn't want power or anything evil at all.
On top of that you got an amazing intro to Spider-Man. I remember being in the theater and the crowd erupting when QUEENS showed up on the screen. Doubt the mention of Queens will ever get an applause like that ever again. How they handled his entire origin/catch phrase in a minute or two was just brilliant. Can't say enough about that. Of course the into of Black Panther was so damn cool. The chase scene between him and Bucky was just insane.
On top of all of that you have the incredible action, topped off by the obvious and now famous airplane scene. I am not even going to discuss it since we're all aware of it and all know how good it is.
But yes, the movie is Avengers 2.5 and I have no problem with that. It's incredible and I love every minute of it.
The great thing about Zemo is that he was a big stepping stone in the thru-line that led up to Thanos succeeding if you think about it. He drove the Avengers apart, and because of the division, they weren't united against the coming threat of Thanos. Of course, that isn't to say Thanos might not have won even if the Avengers were assembled after Civil War, but the odds would've been better for them.
But if you *really* think about it, Zemo wanted revenge because the Avengers kind of destroyed Sokovia (accidentally), because Tony Stark accidentally created Ultron, which was a response to Tony's paranoia and fears from the Battle Of New York when Loki invaded with the Chitauri, which was facilitated by Thanos. Everything just kind of worked out between what happened with/to Tony and Thanos, which makes their confrontation in Infinity War even more compelling. They were set on a path from 2012 onward that led them there, and the events of films like Age Of Ultron and Civil War were big stepping stones for that plot to advance. I love that it all makes sense now, in retrospect.
Amazing start for the franchise, my only nit-pick is Stane being able to use the armor perfectly without any test runs or anything. Especially because he's not a genius like Tony.
This is one of my pet peeves: villains getting the same powers as the hero and instantly being able to stand toe-to-toe with the hero that has a lot more experience using said powers. Zod in Superman is another example. Yellowjacket in Ant-Man, too.
Regarding Yellowjacket, while he had a similar suit, it did drive him insane, so it's not like he was AS competent as Scott Lang, though, to be fair, Scott wasn't as competent either, and I'd argue Darren had just as much experience as Scott leading up to their confrontation. At least Darren had been researching Pym particles for awhile, whereas Scott had only just heard of them for the first time in his first film.
The same might be said about Stane, who was an older, more experienced engineer and war monger (har har). While he might not be a genius like Tony, I think he definitely knew how some things could work with regards to Stark tech. He also had dozens of other Stark employees helping him develop the Iron Monger suit as well, so it's not like he stumbled upon the tech and bumbled his way into villainy, like the bad guys in Spider-Man: Homecoming - yes, even Vulture, who, while a great villain, surprises me that a demolition contractor was able to master a VTOL-flight suit with wings in a couple weeks' time. At least Sam Wilson was a trained military soldier with specific training in his flight suit gear.
As for other foes with "same powers", I'd say Killmonger also makes sense given that he was a military soldier of fortune. He's got the experience and combat knowledge, so being paired with a vibranium suit only helped his skills go further. The same might also be said about Blonsky, the Abomination - another soldier (god, there's a lot of these between Killmonger, Zemo, Bucky for a time, etc) who was pretty strong and skilled already, but the serum that turned him into the Abomination only helped him make himself stronger. He even says so in the film - if he had his younger body with his current mind, he'd be an unstoppable warrior.
I'm glad the MCU has been moving away from "the Villain has the same power-set as the Hero" trope for awhile now, unless it makes thematic sense (Doctor Strange fights another sorcerer because it's a sorcerer's conflict, Shang-Chi fights his dad with the ten rings because it's a family fight).
-Marc.
-
...it's not like he stumbled upon the tech and bumbled his way into villainy, like the bad guys in Spider-Man: Homecoming - yes, even Vulture, who, while a great villain, surprises me that a demolition contractor was able to master a VTOL-flight suit with wings in a couple weeks' time.
Wait, what? Where are you getting "a couple weeks" from? He gets ahold of the tech in 2012. Then the film jumps ahead 8 years to when we first see him in the Vulture suit. And, yes, Fiege retconned the timeline to 4 years, but that's still 4 years, not a couple of weeks.
-
...it's not like he stumbled upon the tech and bumbled his way into villainy, like the bad guys in Spider-Man: Homecoming - yes, even Vulture, who, while a great villain, surprises me that a demolition contractor was able to master a VTOL-flight suit with wings in a couple weeks' time.
Wait, what? Where are you getting "a couple weeks" from? He gets ahold of the tech in 2012. Then the film jumps ahead 8 years to when we first see him in the Vulture suit. And, yes, Fiege retconned the timeline to 4 years, but that's still 4 years, not a couple of weeks.
D'oh - you're right. I stupidly condensed the film's timeline. Either way, was it stated in the film how long Toomes had had the flight suit? I guess if he had it for a few years, he definitely had practice with it, a lot longer than Peter was Spider-Man (which was less than two years by the time of Homecoming).
I do wish that Toomes, the Tinkerer, and the rest of his crew were fleshed out a bit more, though. I enjoyed what we got from them and had hoped they might have returned in FFH or NWH but it seems they were all one-and-done characters like most MCU villains tend to be. I'm going to blame Sony on that one though.
-Marc.
-
23- Thor 2
22- Ant Man and the Wasp
21- Captain Marvel
20- Thor - Ragnorok
19- The Incredible Hulk
18- Guardians of the Galaxy 2
17- Iron Man 3
16- Dr. Strange
15- Iron Man 2
14- Thor
13- Black Panther
12- Spiderman- Far From Home
11- Captain America- First Avenger
10- Avengers- Age of Ultron
9- Ant Man
8- Captain America- Civil War
7-
6- Spiderman- Homecoming
5- Iron Man
4- Guardians of the Galaxy
3-
2-
1-
Civil War...what a fucking blast of a movie, a bit long in the tooth, but that's being incredibly nitpicky. We get intros to Spidy and T'Challa, we got some of the better MCU humor around, and many insane action scenes.
-
To go along with Adami's comments, I too had read the entire (90+ comics) Civil War event leading up to the movie, so had some trepidation as to how all of it was going to work. I loved the angle that they took, while still pulling more than a few elements of the comics (eg, Sharon's eulogy stole direct dialogue from Steve the comics). And having Spidey play an important part in the story was great, since he was arguably the most pivotal part of the comic event, publicly de-masking himself. The Russo's did a fantastic job of pulling what they could from the comic event, while needing to have an entirely different series of events to the main plot.
-
I don't recall ever getting a lot of detail from anywhere on this, but I think the intent was to use Spidey a bit more, but they couldn't really write him in much more than they did because the deal with Sony came too late in the game. And I think it actually ended up being fine how they used him, no matter the behind the scenes that led to it playing out the way it did. It ended up being pretty believable how we had this superhero we could add into the mix but yet nobody (in universe) had ever heard of him up to that point.
-
I don't recall ever getting a lot of detail from anywhere on this, but I think the intent was to use Spidey a bit more, but they couldn't really write him in much more than they did because the deal with Sony came too late in the game. And I think it actually ended up being fine how they used him, no matter the behind the scenes that led to it playing out the way it did. It ended up being pretty believable how we had this superhero we could add into the mix but yet nobody (in universe) had ever heard of him up to that point.
I seem to have some recollection of that as well.
-
I don't recall ever getting a lot of detail from anywhere on this, but I think the intent was to use Spidey a bit more, but they couldn't really write him in much more than they did because the deal with Sony came too late in the game. And I think it actually ended up being fine how they used him, no matter the behind the scenes that led to it playing out the way it did. It ended up being pretty believable how we had this superhero we could add into the mix but yet nobody (in universe) had ever heard of him up to that point.
My understanding is that they wrote 2 versions of the script -- one with Spidey, one without -- because they didn't know whether the deal was going to go through or not.
-
Regarding Yellowjacket, while he had a similar suit, it did drive him insane, so it's not like he was AS competent as Scott Lang, though, to be fair, Scott wasn't as competent either, and I'd argue Darren had just as much experience as Scott leading up to their confrontation. At least Darren had been researching Pym particles for awhile, whereas Scott had only just heard of them for the first time in his first film.
But that's theoretical knowlege, not actual experience. Hell, it takes me a while to figure out how to work everything in a rental car, I can't imagine suddenly having to operate one of these suits. Either way, Scott got a whole montage of everything he had to learn, but Darren is somehow able to skip all that training.
-
Civil War #5 for me.
Amazing movie, love every minute. The way they set it up with multiple intense emotional scenes (Nigeria, the mom confronting Tony by the elevator) and then that climactic confrontation between Steve and Tony when you could argue BOTH were right . . . just so good. Do you remember in the theater thinking for a second Steve was going to behead Tony with his shield?!?
Edit: Tony witnessing his parents’ execution is perhaps the most powerful scene in the MCU. It ranks right up there anyway.
-
#4: Captain American: The Winter Soldier
Highest rank: #3 (lonestar, Adami, soupytwist, jingle.boy, Joe, jammindude)
Lowest rank: #13 (DarkChestofWonders)
Stats of interest: This is the highest ranking phase 2 film. Other than that #13 finish, the lowest it finished was #9 (bosk1, MetalJunkie). It also had 3 4th place finishes.
I think just about everyone loved this film right from the start. It was a bit different for an MCU film, as more of an espionage thriller than a superhero movie. And it worked. We really began to feel the connective tissue throughout the MCU with this one, with Natasha showing up and again being a GREAT supporting character, and the ramifications of SHIELD/Hydra being far reaching. And where this caused Agents of SHIELD to go was also great for that show, back when everyone thought it was still canon (oh, silly us). The Winter Soldier was scary. And that elevator scene! Just...yeah.
Obviously, I liked this film. It is top 10 for me. I never liked it as much as other people. But I never disliked anything about it either. Just solid from start to finish.
-
23- Thor 2
22- Ant Man and the Wasp
21- Captain Marvel
20- Thor - Ragnorok
19- The Incredible Hulk
18- Guardians of the Galaxy 2
17- Iron Man 3
16- Dr. Strange
15- Iron Man 2
14- Thor
13- Black Panther
12- Spiderman- Far From Home
11- Captain America- First Avenger
10- Avengers- Age of Ultron
9- Ant Man
8- Captain America- Civil War
7-
6- Spiderman- Homecoming
5- Iron Man
4- Guardians of the Galaxy
3- Captain America- The Winter Soldier
2-
1-
My favorite by far of the stand alone movies, and honestly if it wasn't for the unbelievably epic scale of Infinity War/Endgame, it might have been on top. (not to mention the experience, but more on that later) This had my favorite Avenger finally in a big role, giving time to really flesh out her character. Also the intro of Sam, who I always enjoyed. Like Bosk said, it had the espionage aspect that really was a fun new flavor of MCU for us. The Winter Soldier was an outstanding villain, and the action sequences might have been some of the best in the series.
-
#6 for me. As bosk said, a nice change of piece in getting a well-executed political thriller moreso than a superhero movie. Great turns from returning MCU characters, major and minor, and a good debut for Anthony Mackie as Sam Wilson/Falcon.
-
#4: Captain American: The Winter Soldier
Highest rank: #3 (lonestar, Adami, soupytwist, jingle.boy, Joe, jammindude)
Lowest rank: #13 (DarkChestofWonders)
Stats of interest: This is the highest ranking phase 2 film. Other than that #13 finish, the lowest it finished was #9 (bosk1, MetalJunkie). It also had 3 4th place finishes.
23. Thor: The Dark World
22. The Incredible Hulk
21. Thor
20. Iron Man 3
19. Ant-Man And The Wasp
18. Captain Marvel
17. Iron Man 2
16. Ant-Man
15. Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 1
14. Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2
13. Avengers: Age Of Ultron
12. Doctor Strange
11. Spider-Man: Far From Home
10. Spider-Man: Homecoming
09. Black Panther
08. Captain America: The First Avenger
07. Iron Man
06. Thor: Ragnarok
05. Captain America: Civil War
04. Captain America: The Winter Soldier
03. ?
02. ?
01. ?
Looks like I'm on the nose again! This was the 2nd MCU film I had seen in theaters twice (the first being Avengers two years prior). The spy-thriller and espionage tone of this film really help set it apart from anything else in the franchise up to that point, and since really. There hasn't been a film quite like this one, and the Russos definitely set a high bar for what an MCU film could be.
-Marc.
-
Flawless. As Cheffy said, if not for the EPIC finale of Phase 1-3, this would be the best them. The fight sequences are by far the best.
“On your left.”
“Tell him I’m in pursuit.”
“Before we get started! Does anyone want to get out.”
Chills.
I’m not sure which sequence I prefer … the elevator, or the bridge.
ScarJo was the bomb in this movie.
-
Flawless. As Cheffy said, if not for the EPIC finale of Phase 1-3, this would be the best them. The fight sequences are by far the best.
“On your left.”
“Tell him I’m in pursuit.”
“Before we get started! Does anyone want to get out.”
Chills.
I’m not sure which sequence I prefer … the elevator, or the bridge.
ScarJo was the bomb in this movie.
The escape sequence after the Apple Store was just amazing...
"Was that the first time you've kissed a woman since coming out of the ice?"
"Was it that bad?"
-
This would be my #1 movie. Old action scenes with modern technology. Storyline was amazing.
-
#3: The Avengers
Highest ranking: #1 (MetalJunkie, ZirconBlue)
Lowest ranking: #18 :omg (DarkChestofWonders)
Stats of note: That #18 didn't really matter. This one has been solidly at #3 the whole time--plenty of high rankings to keep it no lower than #3, but not enough to get it past Infinity War and Endgame. More than 2/3 of you had it in the top 3, and most of those that didn't still had it pretty high.
If the MCU stopped here, there would have been a lot of completely satisfied fans. I'm not saying anything new here, but this film was unprecedented. Only a few select franchises had this many sequels or more. But his was more than just a sequel. Everything up to this point was leading up to what we saw. And it all fit together, and it all worked. We've come so far that I have to remind myself sometimes what a monumental accomplishment this was. And yet...we get to the end of the film and learn that it's not a culmination at all--there's more!
I loved this movie. And...so what? Because we ALL do. So much more than just a summer blockbuster. This film shattered any discussion of which superhero franchise was #1. And it made "the next MCU release" into events to mark on our calendars and look forward to.
I also look back on the fact that we marveled at the time that they could assemble a team of 6 main characters and somehow give them screen time to develop them as a team. LOTS of people expressed concern over whether that could be pulled off effectively. It was, and then some. And that says nothing of the amazing action scenes, the amazing pacing, the cinematography, the depth of character arcs up to this point, and on and on.
-
#3: The Avengers
Highest ranking: #1 (MetalJunkie, ZirconBlue)
Lowest ranking: #18 :omg (DarkChestofWonders)
Stats of note: That #18 didn't really matter. This one has been solidly at #3 the whole time--plenty of high rankings to keep it no lower than #3, but not enough to get it past Infinity War and Endgame. More than 2/3 of you had it in the top 3, and most of those that didn't still had it pretty high.
23. Thor: The Dark World
22. The Incredible Hulk
21. Thor
20. Iron Man 3
19. Ant-Man And The Wasp
18. Captain Marvel
17. Iron Man 2
16. Ant-Man
15. Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 1
14. Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2
13. Avengers: Age Of Ultron
12. Doctor Strange
11. Spider-Man: Far From Home
10. Spider-Man: Homecoming
09. Black Panther
08. Captain America: The First Avenger
07. Iron Man
06. Thor: Ragnarok
05. Captain America: Civil War
04. Captain America: The Winter Soldier
03. The Avengers
02. ?
01. ?
The team-up that tied up Phase 1, the biggest risk with the biggest reward. If this didn't work, the MCU probably would have been stopped in its tracks, but thanks it was wildly successful. Heck I even saw it twice in theaters!
Regardless of what you might think about Whedon and his directing, he turned out a great film, but it wasn't just his direction that helped it. The characters and the actors who portrayed them all had a film or two under their belts, and for many fans we were already familiar with them for years! The anticipation was high. The hype was through the roof. And it seemed like all the planets aligned in such a way that the resulting film was more than your average Hollywood blockbuster. To say it changed how film franchises could be done and done successfully would be an understatement, and I think it definitely changed cinema.
Of course we know which two films are left, but the order of them will probably surprise us all! I think many of us could probably interchange them, but it's nice to see that, as far as the final ranking goes, I'm with the Countdown in terms of having these top films in roughly the same positions!
-Marc.
-
DarkChestofWonders ... :corn
-
Been away on holidays so have missed a few.
Avengers: Age of Ultron - I had at number 12.
Iron Man - number 10.
Guardians of the Galaxy - number 8.
Thor: Ragnarok - number 7 (nailed it)
Spiderman: Homecoming - number 6
Captain America: Civil War - number 5 (nailed it)
Captain America: The Winter Soldier - number 4 (nailed it) - really loved that this ranked so high, I didn't realise it was so universally loved.
The Avengers - I ranked at number 3 also same as consensus. Such a great movie and such an awesome payoff to all the movies that had come before this one. Would be hard to see how this could be done better, but I guess with 2 more still to come it has been.
-
23- Thor 2
22- Ant Man and the Wasp
21- Captain Marvel
20- Thor - Ragnorok
19- The Incredible Hulk
18- Guardians of the Galaxy 2
17- Iron Man 3
16- Dr. Strange
15- Iron Man 2
14- Thor
13- Black Panther
12- Spiderman- Far From Home
11- Captain America- First Avenger
10- Avengers- Age of Ultron
9- Ant Man
8- Captain America- Civil War
7- The Avengers
6- Spiderman- Homecoming
5- Iron Man
4- Guardians of the Galaxy
3- Captain America- The Winter Soldier
2-
1-
An absolute thrill ride beginning to end. Really showed how the parts can become a whole, how epic this type of storytelling can become, what the potential of the MCU could hold. But even as epic as this was, it was really just the first seeds being planted for what I always considered one of the greatest accomplishments in cinema, the Infinity Saga, but more on that later of course. Another thing I love about this is how it's also the beginning of what is promising to be one of the more epic redemption arcs ever in Loki.
-
Just a brief observation that whether you love of hate Joss Whedon, his expertise in giving equal footing to an ensemble cast in Firefly proved instrumental in the success of The Avengers
-
23. Captain Marvel
22. Thor: The Dark World
21. Iron Man 3
20. Iron Man 2
19. Doctor Strange
18. Ant Man and The Wasp
17. The Incredible Hulk
16. Thor
15. Guardians of the Galaxy: Volume 2
14. Captain America: The First Avenger
13. Ant Man
12. Guardians of the Galaxy
11. Avengers: Age of Ultron
10. Spider Man: Far from Home
9. Thor: Ragnarok
8. Spider man: Homecoming
7. Black Panther
6. Iron Man
5. The Avengers
4. Captain America: Civil War
3. Captain America: The Winter Soldier
2. ??
1. ??
My numbers 3 and 5 respectively.
I remember going to see Winter Soldier in theaters and as soon as Cap started that fight scene on the boat I was like "Woah...this is something new....this is something amazing." Prior, much of Marvel, including the Avengers movie, had a very comic book feel to it in regards to the action. It all felt light and awesome, but didn't make you FEEL the kicks and punches. This one did. This had a visceral sense to it that was missing prior. It sucked me right in. The new tone, the new attitude, the new stories, this is the movie that really confirmed that the MCU was amazing and it being 3 is just a testament to what the last two movies accomplished. But yea, I loved everything about this movie, shy of possibly the exposition scene from RoboZola.
Avengers, well most of everything has already been said. This movie changed the game. Some of those action interactions between Cap and Iron Man, or Thor and Cap, or Hulk and whomever were just like giving the audience EVERYTHING we had no idea we desperately wanted. The story was simple enough and inspired enough by the first Avengers comics that it worked well. I didn't love it as much the other 4 above it, but it's an amazing movie.
-
I love how Whedon/Loki created all the tension amongst the team, only to pull them all together in the end. The infighting was perfect, and was soooo Avengers. The individual parts are prickly with each other, but the whole package together is smooth as silk - meaning, that's the way the group has often been portrayed in the comics. I'm glad they bailed on the 'purist' attempt around Cap's suit. Thank god they never tried that with Hawkeye's look.
-
23: The Incredible Hulk
22: Thor
21: Black Panther
20: Captain Marvel
19: Iron Man 2
18: Ant Man and the Wasp
17: Captain America - First Avenger
16: Thor: The Dark World
15: Iron Man 3
14: Spiderman - Homecoming
13: Iron Man
12: Guardians of the Galaxy 2
11: Ant Man
10: Spider Man: Far from Home
9: Doctor Strange
8: Guardians of the Galaxy
7: Avengers
6: Avengers: Age of Ultron
5:Captain America - Winter Soldier
4: Thor: Ragnarok
3:
2: Captain America - Civil War
1:
Captain America - Winter Soldier #5 for me. Not much to say that hasn't been said. I went to the theater to watch this movie because I was already invested in the MCU, but Cap was still my least favorite character (and Avengers didn't do much to change that), but I came out of the movie theater with new appreciation for Chris Evan's Captain. Bucky was terrifying in this movie. Great action sequences all throughout.
Avengers: #7. Amazing movie, On a good day it makes it to my top 5. I don't have anything necessarily negative to say about this movie, I just like the others a bit more.
-
#2 tonight... :caffeine:
-
#2 tonight... :caffeine:
For the sake of the countdown, I guess we should only discuss the #2 film and now what will be #1 so that we can save that discussion for when you post the #1 film?
Either way, I'm excited to see which order these two fall in, not that it matters very much to me, both are great, but I have a suspicion I know which order it will be (and it won't be the order I have it in).
-Marc.
-
#2 tonight... :caffeine:
For the sake of the countdown, I guess we should only discuss the #2 film and now what will be #1 so that we can save that discussion for when you post the #1 film?
Either way, I'm excited to see which order these two fall in, not that it matters very much to me, both are great, but I have a suspicion I know which order it will be (and it won't be the order I have it in).
-Marc.
I truly could go either way amongst. I've got my reasons for why I ranked them the way I did, but i've no doubt a dozen other people could see it the other way around. For me, it's definitely a case of 1a/1b. Wouldn't it be glorious if they tied!?!?! :omg:
-
Avengers clocked in at seventh for me. The OG team up movie, the moment we had all been waiting for since that first post-credits scene after Iron Man. And it delivered. The interactions between all of the soon-to-be Avengers felt true to everything that had been established in their standalone movies, and (stop me if you've read this before in this thread) Tom Hiddleston absolutely killed it.
-
I was already planning on starting off with what Marc mentioned above: Let's keep discussion limited to the #2 for now so that we have something to discuss tomorrow with the #1. That isn't to say you can't mention it, or make comparisons/contrast. But let's try to limit a lot of substantive discussion of the #1 for now, cool?
And the second favorite MCU film is...
Avengers: Infinity War
Highest ranking: #1 (bosk1, Vmadera00, faizoff, hefdaddy42, The Realm, soupytwist, jingle.boy, jammindude)
Lowest ranking: #12 (DarkChestofWonders)
Stats: This finished in everybody's top 3, except the lone #12 vote and a #5. If not for that statistical outlier, this would have finished #1. After adding up all the votes, #1 and #2 were separated by only 2 points! Based on the trend, I suspect this would have finished #1 if we had a larger sample size of votes.
What. A. Movie. To date, this had the biggest cast of superheroes. It had nonstop action from start to finish. It had locations all over the universe. It gave us a villain that had SO much depth, character, and development. It gave us emotion. It tied together virtually every corner of the MCU to date. And somehow, it not only all worked, but wildly exceeded all expectations. Go back in your mind to Iron Man. Or even to Avengers. Did any of you imagine the MCU could ever pull of something so grandiose? I didn't. This movie somehow made The Avengers feel like child's play.
To me, this was as perfect a superhero movie as could possibly be made. The pacing rarely let up, but for the briefest of moments when needed to let us catch a breath, and while that was fatiguing, it was in a way that worked. There was so much crammed into this movie, and it never felt like it was too much. It all worked together so well. It built so perfectly off of the prior movies and took the characters in directions that made sense, and I loved it. The ending was simultaneously completely expected and completely unexpected. And the realization that the original six Avengers were among the survivors was chilling. This movie, perhaps more than any other, flawless pulled off the double duty of tying up everything that came before while creating unprecedented anticipation for what was coming next. For that reason, despite the fact that I think the emotional impact of Endgame was somehow even bigger and more satisfying, this is my #1.
-
It was an extremely ballsy move to take the most anticipated movie of the entire decade (possibly of our generation) and have everyone die at the end.
The first time I saw it, a girl in my row literally stood up and said, “THAT’S IT?!?!?!?!?!??”
I LOLed
-
I rated this as #1 for a lot of what Bosk said. There was just soooo much going on, and it was all stitched together perfectly. At first I felt gypped out of seeing how Thanos annihilated Xandar to get the Power stone, but then realized that wasn't necessary - the more important stories were to be told about the other 5 stones. The pacing was frantic, but perfect; there was no lull in the plot - honestly, the Rocket/Thor scene is one of the best of the movie - probably Hemsworth's best performance in any movie/moment.
And the number of roars that came in the theater ... "we have a Hulk"; Tony's nano-suit; Cap's silhouette behind the subway; "Congratulations kid, you're an Avenger"; Thor's arrival in Wakanda; Thanos v Strange (breathtaking).
And then the gasps and wtf expressions as everyone got dusted.
Just perfection.
P.S. Is DarkChestofWonders just trolling with their list? Seriously.
-
Avengers: Infinity War
Highest ranking: #1 (bosk1, Vmadera00, faizoff, hefdaddy42, The Realm, soupytwist, jingle.boy, jammindude)
Lowest ranking: #12 (DarkChestofWonders)
Stats: This finished in everybody's top 3, except the lone #12 vote and a #5. If not for that statistical outlier, this would have finished #1. After adding up all the votes, #1 and #2 were separated by only 2 points! Based on the trend, I suspect this would have finished #1 if we had a larger sample size of votes.
23. Thor: The Dark World
22. The Incredible Hulk
21. Thor
20. Iron Man 3
19. Ant-Man And The Wasp
18. Captain Marvel
17. Iron Man 2
16. Ant-Man
15. Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 1
14. Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2
13. Avengers: Age Of Ultron
12. Doctor Strange
11. Spider-Man: Far From Home
10. Spider-Man: Homecoming
09. Black Panther
08. Captain America: The First Avenger
07. Iron Man
06. Thor: Ragnarok
05. Captain America: Civil War
04. Captain America: The Winter Soldier
03. The Avengers
02. Avengers: Infinity War
01. ?
I still remember the shock and awe the ending left me and my whole theater in. I think MCU fans of all levels really connected that day. Casuals, die-hard, and all those in-between were all caught off guard, even the ones who knew the comics that were prepared for the snap would not even be ready for how it was actually executed.
This was Thanos' film. He went on The Hero's Journey, and it was his quest, his story, made even more evident as the film closes on him (not including that chilling post-credits scene). For many fans, it would seem impossible to top a film like this but I think the Russos did an excellent job. Knowing how close these two films were in the final ranking definitely proves that with our small sample size here.
-Marc.
-
Avengers: Infinity War
Highest ranking: #1 (bosk1, Vmadera00, faizoff, hefdaddy42, The Realm, soupytwist, jingle.boy, jammindude)
I had it at #1 as well...
23- Thor 2
22- Ant Man and the Wasp
21- Captain Marvel
20- Thor - Ragnorok
19- The Incredible Hulk
18- Guardians of the Galaxy 2
17- Iron Man 3
16- Dr. Strange
15- Iron Man 2
14- Thor
13- Black Panther
12- Spiderman- Far From Home
11- Captain America- First Avenger
10- Avengers- Age of Ultron
9- Ant Man
8- Captain America- Civil War
7- The Avengers
6- Spiderman- Homecoming
5- Iron Man
4- Guardians of the Galaxy
3- Captain America- The Winter Soldier
2-
1- Avengers- Infinity War
The line between this and Endgame for me is very, very thin.
Yup, as others said, ballsy move to kill everyone. This was such a cinematic achievement, taking all the myriad threads that were laid out in the previous 10 years of movies, and tying them together in such a brilliant fashion, just awe inspiring. To have so many lead characters, yet each having a part to play. And epic on a scale never even speculated or thought of. This was cinema at its largest.
Also, for me, it was the experience. Seeing it on opening night, in IMAX, in a theater that sold alcohol to seats, made it less a theater environment and more a rock concert. People were intensely vocal, people stood up and cheered, people were visible emotional. At the end, one dude next to me just said "they lost???". When Spidey died, all you could hear was sniffling. It was a level of theater participation I'd never seen before, and would only see once more in Endgame.
Such a tremendous acheivement all around,
-
23: The Incredible Hulk
22: Thor
21: Black Panther
20: Captain Marvel
19: Iron Man 2
18: Ant Man and the Wasp
17: Captain America - First Avenger
16: Thor: The Dark World
15: Iron Man 3
14: Spiderman - Homecoming
13: Iron Man
12: Guardians of the Galaxy 2
11: Ant Man
10: Spider Man: Far from Home
9: Doctor Strange
8: Guardians of the Galaxy
7: Avengers
6: Avengers: Age of Ultron
5:Captain America - Winter Soldier
4: Thor: Ragnarok
3:
2: Captain America - Civil War
1: Avengers: Infinity War
Have to say, I am surprised at the order of the last two films.
This to me, was just the perfect movie to tie everything together. While we missed two of our heroes (Ant-man and Hawkeye), everything else tied up nicely. From the opening sequence, that we did not get a typical Marvel intro but instead we got Asgardian's call for help, I knew we were in for a treat. Those first 10 minutes of the movie gave us a glimpse of how terrifying Thanos was going to be. Seeing characters from different movies meet for the first time was done in such a graceful way as well.
And it goes without saying that the actors brought in their A game. As Jingle mentioned, that scene with Rocket and Thor :hefdaddy, Vision and Wanda :tup
I think I saw this movie 3 times in the theater, and one of those was in 4-D, which was one of the weirdest movie experiences I had :lol But yeah, the crowd on opening weekend was intense.
-
Commenting on the last 2 . . . Avengers at #2, Infinity War at #3.
The Avengers was a such a huge game-changer. Probably my most-anticipated movie ever (up to that point). As others have stated, most of us comic readers never thought we'd get something on the silver screen that would do justice to the source material. Thank you Kevin Feige!! There's no way I can go into detail about how much I love this movie. Just bringing those characters together in such a realistic way (personality conflicts, different motivations, struggles over who is the Alpha) etc. You can see why projects of this size and scope burn out producers/directors.
Infinity War awesome as well of course, not much to add that hasn't been said.
-
IIRC, I saw IW 4 times in the theater. And as RJ said, IMAX on opening night was unparalleled (at least, until about 12 months later).
As Victor said, that opening sequence, with Thanos rather easily handling Hulk (and Maw holding back Cull to "let him have his fun") was like :omg: Then, him simply crushing the cosmic cube to reveal the Space Stone... wow. It really set the stage for how powerful and dangerous he is.
-
Avengers: Infinity War
Highest ranking: #1 (bosk1, Vmadera00, faizoff, hefdaddy42, The Realm, soupytwist, jingle.boy, jammindude)
I had it at #1 as well...
Yes, you certainly did! Sorry about that.
Wanted to come back in to say a couple of other things:
The snap: The way they executed the snap and the dusting on screen was incredible. We had that uncomfortable feeling all film that we were "inevitably" heading toward that, and I know for me, I kept wondering how they would pull something like that off onscreen and have it look believable and have it hit home. I had no idea. It exceeded anything I could have expected in my wildest expectations.
The missing Avengers: We didn't know why Hawkeye and Ant Man were missing. And I don't remember a ton of people strongly voicing that Ant Man should have been involved, but remember LOTS of people wondering why on earth we weren't seeing Hawkeye. Hindsight is 20/20. What we got from both of these in Endgame was perfect, and couldn't have had nearly the impact if those characters were crammed into Infinity War. Just SO good!
Thanos: Chad, I agree. It was good that we had seen him before and knew a little about him. But so far, we had just been told that he was powerful. We hadn't seen it. This film showed us in the first 10 minutes of the film. We spent some quality minutes right up front with this character and were made to fear and dread him. Half the Asgardians were dead. We didn't see what happened to Xandar, but we didn't need to. We were cleverly given the facts to fill in the blanks that they were utterly decimated. We saw Loki and Heimdall easily killed, and Thor and Hulk easily beaten and discarded. This guy was going to be a problem like no other and we fully believed that without any reservation 10 minutes in.
The theater experience: I just remember the quiet at the end. Leaving the theater, there was little talking. And everybody's facial expressions and body language just said "wow, just WOW." This was not a situation where I even had to ask the family as we left the theater, "So, what did you think? Did you like it?" It was more, "How incredible was that?" It was clear that the vast majority of people would feel that this was an instant classic and instant "best film" of the entire MCU to date.
-
Had this at 2 and obviously I had the other at number 1. It's hard to discuss them separately since to me it's one big connected piece. So once the other one is revealed, I'll discuss them both in one post.
-
The missing Avengers: We didn't know why Hawkeye and Ant Man were missing. And I don't remember a ton of people strongly voicing that Ant Man should have been involved, but remember LOTS of people wondering why on earth we weren't seeing Hawkeye. Hindsight is 20/20. What we got from both of these in Endgame was perfect, and couldn't have had nearly the impact if those characters were crammed into Infinity War. Just SO good!
Well, we know that they're on house arrest:
Bruce Banner: [discussing the situation] We need all hands on deck. Where's Clint?
Black Widow: After the whole Accords situation, he and Scott took a deal. It was too tough on their families. They're on house arrest.
Bruce Banner: Who's Scott?
Steve Rogers: Scott Lang. Ant-Man.
Bruce Banner: There's an Ant-Man *and* a Spider-Man?
-
The missing Avengers: We didn't know why Hawkeye and Ant Man were missing. And I don't remember a ton of people strongly voicing that Ant Man should have been involved, but remember LOTS of people wondering why on earth we weren't seeing Hawkeye. Hindsight is 20/20. What we got from both of these in Endgame was perfect, and couldn't have had nearly the impact if those characters were crammed into Infinity War. Just SO good!
Well, we know that they're on house arrest:
Bruce Banner: [discussing the situation] We need all hands on deck. Where's Clint?
Black Widow: After the whole Accords situation, he and Scott took a deal. It was too tough on their families. They're on house arrest.
Bruce Banner: Who's Scott?
Steve Rogers: Scott Lang. Ant-Man.
Bruce Banner: There's an Ant-Man *and* a Spider-Man?
True, definitely explained where they were in the film after Civil War, even though we didn't SEE that until the second Ant-Man film and the opening of Endgame.
-Marc.
-
Infinity War - my clear number 1. Kind of can't believe it isn't number 1 overall. Lots of great points already made about this movie, it really is on a completely different level to anything that came before it and set up a mammoth task for End Game to attempt to top (more on that later).
I think what I loved most though in this movie was Thanos. He really became such a flawed and realised character and ultimate badass villain. And as others have said the execution of the snap was perfect.
Lots of favourite moments but Thor arriving at the battle is hard to beat.
-
Had this at 2 and obviously I had the other at number 1. It's hard to discuss them separately since to me it's one big connected piece. So once the other one is revealed, I'll discuss them both in one post.
Yes. Taken as one big piece, easily the greatest sci-fi/action/adventure ever to hit the big screen. YMMV. But of course it’s not just the spectacle, it’s the actors and the emotions and the relationships. One-of-a-kind achievement.
-
Had this at 2 and obviously I had the other at number 1. It's hard to discuss them separately since to me it's one big connected piece. So once the other one is revealed, I'll discuss them both in one post.
Yes. Taken as one big piece, easily the greatest sci-fi/action/adventure ever to hit the big screen. YMMV. But of course it’s not just the spectacle, it’s the actors and the emotions and the relationships. One-of-a-kind achievement.
Yup, not even Marvel will match what they did with the Infinity Saga
-
Had this at 2 and obviously I had the other at number 1. It's hard to discuss them separately since to me it's one big connected piece. So once the other one is revealed, I'll discuss them both in one post.
Yes. Taken as one big piece, easily the greatest sci-fi/action/adventure ever to hit the big screen. YMMV. But of course it’s not just the spectacle, it’s the actors and the emotions and the relationships. One-of-a-kind achievement.
Yup, not even Marvel will match what they did with the Infinity Saga
Probably not, but I'm sure the next two Avengers films might come close, especially if Secret Wars goes all out with its multiversal cameos.
-Marc.
-
I'll be impressed as hell (and pleasantly over-joyed) if the KD/SW combination captures the same kind of magic. Sadly, we know the Hemsworth version of Thor won't show up. :-\ :sad:
-
Infinity War was the runner up for me. What an epic start to the two-part Infinity Saga conclusion.This movie kicks into gear immediately with a beatdown of Thor and Hulk and the murder of Loki, which largely sets the tone for the next 2.5 hours. The good guys get their shots in, but then we get to the end and it's "Mr Stark, I don't feel so good". You could hear a pin drop in my theater when people started to go to dust.
-
I've been a bit of a Negative Nancy about the MCU as of late, and there were obviously some misses even during Phases 1-3, but holy hell do they deserve credit for absolutely nailing Infinity War (and then Endgame too). I remember walking out of the theater after seeing Infinity War and being so impressed by how clever it was to kill off half the characters and leave only the most important ones in tact for Endgame. Infinity War is awesome but they were clearly starting to run into the problem of having too many characters to actually spend meaningful time with. Using the "Thanos wants to kill half the galaxy" premise to reduce the number of characters and then give the main characters more screen time in Endgame was the perfect solution. I think everyone involved deserves a ton of credit for how well the Infinity Saga ended.
-
Man, the anticipation to find out what came at #1, intense!
-
:lol
-
Had this at 2 and obviously I had the other at number 1. It's hard to discuss them separately since to me it's one big connected piece. So once the other one is revealed, I'll discuss them both in one post.
Yes. Taken as one big piece, easily the greatest sci-fi/action/adventure ever to hit the big screen. YMMV. But of course it’s not just the spectacle, it’s the actors and the emotions and the relationships. One-of-a-kind achievement.
Yup, not even Marvel will match what they did with the Infinity Saga
Probably not, but I'm sure the next two Avengers films might come close, especially if Secret Wars goes all out with its multiversal cameos.
-Marc.
I don't see how. We'd have to be thoroughly emotionally invested in all these new characters for that to work - personally, there's no way I get there. Can't recreate what I got from Downey/Evans/Hemsworth/Johansson.
-
I don't see how. We'd have to be thoroughly emotionally invested in all these new characters for that to work - personally, there's no way I get there. Can't recreate what I got from Downey/Evans/Hemsworth/Johansson.
I think is just too early to tell, but we will see.
While I also don't believe they will match phase 3, the way the story is shaping up, it might be even better than phase 3 but for different reasons. The material and story is there, I just think they have to execute it properly.
-
I don't see how. We'd have to be thoroughly emotionally invested in all these new characters for that to work - personally, there's no way I get there. Can't recreate what I got from Downey/Evans/Hemsworth/Johansson.
I think is just too early to tell, but we will see.
While I also don't believe they will match phase 3, the way the story is shaping up, it might be even better than phase 3 but for different reasons. The material and story is there, I just think they have to execute it properly.
If MoM and L&T are any indications, they're gonna fail. I have mildly high hopes that Quantumania and GOTG vol3 can right the good ship MCU.
-
I don't see how. We'd have to be thoroughly emotionally invested in all these new characters for that to work - personally, there's no way I get there. Can't recreate what I got from Downey/Evans/Hemsworth/Johansson.
I think is just too early to tell, but we will see.
While I also don't believe they will match phase 3, the way the story is shaping up, it might be even better than phase 3 but for different reasons. The material and story is there, I just think they have to execute it properly.
If MoM and L&T are any indications, they're gonna fail. I have mildly high hopes that Quantumania and GOTG vol3 can right the good ship MCU.
Whether by coincidence or not, it seems like every MCU franchise's third film is fairly successful. Regardless of how you feel about Iron Man 3, it was the MCU's 2nd billion-dollar maker (coming out after Avengers probably helped), and many fans seems to enjoy it now in retrospect. Civil War was very successful and is fairly loved by most fans, as is Thor: Ragnarok. Of course, Infinity War set the bar at its time of release, so there's no doubting its quality there. And of course there's 2021's Spider-Man: No Way Home, which speaks for itself.
Now that we're getting the third films in the next two oldest franchises within the MCU, both of which started in Phase 2, I suspect that Quantumania and Guardians Vol. 3 will knock it out of the park. The stakes are high for each, within their own respective stories, but could also help push forward various parts of the MCU's over-all story and narrative going into Phase 5.
Also, it now occurs to me that it'll be a LONG time before we get another Threequel in the MCU, not counting Deadpool 3 (which started outside of the MCU). Doctor Strange and Black Panther will surely get third films, and Captain Marvel might, as well (depending on how The Marvels does this year), but those probably won't happen til at LEAST 2026 or 2027. Somehow those three Phase 3-started franchises just got the raw end of the stick by having their individual entries spaced out so much - Doctor Strange took 6 years between films, with Captain Marvel and Black Panther both waiting four years between films as well. The slate from 2026 and beyond will likely include sequels to Shang-Chi and the Eternals as well, so who knows when they'll fit in the next Threequel.
-Marc.
-
Hey, guys. Really sorry for the delay. Some of you may have noticed I haven't been on the board AT ALL for several days. Been assigned to work out of town on something that has taken a TON of time and lots of driving, and didn't have my computer with me on this last road trip. Anyhow, excuses aside, here we go...
The winner and #1 MCU phase 1-3 film is: Avengers: Endgame
Highest ranking: #1 (TheLetterM, DreamTeam, axeman90210, Adami)
Lowest ranking: #5: (DarkChestofWonders, jammindude)
Stats of note: As mentioned, this finished in the top 5 on every single list. There were 4 first place finishes, 9 second place finishes, 1 third place, 1 fourth place, and 2 fifth place. This was clearly a favorite. But that said, it would have finished second to Infinity War if not for the #12 vote it got.
This was the capstone of the Infinity Saga. We knew Marvel was going to somehow bring everyone back. We knew Thanos would be front and center. And we eventually learned that there would somehow be time travel involved. Beyond that, I would say that this film subverted a lot of what most fans were expecting to happen. And it did it oh so well. The movie upped the ante in terms of including a huge cast. On paper, having this many superheroes shouldn't have worked by any stretch of the imagination. But it did. Part of that was because we got sufficient character development for pretty much everybody in the films leading up to this one. The other part is that they wisely kept the focus of the first three acts (and much of the third as well) on the O.G. six with a limited number of supporting characters. The character arcs in this movie were great. The action was great. The pacing was great. The writing was great. The emotional stakes were HUGE. And giving us a "Lord of the Rings ending" satisfyingly tied up a lot of loose ends with our characters that were exiting while setting up some things for the future. As the climax of the Infinity Saga (with Far From Home being a nice epilogue), Endgame was just about perfect.
I had this at #2 behind Infinity War. But really, it's more like 1A and 1B. I loved both of these films. What slightly tipped the scale in IW's favor for me is just that the time travel/multiverse concepts just get a little too wonky and require just a bit more suspension of belief and requires you to ultimately respond to certain things with, "Look, just don't think too hard about it." IW didn't really have those moments. But I mention the emotional stakes above. IW had that too. But Endgame just took it over the top. We knew about Tony's monologue in space because we heard part of it in the trailers. But hearing/seeing it in context and getting the opening chords of "Dear Mr. Fantasy" gave me legitimate chills in the theater, and I still remember that feeling every single time I watch this movie. And Pepper's reaction when Tony dies just completely wrecks me every single time. I'm tearing up just typing about it. And, yeah, Peter's right before that it pretty emotional as well (Holland really nailed that). But we get the complete gut punch of Peter's reaction, thinking it can't get any more hard-hitting than that, and then we get Pepper... It just destroys me emotionally. In a superhero movie. And of course, there are other impactful moments as well. Those are just two of my favorites.
-
I think Infinity War is a lot better than Endgame but Endgame has the most fan service out of any movie ever made so I'm not that surprised it won either. Plus it was perfectly fine also which doesn't hurt.
-
23- Thor 2
22- Ant Man and the Wasp
21- Captain Marvel
20- Thor - Ragnorok
19- The Incredible Hulk
18- Guardians of the Galaxy 2
17- Iron Man 3
16- Dr. Strange
15- Iron Man 2
14- Thor
13- Black Panther
12- Spiderman- Far From Home
11- Captain America- First Avenger
10- Avengers- Age of Ultron
9- Ant Man
8- Captain America- Civil War
7- The Avengers
6- Spiderman- Homecoming
5- Iron Man
4- Guardians of the Galaxy
3- Captain America- The Winter Soldier
2- Avengers- Endgame
1- Avengers- Infinity War
Yeah, it's really hard to separate the two, even in the in theater experience aspect. I saw this in the same place on opening night, and the crowd was just as fired up. The cheering during the 'on your left' scene was deafening, as it was when Captain scored Miljonir, or when Captain Marvel blew through the ship. And again, the silence was deafening when Natasha and Tony die.
Personal favorite moments....
- Natasha and Clint on Vormir... I love how they really let their relationship take the center stage during this part of the film, and how you really didn't know which one was going to die, but you knew one was, and that anxiety was fucking brutal (mostly cause I didn't want it to be Nat lol)
- Battle royale pt1- The core members, Cap, Thor, and Tony against Thanos in a solid extended battle. Not only was it an insanely choreographed scene, but it really showed how powerful Thanos is in that he was able to take them all on without a single stone and still come out on top.
- On your left... yeah it's been analyzed and viewed to death, but damn it was just so fucking good. I always felt this scene really shows what a good score can do to a film, the crescendo they build musically in this one is just perfect.
- Wanda v Thanos... Lizzy really kicked ass in such a short scene, showed off how much trauma she'd been through at Thanos' hand, and let it all out, and probably would've beaten him if it wasn't for 'rain fire'. Also a good prelude to let us know that she was powerful enough to be capable of everything that follows in her arc.
- The final battle- From the moment Carol takes on Thanos and gets fucking clocked by the power stone, to the moment Tony snaps his fingers and wins. I think it ended perfectly, it should've come down to Tony and Thanos, anything else would've been second rate.
It's impossible to encompass what Feige and crew accomplished with the Infinity Saga, and it's something that will never be done again. To tie together such a vast array of stories into one epic saga, with such intensity and skill, is so admirably.
-
Hail Hydra.
-
@RJ: Our personal favorite moments match up pretty closely.
-
Cap lifting Mjolnir got the biggest roar in the theatre I was in. Followed closely by “Avengers …. Assemble”. The silence in that pause by Cap was immense, as everything had been a crescendo leading to it … right from the bottom depths of despair that it was going to be a whole army vs Cap alone, then “on your left”, the (re) appearances, the look on Thanos’ face, and the score. Then the pause between those two magical words. Fuck yea!
-
Cap lifting Mjolnir got the biggest roar in the theatre I was in.
It was done SO well too. The way it was shot, you weren't really sure what you were about to see until you actually SAW him holding the hammer. And the look on his face, Thor's reaction, the score--EVERYTHING about it was so well done. And in retrospect, that moment in Age of Ultron was suddenly paying off all the speculation hugely after such a long time.
-
Really sorry if my delay has killed the discussion, but I hope others chime in to discuss the #1, and other related discussion.
-
Avengers Endgame - my number 2. Infinity War was a clear number 1 for me, as it is overall a more consistent movie and I love the arc of Thanos in that movie. Endgame does have higher high points and some brilliant fan service but it just isn't as consistently good. Also I may be in the minority but I really don't like Fat Thor and actually hated this aspect of the movie on my first viewing.
-
Here’s my final ranking:
23. Thor: Ragnarok
22. Ant Man and the Wasp
21. Iron Man 3
20. Iron Man 2
19. Guardians of the Galaxy 2
18. Thor: The Dark World
17. Captain Marvel
16. Avengers: Age of Ultron
15. The Incredible Hulk
14. Spider Man: Far From Home
13. Thor
12. Ant Man
11. Captain America: The First Avenger
10. Black Panther
9. Spider Man: Homecoming
8. Doctor Strange
7. Iron Man
6. Captain America: Civil War
5. Avengers: Endgame
4. Guardians of the Galaxy
3. Captain America: The Winter Soldier
2. The Avengers
1. Avengers: Infinity War
I’ve been posting some thoughts on the fly in different threads, but they are usually things that don’t require a lot of thought. I’ve just been going through some personal tragedies and haven’t had the emotional component to put anything behind a deeper discussion of art whether it be music or film.
Some brief thoughts.
Infinity War is perfect and I’m surprised someone put it at 12. Honestly, I find it difficult to find any fault with any movie at all in my top 10. So the entire top 10 is just a matter of personal preference. My issues with the rest are relatively minor.
My ranking of the Thor movies is out of line with the aggregate by a long shot. For me, I loved the humor in Ragnarok at first, but the humor did not age well on repeated viewing. And the attempt to recreate that “hokey humor” formula in L&T made that just as bad or worse.
Some of the other movies just seem to get better and better on repeat viewings. TIH, and the IM sequels in particular. CA1 as well.
-
23. Captain Marvel
22. Thor: The Dark World
21. Iron Man 3
20. Iron Man 2
19. Doctor Strange
18. Ant Man and The Wasp
17. The Incredible Hulk
16. Thor
15. Guardians of the Galaxy: Volume 2
14. Captain America: The First Avenger
13. Ant Man
12. Guardians of the Galaxy
11. Avengers: Age of Ultron
10. Spider Man: Far from Home
9. Thor: Ragnarok
8. Spider man: Homecoming
7. Black Panther
6. Iron Man
5. The Avengers
4. Captain America: Civil War
3. Captain America: The Winter Soldier
2. Avengers: Infinity War
1. Avengers: Endgame
I'd agree with the lot of you that said 1 and 2 are more like 1a and 1b. I can't specify exactly why I chose Endgame over Infinity War but the distance between them is hard to measure.
The movies just were able to cap off a 3 phase arc in a way that I had not even thought possible. Everyone here has already hit most of the points I'd make. There was nothing like seeing some of those moments in a crowded theater. I'll never forget it. What made these movies work, however, was not the scale. It wasn't 50 Avengers fighting 70 monsters or 800 Avengers and friends fighting 1000 Thanos posse folk. It was the emotional arcs of these characters and our attachment to them. Cap picking up the hammer MEANT something because of everything leading up to it. Him finally saying the word Assemble meant something because of everything leading up to it. Thor had an amazing emotional arc that utilized one of their worst movies in a breathtaking way. Everything that happened weighed more because of everything that came before it and how it was written.
As much as we praise the Russo brothers, we should also equally praise Markus and McFeely. It's no coincidence the four of them are responsible for all of my top 4.
I've seen a lot of people freaking out (in a good way) about Secret Wars (not necessarily here) that are so excited about seeing 7000000 characters at once. And it's things like that make me glad Marvel didn't just give fans what we wanted, they gave us something better. People want to see their favorite toys playing with each other. And it'll be fun eye candy for a few hours and then it leaves you. What makes these two movies elevate, again, is the emotional connection to what's happening. I have faith Marvel will at least aim for something similar. Hoping the writers are up for it.
Thanks Bosk for doing this. A ton of fun and it gave me an excuse to talk a lot about Marvel and the MCU.
-
Yes thanks Bosk for doing this countdown.
Adami - some really great points on the payoffs of those key moments and the character arcs that led to them. That really is what makes the difference and makes the one two punch of Infinity War and Endgame so special.
-
Yes thanks Bosk for doing this countdown.
Adami - some really great points on the payoffs of those key moments and the character arcs that led to them. That really is what makes the difference and makes the one two punch of Infinity War and Endgame so special.
It's also why the Illuminati scene (well one of the reasons) didn't work. It was just a bunch of toys on screen doing stuff. Did we have any investment in Reed at this point? Or Maria? Or Black Bolt? Or even Mordo? Not really. Just cool things to see and forget about. We had some investment in Charles, and considerably less in Peggy, but even that wasn't done well enough to make us care.
-
Yes thanks Bosk for doing this countdown.
Adami - some really great points on the payoffs of those key moments and the character arcs that led to them. That really is what makes the difference and makes the one two punch of Infinity War and Endgame so special.
It's also why the Illuminati scene (well one of the reasons) didn't work. It was just a bunch of toys on screen doing stuff. Did we have any investment in Reed at this point? Or Maria? Or Black Bolt? Or even Mordo? Not really. Just cool things to see and forget about. We had some investment in Charles, and considerably less in Peggy, but even that wasn't done well enough to make us care.
Yup. EXCELLENT points all around.
-
Endgame was my #1, without a doubt. There are other MCU movies that may have had tighter plotting or better acting or whatever, but seeing everything that a decade and 20+ movies had been building up to culminate in this three hour extravaganza was a singular experience. Particularly, as others have mentioned, the communal aspect of seeing this in a theater opening weekend. After the murder of Thanos right off the bat it started with the audible gasp as the words "years later" followed "five" on the screen. Everyone settled in and enjoyed the middle section, who doesn't love a good time heist. Then we got to the final hour. Oh my goodness. From relief that Banner's snap worked into the anxiety of the first shot from Thanos's ship and all that would follow. Thor/Cap/Tony vs Thanos was worth the price of admission. The absolute roar of the crowd when Cap caught Mjolnir was epic, and the feeling I had from that through "On your left", "Assemble" and so many cool pieces of the final battle is something I've never felt before in a theater and suspect I never again will. Then, the iconic "and I.... am Iron Man". At my first screening that opening Thursday night you could feel the entire room on the verge of tears and then one person let out a sob that you could tell they were trying to keep quiet but it just slipped out. That broke the tension in the room. As soon as I got home I bought tickets for a second show that opening weekend because I needed to see it again with that kind of crowd.
-
I could type for a long time about Endgame, my favorite movie of all time. What they did with all these character arcs, giving them so much attention and weight, was just stunning. They even gave Nebula a fantastic arc.Too many omg moments to count. Tony's emotional confrontation with Cap. The quick dispatching of Thanos. Tony looking at that framed photo of him and Peter and you're thinking "is that the catalyst to get him to join in?" The Battle of New York from different perspectives, it was incredible how they pulled that off.
Then when Thanos discovered the plan, you're like "oh man that's gonna eff things up, bad". Nat's sacrifice killed me. The obvious amazing showdown between the Big 3 and Thanos. And then . . . Wanda dropping out of the sky . . . CHILLS. The way she delivered those lines so menacingly . . . EPIC. And then "on your left" and everything leading to Strange holding up that index finger; we were all on the edge of our seats as we waited for Tony to finish that sentence "And I . . . " Crying. Family crying beside me, after only recently getting over crying about Nat.
Finally won of the most beautiful moments in cinematic history, the camera slowly panning in on Steve and Peggy finally getting their dance :'(. When Kevin Smith reviewed this movie he was a blubbering mess when he got to this scene. Yeah, there was a lot of fan service, but I would argue a conclusion of this magnitude MANDATES fan service. We deserve it.
ENDGAME for the win. THANK YOU Kevin Feige and Downey, Evans, Hemsworth, Scarjo, Ruffalo, Renner, Gillan, Holland, Lizzie etc etc.
In honor of this epic movie I present for those who haven't seen it an epic dance-off between Lizzie and Chris Evans. Would have made a cute real-life couple:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZuVQuKuuDE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UilPtz3o1YM Seriously, those two together . . .
Thanks Bosk for this thread.
-
23: The Incredible Hulk
22: Thor
21: Black Panther
20: Captain Marvel
19: Iron Man 2
18: Ant Man and the Wasp
17: Captain America - First Avenger
16: Thor: The Dark World
15: Iron Man 3
14: Spiderman - Homecoming
13: Iron Man
12: Guardians of the Galaxy 2
11: Ant Man
10: Spider Man: Far from Home
9: Doctor Strange
8: Guardians of the Galaxy
7: Avengers
6: Avengers: Age of Ultron
5:Captain America - Winter Soldier
4: Thor: Ragnarok
3: Avengers: Endgame
2: Captain America - Civil War
1: Avengers: Infinity War
#3 for me. I agree with most of what people are saying. This really was an amazing movie, it just had a few more flaws than Infinity War.
I know there was some controversy with their treatment of Thor in this movie, and from the beginning I've been one to say that I loved it, and thought it was perfect for the character. Tony's story was great, and this movie showed just how far his character had come since IM1. Cap was just Cap, nothing much to say about him. I like the treatment for the time travel stuff, but that obviously opens up so many questions.
I have to say that while cool at the moment, and I get why they did it, I do not care much for Cap lifting Mojnir. And I still roll my eyes at the women power scene. Just felt very forced and unnatural.
Thanks again Bosk for running this. Was fun seeing my rankings against everyone else's. Just for fun, this is what my list would (probably) look like, if phase 4 was included.
30: The Incredible Hulk
29: Thor
28: Black Panther
27: Captain Marvel
26: Iron Man 2
25: Thor - Love and Thunder
24: Ant Man and the Wasp
23: Captain America - First Avenger
22: Thor: The Dark World
21: Black Widow
20: Iron Man 3
19: Doctor Stranger - In the Multiverse of Madness
18: Spiderman - Homecoming
17: Iron Man
16: Guardians of the Galaxy 2
15: Eternals
14: Ant Man
13: Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
12: Spider Man: Far from Home
11: Doctor Strange
10: Black Panther - Wakanda Forever
9: Guardians of the Galaxy
8: Avengers
7: Avengers: Age of Ultron
6:Captain America - Winter Soldier
5: Thor: Ragnarok
4: Spiderman - No Way Home
3:Avengers: Endgame
2: Captain America - Civil War
1: Avengers: Infinity War
-
Agreed on the girl-power scene. Cool, but forced. There were a handful of other minor nits that could be called out, but they were minor (like, where did Valkyrie get the flying Pegasus? Was it just parked in the garage for the last 5 years?). It was things like that that put this at 1B for me.
-
Yeah, there was a lot of fan service, but I would argue a conclusion of this magnitude MANDATES fan service. We deserve it.
I agree wholeheartedly. And I think it's a mistake to equate "fan service" and "bad." (not saying you did that, but that is often the default reaction) Fan service is only a bad thing when it is trying to make an unearned moment earned, all by itself. The "fan service" in Endgame, and the moments it was supporting, were completely earned and then some.
I know there was some controversy with their treatment of Thor in this movie, and from the beginning I've been one to say that I loved it, and thought it was perfect for the character.
Agreed. It was emotionally impactful and served a purpose. I wouldn't change a thing about that.
And I still roll my eyes at the women power scene. Just felt very forced and unnatural.
I wouldn't say "forced and unnatural," but I get where you are coming from. It was VERY on the nose and takes most people out of the moment of the film, myself included. And it also feels done before precisely because it WAS done before in Infinity War with Okoye and Nat coming to Wanda's rescue on the battle field, and it seems like they realized after the fact that they had an opportunity to do the same thing, but bigger. But you know, despite all of that, I not only don't mind that scene, but actually like it. I know exactly what they are doing, and it still makes me smile.
-
The winner and #1 MCU phase 1-3 film is: Avengers: Endgame
Highest ranking: #1 (TheLetterM, DreamTeam, axeman90210, Adami)
Lowest ranking: #5: (DarkChestofWonders, jammindude)
Stats of note: As mentioned, this finished in the top 5 on every single list. There were 4 first place finishes, 9 second place finishes, 1 third place, 1 fourth place, and 2 fifth place. This was clearly a favorite. But that said, it would have finished second to Infinity War if not for the #12 vote it got.
I've not had a lot of time to really sit down and type out my thoughts on this one yet, but I'll briefly go over my feelings on this one, It definitely has been a flip-flop coin-toss between IW and Endgame for me, but I think the latter has eventually settled into being just slightly better, and as others have said, it's more of a 1a & 1b situation. Both Infinity War and Endgame are really a 5.5 hour epic that feels inseparable, and for me, it's hard to watch one without the other. Considering they feature the same directors and writers, were filmed back-to-back, and are so much more related to each other than any other two films in the entire MCU franchise, it's really hard to view them as separate entities, but Endgame really wrapped everything up that had been building up for 11 years over 21 previous movies.
The opening act was a bone-chilling re-introduction to the characters and their predicaments post-IW. How did they handle losing half of the universe? Who was left? What happened to Tony and Nebula stuck on Titan? Everything felt answered so quickly and easily that when the FIVE YEARS LATER title card came up, it was such a shock. I still recall the audible gasps in my theater, and it was pretty quiet for awhile until Ant-Man showed back up. Then it was a race towards Act 2 - the Time Heist - every MCU diehard's wet dream, full of Easter Eggs, references, callbacks, and so much more, including even MORE unique and fun character interactions, like Scott and Tony, Rhodes and Nebula, Bruce and the Ancient One, Thor and Rocket and seeing Frigga again! Every part of the second act was just a gold mine for fans who had been around since the beginning and experiencing these moments from previous years and films but in different aspects. Of course, the shock of losing Nat will never wear off, and I'm glad that hasn't been forgotten (Black Widow post-credits scene and Hawkeye series). Of course, Hulk's snap was another big moment too, and everyone in my theater was in awe, but then when Thanos arrived, and all hell broke loose, I was on the edge of my seat from there on out.
That third act... hoo boy, I could write for DAYS about it, but I'll keep it short since a lot of others here have already praised it where praise is deserved. This was a final battle I had not seen since the likes of LOTR: The Return Of The King's climax, but with characters I've grown to love for over a decade. And all of the little moments between characters in there are so charming, like T'Challa calling out Clint's name, or seeing Giant-Man just lay into a Chitauri Leviathan. I could watch that last act over and over and still be entertained. Of course, when Tony snapped, everyone in my theater was in tears or sniffling. Definitely one of the most emotional moments in MCU history, and it'd be hard for them to top something like that. They'd have to actually kill of Peter Parker or Thor or Hawkeye to MAYBE get a similar reaction, but it won't be as big I'm sure. Or they could just kill off Tony again! Hurray for variants!
Lastly, I'll see that as optimistic as I am about The Kang Dynasty and Secret Wars, I feel like Endgame may still top both of those, but I could be wrong. The emotional investment and build-up between IW/Endgame was unprecedented, and it'll take a lot for me to feel like that again. I guess we will have to wait and see if the next 3-4 years of films can do it!
-Marc.
-
Something I wondered about Endgame, and maybe this is something I missed, when Rhodes and Nebula are about to get back to their timeline from getting the power stone, Nebula gets stuck because of the whole memory connected thing.
Why didn't she just go back right after when she gained consciousness? Is not like her device was damaged, so why did she go back to the ship to alert Hawkeye and Natasha (Who she should've known were out of reach)?
-
Because we needed act three to happen.
-
Because we needed act three to happen.
Obvious answer is obvious.
But as a plot explanation, my guess is that she figured she needed to warn them, because if Thanos figured it out and stopped Clint/Nat, she knows that 5 stones returning to 2023 doesn't do them any good.
-
Because we needed act three to happen.
Obvious answer is obvious.
But as a plot explanation, my guess is that she figured she needed to warn them, because if Thanos figured it out and stopped Clint/Nat, she knows that 5 stones returning to 2023 doesn't do them any good.
That was my thought as well, but it just seems like she had other options, but it is things like this that puts the movie behind Infinity War.
-
Because we needed act three to happen.
Obvious answer is obvious.
But as a plot explanation, my guess is that she figured she needed to warn them, because if Thanos figured it out and stopped Clint/Nat, she knows that 5 stones returning to 2023 doesn't do them any good.
That was my thought as well, but it just seems like she had other options, but it is things like this that puts the movie behind Infinity War.
Agreed. This plot point was another 'minor nit' for me.
-
1. Avengers: Infinity War
2. Guardians of the Galaxy
3. Iron Man
4. Doctor Strange
5. Avengers: End Game
…
The rest
After Endgame I can’t really be bothered with the MCU- everything seems redundant now, and out of the 20+ movies I’ve seen, the above few are the only movies I have any desire to *maybe* watch again…someday.