Saw a fun article earlier on the "top 25 superhero movies of all time," which got me thinking about how mine would rank. For me, the MCU utterly dominates the list, which is not surprising due to both the quantity of films they have put out, and the overall quality they have striven for. But I have some others on the list, like The Incredibles, Logan, The Dark Knight, and Raimi's Spider-Man. Some of mine might fluctuate a bit if I saw the films again back-to-back with others that are nearby in the ranking. But this is my best shot at it as of right now:
EDIT: It took me a lot longer than I thought to type all that out, even trying to be brief. Feel free to only do a top 10 (or even top 5) if that's what it takes to make the time to put a post together.1. Infinity War: Perhaps the fastest paced movie ever that doesn't feel as fast paced as it is. Throughout the commentary, you frequently hear the phrase "every scene has to do more than one thing," and it is pretty obvious that everything in this film is deliberately planned and works well to create and (nearly) conclude a massive story arc.
2. Endgame: This is almost "1b" to Infinity War's "1a." It is a much different type of movie, but it does so many things so well, and pays off so many character arcs in such a satisfying way. I rank it slightly lower than Infinity War just because the craziness of the time heist arc in act 2 was a little hard to swallow at times if you think too hard about it.
3. Spider-man Homecoming: I love Spiderman, and this is such a fun portrayal of the character. The scene with Peter and Toomes in the car is one of the coolest things I have ever seen. And the Ferris Bueller nugget hit me just right.
4. Avengers: The first time it all really came together, and it was amazing.
5. The Dark Knight: Ledger's legendary performance, the overall dark tone, and an exceptional story combined to make this one of the best of all time. Until very recently (obviously), this would have cracked my top 3. On a different day, it still might.
6. Guardians of the Galaxy: An unexpected, amazingly fun film on every level.
7. The Incredibles: This is such a clever portrayal and commentary on superhero and spy tropes that I cannot not rank it highly on my list. Thoroughly enjoyable.
8. Iron Man: This film gets a lot of credit for taking a character I cared nothing about and making me care, and doing so in the context of a really good story, with the promise of even greater payoff later.
9. Avengers: Age of Ultron: I love this film. It's kinda everything I would want and expect from "Avengers 2." The action and story were cranked up several notches from anything we had gotten previously. And all its flaws are really character flaws that one would naturally expect from characters who have come a LONG way, and who are just barely becoming aware that they still have a LONG way to go.
10. Captain America: The First Avenger: I had serious doubts about whether a Cap movie would work in this day and age, and I thought they brought it together brilliantly and made us love a character that I had serious doubts could resonate.
11. Logan: Wow. So dark. So brutal. And it subverts a lot of where we probably thought the X-universe would go. And it all works so well.
12. Thor: Ragnarok: I have some issues with this film, but it is wacky and dark at the same time. And at the end of the day, the wackiness is just plain fun, and there is a TON of really creative, crucial character development hidden in there.
13. Batman Begins: This is the Batman movie many of us were waiting our whole lives for. And while TDK made huge strides and telling an even better story, this was an excellent take on the character that was serious and believable.
14. Captain America: The Winter Soldier: A "very good" entry in the MCU. I am not nearly as in love with it as most. But it's solid.
15. Spider-Man: Far from Home: Not as good as the first, but plenty of good moments. The thing is, we like the character, and we identify with him and others in this cast, and I feel like what works best for the 2 MCU spider films is the focus on character.
16. Doctor Strange: Marvel brought us something new, and other than some things in the timeline not making sense, this movie was mostly very good. And visually stunning.
17. Captain America: Civil War: I like this movie. But I have to keep reminding myself that I like it. And that is why it ranks so far down the list.
18. Iron Man III: I'm honestly not sure why I rank this movie so low. I like it a lot. I LOVE Kingsley's character and the twist. And I have zero problem with the third act or with Killian. I guess it's just that Killian is only a "good" MCU villain, whereas Kingsley's faux-Mandarin promised so much more. Still, few complaints about this one.
19. Spider-Man (2002): This was such a great take on the character. Although very different from the MCU portrayal of the character, this one got the character so right on so many levels.
20. Wonder Woman: If only the boss fight at the end wasn't so typically DC "video game boss fight"-y, I might like this one more. But still a very solid film.
21. Ant Man and the Wasp: The more fun of the two already-very-fun Ant Man films. Rudd is so perfect for this role and for the MCU.
22. Black Panther: I liked this movie, but didn't love it. Unlike many, I feel that Killmonger is just...eh. He has a solid motivation for what he is doing. But I just don't love him. The rest of the film is...good. Nothing wrong with it. But I just don't love it.
23. Spider-Man II: Good (not great) sequel.
24. The Dark Knight Rises: I haven't watched this in awhile, and feel like I should probably rank it a lot higher. As I think back on specifics, there is a lot that I REALLY liked about this one. Bain was such a fear-inspiring villain. But once Bruce has his back broken, I have some serious issues with a lot that happens subsequently (or, more specifically, the timeframe over which it happens). I don't have a problem with any of the story per se, but I have a REALLY hard time not being taken out of the moment by the timing and some other little things about how act 3 plays out after such great setup to get to that point.
25. Thor: the Dark World: I probably like this more than most. Still, it's just a "good" MCU movie, and not much more.
EDIT2: By the way, if anyone is interested, here's a link to the article that inspired this:
https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/25-best-superhero-movies-time-171334572.html