The problem with ALL of these films is that even the ones I generally like, I find myself saying, "It's pretty good, BUT..." That rarely happened with phases 1-3. So there aren't any truly great movies since phase 3 ended.
"It's Pretty Good, But..." Tier
1. Spider Man: No Way Home: Could have been really good, but the premise of Dr. Strange doing what he did was just so stupid that it's hard to overlook throughout the film. But the rest of it actually is really good, so it probably takes the top spot (or is close).
2. Black Widow: The film nobody needed, but was actually done pretty well. The only thing that dragged it down a bit was the treatment of taskmaster.
3. Shang-Chi ATLOTTR: Another one that could have been #1 if not for some flaws. It was great up until the third act when they abandoned the family dynamic too much and put the emphasis on the big CGI battle that didn't feel like it really had any consequences. I'm fine with a big CGI battle, but it should have served the family dynamic story rather than usurping it.
"Could Have Been in the Top 3, BUT..." Tier
4. Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 3: Definitely outside my top 3, but a strong effort. As I said when it came out, Gunn obviously had a strong story. But he took so many opportunities to throw as much over-the-top goofiness/weirdness into this one that it was distracting at times.
5. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever: Could have been better. The grief that Shuri and her mother are going through was beautifully handled, and Namor was treated really well. But there were problems of scale and stakes, and some things were crammed in that distracted from just telling a good story.
6. Doctor Strange In The M.O.M.: I really want to rank this one higher. But while the seeds of Wanda's turn were there, that crucial story element was not developed enough, and we didn't spend enough time on the Darkhold to make such an extreme turn believable. Such a shame. This could have been #1 and could have been up there with phase 1-3 material easily.
7. Ant-Man & The Wasp: Quantumania: Good movie, but, like Guardians, was just too weird for its own good sometimes, and the overall story suffered for it. But I don't have any problem with most of the stuff that most people have problems with.
8. The Marvels: This was fun from start to finish and SO much better than Captain Marvel. It shouldn't be ranked this low. But it is just because there is a sloppiness to it where lots of little things seem to break the rules of this film or other Marvel films when it is convenient to the plot.
"Don't Care / Nothing Can Save These" Tier
9. Deadpool 3: Obviously haven't seen it, but just going off the first two. But it can't be worse than the bottom two, can it?
10. Thor: Love And Thunder: So disappointing. The seeds of a REALLY good story are here, but it was completely botched on so many levels.
11. Eternals: I'm trying to think of something redeeming, but can't think of anything. Pure trash on every level. Well, actually, Kingo was genuinely funny, and him creating a multigenerational Bollywood identity was something I found very entertaining.
Topic: Marvel Cinematic Universe thread v3 (no recent spoilers) (Read 71518 times)
