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Official MCU film ranking thread--AND THE WINNER IS...

Started by bosk1, November 25, 2022, 11:53:40 PM

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The Letter M

Quote from: bosk1 on December 23, 2022, 01:06:49 AM
#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.

lonestar


The Realm

Quote from: bosk1 on December 23, 2022, 01:06:49 AM

#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.

jingle.boy

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.
Quote from: Jamesman42 on September 20, 2024, 12:38:03 PM
Quote from: TAC on September 19, 2024, 05:23:01 PMHow is this even possible? Are we playing or what, people??
So I just checked, and, uh, you are one of the two who haven't sent.
Quote from: Puppies_On_Acid on September 20, 2024, 12:46:33 PMTim's roulette police card is hereby revoked!

Dream Team

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.

bosk1

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. 

Dream Team

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.

jingle.boy

Quote from: bosk1 on December 27, 2022, 09:43:33 AM
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.
Quote from: Jamesman42 on September 20, 2024, 12:38:03 PM
Quote from: TAC on September 19, 2024, 05:23:01 PMHow is this even possible? Are we playing or what, people??
So I just checked, and, uh, you are one of the two who haven't sent.
Quote from: Puppies_On_Acid on September 20, 2024, 12:46:33 PMTim's roulette police card is hereby revoked!

bosk1

Quote from: jingle.boy on December 27, 2022, 10:22:54 AM
Quote from: bosk1 on December 27, 2022, 09:43:33 AM
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.

jingle.boy

Quote from: bosk1 on December 27, 2022, 12:42:43 PM
Quote from: jingle.boy on December 27, 2022, 10:22:54 AM
Quote from: bosk1 on December 27, 2022, 09:43:33 AM
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".
Quote from: Jamesman42 on September 20, 2024, 12:38:03 PM
Quote from: TAC on September 19, 2024, 05:23:01 PMHow is this even possible? Are we playing or what, people??
So I just checked, and, uh, you are one of the two who haven't sent.
Quote from: Puppies_On_Acid on September 20, 2024, 12:46:33 PMTim's roulette police card is hereby revoked!

Adami

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.

www. fanticide.bandcamp . com

The Realm

Black Panther - I had at 9. Really liked this movie, actually thought it may have ranked a bit higher overall in the countdown.

bosk1

Quote from: Adami on December 27, 2022, 01:04:40 PMI 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.

lonestar

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.

The Letter M

Quote from: bosk1 on December 27, 2022, 09:43:33 AM
#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.

bosk1

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. 

The Letter M

Quote from: bosk1 on December 28, 2022, 10:08:26 PM
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.

bosk1

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. 

jingle.boy

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.
Quote from: Jamesman42 on September 20, 2024, 12:38:03 PM
Quote from: TAC on September 19, 2024, 05:23:01 PMHow is this even possible? Are we playing or what, people??
So I just checked, and, uh, you are one of the two who haven't sent.
Quote from: Puppies_On_Acid on September 20, 2024, 12:46:33 PMTim's roulette police card is hereby revoked!

Dream Team

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.

lonestar

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...

Adami

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.
www. fanticide.bandcamp . com

bosk1

Quote from: Adami on December 29, 2022, 09:40:04 AM...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.

Adami

Quote from: bosk1 on December 29, 2022, 11:03:43 AM
Quote from: Adami on December 29, 2022, 09:40:04 AM...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.
www. fanticide.bandcamp . com

bosk1

Quote from: Adami on December 29, 2022, 11:05:49 AM
Quote from: bosk1 on December 29, 2022, 11:03:43 AM
Quote from: Adami on December 29, 2022, 09:40:04 AM...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:

lonestar

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.

Adami

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:
www. fanticide.bandcamp . com

lonestar

Quote from: Adami on December 29, 2022, 11:54:34 AM
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...

bosk1

#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.

Adami

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.
www. fanticide.bandcamp . com

The Letter M

Quote from: bosk1 on December 29, 2022, 11:37:48 PM
#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.

bosk1

#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.

The Letter M

Quote from: bosk1 on December 31, 2022, 11:25:31 AM
#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.

Adami

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.
www. fanticide.bandcamp . com

bosk1

Yeah, Sony really mucked things up and dropped the ball with respect to Vulture and Scorpion.