All Current Marvel Cinematic Universe Films Ranked From Worst To Best (Including ANT-MAN AND THE WASP) | Breaking Geek


15. Thor: Ragnarok (2017)

Okay, so I love the humor in Thor: Ragnarok. It’s a great film! But… it does seem to move down this list every time I update it as the wacky warm glow slowly fades.

In 2017, six years after his first appearance on the big screen, Marvel Studios finally figured out what to do with Thor. Ragnarok is hilarious in an entirely different way than Guardians, with a more blunt, understated, dry style of comedy that mostly doesn’t go for Guardians‘ brand of turd and chafed nipple jokes.

Hemsworth is finally allowed to fully use his comedic chops, earning him the title of funniest Avenger. Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) too is more fully realized than even in the Avengers films, and side characters like Grandmaster (Jeff Goldblum) are just utterly bizarre; again, a unique brand of weird unlike Guardians of the Galaxy.

Sometimes the action can be a bit of CGI overload with one person dispatching dozens and dozens of enemies like they are nothing. There are quite a few missed opportunities narrative wise as well, and though the humor is welcome, it often spoils the drama and tension by popping up at inopportune times. Not only that, but the opening of Infinity War is an opening of Alien 3 sort of disservice to fans, even though it is teased in the mid-credit sequence of this film. Watch all these character survive only to kill half of them? Not cool, Thanos! Not cool!

14. Iron Man (2008)

Why is Iron Man on the lower end of my list? Not even making the Top 10?! Well, when it was released in 2008, Iron Man did set the new standard for the superhero genre, establishing the tone of the entire MCU with the perfect balance of humor and serious situations. It owes a lot to 2002’s Spider-Man in terms of structure and telling an origin story, but it felt fresh enough with Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.), a superhero unlike any we had seen before, both in his personality and decisions he makes. I mean, who would have guessed the movie would end with Stark giving up his secret identity? Who does that?

Iron Man might even be one of Marvel Studios’ cleanest films with very little feeling extraneous and very few scenes or plot points that detract from this well put together little package. I have to knock Iron Man down the list though, because in 2018, when Marvel Studios has finally been getting “weird with it” for a few years, it does feel very traditional; a straight-up superhero film that takes almost no risks with the genre. Unlike future, more creative MCU films that tend to combine genres, this is simply a superhero film, something to build on, but not all that creative in retrospect. As good as Iron Man is, I want to honor the Marvel movies that truly break new ground.

13. Ant-Man (2015)

If Iron Man owes a great deal to the first Spider-Man film, then both Ant-Man and Doctor Strange owe their origin movie structure to Iron Man. While Thor and Captain America: The First Avenger were less traditional genre stories bucking secret identities and not following the classic structure of an origin film, Ant-Man has the classic structure of man gets powers (or a suit), man learns to use his powers in a series of montages, and then man applies powers to take on a supervillain with a similar power-set to himself.

Yet, Ant-Man still takes larger risks than Iron Man, pushing the superhero genre farther by pairing it with a heist film, complete with that genre’s structure and main-stays. Even more importantly, Ant-Man is damn fun, with Paul Rudd crushing it as Scott Lang, perhaps the most experienced comedic lead in the MCU. Director Peyton Reed has so much fun with the idea of shrinking and changing perspectives, throwing Ant-Man and the frustratingly similar villain, Darren Cross/Yellow Jacket (Corey Stoll), into hilarious settings like a model of a building, a briefcase, and a child’s play area complete with a carpet that acts as a sort of cornfield and Thomas the Tank Engine serving as a battle ground as if it were a real train. Best of all though, is Michael Peña as Luis, who really should run down “Previously on Marvel” at the beginning of every film, with his unique form of storytelling.

12. Ant-Man and the Wasp (2018)

Okay, I’ve only seen Ant-Man and the Wasp once, and though I remember enough about it to rank it, I both don’t want to spoil anything and I feel my review from July can say more about how I feel about the film than I can now.

RELATED: Ant-Man And The Wasp Review: Now, Onto The Lighter Side Of The MCU…(NON-SPOILERS)

I will say, I will be buying it tomorrow on Blu-ray because I need to remedy the situation of only having seen it once, immediately.

11. Iron Man 3 (2013)

Yes, I put Iron Man 3 above the original Iron Man. Again, though Iron Man did establish the MCU and is a great film, it also didn’t push many boundaries. After the disappointing Iron Man 2, writer/director Shane Black throws a few of the franchise’s rules out of the window. It’s far more fascinating watching Tony Stark struggle to survive against powerful foes without his wonderful suits during the second act than letting him have all his toys, especially after two movies of him solving all his problems with said toys.

Shane Black is an absolute superb writer and director, and his finger prints are all over this film just as James Gunn’s style is evident in both Guardians of the Galaxy films. Obviously, this film has a few gaps in logic regarding Extremis, though Extremis does allow for more interesting villains that just other people wearing arc reactors and metal suits. Guy Pearce as Aldrich Killian is a stroke of genius, another scientist who has modeled himself after Stark, like Hammer, only to greater effect, following a powerful scene where he contemplates suicide on New Year’s Eve from the roof of the building Stark promised he would meet him. Stark’s demons coming back to haunt him, indeed.

 


Page 3:

#10-#6

Continue Reading

< < Previous 1 2 3 4 Next > >

Night Terror Banner   GenreVerse FOR FANBOYS, BY FANBOYS Have you checked out LRM Online’s official podcasts and videos on The Genreverse Podcast Network? Available on YouTube and all your favorite podcast apps, This multimedia empire includes The Daily CoGBreaking Geek Radio: The Podcast, GeekScholars Movie News, Anime-Versal Review Podcast, and our Star Wars dedicated podcast The Cantina. Check it out by listening on all your favorite podcast apps, or watching on YouTube! Subscribe on: Apple PodcastsSpotify |  SoundCloud | Stitcher | Google Play
Share the Post: