10. Captain America: The First Avenger (2011)
I knocked this film up from the final 5 to top 10 after Infinity War. Yes, this is still Marvel Studios in the early days, still trying to figure things out. But the Cap character is so strong from frame one of Chris Evans to his, “Oh, God” line that ends Infinity War. Evans as Rogers is the MCU MVP if you ask me!
This movie’s biggest weakness is trying to cram all of Steve Rogers’ escapades across WWII into the second half of a film. Heck, it feels like we see several years go by in a simple montage of Cap’s Howling Commandos attacking Hydra units and strongholds. The first half of the film is brilliant, with an uncredited but very noticeable rewrite by Joss Whedon, making the dialogue crisp, fun, authentic, and emotionally charged as Steve Rogers goes from 90-pound scrawny wimp into real life-sized Chris Evans.
The effects used to create scrawny Rogers are phenomenal, the first time Marvel Studios attempted such techniques, as is much of the casting including Hayley Atwell as Peggy Carter, Dominic Cooper as young Howard Stark, Tommy Lee Jones as Colonel Chester Philips, Stanley Tucci as Dr. Erskine, Sebastian Stan as Bucky, and Toby Jones as Dr. Armin Zola. Though not all of these characters return, those that do are established well enough in this first film to really pay off in spades in Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Red Skull (Hugo Weaving) is better than your average MCU villain, and we FINALLY saw him return in Infinity War – I said since the day I saw this film that he wasn’t killed by the Tesseract, but rather transported halfway across the galaxy, as the visual effect used is remarkably similar to that of transporting via Bifrost in Thor. Again, we have a film that feels like a set-up for The Avengers, not helped by the poor decision to open the film in the present as S.H.I.E.L.D. locates Steve Rogers, but it doesn’t suffer from this imbalance as much as Iron Man 2 or Thor.
9. Guardians of the Galaxy (2014)
I like the funny Marvel Cinematic Universe films, I really do. But in the case of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Thor: Ragnarok, and this film, the comedy does undercut the drama and emotional pull.
Truly the most original entry in the MCU at the time and having shaped the types of MCU films we see now, Guardians of the Galaxy was a huge risk, that paid off better than anyone could have possibly imagined. Though all the MCU films are fairly funny (except for The Incredible Hulk and Thor: The Dark World), Guardians was a full-on comedy, utilizing the comedic chops of a newly fit Chris Pratt. New characters included a talking raccoon and tree, something that one thought could only work in the pages of a comic book, but this sort of weirdness became the film’s greatest strength.
Guardians of the Galaxy is the gold standard for an ensemble superhero team that doesn’t benefit from origin films about each major player preceding it. X-Men and Suicide Squad wish they could be this effective. And if Doctor Strange has the most unique villain showdown, Guardians certainly takes the title for second most original, with the hilarious and memorable dance-off. Guardians also became the first MCU film were music was just as much a character as our team of five heroes, something done even more effectively in the sequel.
8. Doctor Strange (2016)
This film gets a big bump past Ant-Man and Guardians of the Galaxy as Doctor Strange is definitely a highlight of Avengers: Infinity War, making his origin all the more interesting and important.
Doctor Strange could be accused of being an Iron Man clone. Stephen Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) is more similar to Stark than any other character when we meet him; rich, arrogant, and uncaring about anyone but himself. But, like with Guardians of the Galaxy, director Scott Derrickson isn’t afraid to make things weird and trippy, and Doctor Strange really benefits from this, making it one of the most unique entries in the MCU, comparisons to Iron Man aside.
The visuals are unlike anything from any superhero movie, and the film may just sport the MCU’s best cast — aside from Black Panther — including Cumberbatch, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Rachel McAdams, Benedict Wong, Mads Mikkelsen, and Tilda Swinton. The addition of actual magic (not whatever they were talking about in Thor) is just as much a game changer for the MCU as Guardians of the Galaxy’s introduction of a much bigger world than just Asgard and Earth. And the extremely clever finale bucks classic hero v villain showdown clichés, allowing for loads of destruction while avoiding the ramifications by undoing it all, in an age when we were finally tiring of the whole “city gets destroyed in the climax” battles seen in movies like The Avengers, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Man of Steel, and X-Men: Apocalypse, among many others.
7. Black Panther (2018)
If the Avengers films weren’t so impressive in scope, and Spider-Man and Captain America weren’t my two favorite Marvel characters, Black Panther could have cracked my Top 5, easy. But it just misses out, though being number seven on a list of twenty films is quite the feat!
The cast is absolutely spectacular, but I will not list them all here as I will surely forget one of the film’s countless standout performances. Director Ryan Coogler may be the best Marvel director behind the Russo Bros, as this film definitely has the strongest performances across the board from every character, from the most minor to T’Challa (Chadwick Boseman) himself.
I could sing praise about Black Panther for an entire article, but I’m not here to review it fully, so let’s focus on Michael B. Jordan as Erik Killmonger. He is, without a doubt, the best and most effective villain in the entire MCU (sorry, Loki). His origin is heartbreaking, and his skills and “evil” plan make him the scariest MCU villain to date. I cry way more at the movies than any man should, but Killmonger is only the fourth villain I can think of that made me tear up (yes, Thanos is in that club). His plight is somewhat justified. And his anger definitely is.
6. Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Last time, Spider-Man: Homecoming moved up the list to #2, but this time it takes a beating getting eclipsed by all the Russo Brothers and other Avengers films.
Spider-Man: Homecoming is truly unique on this list as it is a smaller scale film with much lower stakes than nearly any other film in the MCU, yet it is still a powerful film. Michael Keaton absolutely steals the show as Adrian Toomes/Vulture. Though he is a very different type of villain than Loki, I would say has stolen the crown of greatest villain in the MCU… only to have it stolen again by Killmonger. That car ride to Homecoming is a killer scene, as is the movie’s biggest reveal and the conversation between Peter Parker (Tom Holland) and Toomes that follows.
And Spider-Man has never been better! While Sam Raimi’s films, the first two of which are still excellent, took a darker approach with a moodier Spider-Man, Homecoming is nothing but fun; a superhero film crossed with a John Hughes movie. It’s not the best MCU movie, but it is the most fun! Marvel literally can save any franchise!
Page 4:
#5-#1
Continue Reading
| < < Previous | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Next > > |
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 CoG, Breaking 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 Podcasts | Spotify | SoundCloud | Stitcher | Google Play
