With Thor: Ragnarok heading to U.S. theaters next weekend (it's already opened in the vast majority of foreign territories), I thought it was high time to do an essay I'd meant to do for a while now ranking the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) movies from worst to best. Now, I'm not the biggest fan of these kinds of ranking articles, but for some reason, this one in particular just wouldn't get out of my brain, and when an idea gets lodged in my brain, well, I gotta write about it. So let's get the first part of this ranking, which will cover eight of the sixteen MCU films, started with...
The first three movies on this list might as well be a 1996 Bryan Singer movie since they're The Usual Suspects in discussions of MCU movies. Revisiting chunks of Iron Man 2 this summer reinforced to me that this one's handily the weakest feature in the entire franchise, mostly because it's a jumble of ideas that just can't connect together cohesively. You've got oodles of Avengers set-up, Tony Stark coming to terms with his daddy issues, a newly recast James Rhodes becoming War Machine and it all feels so disparate, resulting in a movie that can't quite soar like its own lead character. Props to Sam Rockwell for a thoroughly entertaining performance as Justin Hammer, a character who really should have reappeared in another MCU project beyond a cameo in a Marvel One-Shot.
Here's the one MCU movie Marvel Studios seems to just basically ignore aside from William Hurt reprising his role as General "Thunderbolt" Ross in Captain America: Civil War and brief references to its climax in The Avengers and that Daredevil TV show. I don't exactly spend sleepless nights fretting over that since The Incredible Hulk isn't all that noteworthy of a superhero movie. A film that seems to channel the Bourne movies in its filming style (which is completely different from any other MCU project) and its heavy emphasis on Bruce Banner being a fugitive, it's just not all that interesting from a character level and it also fails to create a large amount of fun monster action when the Hulk shows up. Oh, and Mark Ruffalo is an infinitely superior Bruce Banner to Edward Norton who just seems stifled and one-note in his interpretation of the character.
Why exactly has Thor: The Dark World generated such a negative reception in the four years since its release? Honestly, it's not an unwarranted response given how this one feels like one of the most paint-by-numbers movies in the MCU. There are too many wacky supporting characters, a number of jokes (like a recurring gag of naked Stellan Skarsgard romping around Stonehedge) that are awkwardly executed and too many plotlines, like Malekeith's motivation and anything to do with Thor's Asgard allies like The Warriors Three and Sif, that go nowhere. Luckily, this one's at least mostly diverting due to breezy pacing, some fun moments of wacky fantasy/science-fiction shenanigans (the climax's use of portals is actually pretty inspired) and the performances from the cast are all around solid, especially Tom Hiddleston as Loki.
Between starring in half of the four weakest MCU movies and getting the most poorly handled subplot in Age of Ultron, Thor has had a bumpy road in the MCU, but while his first film is one of the weaker entries in the series, I actually don't mind this movie at all, in fact, I'd say it's pretty good. The stories quaint in scale, which makes it feel somewhat cheap, but I actually like it's more concentrated nature that eschews large-scale destruction in favor of the focus on Thor's character transformation. It's obvious director Kenneth Branagh had little to no experience filming action sequences given how this first Thor movie has some of the most clunky fight scenes in terms of camerawork and editing (Thor's various scuffles with some S.H.I.E.L.D. agents are particularly poorly done) but Chris Hemsworth and Tom Hiddleston give great performances as Thor and Loki, respectively, that make it clear they were the kind of movie star discoveries you don't end up finding every day. While nowhere near as bizarre or cosmic as the Guardians of The Galaxy movies or Doctor Strange, it's also worth noting that the sight of the Rainbow Bridge in all its glory really was far more heightened imagery than usually seen in comic book movies circa. 2011 while the romance between Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) and Thor is nicely handled, especially a nighttime scene where they discuss the science of Asgard. Basically, this first Thor movie feels like a trial run for future MCU movies in some respects (namely in if audiences would even accept the slightest bit of fantasy in their superhero movies) but it's still a solid film in its own right.
This is the MCU movie that I think has gone down the most in my estimation of it over time. Now, the first Iron Man is still an overall pretty good movie and it's notable for much it differentiates itself from the rest of the superhero movie pack, especially in regards to the superhero movie subgenre back in 2008. A heavier emphasis on characterization, and well-done characterization at that, made this more of a character study at times, one where we get to fully see who Tony Stark is and how he comes to terms with what he's become. Director Jon Favreau also proves adept at creating some really memorable moments of character-grounded superhero action, namely Tony Stark's escape from the compound where he's being held captive which combines some fun moments of Stark taking his new super suit for a test run and an affecting moment where Stark and fellow captive Dr. Yinsen (Shaun Toub).
Unfortunately, the third act ditches that for more conventional superhero movie antics that aren't bad, they just feel more perfunctory than what came before it. Obadiah Stane (Jeff Bridges) abruptly becoming the central antagonist of the piece just feels rushed in its execution here, it feels like they should have saved him as the bad guy for the sequel instead of barreling through his transition to the dark side here. The movie has some fun with Stane as a baddie (namely a tense confrontation with him and Pepper in his office) but the climax Iron Man/Iron Monger battle feels like it lacks the characterization grounding that made the rest of the movie's action so engaging. Plus, there are some...weird racial undercurrents to the film's depiction of Middle Eastern individuals (Yinsen, played by an Iranian-American actor, is played by an actor of far lighter complexion than the villainous captors who are far darker in complexion) that already make the film feel dated, though that at least makes it a suitable companion to the first Iron Man comic which featured similarly racially insensitive depictions of Vietnamese individuals holding Tony Stark prisoner.
Ant-Man feels like the MCU movie that most should have been a flat-out disaster given its lengthy production woes that included a last-minute director change, so it's nice that the actual final film comes together in a cohesive manner. The script does have its more sloppy elements though, namely in how Hope Van Dyne (Evangeline Lilly) doesn't have all that much to do and has an ultra-forced romance with our titular superhero while baddie Darren Cross has muddled motivations (that poorly incorporated line from Hope that attributes his evil tendencies to Pym Particles we've never seen Cross use is especially sloppy) that reduce his impact despite Corey Stoll bringing some interesting menace to the role.
Those two characters get the short shrift for sure, but there's plenty to enjoy in Ant-Man, most notably Paul Rudd as Scott Lang, which turns out to be great casting as Rudd mixes his casual demeanor with superhero antics with rousing success. Michael Douglas is fully committed and enjoyable as mentor Hank Pym, the Ant-Man and Yellowjacket suits look great and we're all pretty much aware at this point of what a delight Michael Pena is as Luis. and the way Ant-Man takes full advantage of its lead characters shrinking superpowers is especially exciting. No attempts to tone down Ant-Man's superpower to be more "realistic" as here as Scott Lang chit-chats to ants, fully utilizes his shrinking powers in combat and even uses a device that makes other objects grow in size to involve a Thomas The Tank Engine toy in his climactic showdown. It may take place in ordinary suburban neighborhoods in California, but Ant-Man fully takes advantage of the weird and crazy to make something delightful.
Was there anywhere really left to take Spider-Man in the world of live-action movie storytelling after five previous Spider-Man films? Well, yeah, of course there is (we haven't even gotten the Sinister Six on-screen yet!) but the real question was if the first Marvel Studios take on the character would take advantage of those possibilities left untapped by past movie incarnations of the character. Luckily, Spider-Man: Homecoming, while not the best Spider-Man movie (those first two Sam Raimi Spidey movies edge it out for my money) was a zippy and fun adventure that actually delivered on the promise of doing a smaller-scale High School movie that just happened to star a 15-year-old running around in a red superhero outfit.
While the script could have stood to flesh out Aunt May and some of Peter's classmates better and the second act has some pacing issues, all in all, Jon Watts take on the web-crawler has plenty of creative ways of uniquely exploring Spider-Man as a character that are enhanced by Tom Holland's (pardon the accidental pun) spectacular performance as Peter Parker and Spider-Man. Michael Keaton is similarly gangbusters as one of the MCU's best baddies, The Vulture, while the challenge of doing Spider-Man-based action sequences that can stand out from past Spidey movies is one that the film confronts and conquers admirably. And that final half-hour or so of the movie, starting with Peter Parker going to pick up Liz Allen for a school dance, is really when the story hits its stride and becomes something special, especially in a final Spider-Man/Vulture duel that doesn't put the world itself in peril, but rather sharpens the focus to just two well-rounded characters facing off. There very much were places to go with Spider-Man as a character even after five previous movies and Spider-Man: Homecoming proves this adeptly.
If Iron Man is the MCU movie that's fallen the most in my estimation over the years, the first Captain America is the one that's risen the most in my estimation of it ever since its initial July 2011 release. The unabashed sincerity taken to telling Captain America's origin story means we get to really follow Steve Rogers (Chris Evans), innate goodness in human form, in his transformation from small but kind-hearted individual to super-soldier and get emotionally wrapped up in his journey. The character dynamics, brought to life by a whos-who of talented actors ranging from Tommy Lee Jones to Stanley Tucci, truly pop and sizzle, especially the romance between Steve and Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell), which may be the best romance in the entire MCU while Red Skull (Hugo Weaving) is a thoroughly entertaining foe for the star-spangled man to face off against.
The thoroughly earnest approach to the material means we not only get more stylized storytelling choices that wouldn't have fit in a more "gritty" movie, such as showing Steve Rogers time in a USO tour show via a musical number, but it also means the big emotional moments also have some real hefty pathos to them. Moments like Tucci's Abraham Erksine talking to Steve the night before Steve is supposed to take the super-soldier serum or especially the final Steve and Peggy conversation especially is powerful stuff and proves what good can come from just embracing sincerity. All that, plus Chris Evans turning out to be a perfect Steve Rogers, the guy's got heart and conviction to spare. Six years later, I'm still not quite sure the cliffhanger ending works as a proper ending to the movie (that probably should have been a mid-credits scene) but Captain America: The First Avenger is certainly a strong superhero feature with its heart on its sleeve and is all the btter for that.
Come back this Wednesday when I'll rank the remaining eight Marvel Cinematic Universe feature films and reveal my all-time favorite movie of the bunch!
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