AAh! I intended to make a more refined and detailed list of my rankings and I see someone included my spur-of-the-moment rankings in the chart! But, I’ll likely watch all the films in a marathon first before I ever do that, probably in April in time for THE WINTER SOLDIER. So what I’ll do is just list the films in chronological order and add comments for each. I’ll be getting into some spoilers here concerning THOR: THE DARK WORLD.
IRON MAN - It’s enjoyable, I had fun seeing it in theaters, but it doesn’t really stick with me. RDJ is obviously the appeal of this film, but other than that… What else? I just feel it’s overrated. Too cookie cutter and Jeff Bridges seems wasted in what is a pretty lame villain.
THE INCREDIBLE HULK - Saw this one in theaters too and I remember actually thinking it was better than IRON MAN. Revisiting it only once last year, I enjoyed it as much. My comment for it in 2008 was that it was a very solid entry. I liked it as a chase film, reintroducing this Hulk for the then brand new MCU that was only just kick-started a month or two earlier. I’m still upset Norton did not return, because I found him the most compelling and I like that he’s not built as a linebacker as Bana and Ruffalo. Where I call IRON MAN overrated, I call this underrated.
IRON MAN 2 - This is a pretty messy film, but it’s kind of an enjoyable mess and I find the story elements in her far more engaging than what was in the first film. Apparently there was some issues between the filmmakers and the studio on what the film was supposed to do. The filmmakers wanted to do their own thing while Marvel wanted to include stuff that would build up for THE AVENGERS, so sometimes it feels less like its own film and more like an AVENGERS set-up, which is why many probably rank it. Despite those issue, I enjoyed most of it. Sam Rockwell is one of the best additions and I really hope to see him pop up sooner in this universe.
THOR - This one took me by surprise. Seeing the trailer in theaters, I thought it looked like a turkey. I kept thinking “come on, no one is gonna buy into this shit, Marvel, why are you even trying?” Months after it was released, I decided to attend a free screening at my college. I enjoyed it in a way I did not expect to. It was incredibly goofy, but it felt earnest and most of all it was a lot of fun. You can tell that by seeing how much the actors are playing it up but not too much so that the story could work. It’s like THE LION IN WINTER done as a summer blockbuster, but in a good way.
CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER - This one definitely tickled my fancy. As a long time lover of THE ROCKETEER, it was nice to see Johnston jump back as a director of a period superhero film. He was a very good fit for something like CAPTAIN AMERICA where the good guy is simply the good guy from the start, no contemplating on whether he should be a hero or not, he just is. It’s in bones. I know “character acrs” make it more interesting for many and that this was thought to be boring because never goes through what Peter Parker, Bruce Wayne, or Tony Stark did, but once in awhile I like having a hero that’s simply inspiring. The first comic book cover with him is punching Hitler, so right from there you know it’s all fantasy wish fulfillment and I think this movie captures it.
THE AVENGERS - Hard to comment on this one at the moment. It’s great to see the heroes together and everything, but it really is just one big spectacle that does its job right but doesn’t stay with you very much. However, unlike IRON MAN, I think it pulls off the spectacle much better and then of course there’s Loki, who just works. Can’t make further comments, I’ll have to watch it again later though.
IRON MAN 3 - This is an odd one for me. When I first saw it I loved it and thought it was probably the best of all the films. Then I saw it again on DVD, and again later but it started to drop for me. There’s parts I really like in it. The Mandarin reveal is very funny and the free-fall rescue is very well executed. Other than that, I’m not too crazy about the rest of the film. Crazy, because I was looking so forward to this ever since I heard that Shane Black was directing and writing it. That automatically meant that it would be my favorite of the Marvel films, but that’s not the case. I dunno, I guess I’ll need to see how it pans out again next time when I do a full on marathon.
THOR: THE DARK WORLD - Found it to be an improvement from the first, which I did not expect. The villain is a non-entity, and the romance doesn’t seem to go beyond “hey, you’re hot, I love you”, but there’s a lot in this film that makes up for it. Loki being one of them. I was surprised when his “death” happened because not only was it ballsy, it could have been a very effective way of writing him off. At the same time however, he’s Loki! It’s like killing Spock, you may have it work, but at the same time can you really keep moving without missing his presence? Anyway, of course it was all smokescreen so at the end we see Loki at the throne and that immediately intrigues me enough to want to see the next installment.
EDIT: Additional comment
AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D. - So far this has been kind of a disappointment for me. Other than Coulson, I really don’t give a fucking shit about the 90210 cast. It annoys me that the show focuses more on that hacker, because she’s uninteresting while Clark Gregg is kind of wasted in what could have been a potentially new take on Coulson since he’s supposed to be the show’s lead, even though he really isn’t.