Here is my ranking of Marvel films that have been released over the last 15 years. Remember this is just my personal opinion. I'm curious to see how others would rank these films. I didn't include anything from Fox or Sony. Bravo Disney for acquiring the rights to the X-Men and I guess The Fantastic Four.
20. Hulk, 2003: I don't know if this can count? I only saw it on cable, once, and I don't think this is considered a part of the MCU, whereas Edward Norton's version is.
19. Captain America: The First Avenger, 2011: This was a snooze fest. I've watched it only twice, the first time, not really watching but more along the lines of napping. We did not see this in theaters, it was a rental at home.
18. The Incredible Hulk, 2008: Better than the 2003 version, but I get annoyed at reboots. I can remember when and where I saw this film. My husband and I had just gotten married. We waited until the 4th of July holiday to watch it.
17. Thor: The Dark World, 2013: This was bad, definitely worse than the original. It felt very rushed.
16. Iron Man 3, 2013: I wish Iron Man's final solo outing could have been better.
15. Thor, 2011: Thor's first outing was really bad, sorry Kenneth Branagh, nice try though. There were some funny parts to it, but I just didn't care for the character, The God of Thunder with long hair and a hammer. He was nice to look at though.
14. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, 2017: I thought it was ok, not a favorite, but not bad enough to be at the bottom. Mantis was a great addition. The scenes with Drax and Mantis are the best.
13. Iron Man 2, 2010: Just ok.
12. Avengers: Age of Ultron, 2015: I felt it was just another rushed film and I was a little lost. Those damn infinity stones!!
11. Captain America: The Winter Soldier, 2014: This was a much better movie!
10. Spider-Man: Homecoming, 2017: I hope Marvel gets to keep the rights for this film. Sony did a horrible job with the reboot and should have left the films alone. He should be called Spider-Boy, not Spider-Man.
9. Guardians of the Galaxy, 2014: Chris Pratt and Dave Bautista are really funny, the end.
8. Iron Man, 2008: The movie that started it all.
7. The Avengers, 2012: I really enjoyed this movie, but there are so many more that I love. It was a fun.
6. Ant-Man, 2015: I love Paul Rudd. I really thought the movie was going to be stupid, but I was wrong. It was good.
5. The Avengers: Infinity War, 2018: I can't wait to see how this ends and bravo for bringing Nick Fury back! P.S. I saw him at LAX on my way to Chicago. I forbade my husband from yelling something out to him. We had to keep our cool.
4. Doctor Strange, 2016: Come on guys, I'm waiting patiently for a sequel. I LOVED the special effects!!
3. Black Panther, 2018: I think the hype ruined it for me. Sorry, as much as I LOVE Chadwick Boseman, and I think Black Panther is awesome, I didn't love the movie.
2. Captain America: Civil War, 2016: I loved this movie!! It was like The Avengers: Infinity War Jr. This was the best of the three and one of my favorite Marvel films! Captain America Civil War
1. Thor: Ragnarok, 2017: This is still my favorite Marvel movie!! I wrote a review a few months back, so I won't say anything more here. Thor Ragnarok
So here is my ranking of the MCU. I can't wait to see what they have in store for us next!
I love Thor, I love Black Panther, I love Captain America, I love The Avengers. For years now, we have been awaiting the arrival of the "big bad" Thanos. It's no secret that he is the baddie in The Avengers: Infinity War. With that being said, this review comes to you with spoilers. If you haven't yet seen Infinity War and you don't want to be spoiled, turn back now. You've been warned.
At the end of Thor Ragnarok, doesn't Thor meet up with the Guardians of the Galaxy? It was the last "end credit" scene, I mean, am I wrong about that? So here's my idea of a plot hole. Infinity Wars opens up with Thor and Loki being attacked by Thanos. He wants the infinity stone in the Tesseract. He kills most of the inhabitants of Asgard who were saved in Ragnarok. Loki gets killed again. I hope that this time he stays that way, but more on that later. Thor is flying in space (why does Disney continue to this?? It's lame) and lands on the Guardians spaceship. There is a hilarious exchange between, Thor and the Guardians. Chris and Chris nail it. What a great comedic duo. Drax and Mantis are amazing! But again, why are Thor and the Guardians being reintroduced? Someone please explain this to me, seriously.
The setting takes place in various locations, with various members of Team Avengers working together to try and stop Thanos from collecting all of the Infinity Stones. The purpose to have all the stones is to rid the universe (not just the world) of half the population, so that those who do make the cut, can live happy lives without the fear of starvation and poverty. He succeeds in collecting all six infinity stones, even the Soul stone which is being watched over by Red Skull from Captain America. In order to do this he must trade a soul for a soul, so he kills the only thing he ever loved, his "daughter" Gamora. This annoys me, but more on that later. Apparently, Thanos is a kidnapper who abducts Gamora from her home planet, after he nearly destroys it.
In the end Thanos, with the snap of his finger, kills almost everyone in the universe, except for all of the ORIGINAL AVENGERS, oh and Rocket. So, we are left with: Iron Man, Thor, Black Widow, Captain America, and Bruce Banner. All of the characters who only have one movie left in their Marvel contracts, which means, something will happen and everyone will be resurrected again, a la Justice League's Superman.
Now this is where I have the problem. We know contractually the recently obliterated Avengers will be back. I think that Vision and Loki are truly dead. I hope they are, not because I didn't like their characters, but because we need to have some loss. They didn't turn to dust like the others. Vision's body was still intact. Loki, we just didn't see again. Thor even states, "He's been dead before." Gamora we know is already coming back. She'll be in Guardians 3. I'm really over the "resurrection" story-line. It's been played out, it doesn't work.
Overall, the movie was wildly entertaining. It kept my attention from start to finish. When Captain America and Thor showed up to the fight, the audience went wild. My husband took a nap, but that's typical. Ragnarok is still my favorite film in the MCU. I definitely liked this movie better than Black Panther, and would recommend it if you're already a fan and have seen the previous films. Newbies would be lost. Articles I've read, stated how connected the Avengers were when they got together to fight, I would have to disagree. My dream is to see everyone working together. I would have LOVED to see an Iron Man and Captain America reconciliation, is that too much to ask? I wish I watched all of the previous films leading up to this one. That would have been helpful. I mean we're talking a ten year span of movies.
This movie only had one end credit scene. Nick Fury calls on Captain Marvel right before he turns to dust. So chances are, she'll be in the next one. Pay close attention to Chris Hemsworth's eyes. Rocket gives him a new eyeball, so no more patch. I was disappointed to not see Ant-Man. I love Paul Rudd so much! I'm thinking, he might be in round two.
Overall, Avengers Infinity War gets 4 out of 5 Pink Gerber Daisies.
UPDATE: One thing I forgot to mention that really irked me, why didn't they just cut off Thanos's arm when they had the chance???
OMG OMG OMG!!! I have no words for the beauty that I witnessed last night. And by beauty, yes I mean Chris Hemsworth The Lord of Thunder, I mean God of Thunder. Thor: Ragnarok is my favorite Marvel film to date. Watching this movie, I felt like I was in an 80's video game. I have nothing negative to say about it. It kept my attention from start to finish, the music was great, the visuals were stunning, and the acting was on point.
I laughed out loud so many times throughout the film. Hemsworth is hilarious. He can sure have some fun with the roles that he plays. I love that about him. He doesn't take himself too seriously. Of course I loved the cameos in the film. Dr. Strange shows up in the beginning. Anthony Hopkins also makes a brief appearance as Odin. We find out that Jane and Thor broke up, but I think that is already briefly mentioned in Avengers: Age of Ultron. The scenes between Mark Ruffalo and Chris Hemsworth are so funny. Bruce Banner is the "Hulk" in the majority of the film. Mark Ruffalo is my favorite Banner/Hulk.
The plot of Thor: Ragnarok was really good. A dark force awakens to take over Asgard. Come to find out, this "dark force" is Thor and Loki's sister, Hela, the goddess of death, played by Cate Blanchett. Thor, Loki, the Hulk and a Valkyrie must work together to save the day without the help of Thor's hammer, which is destroyed by Hela during their first encounter on earth. Because she is Odin's oldest child, she can wield the hammer. This surprises both Thor and Loki.
After the events of Avengers: Age of Ultron, the Hulk winds up on a "junk" planet, run by Jeff Goldblum (he is very good in this movie too). Hulk ends up becoming a fighter in their version of UFC. We find out that Banner has been living as the Hulk for the last two years. Thor also happens to land on this planet after his first encounter with his sister, Hela. Thor, now hammer-less, and Hulk have to fight (you see this in the previews and commercials, so I'm not giving anything away). The exchange between Hulk and Thor is hilarious.
My sister-in-law loves Thor, she thinks he very handsome. Chris Hemsworth looks very good in this movie, especially with his short hair. With the success of this film, I wonder if Chris Hemsworth will sign on to do a few more? What does this mean for the franchise. Is Hela dead? Can you kill the Goddess of Death? Does Death die?
Thor was never my least favorite marvel character. That honor is bestowed to Captain America. Let's face it Cap is pretty boring and vanilla. Thor is vanilla too, but he controls lightening! Thunder too right, considering he's the God of Thunder, not God of Lightening.
I repeat, this is my favorite Marvel movie to date. I didn't want it to end. Maybe I should post a blog with a list of all my favorite Marvel comic book films. That would be interesting.
Thor: Ragnarok is rated PG-13 for brief Hulk nudity (ha ha ha) and it gets 5 out of 5 Gerber Daisies on my Gerber Daisy scale. This is an absolute must see, not a "I'll wait until it comes out in the cheap theaters!!" I may even like it better than Wonder Woman.
