Sometimes it feels like we're being totally surrounded by superhero movies. & it doesn't look like that is set to change any time soon! I'm not really much of a theater-goer, & not generally the sort who feels like going out & trying new things (perfectly happy with my sofa & the same movies I've already seen a dozen times, thank you very much), but superhero movies are among the most likely to draw me out of my cave, willing to take a chance. I tend to think of myself as having pretty simple tastes (good vs evil, explosions, interesting characters, yes please)... but then again, sometimes I find myself being the picky one (awkward pacing, loose ends, forced romances, bleh).
My husband is much more the type to go have an experience just because it's new, & the type to enjoy a film with very few complaints. He's also the sort who is perfectly happy to only see a thing once, & would probably be bored if you suggested a re-watch within six years. So it's very interesting to me to see movies with him & compare our thoughts afterwards. Uhhhhh, & this whole paragraph doesn't have anything to do with me ranking & talking about Marvel movies in the rest of this post. *sheepish smirk*
So! Yeah! That's what I'm actually setting out to do: list out the MCU movies in order of how much I personally like them.
There are only two I haven't yet seen, which is impressive to me: The Incredible Hulk, & Captain America: The Winter Soldier. When The Incredible Hulk came out, we didn't really know yet that this was all going to be one big thing together, & it felt a bit odd to have a new Hulk movie that felt so soon after the last one, so yeah it kind of just slipped under my radar. I like Edward Norton, but I've embraced Mark Ruffalo as Hulk now, & it seems to be okay that I not prioritize seeing The Incredible Hulk. I really do want to see The Winter Soldier. I've heard great things. It seems like an important piece of the whole story. I've seen little spoiler bits & discussions all over the internet. People have a lot of feels about it. I'm pretty fond of Cap's first movie. Buuuuuut my husband had a chance to go see it (without me), & Captain America is his favorite Avenger, so I don't begrudge him the slightest bit! Just kinda meant that he wasn't eager to take me to see it afterwards, & well, I don't go to movies alone & no one else wants to be my date. & I'm totally a cheapskate on top of that. So really, the fact that I've managed to have seen every one but those two in theaters seems like a big deal to me!
ALERT: There will be spoilers. Just tiny ones, really, a couple references to basic plot stuff.
DISCLAIMER: I am not super into any of the comics. I have read some! But I don't follow them, & I don't really compare the movies to them. Pretty detached, for me.
---------
1. Iron Man, Iron Man 2, Iron Man 3
I am just shamelessly going to lump these together as my top slot. Tony is my favorite. I basically love everything about the character. I have a history of adoring brash arrogant characters who can back it up. Intelligence + riches = fancy tech? All of the YESSSSSS. Being mostly awesome, but not very good with people, yet learning to try to work past that? Utterly relate-able, please give me extra helpings of that. JARVIS is fantastic, I'd watch a Jarvis movie. You've got Penny too, who is cool. Lots of action, lots of explosions, lots of one-liners, & did I mention I like arrogant characters & fancy tech? Yes I did. (I don't really understand all of the hate for Iron Man 2. Sorta, maybe, conceptually? But to me, it's just fun, TonyStark-centric fun, & I will still chose that over most of the rest of the MCU. There's big guns! There's a dash of military stuff! There's a BIRD! C'mon, it's fun. It's pretty, it's flashy-- you can send me huge, thought-out, perfectly-reasonable pages & pages of Why Iron Man 2 isn't a Great Film, & I'll happily read it then happily go on liking it.)
2. Avengers: Age of Ultron
Kind of surprising myself by letting this one this high on the list. I think it's mostly because it made me think. You've got my man Tony Stark, you've got him making choices that no one else likes, & everyone who watches it has to think about who/what is right. What risks are acceptable? How many means are justified by what ends? Yet, in an entirely good way, the movie itself doesn't dwell too much on that. It's mostly just an almost-over-the-top flashy action movie. I liked the pacing, I liked the balance of character-development vs fighting/battling/problem-solving, I liked the big fancy crazy special effects stuff. I had a couple complaints about little things (Whedon-y things?), but it's pretty forgivable.
3. Captain America: The First Avenger
My man's preference for Cap might give me a bit of a soft spot. I'm not sure. But I like that this movie can afford to take itself a bit seriously. It's a pretty classic tale of Good Guy Saves the World, but the Good Guy really is a good guy, which is precious. The 1942 setting is a pleasure, giving some pre-measured weight to balance the flashy sci-fi sparkle. Plus you get Tommy Lee Jones, Hugo Weaving, & Stanley Tucci. All in all, this movie is like a fun bedtime story.
4. Ant-Man
The new guy! Just saw this movie last night! It's mostly a heist movie, which wins a lot of points in my book, even if it doesn't dwell over much on all of the fun heisty deeeetaaaiiiiils. It makes up for that by having a nice training montage portion. It's not too big on the elaborate fights & gratuitous explosions, but it has gobs of pretty nice CGI. Let's just say that you get to explore some really neat places & perspectives & possibilities. It's predictable, but a good time! & that guy has some nice stubble. *cough*
5. Guardians of the Galaxy
Space! Aliens! This one is pretty much a crowd pleaser; it may look pretty low on the list, but not because I don't like it. I truly did consider placing this over Ant-Man, maybe even over Cap. I think the middle of my list might be something that flexes according to my mood, so overall I'm putting it right here, though I'm sure some days I'd be like "I really just want to watch Groot & Drax". Who wouldn't want to watch Groot & Drax? I never really like Gamora, but... that's okay. GotG is very entertaining, with not much to complain about. Unless you'd rather see an Avenger.
6. Marvel's The Avengers
Complicated emotion. The thing is... I... well... Loki is pretty boring. *waits to be stoned to death by mobs of ladies* If you're thinking "but Val, he's an arrogant character! your favorite!", wellllllll he's whiny & I have no sympathy at all & he's not even cute. He doesn't really have layers. He pretends to have layers, then he just is boring... he's childish & I don't see the appeal. So uh, other than that, it had some fun character interaction & fights, & I'm up for a rewatch if that's what other people want to do, but I probably won't seek it out on my own much. It's more fun with friends, you can laugh & debate favorite Avengers, ooh & ahhh at things... but I would prefer if it wasn't quite so Loki-Tesseract-Wormhole-Chitauri-Spaaaaaaace. Y'know? The pacing felt a bit weird to me.
*one lonely cricket chirping*
7. Thor
I thought I liked Thor. Honestly, Thor would probably actually be over The Avengers, if Thor had Iron Man in it. Haha. I enjoy the Earth parts of Thor, & I like Heimdall, but when the focus goes to Loki & Asgard, I start to get distracted. The film's balance of Earth/Asgard never felt right to me. But, I still like to watch it sometimes. I like all of the "who is this big crazy weirdo, what is he doing" scenes. I like This Character is Totally out of His/Her Element bits.
8. Thor: The Dark World
Okay, here we are at the very bottom of the list. & I want to make it clear that I like all of the other movies on the list. If brought up in conversation, I would smile & say good things about any one of those other movies. I am not sure if I even like this one. It was flashy! I saw it with good friends, who all enjoyed it, at least a fair amount more than I did! But man, I don't even know, I barely could manage to care about any of it. It felt kind of like a response to Loki's popularity. It felt like too much was going on with the assumption that I was going to care. I'm over distant worlds with their politics, & portals & wormholes. I was not invested in any of it. It felt like maybe it could have held up as a tv episode or something, but a whole movie was a bit much for me. (Kinda like some novels seem like they'd make great short stories.) Eh. Ehhhhhh.
---------
BONUS CONTENT: Let's Talk about X-Men Movies
I really wanted to talk about X-Men movies. I thought I wanted to rank them, & then rank them amidst the MCU stuff, but when it all comes down to it I think all I really want to say is: I LIKE X-MEN MOVIES.
I like the first one for being a lovely introduction. I like the second one for being Wolverine-centric (he's totally my fave). I like the third for expanding well upon the foundation of the first two. I don't relate to the hate for Origins: Wolverine-- it was pretty zany, but I really do like it just the way it is, just kind of a fun what-if sort of movie (it's like the "midnight snack" of movies, that's how I want to describe it; maybe that'll make some sort of sense to someone besides me, maybe not). First Class is really enjoyable, & Days of Future Past makes me happy.
I REALLY DON'T LIKE THE WOLVERINE. Like, no joke, I was almost uncomfortable watching it, that's how much I didn't like it. It's like someone got upset by how not-true-to-the-comics Origins: Wolverine is, & made their own, fueled by angst. I just want to forget it exists.
---------
So there you have it! How I feel about most of the Marvel movies. (I saw the 2003 Hulk movie, & the first Fantastic 4 movie, back in the day... I forget almost everything about them... uhhh & then there's Spider-Man? I find all of the Tobey Maguire ones watchable, & own them for when that quirky mood hits, but new stuff, eh, haven't felt like pursuing.) Feel free to toss your comments at me on twitter (@the_valerie!), tell me your ranking, etc-- I like movie chatter!
ETA: I like the Daredevil movie. So there.
No comments:
Post a Comment