RATED looks at EVERY Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) film and gives a QuickReview as well as putting them in order of BEST to, well, Iron Man 2.! Updated as and when a new Marvel (Studios) film is released…
(Note scores reflect my original IMDB ratings)
Best: Captain America Winter Solider
A cold war thriller with Robert Redford and a mini Avengers team up. Add in the always awesome Frank Grillo and a genuinely interesting script and you have Marvel’s strongest cinematic outing.
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2. Guardians Of The Galaxy
Massively far out of Marvel’s usual comfort zone, Guardian’s introduced spaceships, talking racoons and a giant tree person. Cracking script, expert action and a heap of fun.
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3. Iron Man 3
The Iron Man film that broke a lot of Marvel fans, Shane Black took the playbook and ripped it up. Twists, turns and a cute central relationships made this a different take on the norm and was all the better for it.
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4. Thor: Ragnarok
Well this was a bundle of fun. The previous Thor films have been okay but Ragnarok delivered a brilliant romp which dragged in The Hulk, a handful of memorable new characters (Korg!) and some great set pieces to end up being one of Marvel’s best films yet.
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5. Avengers: Endgame
Funny, emotional, heart breaking and smart – Endgame ties up 21 films worth of story across 12 years almost perfectly. Bitter sweet for sure but Marvel totally stuck the landing.
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6. Marvel’s The Avengers
All the groundwork paid off as Marvel delivered it’s first ever super hero team up. The Hulk was back (and done right this time), Hawkeye and Black Widow joined the team and director Joss Whedon delivered the goods.
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7. Spider-Man: Far From Home
Far From Home takes the ball from both Homecoming and Endgame and runs with it. A charming, funny and emotionally charged MCU film… it delivers real relationships, a superb villain, an interesting enough story and characters you really care about.
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8. Spider-Man Homecoming
Funny, charming, with Marvels best villain and best Spiderman (yup sorry Andrew Garfield) Homecoming is a joy of a film that is by far the closest to what the comic book Peter Parker is.
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9. Avengers: Infinity War
Shocking, well paced and with one of Marvel’s greatest screen villains Avengers Infinity War ALMOST delivered on it’s considerable promise. Almost.
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10. Iron Man
The Film that started it all… Iron Man was a rock n roll action movie with an unlikely lead, an even more unlikely director and enough balls out moments to wow.
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11. Captain Marvel
A great origins story, a fun film and a great soundtrack – what more could you ask for really?
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12. Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2
Loud, silly and funny as heck, Vol. 2 isn’t quite the tight film that it’s 2014 original is but it’s a hell of a lot of fun. Add in an amazing cast (including Stallone, Hasselhoff and Russell) and you have another winner from Marvel…
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13. Ant-Man
Ant-Man is a heist movie. With Ants. And fights on toy trains. It’s crazy but it’s also full of charm, humour and fun.
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14. Black Panther
Black Panther takes a different approach to the usual Marvel film, yet falls into a lot of the same traps of relying a bit too much on visual effects at times. That said it’s one of Marvel’s most intimate stories and whilst not perfect is a really strong entry into the increasingly bigger MCU.
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15. Ant-Man & The Wasp
Ant-Man & The Wasp is GREAT fun. It’s also totally forgettable and delivers what is possibly Marvel’s weakest villain to date. Not bad by any stretch just off pace of the original.
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16. Doctor Strange
Off the big screen Doctor Strange looses a little but this visually stunning film shows that marvel are still interested in pushing the envelope as far as you can in mainstream blockbusters.
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17. Captain America: The First Avenger
Solid, fun and well done, whilst it has little rewatch appeal Captain America again took a different approach and gave us a couple of Marvel’s most enduring characters.
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18. Captain America: Civil War
It’s not bad. It just didn’t gel with me as much as it did others. Don’t get me wrong there’s a lot to like and again it plays with the expected formula, but ultimately i’m just not that keen to go back to it.
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19. Thor: The Dark World
I liked The Dark world MUCH more than others. Okay so it’s flawed for sure but it’s crazy fun.
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20. Thor
Thor was a sold film, tasked with the near impossible job of making a god fit in a world of men. It does it well but not one you’ll rewatch much.
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21. Avengers Age Of Ultron
Marvel’s first disappointment, Age Of Ultron was all show and little else. Too big, too dumb and too long.
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22. The Incredible Hulk (2008)
It has charm and the casting works well but ultimately The Incredible Hulk (whilst FAR better than the Ang Lee version) just doesn’t have enough to recommend it.
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Worst : Iron Man 2
The idea was fine but sadly most of the film misses. Even Mickey Rourke (yes one of the oddest Marvel villains ever) can’t save this.
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Phil Hobden is the former Film Editor & Writer for renowned martial arts focused COMBAT MAGAZINE in the UK. He is also a filmmaker in his own right, having produced two cult Independent action films in LEFT FOR DEAD and TEN DEAD MEN. He was the host for the award nominated Filmsploitation podcast for 4 years, currently co-hosts Ross And Phil Talk Movies and is a writer/editor for his own blog Phil’s Quick Capsule Review…
