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Thursday, April 30, 2015

Top 10 Marvel Cinematic Universe Movies: Part 3

My list of the MCU movies continues with the final part of the list. 

At this point in the list, numbers two, three, and four could easily be interchangeable. These are the top tier of the Marvel films, and they fully deserving of the title "Earth's Mightiest Heroes." 

Click on the following links if you missed the first two parts of the list: Part 1 and Part 2.


4: Iron Man
Before The Avengers, Thor, and Captain America, Marvel studios made a film that would be the foundation for all other Marvel movies to build on in the future, and they could not have kicked off the franchise any better than with Iron Man.

Casting veteran actor Robert Downey Jr. in the role of Tony Stark remains the best casting decision ever for any comic book film. From his chemistry with Paltrow to the adlibbed dialogue, Iron Man elevated every aspect of the film. Even after re-watching at least eight times, the movie never gets old, and that’s largely thanks to Downey.

Words cannot even express what it felt like to see Nick Fury stepping forward to say, “I am here to talk to you about the Avengers initiative.” At the time, it was only something that I could have dreamed about, and as a geek, it was about as good as it gets. To this day, it remains one of the defining moments of my movie watching experience.

3: Guardians of the Galaxy
Guardians of the Galaxy defied all expectations. Not only did it become highest grossing film of the year domestically, it shocked both fan and critic alike with its complete disregard of the conventional.

James Gunn's writing and direction is bold. He did not care about what audiences expected or even wanted. He told us exactly we wanted, and we all loved every minute of it. His style is in-your-face and unforgivingly his own, and that is my type of filmmaking!

Thanks to the stellar chemistry between the cast and Chris Pratt's innate goofball charm, GotG assembles a team of misfits unlike any other. It is like a combination of Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Mass Effect, and Firefly, packed full of 80s references, action, and absurdly lovable characters. Even if you have never seen a Marvel film, there is so little connection to the main universe that it does not matter, yet there are still plenty of Easter Eggs for the fans.

Guardians of the Galaxy is bold and audacious filmmaking at its finest with James Gunn's complete disregard of typical genre conventions that care more about making a unique film than a generic crowd pleaser, yet it surely does please. GotG is like a cult classic with lovable quirky characters and endlessly quotable dialogue, except with box office success and a big budget; what more could you ask for?!

However, I feel as though I need to watch it yet another time before ranking it at number two, which could very well happen in the near future.

2: Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Captain America: The Winter Soldier truly took me by surprise. I expected a fun action packed adventure with my favorite comic book character; what I actually got was something far superior.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier is a thematically strong film loaded with meaningful social commentary on the various aspects of politics, freedom, and government control. It uses the fact that Captain America is an unwavering force of freedom to convey the themes without ever coming off as pretentious. Everything expressed in the film is a core aspect of Cap's character, and that is exactly why it works so well.

Upon my second viewing, I watched the film with the intent of finding something wrong with the film, and yet I could not find a single noteworthy flaw. Of course, no film is absolutely perfect, but it is one of the most well crafted films that I have ever. Each scene flows into the next effortlessly. It takes big risks, and yet never falters. The plot functions like a well oiled machine, and yet it has an emotional core. While I am sad to see Joss Whedon not directing Avengers: Infinity War, the film is left in good hands with the Russo Brothers.

1: The Avengers
Could there be any other? Joss Whedon accomplished the impossible with The Avengers and that makes him mighty (Firefly reference). Never before has a comic book film been so bold and unforgiving in the fact that it is based on a comic book. It perfectly captures the spirit of the comic, while still being easily accessible to the general public, an impressive feat in and of itself.

Somehow every character is given their moment to shine, and Whedon's expertly written banter is pure perfection. Among the previously established characters, Whedon even managed to build Black Widow into a far more fascinating character than anyone could have ever realized, and The Hulk, who, at the time, never received a proper film adaptation, nearly stole the show.

The Avengers could have easily been a disaster if left in less competent hands. Behind all of the spectacle and humor, ultimately, the film has heart; that's the real reason The Avengers is a classic that will go down in history as one of the defining films of the our generation. Will Age of Ultron be able to best it....

What do you think of choices? Please comment below and let me know!

P.S. As before, please do not post spoilers or even opinions about Age of Ultron, or at least use a *Spoiler* tag first. If you have not seen the film, do not read comments by "MarvelFan4Ever," he/she is the spoiling the film in the comments, and how the person seems to be using anonymous comments to spoil the film. 


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12 comments:

  1. So, I'm going to the Avengers/Age of Ultron double feature today, and... I'm more excited about seeing Avengers on the big screen again than I am about seeing AOU. I mean, yes, I'm jazzed about AOU too cuz... more Avengersy goodness! But I fear what sort of pain and suffering Joss Whedon might put me through during it (not to mention those poor characters!), so I'm almost more apprehensive than excited about it. But I KNOW Avengers will be a happy ride :-D

    Anyway, I think you already know I don't care for The Winter Soldier nearly as much as most people do, though I do agree it's a well-crafted film. I did at least enjoy it enough to want to watch it more than once, so I bought the DVD -- none of which I can say about Guardians of the Galaxy, alas.

    And I was sad to see Joss Whedon stepping down from helming the MCU movies, but... maybe he'll get more involved with Agents of SHIELD in the future, as a result? Never know!

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  2. Great conclusion to the list! :D Age of Ultron looks really good so I'm definitely excited for it! Agreed, The Avengers film is definitely the best Marvel film so far! (the movie exceeded my expectations when I went to see it- and that was even after hearing all the hype). The Winter Soldier was definitely very well done and I really liked the movie a lot. Guardians of the Galaxy was super fun and I have good memories of watching it twice over the Christmas holidays with family! :) And the first Iron Man is of course really great and fun :)

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  3. While I've never been able to put the Marvel movies into a list of favorites to least favorite, I have to agree with the last three of your list-they're easily three of my favorite Marvel films (though I may need to re-watch GOTG again to firmly be able to say that)! I cannot wait until AOU, and despite a lot of the flack the film's been getting, I simply cannot wait to see how fantastic it'll be! Excellent list, James!
    -Tegan

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  5. For me, Winter Soldier is better than Avengers and Age of Ultron. I'm also one of those few who prefer Iron Man 2 to the first! I LOVE Sam Rockwell in that movie so much!

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  6. Having seen Age of U last week, I'll be very curious to read what you make of it. When will you be posting a review?

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    1. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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    2. @Child of the 70s: Due to a death in the family, my schedule for seeing the film is uncertain. But I should have one up sometime next week.

      @Haruhi Fujioka: I'm sorry if your comment did not contain spoilers. However, since you spoiled the film before in the comments, I am afraid to read it until after watching the film. Sorry.

      -James

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  7. I think this is a well reasoned and written list. I mostly agree with your choices completely. But I feel that you
    will have to write a whole NEW list when you see Age of Ultron.

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    1. Thank you Isaac. And yes, I am sure that I will have to make some big changes after watching Age of Ultron.

      -James

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  8. Yep, these four are definitely the best of the Marvel films! I really need a movie where the Guardians and the Avengers team up! XD

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One rule: No strong profanity. If you want to link to one of your posts, please do; I am always interested in other reviews and such.

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