Ranking The Movies of The Marvel Cinematic Universe (So Far)

<p>It&&num;8217&semi;s a super time to be a superhero in the Marvel Cinematic Universe&period; The once impossible idea of packing six superheroes into a single onscreen universe&comma; the MCU&&num;8217&semi;s built some of the biggest superhero movies of all time&comma; if not the most in any given year&period; Seven years and a dozen movies later&comma; it doesn&&num;8217&semi;t look like Marvel&&num;8217&semi;s multimedia franchise is slowing down anytime soon as its multi-billion dollar future is just getting bigger&period; If the past has taught us anything&comma; it&&num;8217&semi;s that the MCU&&num;8217&semi;s getting better all the time&comma; but not without its share of bumps along the way&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>With Ant-Man&&num;8217&semi;s big-screen debut this summer&comma; Marvel&&num;8217&semi;s second helping of superhero movies have finally come to a close and as we enter its third cinematic phase&comma; we take a look back at the MCU&&num;8217&semi;s winners and washouts so far&period; For reference&comma; we&&num;8217&semi;ll only be ranking the movies considered a part of the Avengers world&comma; so if you&&num;8217&semi;re looking for any X-Men or web slingers&comma; you&&num;8217&semi;re out of luck&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Here are the best&comma; worst&comma; and weirdest of the MCU&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<hr &sol;>&NewLine;<h2 style&equals;"text-align&colon; center&semi;"><strong>12&period;<em> Iron Man 2<&sol;em><&sol;strong><&sol;h2>&NewLine;<figure id&equals;"attachment&lowbar;87886" aria-describedby&equals;"caption-attachment-87886" style&equals;"width&colon; 800px" class&equals;"wp-caption aligncenter"><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;cdn&period;bagogames&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2015&sol;07&sol;04200855&sol;Iron-Man-2-Donut-Shop-BagoGames&period;jpg"><img class&equals;"wp-image-87886 size-full" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;cdn&period;bagogames&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2015&sol;07&sol;04200855&sol;Iron-Man-2-Donut-Shop-BagoGames&period;jpg" alt&equals;"Iron Man 2 Donut Shop BagoGames" width&equals;"800" height&equals;"465" &sol;><&sol;a><figcaption id&equals;"caption-attachment-87886" class&equals;"wp-caption-text">Staring contest&excl; &lpar;Iron Man 2&semi; Marvel Studios&comma; Disney 2010&rpar;<&sol;figcaption><&sol;figure>&NewLine;<p>It was hard to know what to expect from <em>Iron Man<&sol;em>&&num;8216&semi;s surprising blockbuster success&period; By all accounts&comma; <em>Iron Man 2<&sol;em> didn&&num;8217&semi;t seem to know either&period; From its jerky characterization to its flighty script&comma; <em>Iron Man 2<&sol;em> felt like a half-drunken hangover of its predecessor&comma; smarter and funnier in its own head&period; We doubt anyone wanted to see Robert Downey Jr&period;&&num;8217&semi;s Tony Stark take on Mickey Rourke&&num;8217&semi;s grungy Mickey Rourke waving electric jump ropes&comma; much less see him take a dump in his suit&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Tony and Pepper Potts&&num;8217&semi; banter seemed stuck in the mud and Don Cheadle was simply there&period; Sam Rockwell&&num;8217&semi;s weaselly Justin Hammer was another empty suit&comma; meanwhile&comma; and Black Widow&&num;8217&semi;s flat entrance didn&&num;8217&semi;t produce much fanfare&period; A new arc reactor was arguably the most Tony got out of his second go-round&comma; because we sure don&&num;8217&semi;t remember daydreaming about director Jon Favreau&&num;8217&semi;s <em>Iron Man 3<&sol;em>&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<hr &sol;>&NewLine;<h2 style&equals;"text-align&colon; center&semi;"><strong>11&period; <em>The Incredible Hulk<&sol;em><&sol;strong><&sol;h2>&NewLine;<figure id&equals;"attachment&lowbar;87904" aria-describedby&equals;"caption-attachment-87904" style&equals;"width&colon; 800px" class&equals;"wp-caption aligncenter"><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;cdn&period;bagogames&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2015&sol;07&sol;04200735&sol;The-Incredible-Hulk-2008-Poster-BagoGames&period;png"><img class&equals;"wp-image-87904 size-full" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;cdn&period;bagogames&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2015&sol;07&sol;04200735&sol;The-Incredible-Hulk-2008-Poster-BagoGames&period;png" alt&equals;"The Incredible Hulk &lpar;2008&rpar; Poster BagoGames" width&equals;"800" height&equals;"465" &sol;><&sol;a><figcaption id&equals;"caption-attachment-87904" class&equals;"wp-caption-text">Bruce goes for an emo-walk on the town &lpar;The Incredible Hulk&semi; Universal Pictures&comma; 2008&rpar;<&sol;figcaption><&sol;figure>&NewLine;<p>&&num;8220&semi;Incredible&&num;8221&semi; might not be the word for Louis Leterrier&&num;8217&semi;s take on Marvel&&num;8217&semi;s green goliath&comma; but at the time&comma; it might&&num;8217&semi;ve been an adequate shot in the arm for the Hulk&comma; at the very least&period; Its man-on-the-run storyline proved a better fit for the <em>Incredible Hulk <&sol;em>than Ang Lee&&num;8217&semi;s angst-ridden silliness with Edward Norton&&num;8217&semi;s Bruce Banner a suitable everyman&period; The tenser action sequences complimented its bigger&comma; better set-pieces at the expense of the film&&num;8217&semi;s dramatic aims&period; The movie&&num;8217&semi;s love story fell as hard as Bruce did from that darn plane and Tim Roth&&num;8217&semi;s criminally underdeveloped Emil Blonsky is still a crying shame&comma; as is Tim Blake Nelson&&num;8217&semi;s offbeat Samuel Sterns&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em>The Incredible Hulk<&sol;em> was certainly the Hulk story that deserved to be told&comma; if not the one that deserved to see&period; Though Mark Ruffalo&&num;8217&semi;s green goliath would pave over the movie&&num;8217&semi;s already loose connections to the MCU&comma; <em>Captain America&colon; Civil War<&sol;em> will at least welcome back William Hurt&&num;8217&semi;s coolheaded General Ross&period; It&&num;8217&semi;s  still sad that we&&num;8217&semi;re unlikely to see a solo outing for the Hulk as the star of the MCU&&num;8217&semi;s darker corners&comma; because the Hulk and the Abomination&&num;8217&semi;s beat-down was something else&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<hr &sol;>&NewLine;<h2 style&equals;"text-align&colon; center&semi;"><strong>10&period; <em>Captain America&colon; The First Avenger<&sol;em><&sol;strong><&sol;h2>&NewLine;<figure id&equals;"attachment&lowbar;87889" aria-describedby&equals;"caption-attachment-87889" style&equals;"width&colon; 800px" class&equals;"wp-caption aligncenter"><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;cdn&period;bagogames&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2015&sol;07&sol;04200816&sol;Captain-America-First-Avenger-Dance-Number-BagoGames&period;jpg"><img class&equals;"wp-image-87889 size-full" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;cdn&period;bagogames&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2015&sol;07&sol;04200816&sol;Captain-America-First-Avenger-Dance-Number-BagoGames&period;jpg" alt&equals;"Captain America First Avenger Dance Number BagoGames" width&equals;"800" height&equals;"465" &sol;><&sol;a><figcaption id&equals;"caption-attachment-87889" class&equals;"wp-caption-text">The star-spangled man with a likely wedgie &lpar;Captain America&semi; Marvel&comma; Disney&comma; 2011&rpar;<&sol;figcaption><&sol;figure>&NewLine;<p>There&&num;8217&semi;s probably no hero more righteous in the Marvel stable than good &&num;8216&semi;ole Captain America and not a film more faithful to its inspiration than <em>Captain America&colon; The First Avenger<&sol;em>&period; Marvel&&num;8217&semi;s steadfast salute to its earliest superhero had something going for it&period; It gave Chris Evans the chance to throw out his Fantastic Four suit and into the star-spangled tights of comics&&num;8217&semi; most mild-mannered patriot&comma; playing to all the bygone idealism of the character&comma; if not to a fault&period; Its cheery&comma; upbeat tone allowed for a kind of innocence rare to superhero movies&comma; though at a cost to its fluffy characterization of the Red Skull as a joke villain and Bucky as the forgettable best friend&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Cap and Peggy Carter&&num;8217&semi;s doomed romance didn&&num;8217&semi;t amount to much&comma; thought it did earn Haley Atwell a decent spotlight <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;bagogames&period;com&sol;tag&sol;marvels-agent-carter&sol;">in her own right<&sol;a>&period; Nevertheless&comma; <em>First Avenger<&sol;em> did give us the enemy to plague every Marvel movie to come in HYDRA and a direct bridge to the Avengers with the moral that one man with the right steroids can make a difference&period; What&&num;8217&semi;s more American than that&quest;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<hr &sol;>&NewLine;<h2 style&equals;"text-align&colon; center&semi;"><strong>9&period;<em> Thor <&sol;em><&sol;strong><&sol;h2>&NewLine;<figure id&equals;"attachment&lowbar;87907" aria-describedby&equals;"caption-attachment-87907" style&equals;"width&colon; 800px" class&equals;"wp-caption aligncenter"><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;cdn&period;bagogames&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2015&sol;07&sol;04200716&sol;Thor-2011-Hammer-in-the-Stone-BagoGames&period;jpg"><img class&equals;"wp-image-87907 size-full" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;cdn&period;bagogames&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2015&sol;07&sol;04200716&sol;Thor-2011-Hammer-in-the-Stone-BagoGames&period;jpg" alt&equals;"Thor &lpar;2011&rpar; Hammer in the Stone BagoGames" width&equals;"800" height&equals;"465" &sol;><&sol;a><figcaption id&equals;"caption-attachment-87907" class&equals;"wp-caption-text">C&&num;8217&semi;mon&comma; Dad&comma; I promise I&&num;8217&semi;ll be good&excl; Promise&excl; Pretty please&excl; &lpar;Thor&semi; Marvel&comma; Disney&comma; 2011&rpar;<&sol;figcaption><&sol;figure>&NewLine;<p>At its core&comma;<em> Thor<&sol;em> is probably like a bunch of movies you&&num;8217&semi;ve already seen and probably liked&period; A big guy too big for his britches screws up&comma; gets taught a lesson&comma; hijinks ensue&comma; and he walks away learning something&period; That&&num;8217&semi;s basically Kenneth Branagh&&num;8217&semi;s<em> Thor<&sol;em> in a nutshell&comma; but it still has a lot to like in spite of itself&period; Chris Hemsworth plays a very mighty Thor with Natalie Portman&&num;8217&semi;s Jane Foster as his likably grounding guides on earth&period; Of course&comma; there&&num;8217&semi;s Tom Hiddleston being his delightfully wicked self&comma; stealing whatever scene he can get – however briefly – as Loki&comma; otherwise known as Thor&&num;8217&semi;s cooler stepbrother&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>A classic fish-out-of-water origin story&comma; <em>Thor<&sol;em>&&num;8216&semi;s amusing antics left no gag unturned for how many times Thor can get hit by a car or acquire a love for pop tarts in his big timeout on our planet&period; Its lighthearted humor appreciated the most human side of the character&comma; though its uninspired finale leaves a lot to be desired&period; Nevertheless&comma; it did leave enough fans clamoring for a sequel&period; Another&excl;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<hr &sol;>&NewLine;<h2 style&equals;"text-align&colon; center&semi;"><strong>8&period; <em>Iron Man<&sol;em><&sol;strong><&sol;h2>&NewLine;<figure id&equals;"attachment&lowbar;89369" aria-describedby&equals;"caption-attachment-89369" style&equals;"width&colon; 800px" class&equals;"wp-caption aligncenter"><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;cdn&period;bagogames&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2015&sol;08&sol;04191711&sol;Iron-Man-Jericho-BagoGames&period;png"><img class&equals;"wp-image-89369 size-full" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;cdn&period;bagogames&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2015&sol;08&sol;04191711&sol;Iron-Man-Jericho-BagoGames&period;png" alt&equals;"Iron Man Jericho BagoGames" width&equals;"800" height&equals;"400" &sol;><&sol;a><figcaption id&equals;"caption-attachment-89369" class&equals;"wp-caption-text">You get fear&comma; respect&comma; and everything else as Tony Stark in a three-piece suit &lpar;Iron Man&semi; Marvel&comma; Paramount&comma; 2008&rpar;<&sol;figcaption><&sol;figure>&NewLine;<p>It&&num;8217&semi;s hard to think back to a time that the name &&num;8220&semi;Robert Downey Jr&period;&&num;8221&semi; didn&&num;8217&semi;t carry with it the guitar chords of AC&sol;DC&period; It was&comma; frankly&comma; the film that started a lot&period; The multi-annual superhero releases&comma; the Sam Jackson cameos&comma; the MCU itself – all of them can still thank Jon Favreau&&num;8217&semi;s initial vision for how a stuck-up&comma; genius&comma; playboy billionaire got less stuck up&period; The film seemingly set up more than a decade of superhero movies going forward&comma; but more importantly was its hero of the hour&comma; one that could outthink as much as outmuscle the odds with swagger to match&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Though we&&num;8217&semi;ll always wish Jeff Bridges&&num;8217&semi;s Obadiah Stane left more of an impression&comma; Tony Stark taking on The Dude is still a treat&period; Seven years into his big-screen debut&comma; it doesn&&num;8217&semi;t look like Marvel&&num;8217&semi;s heavy metal hero&&num;8217&semi;s lost any of his selling power from the looks of Robert Downey Jr&period;&&num;8217&semi;s pay checks these days&period; Before long&comma; the man&&num;8217&semi;s going to be able to afford his own Iron Man suits&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<hr &sol;>&NewLine;<h2 style&equals;"text-align&colon; center&semi;"><strong>7&period;<em> Ant-Man<&sol;em><&sol;strong><&sol;h2>&NewLine;<figure id&equals;"attachment&lowbar;87501" aria-describedby&equals;"caption-attachment-87501" style&equals;"width&colon; 800px" class&equals;"wp-caption aligncenter"><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;cdn&period;bagogames&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2015&sol;07&sol;04202503&sol;Ant-Man-Running-with-Ants-BagoGames&period;jpg"><img class&equals;"wp-image-87501 size-full" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;cdn&period;bagogames&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2015&sol;07&sol;04202503&sol;Ant-Man-Running-with-Ants-BagoGames&period;jpg" alt&equals;"Ant-Man Running with Ants BagoGames" width&equals;"800" height&equals;"465" &sol;><&sol;a><figcaption id&equals;"caption-attachment-87501" class&equals;"wp-caption-text">Nothing like taking out the ants for a run &lpar;Ant-Man&semi; Marvel&comma; Disney&comma; 2015&rpar;<&sol;figcaption><&sol;figure>&NewLine;<p>Good things come in small packages and the same can generally be said about <em>Ant-Man&period; <&sol;em>Fresh&comma; funny&comma; family-friendly fun&comma;<em> Ant-Man<&sol;em> took us back to a simpler time in the genre were good guys smirked for the camera and bad guys scared were the boogeymen under kids&&num;8217&semi; beds&period; Its <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;bagogames&period;com&sol;tongue-in-cheek-goodness-ant-man-movie-review&sol;">tongue-in-cheek humor<&sol;a> and physics-defying effects all make for a rewarding spectacle&comma; but it&&num;8217&semi;s Paul Rudd&&num;8217&semi;s smart-mouthed Scott Lang and Michael Douglas&&num;8217&semi; sagely Hank Pym that provide the greatest gravitas amidst all the absurdity&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>A heist movie&comma; an origin story&comma; and a family film all at once&comma; <em>Ant-Man <&sol;em>clips by at a mile-a-minute with too many characters left unexplored&comma; The Wasp notwithstanding&period; When you consider Corey Stoll&&num;8217&semi;s Darren Cross as a young Obadiah Stane&comma; Evangeline Lilly is a doe-eyed Hope Van Dyne as a briefcase-wielding Pepper Potts&comma; and yet another high-tech suit&comma; <em>Ant-Man<&sol;em>&&num;8216&semi;s just a kiddier <em>Iron Man<&sol;em> at heart&comma; good as that is&period; In the absence of a true sequel&comma; Scott&&num;8217&semi;s arguably best off piggybacking off of the Avengers with Ant-Man&&num;8217&semi;s world really having nothing more to show&period; Just give us more Michael Peña&period; The guy&&num;8217&semi;s hilarious&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<hr &sol;>&NewLine;<h2 style&equals;"text-align&colon; center&semi;"><strong>6&period; <em>Thor&colon; The Dark World<&sol;em><&sol;strong><&sol;h2>&NewLine;<figure id&equals;"attachment&lowbar;87912" aria-describedby&equals;"caption-attachment-87912" style&equals;"width&colon; 800px" class&equals;"wp-caption aligncenter"><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;cdn&period;bagogames&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2015&sol;07&sol;04200703&sol;Thor-The-Dark-World-Slap-BagoGames&period;jpg"><img class&equals;"wp-image-87912 size-full" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;cdn&period;bagogames&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2015&sol;07&sol;04200703&sol;Thor-The-Dark-World-Slap-BagoGames&period;jpg" alt&equals;"Thor The Dark World Slap BagoGames" width&equals;"800" height&equals;"465" &sol;><&sol;a><figcaption id&equals;"caption-attachment-87912" class&equals;"wp-caption-text">Everyone wants them a piece of Loki &lpar;Thor&colon; The Dark World&semi; Marvel&comma; Disney&comma; 2013&rpar;<&sol;figcaption><&sol;figure>&NewLine;<p>More Loki&comma; more money seems to be the equation that Thor movies write and that&&num;8217&semi;s certainly among <em>Thor&colon; The Dark World&&num;8217&semi;s<&sol;em> better highlights&period; A more fully-realized Asgard and a better look at the Warrior&&num;8217&semi;s Three in action all made <em>The Dark World<&sol;em> feel a little more like home to Thor fans&comma; but it&&num;8217&semi;s the sibling rivalry between our Asgardian stepbrothers that really set the movie apart from its predecessor&period; Somewhere along the way&comma; the film lost us with its generic dark elves and their search for magical fart gas&comma; but it&&num;8217&semi;s not ever movie in which you watch Tom Hiddleston channel his best Captain America&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em>The Dark World<&sol;em> brought everything appreciatively full circle making Jane a part of Thor&&num;8217&semi;s world as much as he was a part of hers and they did the latter brilliantly&period; We still have yet to know what <em>The Dark World<&sol;em>&&num;8216&semi;s &&num;8220&semi;WTF&quest;&excl;&&num;8221&semi; of an ending means in the meantime&comma; but we can probably be rest assured that there&&num;8217&semi;s a whole other Pandora&&num;8217&semi;s box that <em>Thor&colon; Ragnarok <&sol;em>has yet to open&period; Maybe we can finally see what happens when power corrupts or when old man Anthony Hopkins&&num;8217&semi; Odin finally wakes up&period; Again&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<hr &sol;>&NewLine;<h2 style&equals;"text-align&colon; center&semi;"><strong>5&period; <em>Iron Man 3<&sol;em><&sol;strong><&sol;h2>&NewLine;<figure id&equals;"attachment&lowbar;87920" aria-describedby&equals;"caption-attachment-87920" style&equals;"width&colon; 800px" class&equals;"wp-caption aligncenter"><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;cdn&period;bagogames&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2015&sol;07&sol;04200650&sol;Iron-Man-3-The-Mandarin-BagoGames&period;jpg"><img class&equals;"wp-image-87920 size-full" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;cdn&period;bagogames&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2015&sol;07&sol;04200650&sol;Iron-Man-3-The-Mandarin-BagoGames&period;jpg" alt&equals;"Iron Man 3 The Mandarin BagoGames" width&equals;"800" height&equals;"465" &sol;><&sol;a><figcaption id&equals;"caption-attachment-87920" class&equals;"wp-caption-text">The Mandarin tricking us into thinking he&&num;8217&semi;s a butterfly &lpar;Iron Man 3&semi; Marvel&comma; Disney&comma; 2013&rpar;<&sol;figcaption><&sol;figure>&NewLine;<p>Yes&comma; we know&period; <em>Iron Man 3 <&sol;em>tricked us and tricked us&period; It got your nose as you begged like a baby to get it back from mean&comma; old Mandarin&period; Frankly&comma; it got us and got us good – as great a film as director Shane Black almost made&period; A buddy movie reminiscent of his work on <em>Kiss Kiss&comma; Bang Bang<&sol;em>&comma; <em>Iron Man 3<&sol;em> saw the best of the trilogy&&num;8217&semi;s wisecracking humor underlining its wry political commentary&period; Robert Downey Jr&period; once again proved why he&&num;8217&semi;s the man behind Iron Man who could cobble together a plan in a garage and confront his greatest fears with wit and candor alongside his friends&period; <em>Iron Man 3 <&sol;em>grew<em> <&sol;em>its character more than any movie prior&comma; so much so that it&&num;8217&semi;s a shame it&&num;8217&semi;s largely gone ignored&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>If nothing else&comma; we can at least talk about more problems with<em> Iron Man 3<&sol;em> than Ben Kingsley&comma; like that Disney-esque kid that Tony shares a garage with&quest; He&&num;8217&semi;s the worst&period; How about the fire-breathing Extremis virus carriers&quest; That was weird&period; What about Tony never using his 50 Iron Man suits to save his own damn house&quest; Lame&period; Priorities&comma; people&period; Priorities&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<hr &sol;>&NewLine;<h2 style&equals;"text-align&colon; center&semi;"><strong>4&period; <em>The Avengers&colon; Age of Ultron<&sol;em><&sol;strong><&sol;h2>&NewLine;<figure id&equals;"attachment&lowbar;87922" aria-describedby&equals;"caption-attachment-87922" style&equals;"width&colon; 750px" class&equals;"wp-caption aligncenter"><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;cdn&period;bagogames&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2015&sol;07&sol;04200636&sol;Avengers-Age-of-Ultron-Hulkbuster-Battle-BagoGames&period;jpg"><img class&equals;"wp-image-87922 size-full" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;cdn&period;bagogames&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2015&sol;07&sol;04200636&sol;Avengers-Age-of-Ultron-Hulkbuster-Battle-BagoGames&period;jpg" alt&equals;"Avengers Age of Ultron Hulkbuster Battle BagoGames" width&equals;"750" height&equals;"422" &sol;><&sol;a><figcaption id&equals;"caption-attachment-87922" class&equals;"wp-caption-text">Hulk fist-bump&excl; &lpar;The Avengers&colon; Age of Ultron&semi; Marvel&comma; Disney&comma; 2015&rpar;<&sol;figcaption><&sol;figure>&NewLine;<p><em>The Avengers&colon; Age of Ultron<&sol;em> plays out much like any blockbuster sequel does&period; The stakes are higher&comma; the characters deeper&comma; and the world a whole lot bigger – so much so that it quite often collapses around them&period; A slapdash thrill-ride of CGI spectacle&comma; <em>Age of Ultron <&sol;em>seemingly juggles a million things at once onscreen that lets up only for the time director Joss Whedon makes it count&period; While so many lesser movies would be content being <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;bagogames&period;com&sol;nerd-nirvana-avengers-age-of-ultron-movie-review&sol;">a nerd nirvana<&sol;a> of comic book beats and quippy one-liners&comma; the<em> Age of Ultron<&sol;em> doesn&&num;8217&semi;t shy away from asking who its superheroes are at home and abroad&comma; though it&&num;8217&semi;s short on answers&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Scarlett Johansson and Mark Ruffalo&&num;8217&semi;s Black Widow and Bruce Banner both have their moments here&comma; but it&&num;8217&semi;s the Hulk Buster versus the Hulk that the casual viewer will remember&period; James Spader&&num;8217&semi;s Utron may lack the menace of a Darth Vader while Quicksilver and Scarlett Witch are set aside too early&comma; but Paul Bettany&&num;8217&semi;s newfound role befits the film&&num;8217&semi;s spectacular finish&period; <em>Age of Ultron <&sol;em>can be summed up as the mere byproduct of repeating the same joke twice – but boy can that joke still hit&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<hr &sol;>&NewLine;<h2 style&equals;"text-align&colon; center&semi;"><strong>3&period; <em>The Avengers<&sol;em><&sol;strong><&sol;h2>&NewLine;<figure id&equals;"attachment&lowbar;87925" aria-describedby&equals;"caption-attachment-87925" style&equals;"width&colon; 800px" class&equals;"wp-caption aligncenter"><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;cdn&period;bagogames&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2015&sol;07&sol;04200609&sol;The-Avengers-Hands-Up-BagoGames&period;jpg"><img class&equals;"wp-image-87925 size-full" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;cdn&period;bagogames&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2015&sol;07&sol;04200609&sol;The-Avengers-Hands-Up-BagoGames&period;jpg" alt&equals;"The Avengers Hands-Up BagoGames" width&equals;"800" height&equals;"465" &sol;><&sol;a><figcaption id&equals;"caption-attachment-87925" class&equals;"wp-caption-text">Here&&num;8217&semi;s look&&num;8217&semi;in at you &lpar;The Avengers&semi; Marvel&comma; Disney&comma; 2012&rpar;<&sol;figcaption><&sol;figure>&NewLine;<p>The Avengers was the movie every Marvel nerd prayed about and one midsummer&&num;8217&semi;s day&comma; it came true in full force&period; Five years and five movies in the making&comma; <em>Marvel&&num;8217&semi;s The Avengers<&sol;em> rocked box offices so hard the studio was proud enough to put their own name on it&period; Reveling in all the flair and adrenaline-pumping action as advertised&comma; <em>The Avengers<&sol;em> brought us the earth&&num;8217&semi;s mightiest heroes in one&comma; spectacular package more novel than anything anyone had seen at the time&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Each hero complimented one another perfectly&comma; all their quirks fitting together like a jigsaw puzzle for awesome&period; Captain America was the leader&comma; Iron Man was the brains&comma; Thor was the muscle&comma; Hulk was the loose canon&comma; Hawkeye was that other guy&comma; and Black Widow was&&num;8230&semi;the girl&quest; Admittedly&comma; there&&num;8217&semi;s no deep threat at work here&period; It&&num;8217&semi;s Loki and some aliens taking down New York City&comma; but it doesn&&num;8217&semi;t take much for<em> The Avengers<&sol;em> to be dumb fun at its best when you have Hulk squashing Tom Hiddleston into the ground&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<hr &sol;>&NewLine;<h2 style&equals;"text-align&colon; center&semi;"><strong>2&period; <em>Guardians of the Galaxy<&sol;em><&sol;strong><&sol;h2>&NewLine;<figure id&equals;"attachment&lowbar;87928" aria-describedby&equals;"caption-attachment-87928" style&equals;"width&colon; 800px" class&equals;"wp-caption aligncenter"><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;cdn&period;bagogames&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2015&sol;07&sol;04200556&sol;Guardians-of-the-Galaxy-Prison-Break-BagoGames&period;jpg"><img class&equals;"wp-image-87928 size-full" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;cdn&period;bagogames&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2015&sol;07&sol;04200556&sol;Guardians-of-the-Galaxy-Prison-Break-BagoGames&period;jpg" alt&equals;"Guardians of the Galaxy Prison Break BagoGames" width&equals;"800" height&equals;"465" &sol;><&sol;a><figcaption id&equals;"caption-attachment-87928" class&equals;"wp-caption-text">The Guardians&&num;8217&semi; brief stint on Yellow is the New Black &lpar;Guardians of the Galaxy&semi; Marvel&comma; Disney&comma; 2014&rpar;<&sol;figcaption><&sol;figure>&NewLine;<p>In a universe full of down-to-earth superheroes&comma; <em>Guardians of the Galaxy<&sol;em> felt like a blast of air-freshener in a genre so often mired in its own blood&comma; sweat&comma; and tears&period; A fast-taking guy&comma; a hard-hitting girl&comma; a world class killer&comma; a talking tree&comma; a gun-toting raccoon – they all seemed too weird for cinema and all too hilarious an idea not to try&period; Through it&comma; nearly everyone learned to love Chris Pratt and just how many sweet tunes the 80&&num;8217&semi;s gave us&period; Marvel&&num;8217&semi;s lovable little band of misfits share grief put into practice&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>So much of <em>Guardians<&sol;em> is <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;bagogames&period;com&sol;warp-factor-fun-guardians-galaxy-review&sol;">just too fun<&sol;a> for its own good&period; Rocket&&num;8217&semi;s master prison break&comma; Starlord&&num;8217&semi;s dance-off&comma; there&&num;8217&semi;s not a dull moment being a Guardian of the Galaxy and&comma; of course&comma; ours save the universe holding hands&period; Granted&comma; a few of its jokes come a little too strong &lpar;C&&num;8217&semi;mon&comma; Kevin Bacon&quest;&rpar; and its villains a bit weak&comma; Guardians proved that just about anyone could be a superhero and any comic could carry a superhero franchise with the right people&period; We want you back&comma; <em>Guardians<&sol;em>&period; We want you back so bad&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<hr &sol;>&NewLine;<h2 style&equals;"text-align&colon; center&semi;"><strong>1&period;<em> Captain America&colon; The Winter Soldier<&sol;em><&sol;strong><&sol;h2>&NewLine;<figure id&equals;"attachment&lowbar;89370" aria-describedby&equals;"caption-attachment-89370" style&equals;"width&colon; 800px" class&equals;"wp-caption aligncenter"><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;cdn&period;bagogames&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2015&sol;08&sol;04191654&sol;Captain-America-The-Winter-Soldier-Poster-BagoGames&period;jpg"><img class&equals;"wp-image-89370 size-full" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;cdn&period;bagogames&period;com&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2015&sol;08&sol;04191654&sol;Captain-America-The-Winter-Soldier-Poster-BagoGames&period;jpg" alt&equals;"Captain America The Winter Soldier Poster BagoGames" width&equals;"800" height&equals;"465" &sol;><&sol;a><figcaption id&equals;"caption-attachment-89370" class&equals;"wp-caption-text">Patriotism means posing in slow-motion &lpar;Captain America&colon; The Winter Soldier&semi; Marvel&comma; Disney 2014&rpar;<&sol;figcaption><&sol;figure>&NewLine;<p><em>Captain America&colon; The Winter Soldier<&sol;em> could&&num;8217&semi;ve been any average blockbuster&period; Cap could&&num;8217&semi;ve fought the bad guys and gone home in time for dinner and a movie&period; Instead&comma; <em>The Winter Soldier <&sol;em>hit where it hurt the most for its characters and shook the MCU to its core&comma; blurring the line that separates heroes and villains&period; The daring vision of the Russo Brothers&comma; <em>The Winter Soldier<&sol;em> is as interested in big set-pieces as it is in Big Brother&comma; flirting with smart political theater and smarter action in only the way a superhero film can&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><em>The Winter Soldier<&sol;em> molded Captain America into a hero for the 21st century&comma; <a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;bagogames&period;com&sol;standing-proud-captain-america-winter-soldier-review&sol;">standing proud<&sol;a> as one of Marvel&&num;8217&semi;s crowning achievements in action as much as storytelling&period; It showed us that superhero movies don&&num;8217&semi;t always have to paint its heroes in shades of grey so much as they explore how they navigate their moral choices&comma; as do their friends&period; While the Marvel universe tears itself apart preparing for civil war&comma; we&&num;8217&semi;ll always remember how things started to crumble as the Captain stood tall at its center&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<hr &sol;>&NewLine;<p>Like our list&quest; Hate it&quest; Had a film that totally deserved top billing&quest; Let us know in the comments below&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;

Exit mobile version