The film to start off the 2015 summer movie season will inarguably be the biggest. On May 1, Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, The Incredible Hulk and company will join forces once again to avenge the Earth and take on the James Spader-voiced mecha-villain, Ultron. The Marvel journey to this point has been as long as one of Loki’s ill-timed monologues, with seven years and 10 films. Let’s rank them.
- “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” — The safety and integrity of global law enforcement entity S.H.I.E.L.D., which took six years and multiple films to establish, is deconstructed in two hours in this multi-layered espionage thriller.
- “Iron Man” — The film that sparked the super hero renaissance all the way back in 2008 still stands as one of the best, with the second coming of cowls and capes also bringing Robert Downey Jr. a renewed career.
- “Guardians of the Galaxy” — Marvel’s C-list space rejects shot into the VIP lounge with unique characters, humor and a throwback soundtrack.
- “Marvel’s The Avengers” — Director and screenwriter Joss Whedon should be commended for successfully bringing six huge (figuratively and literally) personalities into one entertaining, popcorn blockbuster.
- “Thor” — The most colorful world, Asgard, and the most colorful villain, Loki, in the Marvel Cinematic Universe anchored this introduction to the god of thunder.
- “Captain America: The First Avenger” — Like Captain America himself, this period-piece-cum-superhero-movie was just as vanilla as the beefed-up Boy Scout.
- “Iron Man 2” — Though this saw the introduction of one of the most popular Marvel mainstays in Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow, this was surprisingly ho-hum, especially given that Mickey Rourke acted the villain.
- “Iron Man 3” — Intriguing allusions to the current state of terrorism were undercut by unsatisfying late-game revelations and a plot as wonky as malfunctioning robot.
- “Thor: The Dark World” — Dark elves and a villain named Malekith: if only this one was a fraction of the quality of “The Lord of the Rings.” Mercifully, it wasn’t as long.
Awkward Uncle at Family Dinner: “The Incredible Hulk” — Remember when Edward Norton played Bruce Banner? Yeah, we don’t really talks about that anymore…
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