RANKING the Avengers Films / Iron Man Mark 3 SPEED ART
Alrighty, I'm back, and for The Iron Man Evolution on Tell It Animated, I of course had to watch all the Avengers films. Meaning, I've seen them probably at least 5 to maybe 10 times each in the last two and a half years since that channel’s inception. So that basically makes me an expert on all things Avengers. Just joking…I'm mostly a movie buff so comic nerds will still stump me on most trivia nights, but with having watched these films as many times as I have, I wanted to finally rank. So without further yammering, let's rank these puppies from worst to first, and as always, if you have your own ranking, feel free to leave a comment on this video. I'd love to know!
4. Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015)
So coming in 4th place is the 2nd film, Avengers: Age of Ultron. Now I'm not someone who thinks this is a bad film. I just think it's the weakest sip of the 4 flavour Avengers Soup. To start with the good, the action shots are very well executed and literally feel like a cinematic comic-book come to life. The end battle looks extremely epic and I love Joss Whedon's use of the camera sweeping around following our heroes. The Hulk vs the Hulkbuster is a highlight and has a lot of great moments inside of it, especially Tony Starks meekly “sorry” after Hulk spits a tooth out of his mouth. The inclusion of Scarlett Witch and Quicksilver is nice, although this Quicksilver pales in comparison to the X-men equivalent, but I think Scarlett Witch is a really good addition to the team and Elizabeth Olsen does a good job with the role. I like the opening scenes with Ultron being created and killing JARVIS, and then the Avenger's fighting him after the party. Although that leads to the bad…Ultron really stops feeling menacing the more time we spend with him, he actually seems pretty dumb. The jokes he makes seem out of place. Likewise, the romance between Bruce Banner and Natasha feels shoehorned in, and Tony is acting more like himself from the original Iron Man rather than his more humbled self at the end of Iron Man 3. Actually, he's acting more like himself from Iron Man before he was even captured. It always felt off to me. He just seems so negligent to mess around with the scepter and then leave it on its own while partying. So all in all, this is a solid entry, but feels a little all over the place and somewhat patched together.
3. The Avengers (2012)
And flying into third place is going to be the OG movie mash-up that blasted the modern cinematic universe addiction into the 21st Century, The Avengers. Seriously, the success of this film created the modern DCEU, the now defunct Dark Universe, Sony's weird off-shoot Marvel Movie Universe, and even the extended Wizarding World movies. Although, for the most part, this is just a solid popcorn action flick with a pinch of Samuel L. Jackson, a slice of mind-control shenanigans, and a heaping of superheroes beating up faceless aliens…along with the charismatic Loki of course. Obviously, what works in this film, compared to some of the other universes, is the chemistry between the leads and how they eventually come together. Although, it's a little bogged down by its own scope and the chunkiness of its first half. Some of the dialogue is just plain bad and sounds more like something from Agents of SHIELD, not a 200-million-dollar blockbuster. Also, some of the fights within the group seem out of place, I never really got Captain America's line to Tony about how he's not one to make the sacrifice when things are on the line. Like, Cap, he literally had two movies where he willingly almost sacrificed himself to save entire cities. But once all that is out of the way and Bruce Banner unleashes the Hulk, the movie really comes together, and it really shows you how a satisfying third act can save a movie from a less than stellar beginning.
2. Avengers: Endgame
And placing itself in second place is Avengers: Endgame. It’s the accumulation of 20 movies all coming together and reaching their peak, and for the most part, I think it gets there nicely. The emotional bits in the last part of the film all hit really well while balancing a bit of levity here and there. Of course, Tony Stark carries the film with his arc, and when I saw he had a kid, I knew something was going to happen to him. And then him seeing his dad and getting a chance to speak to him once more just sealed his fate. I do really like that scene. A heartwarming father and son scene really gets to me. That's why I like Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 so much. Likewise, Cap yielding Mjölnir, then passing on his mantle and giving up everything to be with Peggy works really well…although the paradox with Time-Travelling really doesn't make much sense with the Old-Man Cap Ending. I also really like Thor and the Guardians of the Galaxy’s chemistry. I think they fit really well together and their ending scene in this movie added just the right amount of comedy, so I'm a little disappointed that he may not be a big part of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 because of the shuffling of the films. Also, unfortunately, the film gets a little bogged down by its own heftiness, resulting in an ending fight that works well when zoomed in on the emotional level but when zoomed out is just a little too overwhelming and messy. And the time-travel solution is a little too convenient and somewhat makes the ending of the last film feel less powerful, although of course, they had to Avenge...it's what they do so the movie and the universe could carry on. Plus…it’s in the name. So altogether, this film works very well in moments, but the grand scope somewhat hurts it.
1. Avengers: Infinity War
And that leads to my favourite Avengers film, Avengers: Infinity War. It mostly functions as the story of Thanos and shows his thought process in everything, making him the most well-rounded villain of the franchise. Unfortunately, the younger Thanos in Endgame doesn't really come close to this version of him. You also get all the main characters from the previous films coming together to unite despite their falling out, which works quite well after the somewhat more downbeat ending of Captain America: Civil War. I especially like Captain America's returning scene and getting to see Hulk and Thor team up with everyone once more. Also, watching each Avenger take their best shot at Thanos time and time again, building to the inevitable snappening, really builds the tension extremely well. And watching all the characters dust away while the others watch in horror is an amazing cliffhanger ending that works extremely well emotionally, especially with Tony Stark and Spider-Man. So it may be a bit of a downer watching the heroes fail and the villain win, but it really nicely sets up the next film and works extremely well on its own. So that's why for me Avengers: Infinity War comes in number 1.
So what do you think? Does my list hit the mark or is it not worth a snappening? Feel free to leave your own ranking on the comment for this video and check out The Evolution of Iron Man on Tell It Animated, as well as other Avengers like Captain America, Hulk and Spider-Man. And until next time, I’ve been Aaron, and I’ll tell you something later!