Even though Marvel's universe has taken shape over the years and given us some excellent movies, I'm always of the argument that some of the Phase I movies suffer from giving us simply the origin story. In some ways (Iron Man, Captain America, and even Guardians in Phase II) it works to see these characters take shape. In the case of Thor, it stumbles around in my opinion.

The stuff in Asgard honestly deserves praise still to this day, while there is a lot of visual strength to Asgard and the Frost Giants world, it also holds some great scenes between Loki, Thor, and Odin. I have to give the movie credit where it's due, and this is pretty much where the compliments end.

The Thor movies get to this point where they transition to Earth; part of me wonders if Marvel or filmmakers are worried that they'll lose viewers not being anchored on Earth. The humor with Darcy, thor and the whole 'fish out of water' motif wears thin fast. Scenes with Selvig drinking Boilermakers are fun, but they take too long to dwell on a point that should take less time to make.

I've always been an advocate for an all Asgardian Thor film, and while our next entry gets closer to this, it still gets muddled with storylines on Earth.

The lowest ranked of the Phase II movies, I have to say that part of my dissapointment in this movie was all the stuff in trailers and pre-release materials that seemed to indicate that we were getting a primarily Asgardian-based movie. Perhaps Marvel learned from the first film?

Yes and no. I mean, The Dark World is far superior to the original Thor, but like the previous movie in Thors lineup, it focuses on humor a bit too much, and can take a lot of time explaining and setting up things. I mean, Darcy and 'the Intern' get almost too much attention in the story.

I think, pray, hope that in Thor 3, the film embraces what has made Thor such an interesting character. The large epic vistas, grand battles, and the almost Shakespearean tension between members of the Odinson clan. There's a lot of potential, and The Dark World gets closer to it then the original Thor but just never makes it all the way.

I think Iron Man 2 is in many ways a blast, but also awkward in the sense that after Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk, the studio seemed to have confidence in the shared universe thing, so while the argument can always be made that Iron Man 2 was the first steps for the MCU, they were also the most awkward.

 

The storyline involving Tony's reckless abandon, drinking, and his health issues never really do much aside from make tension between himself, Pepper, and Rhodey. The stuff with Vanko and Hammer is servicable, but I never got the impression that either villain provided too much of a problem for Iron Man and War Machine.

It does get bonus points for that final fight scene with War Machine and Iron Man fighting back-to-back.

In terms of being a Hulk solo movie, this film gets quite a bit right. The one thing I remember about this movie is how fun it is. Despite all the moodiness and seriousness of how The Hulk is normally presented, it's apparent that this film is having a lot of fun with The Hulk. Throwing in a lot of iconic moments in the process.

It's a shame that storylines and plot threads seem to have been almost forgotten by Marvel. We haven't seen any follow-up to Samuel Sterns becoming The Leader (and some comic doesn't count imo), or even Tony visiting General Ross.

The first movie in the MCU, and arguably Tony was an interesting character to start with. We all know how Robert Downey Jr. has since owned the role, but I think it's more then that.

Jon Favereau made the movie work, and made an engaging story from start to finish with great villains and witty dialogue. I won't go as far as to say that the film is perfect, but it gets a lot more right in implementing humor to the film, a now staple of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Part of why I don't usually like origin stories is that they tell a familiar story that I already know. So in most cases, I am never too excited for an origin film. While this rule should apply to the first Captain America film, I have to admit that the movie gets a lot right.

Instead of writing the character of Steve Rogers as a characature, he's given nuance, and a reason for believing in the virtues he believes in. Setting up the battle of ideologies between Captain America and The Red Skull means that we get a realistic look at wht Steve represents, and for his origin, it works a lot better then I would've thought.

Definitely a controversial film amongst members of this site and all over the interwebs, Iron Man 3 with or without it's twist is still essentially a Shane Black movie in it's tone.

In terms of the general story, I do believe that the villains work, the plot works. I don't think it's one of the best Marvel movies (clearly) but it never betrayed the character of Tony, or went too ridiculous with his story *coughs* Iron Man 3 *coughs*

It gets bonus points for a lot of great action scenes, particularly the end fight against Aldrich Killian and his soldiers.

Here we are, Top 3! The Winter Solder had an arguably tough task of making Steve Rogers relevant in a modern age post-Avengers, and while this has had varying success, with films like The Dark World stumbling, and Iron Man 3 succeeding; The Winter Soldier has the confidence to show that Cap is an interesting character that has a place in the modern world.

The general theme of Steve trying to adjust to modern times is great. Whether it's general jokes about him missing Star Wars, or him trying to adjust to the practises of SHIELD. The movie managed to bring in HYDRA in a new and interesting way. I was in a way dissapointed with Alexander Pierce, and how there was no prominent leader of HYDRA. In some ways, it was smart, showing that HYDRA is not just one person, but many, and never capable of being destroyed -- but these are minor quibbles.

In terms of sequels, following the general idea of introducing a character to a scenario that betrays that characters inner beliefs is a poigniant and powerful idea. Keep this going Marvel*

I'll be completely honest in that I was for a long time, unsure on whether The Avengers would work on screen. Having that many characters on screen, how could someone pull it off?

Well, simply put, they pulled it off, quite well in fact. Sure, I have minor quibbles that the movie is slow to start, and compared to my top choice, takes a while to put the characters together and make it work. When it does ramp up, it takes off and you get a fun coming together. While there is action before the Battle for New York, it also climaxes in such a great way, it's hard to deny succumbing to pure fanboy glee watching The Avengers assemble for the first time.

While The Winter Soldier is the better film from a technical film-making standpoint; I don't think things get much more enjoyable then The Avengers, well, there is one film...

Those who know me have no doubt read this article. This article laid out my reasons for why I was excited like a 10 year old boy with ADD for this movie:

So you can't believe how delighted I was when Guardians of the Galaxy paid off in ALL of these regards. I mean, the way the film opens, how it revels and delights in these characters and their interactions. Unlike The Avengers, this film is almost surgically precise in building interactions with these characters before it logistically draws them all together in a way that makes sense. Unlike The Avengers, which took convincing, I bought almost immediately that these misfits would work together.

To think of everything that this film had to introduce, and how it pulled it all off while being so enjoyable along the way. I mean, I could nitpick on things as we can for all the movies on this list, but it doesn't need to be nitpicked. As a whole, it works. It accomplishes all it's goals and all it needed and wanted to do. Obviously there's more stories to be told, but for now the film works on it's own, and in fact exceeds where it could've done things just average.

I still enjoy the final scene where all the Guardians are chanelling the power of the Infinity Stone throughout their bodies, before using it to defeat Ronan. That scene encapculates EVERYTHING I love about the Guardians as characters and as a movie.

That's it ladies and gentlemen, I know you have your own opinions on which Marvel Cinematic Universe movie is your favourite, so feel free to comment in the section below about your favourites. Also, if you even marginally agree with this article, or even just think it's a cool article, please give it a thumbs up! Till next time.