Marvel Movie Summary 2018
There were six Marvel movies in the twelve months since I last updated this list, compared to seven in the the 21 months in the prior increment, and eight in the increment before that. I only saw five of them, but somehow those five kept the quality level reasonably high. I keep waiting for the wheels to come completely off, but so far not yet.
1. Black Panther (MCU) - It was absolutely the most beautifully shot Marvel film to date and probably should have gotten a nomination for Cinematography from the Academy instead of the Best Picture nod. It had one of the best MCU villains to date, and one of the better supporting casts. Throw in the deserved buzz for "first mainstream black superhero" (sorry Mr. Snipes), and you've got a very good movie, even if the plot wasn't anything special. I watched it again on vacation.
2. Avengers: Infinity War (MCU) - I'm not going to claim this is the best MCU movie, or even close, but given that they successfully tied together all the heroes from the MCU films into a coherent script where it mostly didn't feel forced or artificial, it may be the most impressive accomplishment of the series.
3. Deadpool 2 - Domino was perfect. The rest of the movie was not as consistently funny as the original, and overall it was a step down. It wasn't so bad that I wouldn't see a third one, but the trend line isn't good.
4. Ant-man and the Wasp (MCU) - Much like Deadpool 2, this was fun but not as good as the original despite several well cast additional roles. Also, Hank Pym has standardized the shrinking devices enough to have an entire case of cars. Do you know what that could do to the shipping industry? Trust me, they'd pardon Hank in five seconds flat for the fuel savings alone. If that had bothered me during the movie I'd rank this even lower.
5. Venom - I did not see Venom. The trailers looked boring, even with Tom Hardy in it. Perhaps more damning, if a single one of my friends saw it in the theater they certainly did not mention it to me in any way shape or form. So basically, nobody I know cared, although it still made giant piles of money and a sequel is under way.
6. Spider-man: Into the Spider-verse - I didn't even know this movie was coming out, but I'm glad I saw it. It's the closest thing to a comic book on screen that we've seen yet, Miles Morales was great, Lily Tomlin as Aunt May was perfect in a small role, and generally I liked everything about this. It may honestly be the best single Marvel movie made to date.
Would Be Excited to Pay To See Again In The Theater
Captain America: The Winter Soldier (MCU)
Spider-man: Into the Spider-verse
Would Watch Again Without Hesitation
Black Panther (MCU)
Thor: Ragnarok (MCU)
The Avengers (MCU)
X-Men & X2: X-Men United (listed together because I consider them to be inseparable)
Avengers: Infinity War (MCU)
Logan
Blade
Avengers: Age of Ultron (MCU)
Iron Man (MCU)
Ant-Man (MCU)
Guardians of the Galaxy (MCU)
Would Watch Again
Captain America: Civil War (MCU)
X-Men: Days of Future Past
X-Men: First Class
Ant-man and the Wasp (MCU)
Spider-Man 2
Doctor Strange (MCU)
Iron Man 3 (MCU)
Spider-Man
The Amazing Spider-Man
I Probably Would Watch It at the Gym
Guardians of the Galaxy, v.2 (MCU)
Spider-Man: Homecoming (MCU)
The Amazing Spider-Man 2
Deadpool
Deadpool 2
X-Men Origins: Wolverine
Thor: The Dark World (MCU)
Captain America: The First Avenger (MCU)
Iron Man 2 (MCU)
X-Men 3: The Last Stand
Thor (MCU)
Would Watch Again if I Was Drinking And the TV Was On
Spider-Man 3
The Punisher (saw on video)
DareDevil
Blade II
Fantastic Four
Would Not Watch Again Even If I Was Working Out Drunk
The Wolverine
Blade: Trinity
X-Men: Apocalypse
Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer
Hulk
Let's Pretend I Never Saw It
Elektra (saw on video)
Have Not Seen And Want To
The Incredible Hulk (MCU)
Punisher: War Zone
Have Not Seen And That's Fine With Me
Venom
Ghost Rider
Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance
Fantastic Four (2015)
I still have not seen any of the increasing number of Marvel TV shows, and I haven't actually re-watched any of the films on this list. As my memories descend into the past, the likelihood that this list is accurate or useful decreases dramatically, except so far as it gives some sense of what I thought of a film reasonably close to when I saw it.
A casual glance at the upcoming movie schedule shows three MCU films and two X-Men properties dropping in 2019. I'm in for the MCU films, less sure about the other two. Either way, thanks Stan. Excelsior!
1. Black Panther (MCU) - It was absolutely the most beautifully shot Marvel film to date and probably should have gotten a nomination for Cinematography from the Academy instead of the Best Picture nod. It had one of the best MCU villains to date, and one of the better supporting casts. Throw in the deserved buzz for "first mainstream black superhero" (sorry Mr. Snipes), and you've got a very good movie, even if the plot wasn't anything special. I watched it again on vacation.
2. Avengers: Infinity War (MCU) - I'm not going to claim this is the best MCU movie, or even close, but given that they successfully tied together all the heroes from the MCU films into a coherent script where it mostly didn't feel forced or artificial, it may be the most impressive accomplishment of the series.
3. Deadpool 2 - Domino was perfect. The rest of the movie was not as consistently funny as the original, and overall it was a step down. It wasn't so bad that I wouldn't see a third one, but the trend line isn't good.
4. Ant-man and the Wasp (MCU) - Much like Deadpool 2, this was fun but not as good as the original despite several well cast additional roles. Also, Hank Pym has standardized the shrinking devices enough to have an entire case of cars. Do you know what that could do to the shipping industry? Trust me, they'd pardon Hank in five seconds flat for the fuel savings alone. If that had bothered me during the movie I'd rank this even lower.
5. Venom - I did not see Venom. The trailers looked boring, even with Tom Hardy in it. Perhaps more damning, if a single one of my friends saw it in the theater they certainly did not mention it to me in any way shape or form. So basically, nobody I know cared, although it still made giant piles of money and a sequel is under way.
6. Spider-man: Into the Spider-verse - I didn't even know this movie was coming out, but I'm glad I saw it. It's the closest thing to a comic book on screen that we've seen yet, Miles Morales was great, Lily Tomlin as Aunt May was perfect in a small role, and generally I liked everything about this. It may honestly be the best single Marvel movie made to date.
Would Be Excited to Pay To See Again In The Theater
Captain America: The Winter Soldier (MCU)
Spider-man: Into the Spider-verse
Would Watch Again Without Hesitation
Black Panther (MCU)
Thor: Ragnarok (MCU)
The Avengers (MCU)
X-Men & X2: X-Men United (listed together because I consider them to be inseparable)
Avengers: Infinity War (MCU)
Logan
Blade
Avengers: Age of Ultron (MCU)
Iron Man (MCU)
Ant-Man (MCU)
Guardians of the Galaxy (MCU)
Would Watch Again
Captain America: Civil War (MCU)
X-Men: Days of Future Past
X-Men: First Class
Ant-man and the Wasp (MCU)
Spider-Man 2
Doctor Strange (MCU)
Iron Man 3 (MCU)
Spider-Man
The Amazing Spider-Man
I Probably Would Watch It at the Gym
Guardians of the Galaxy, v.2 (MCU)
Spider-Man: Homecoming (MCU)
The Amazing Spider-Man 2
Deadpool
Deadpool 2
X-Men Origins: Wolverine
Thor: The Dark World (MCU)
Captain America: The First Avenger (MCU)
Iron Man 2 (MCU)
X-Men 3: The Last Stand
Thor (MCU)
Would Watch Again if I Was Drinking And the TV Was On
Spider-Man 3
The Punisher (saw on video)
DareDevil
Blade II
Fantastic Four
Would Not Watch Again Even If I Was Working Out Drunk
The Wolverine
Blade: Trinity
X-Men: Apocalypse
Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer
Hulk
Let's Pretend I Never Saw It
Elektra (saw on video)
Have Not Seen And Want To
The Incredible Hulk (MCU)
Punisher: War Zone
Have Not Seen And That's Fine With Me
Venom
Ghost Rider
Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance
Fantastic Four (2015)
I still have not seen any of the increasing number of Marvel TV shows, and I haven't actually re-watched any of the films on this list. As my memories descend into the past, the likelihood that this list is accurate or useful decreases dramatically, except so far as it gives some sense of what I thought of a film reasonably close to when I saw it.
A casual glance at the upcoming movie schedule shows three MCU films and two X-Men properties dropping in 2019. I'm in for the MCU films, less sure about the other two. Either way, thanks Stan. Excelsior!