Grading Marvel Studios' Films

So, I I took Marvel Studios' films so far and got the average from 3 different sites. Rotten Tomatoes, IMDB and Metacritic (which REALLY dragged the scores down on most of them). Here is how they turned out ( I did not round the numbers up or down).

1. Iron Man - 83
2. Avengers - 81
3. Captain America Winter Soldier - 80
4. Captain America The First Avenger - 71
5. Iron Man 3 - 71
6. Thor - 68
7. Iron Man 2 - 67
8. The Incredible Hulk - 65
9. Thor : The Dark World -64

Also, I took the individual heroes and assigned them a score based off of their solo films.

1. Captain America - 2 movies rating of 75
2. Iron Man - 3 movies rating of 73
3. Thor - 2 movies rating of 66
4. Hulk - 1 movie rating 65

IMDB is voting by fans, not critics. So two different systems of measurement here. An IMDB score can fluctuate for years, because new users can come on and keep voting. White RT is really what critics thought of the film at the time of release.

My own measurement of the Best Marvel Studios films (which I all like, and give thumbs up to):

1. Avengers
2. Iron Man/Captain America: The Winter Soldier (tie)
4. Thor
5. Captain America: The First Avenger
6. Thor: The Dark World
7. Iron Man 3
8. Iron Man 2
9. The Incredible Hulk

I'll check back in 3 1/2 months with Guardians Of The Galaxy, and see where it slots for me.

Mine:

Avengers
Iron Man
Captain America 2 / Thor 2
Thor / Captain America
Iron Man 2 & 3 / Incredible Hulk

Avengers - 5/5
Captain America - 5/5
Iron Man - 4.5/5
Thor - 4/5
Iron Man 3 - 3.5/5 (I've really begun to appreciate this movie)
Captain America - 3/5
Incredible Hulk - 3/5
Thor 2 - 2/5
Iron Man 2 - 1.5/5

So I guess that none of the Spider Man movies were from Marvel Studios? What about Daredevil, Fantastic Four, Blade, Punisher. I was pretty disappointed with the first Thor movie, and I outright hated the first Captain America film. It began well, but by the end, I sat there cringing due to the extra slices of cheese added. There were simply too many people in the last 10 minutes of that movie (Captain America), and it was ruined for me.

Again, these are not my grades. I took 3 different sources and averaged them out. I don't really agree with the list. My personal list is probably:

Avengers
Winter Soldier
Iron Man
Thor
Thor 2
Cap 1
Iron Man 3
Iron Man 2
Hulk

Originally posted by Stoic
So I guess that none of the Spider Man movies were from Marvel Studios? What about Daredevil, Fantastic Four, Blade, Punisher.

With that first Captain America it felt like to me that they were trying to channel those old pulp movies to me.

Originally posted by Stoic
So I guess that none of the Spider Man movies were from Marvel Studios? What about Daredevil, Fantastic Four, Blade, Punisher. I was pretty disappointed with the first Thor movie, and I outright hated the first Captain America film. It began well, but by the end, I sat there cringing due to the extra slices of cheese added. There were simply too many people in the last 10 minutes of that movie (Captain America), and it was ruined for me.

This is about the movies where characters exist in the shared Marvel Cinematic Universe, so no Spider Man, X-men and Fantastic Four movies to date (those are the only properties left, outside the control of Marvel Studios.) Since they got started, Marvel Studios has re-acquired the screen rights to Hulk, Punisher, Daredevil and Ghost Rider, so any future film & TV appearances will be done by them.

Originally posted by roughrider
This is about the movies where characters exist in the shared Marvel Cinematic Universe, so no Spider Man, X-men and Fantastic Four movies to date (those are the only properties left, outside the control of Marvel Studios.)

It's a shame because those 3 could potentially be the biggest superhero properties on the big screen.

1. The Avengers
2. Iron Man
3. Captain America 2
4. Thor 2
5. Iron Man 3
6. Incredible Hulk
7. Captain America
8. Thor
9. Iron Man 2

Originally posted by DARTH POWER
It's a shame because those 3 could potentially be the biggest superhero properties on the big screen.

Funny - wasn't that the argument against Marvel forming their own studio, that they already gave away the rights to their 'top' properties and only had a universe of B & C-listers left, like Iron Man, Cap and Thor? 🙄

Well, as it turns out the holy trinity of the Avengers have all had movies that have equaled and exceeded the acclaim & box office of every X-Men movie to date, and two of the Avengers related films (Avengers and Iron Man 3) have far exceeded even the best Spider Man box office performance. Iron Man alone has become as popular and recognizable worldwide as Spidey, too. While Thor and Captain America have proven to have at least equal box office appeal to Superman.

Meanwhile, even after two films the jury is still out on Fantastic Four, if it can still work as a film property. The coming reboot is likely the last shot, before it becomes the next property to revert back to MS.

Damn, no love for the Hulk. That was one of my favs.

Avengers 10/10
Iron Man 10/10
Hulk 8/10
Thor 7/10
Iron Man 3 7/10
Cap 6/10
Thor TDW 5/10
Iron Man 2 4/10

Originally posted by roughrider
Funny - wasn't that the argument against Marvel forming their own studio, that they already gave away the rights to their 'top' properties and only had a universe of B & C-listers left, like Iron Man, Cap and Thor? 🙄

Well, as it turns out the holy trinity of the Avengers have all had movies that have equaled and exceeded the acclaim & box office of every X-Men movie to date, and two of the Avengers related films (Avengers and Iron Man 3) have far exceeded even the best Spider Man box office performance. Iron Man alone has become as popular and recognizable worldwide as Spidey, too. While Thor and Captain America have proven to have at least equal box office appeal to Superman.

Meanwhile, even after two films the jury is still out on Fantastic Four, if it can still work as a film property. The coming reboot is likely the last shot, before it becomes the next property to revert back to MS.

If X-Men was half as good as Avengers, they might be competition.

Originally posted by -Pr-
If X-Men was half as good as Avengers, they might be competition.

I'd put X-Men 2 in among the best Marvel films, and among the top tier of the Marvel Studios films.

Let's see if Days Of Future Past is a big leap forward for the series; it looks poised to scrub away clean much of the old continuity and set the stage for new stories.

Originally posted by roughrider
I'd put X-Men 2 in among the best Marvel films, and among the top tier of the Marvel Studios films.

Let's see if Days Of Future Past is a big leap forward for the series; it looks poised to scrub away clean much of the old continuity and set the stage for new stories.

I don't think it will be, tbh.

And I've said enough about X2 on this board to last a lifetime, I think.

Originally posted by Golgo13
Damn, no love for the Hulk. That was one of my favs.

Avengers 10/10
Iron Man 10/10
Hulk 8/10
Thor 7/10
Iron Man 3 7/10
Cap 6/10
Thor TDW 5/10
Iron Man 2 4/10

Will you be seeing The Winter Soldier? No opinion on that one in your list...

Originally posted by roughrider
Will you be seeing The Winter Soldier? No opinion on that one in your list...

Haven't seen it yet. I've had a hectic last few weeks.

Captain America: The Winter Soldier 10/10
The Avengers 10/10
Iron Man 1 9/10
Captain America: The First Avenger/Thor 7/10
Incredible Hulk 6.9/10
Thor: The Dark World 6.8/10
Iron Man 3 6/10
Iron Man 2 4/10

Originally posted by roughrider
Funny - wasn't that the argument against Marvel forming their own studio, that they already gave away the rights to their 'top' properties and only had a universe of B & C-listers left, like Iron Man, Cap and Thor? 🙄

Well, as it turns out the holy trinity of the Avengers have all had movies that have equaled and exceeded the acclaim & box office of every X-Men movie to date, and two of the Avengers related films (Avengers and Iron Man 3) have far exceeded even the best Spider Man box office performance. Iron Man alone has become as popular and recognizable worldwide as Spidey, too. While Thor and Captain America have proven to have at least equal box office appeal to Superman.

Meanwhile, even after two films the jury is still out on Fantastic Four, if it can still work as a film property. The coming reboot is likely the last shot, before it becomes the next property to revert back to MS.

Yeah exactly. And if Marvel studios can do that for those former B-Listers then imagine what they could have done with Spider-Man and the X-Men?

Just a dream thought anyway.

Originally posted by DARTH POWER
Yeah exactly. And if Marvel studios can do that for those former B-Listers then imagine what they could have done with Spider-Man and the X-Men?

Just a dream thought anyway.

Well, a clear test case is two different Hulk movies. One done in 2003, the next one done by Marvel Studios in 2008.

Perhaps an unfair comparison, as Ang Lee took the story in bold dramatic directions that sometimes worked but also backfired. Marvel Studios made a more conventional action film that went lighter on the psychological story. The result was a film only somewhat better received, that mainly accomplished filling out the background details of the shared cinematic universe.

Fans may say the ground was poisoned because people remembered the poor reaction to Ang Lee's film, but if your film is made well enough you should be able to erase the past efforts, as Batman Begins washed away the memory of Batman & Robin.

I think the best Marvel films are being made by Marvel Studios, but I don't think that means Spider Man and the X-Men films automatically get an upgrade, if we rewrite history and they got produced by MS. They did achieve some greatness on their own (Spider Man 2, X-Men 2 and X-Men: First Class, in my opinion.)