Rank 1/23 || The Avengers

Cast: Robert Downey Jr, Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, Tom Hiddleston, Samuel L Jackson, Clark Gregg
Director:  Joss Whedon

‘With great power comes great responsibility.’ A line that has been immortalised by Spider-Man and has turned out to be the touchstone phrase of Marvel comics. It was a dream nurtured by Marvel bosses, especially Marvel Studios President Kevin Fiege, that one day, their heroes will come together in a movie. That all the standalone movies will be part of a single canon, like the comics. That they would create and nurture a Marvel Cinematic Universe. After introducing the main characters that would become the Avengers they decided it was time. The great responsibility and the power that came with it was handed over to super-geek Joss Whedon.

The nerds rejoiced. But look at that decision closely. Whedon had directed one – just one – movie. And you are giving him the key to the biggest movie you are making? In any sane universe that would be the definition of ‘With great power comes great stupidity.’ Sure, Whedon had small screen success with Firefly and Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but let’s get real. What happened after that?

When Marvel hired Joss Whedon as a director, they were really pinning their hopes on Joss Whedon the writer. And he delivered. In spades.

The Tesseract, that cube with unlimited and unexplained powers that we first encountered in Captain America: The First Avenger, started ‘misbehaving’. It opened a portal and onto earth came Loki (Hiddleston). He came with a single purpose: conquer the Earth. Even though the SHIELD headquarters was destroyed, Director Nick Fury (Jackson) decided to call in the reinforcements that he had kept away for a rainy day. The arrogant Iron Man (Downey Jr), the out-of-time Captain America (Evans), the secretive Black Widow (Johansson), the high-and-mighty Thor (Hemsworth) and the reclusive Hulk (Ruffalo) all answer the call, but can they really work as a team?

After a brief skirmish in Berlin, Loki is captured. But is it really a capture when he wants to be held captive?  In the meantime, Hawkeye (Renner) and the scientist Erik Selvig (Stellan Skarsgard) have been brainwashed to do Loki’s bidding. Whose bidding is Loki following?

The Avengers don’t want to be together. But we need them to. That is the crux of the story and Whedon deftly weaves a tale that pits unlike forces against each other before bringing them together for a common goal. Sure, there is a big, messy climactic fight. But what people will talk about while exiting the theatre is what happened before that.

Our heroes may have had entries before. But it is in this movie they appear the rawest. Downey Jr plays Iron Man starting off as truly irritating and unlikeable character, who then bats for the common good. The Stark Tower with the name visibly etched on the top, and what happens to it later is exactly what happens to Iron Man. Chris Evans allows himself to be the butt of daddy jokes before assuming the leader role. Thor continues on his earnest Shakespearean avatar. Even his quips are theatrical. Mark Ruffalo firmly imprints himself in our minds as the definitive Hulk. This is the Hulk of yore, who smashes first and then smashes second. It is to Ruffalo’s credit that he makes a personality out of this one-dimensional character.  

Before he was outed as a philandering bastard, Joss Whedon was defined by his strong female characters. Scarlett Johansson stood out more in this movie than anything else she has played Black Widow in. Jeremy Renner has such a strong role and he relishes the complexity. Clark Gregg proves to be the fan favourite as Agent Coulson. Unfair that he didn’t appear in the other Avengers movies, Tahiti or not. Samuel L Jackson shines in an extended role as the multi-faced Fury. Proof why you always hear me say that the MCU could use a lot more Jackson.

In my review, immediately after I saw the movie for the first time, I mentioned that Tom Hiddleston was not a very good villain. He just didn’t arouse any fear. Further viewings changed my mind. I realised that Whedon was looking for a Machiavellian bad guy, not a Thanos type. And that is right up Hiddleston's alley. In fact, Loki is easily immobilised in the climax as his role was everything leading up to that.

The great critic Roger Ebert used to say that every great film should seem new every time you see it. That is the major reason why The Avengers is on top of this list. You can see it umpteen times and still not be bored because you figured something new about it. For instance, it was only two days ago that I realised how much of the total movie takes place on the Helicarrier. 

Joss Whedon was always known for his dialogue and in Robert Downey Jr and Tom Hiddleston he found two perfect vehicles. Everyone else was the straight man for these two to go ballistic. There are so many quotable lines that it is unfair to every other movie. The jokes, compared to the ones in the Russos’ movies, are much deeper and longer-lasting. The fan service never seems thus and the goosebumps creep up without you knowing.

The Avengers humanised the Avengers. That is what brought us closer to these characters. This is the movie that set the bar that has still not been breached. This is the perfect mesh of screenplay and visualisation that Infinity War just missed. To paraphrase Thanos, it was inevitable that The Avengers would end up as the Number One.

Stan Lee cameo: You really have to be alert to catch this. Blink and you miss it.

Post-credits scene: The first one is hands down the best ever. You realise that it is part of the movie. The strange opening sequence suddenly makes sense. The second one, unfortunately, started the trend of silly post-credits sequences. 
Fun Fact: Do you know the state of Kerala once banned the sale of Shawarma?

The Complete List

01. The Avengers
02. Avengers: Infinity War
03. Guardians of the Galaxy
04. Endgame
05. Captain America: Civil War
06. Iron Man
07. Captain America: Winter Soldier
08. Spiderman: Homecoming
09. Captain America
10. Black Panther
11. Thor:Ragnarok
12. Thor
13. Captain Marvel
14. Doctor Strange
15. Ant Man
16. Spiderman: Far From Home
17. Iron Man 3
18. Antman and the Wasp
19. Avengers: Age of Ultron
20. Guardians of the Galaxy 2
21. Iron Man 2
22. Incredible Hulk
23. Thor: Dark World

Rank 12/23 || Thor

Cast: Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Tom Hiddleston, Anthony Hopkins, Stellan Skarsgard
Director: Kenneth Branagh

Thor was always going to be the trickiest movie to make. How do you show a god on screen? Which is why it was very surprising to find that Thor came before Captain America. But Marvel did it right by treating the story based on Greek mythology as a Shakespearean drama. And who better to make Shakespeare than Kenneth Branagh?

King Odin (Hopkins) rules over Asgard, one of the nine realms. He has two sons, Thor (Hemsworth) and Loki (Hiddleston). One a boisterous and arrogant, the other devious and scheming. A sneak attack by the villainous Frost Giants causes a rift and Thor is sent into exile in Midgard, also known as Earth. His weapon, the mighty hammer called Mjolnir, is also exiled. A powerless Thor joins forces with astrophysicists Jane Foster (Portman) and Erik Selvig (Skarsgard) and tries to find his way around and discovers he has no powers. In the meantime, Loki has gained control of Asgard and sends the iron-armoured Destroyer to earth. Can Thor save the planet?

Chris Hemsworth inhabits the role in such a jovial and goofy manner that it is hard to imagine anyone else in that role. He spouts ridiculous ancient dialogue with such earnestness that one can’t be unimpressed. Natalie Portman may only be half his size, but I happen to think their chemistry is sizzling. Tom Hiddleston is apt for the shifty Loki and he performs the role with aplomb. It is easy to see why the Hiddlestoners are thing. The amazing Idris Elba is wasted in a bit role as Heimdall, a cosmic security guard.

The production values of Asgard are top class, while the scenes in New Mexico aren’t. Considering an actor is directing, there is hardly a performance out of sync. The movie is a solid entry in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It is even more impressive considering the character it introduces. 

Stan Lee cameo: This one is played for laughs and gets them. Is Stan worthy of the hammer?

Post-credits scene: This directly ties into The Avengers. A fact we will know only when we see that movie.

Rank - 23/23 || Thor: The Dark World

Cast: Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Tom Hiddleston, Christopher Eccleston, Anthony Hopkins, Rene Russo
Director: Alan Taylor

The Dark World is a franchise-killer. Let’s get that straight. If this was the first Thor film, we probably wouldn’t have him in the Avengers movie. Widely derided and at the bottom of most people’s lists, The Dark World is not very easy to sit through. 

To begin with, this is an unfortunate example of the title describing the movie. The background colours are dark and it is worse in 3D. it is set mostly on dark planets and in England. Kind of the same thing. Though you do willingly suspend disbelief to accept a god as your hero, the remainder of the plot forces you to continue doing that for every scene where they cannot think up a half-reasonable explanation. 

Jane Foster (Portman) gets infected by the Aether, a powerful virus/weapon that has the ability to change any battle in its host’s favour. Thor (Hemsworth), who had been missing in action since the incident in New Mexico, suddenly appears and takes her to Asgard. There they have an encounter with the Dark Elf Malekith (Eccleston). That doesn’t go well. But Thor decides to take the battle to Malekith and recruits half-brother/war criminal Loki (Hiddleston). The location of the big battle is present-day London.  

The above should be quite confusing, right? It requires elaborate plot points to make it palatable to the common viewer. Instead, here we are told the story in a series of narrations by different people and we stop caring. The computer graphics are an assault on our senses and lucky is the viewer who doesn’t get a headache at some point.

The actors are just going through the motions. Natalie Portman does have a bigger role than in the first movie, but her character actually narrows down instead of growing. The meet-the-in-laws setup turns out quite tedious. Thor gets to take off his shirt again. Christopher Eccleston, an actor I admire a lot, is hidden beneath acres of make-up and has his voice act for him. But when the lines are downright stupid, there is only so much he can do. 

Mindless entertainment gets a bad rep. It maybe stupid, but it ensures the viewer doesn’t have a bad time. Entertainment can take itself seriously. But when it fails to deliver on that serious note, then it makes for journey best not taken. The Dark World goes for broke in all the wrong ways and comes out with an empty hand. It exists plainly for being the bottom of this list.

Stan Lee cameo: Stan wants his shoe back. We want our money back

Post-credits scene: The scene introducing the Collector is cool. We know it ties up in the big picture. The next two are dumb. We already saw the lead pair kiss. And why do we need to know if there is a giant frost monster running around London?