X-Men movies ranked from worst to best
“X-Men: Days of Future Past” opens this week, and fans can’t wait to see where the newest film ranks in the X-Men movie catalogue.
While will have to wait for the premiere to rank “Days of Future Past,” we can rank the other six films in the franchise, and that’s exactly what we’re going to do.
Here are the X-Men films ranked from worst to best.
To all those who loved this movie we apologize, but this was the easiest on the list for us to figure out. “X-Men Origins: Wolverine” is dead last.
The movie had huge potential, but it was ruined by bad CGI, over-the-top acting, complete missteps in the portrayals of beloved characters — Deadpool, anyone? — and an incomprehensible story.
Even the charms of Hugh Jackman couldn’t do anything to save this film from itself.
While the 2013 follow-up to “Origins,” “The Wolverine,” wasn’t as mind-numbing as its predecessor, it still did not live up to some of the great films in the series. Not even close.
The movie has some impressive action scenes, but that can’t make up for all the ground it lost in flat acting, poor storytelling and overall formulaic nature.
Again, many of the fight scenes are well choreographed, but overall it’s still a letdown considering some of the films from the series.
The 2006 cap to the original trilogy, “X-Men: The Last Stand” was a huge disappointment considering the two films it followed.
The movie was clearly missing the eye of director Bryan Singer, and the script destroyed character arcs and managed to pretty much kill off every X-Man we came to love.
As the movie carried on it turned into a mess, and the characters weren’t really believable and likable anymore. They became clichés that really distracted from the story the film was trying to tell.
“The Last Stand” had its moments and wasn’t a total letdown from start to finish like “X-Men Origins: Wolverine” was, but it lacked the magic and intrigue that the first two films created.
When “X-Men” was released in 2000, superheroes movies were seen as a lower class of filmmaking, and studios weren’t quite as willing to take a risk on them.
Because of that, Bryan Singer was given a $75 million budget to bring the beloved comic-book characters to life.
Sure, $75 million sounds like a huge amount, but compare that to the $110 million budget of “X2: X-Men United,” or the $210 million budget of “X-Men: The Last Stand” and you realize that Singer made the most out of the $75 million he got.
The movie proved to audiences and studios that not only will fans come to see the movie, but it can be a well-told and exciting experience.
“X-Men” totally caught audiences off guard with its action, storytelling, intrigue and, of course, for introducing us to Hugh Jackman.
The movie stands as one of the greatest superhero movies ever made and opened the door for all that followed. “The Avengers” have a lot to thank “X-Men” for.
This was a really hard pick because “X2: X-Men United” and “X-Men” are both so good that picking one over the other was tough. In the end we gave the edge to “X2,” but not by much.
“X2” managed to build upon the momentum created by “X- Men” and capitalize on story and action. The movie is fast-paced and fun, while still presenting an encapsulating story.
“X2” is a rare moviegoing experience where you are thoroughly entertained while your brain is getting a workout.
We would like to mention again that while we put “X2” in front of “X-Men,” it was by the slimmest of margins.
“X-Men Origins: Wolverine” really put a damper on the X-men franchise. Many thought it was a nail in the coffin, but in 2011 we got “X-Men: First Class” and everything was right with the world.
From a marketing standpoint, “First Class” had a serious uphill battle. As we mentioned earlier, “The Last Stand” and “Origins” really put a damper on the franchise and audiences were weary of giving the mutants another chance.
Director Matthew Vaughn stepped in to tell the story of how Professor Xavier and Magneto joined forces, and it was done expertly.
The movie is amazingly well-crafted with brilliant action and has one of the greatest casts ever assembled in a superhero movie.
James McAvoy as Professor Xavier and Jennifer Lawrence as Mystique were great casting choices, but Michael Fassbender as Magneto was a stroke of genius.
The movie reminded us how interesting and exciting the X-Men were and thankfully breathed new life into the franchise.
“First Class” is a smart, witty, action-packed adventure that tells an origin story as well as any other movie out there.
While “X-Men” and “X2” are amazing films in their own right, we had to hand the crown to “First Class” based on the cast and how well they all worked together. All three films are pretty much at the same level, but it’s really the cast that pushes “First Class” over the top.
There you have it, the complete ranking of every X-Men movie excluding “Days of Future Past,” which is already receiving rave reviews. How would you rank the films?
