I'll explain the rankings below. I won't go into much detail beyond ranks S & A.
S Tier:
1) Captain America: The Winter Soldier
I feel like this is the most distinct film in the entire MCU. It plays out more like an action thriller espionage film than a comic book film. It has incredible pacing, some of the best fight choreography in the entire MCU (that scene where Steve and the WS duke it out on the freeway is bliss; it was also done entirely by the cast if I'm not mistaken), and there's few holes in the plot. Batroc the leaper was kinda thrown in and Johannsen's very noticeable tan in the film is kind of off-putting, but those are minor flaws in an otherwise paramount film.
2) Iron Man
It started the whole thing. It was done really well. Only one problem: the anachronism regarding the casting of James "Rhodey" Rhodes. Both guys sold it but the unfortunate events that resulted in the change of actors can't be ignored. And in 'Endgame' we get a really weird meta joke from Tony himself where he calls Thor "Big Lebowski", and considering who plays the name-dropped character, and considering who played the villain in the very first MCU film, it's just messed up. Enjoyable film to watch no matter how much time has passed.
3) Guardians of the Galaxy
It shouldn't have been as good as it was, but it ended up knocking my expectations to the ground and pounded them into dust. The soundtrack was killer, the pacing worked really well, there were a lot of funny lines, characters (for the most part at least) were likeable, it gave us a strong outlook into the MCU beyond Earth, and few other movies in the MCU incentivized me to watch it more than once in the theatre like this one did. Considering the price we have to pay in Canada for each movie, that's a big feat. Honestly, the fact that the whole film was akin to a space opera, a la Star Wars, makes the film that much better.
A Tier:
1) Thor: Ragnarok
I was about to give up on the Thor franchise within the MCU. I had little hope after watching the dumpster fire that was The Dark World. I figured that Chris Hemsworth would find no more reason to ever want to return to the role in potential sequels. But then this film happened. It was a blast to watch. Seeing my boy, the Hulk, make a solid return to the big screen was a bonus. I didn't care too much for the plotline on 'Sakaar' and was hoping the film would be a closer adaptation to the "Planet Hulk" storyline than the acid-fueled dross that was cooked up for the film, but it was a fun watch nonetheless. This gave Thor some actual character, finally.
2) Spiderman: Homecoming
Likely my favorite live-action movie with our beloved web-head. It's the most down-to-earth take on our hero yet. And it didn't waste our time with the origin story because that would have made it the third fucking time within a 13-year timespan where we had to watch his beloved Uncle Ben get shot and killed to spur him on the path to true heroics. Michael Keaton as the Vulture made this otherwise (kinda) lame character better; the chemistry between characters was organic and believable; Marisa Tomei, always sexy, was likeable as Aunt May; the father-figure/mentor relationship between Tony Stark and Peter Parker/Spiderman was effective. It was kind of a fresh take on an already-established and incredibly popular character to begin with, and it all worked really well.
3) The Avengers
I had low expectations going into this one. I didn't think I'd like it. But then I saw it and I had a good time. It's hard to like it as much the more the MCU grows, but because this film established that the MCU was very much a bonafide, all-encompassing franchise with a rich menagerie of characters and story possibilities, it was a valuable film in the MCU to come.
4) The Avengers: Infinity War & Endgame
The culmination of everything that came before it. The conflict we were all waiting for. The arrival of the biggest of the MCU's big bad characters, Thanos. The opening of Infinity War firmly establishes that the characters are in for a tough battle with aforementioned villain. While I didn't like the treatment that my boy, the Hulk, received in this film and the next, both of these jaunts in the cinemas worked pretty damn well. It didn't live up to my expectations, given that it wasted a lot of opportunities for character interaction (one of the richest aspects of the MCU overall) and I wasn't all that pleased with how they rewrote Thanos, chiefly in how they reduced his abilities to "super strength and super toughness" (I was really looking forward to seeing some of his powers make their live-action debut here and I got none of it). The "children of Thanos" were kind of disappointing, too. Lots of characters got sidelined (Hulk really comes to mind), too. The whole idea behind the Soul Stone, while unique among the stones for its vaguely mystical nature, was ripe for plot discrepancies. I could go on and on.
5) Guardians of the Galaxy: Volume 2
Still funny. Still has a solid soundtrack. Colourful and full of action. But it's hampered by some parts the drag on a little too long, and Star-Lord suddenly having superpowers and then losing them almost as suddenly (he has them for like five to ten minutes?) comes off as contrived, if however cool it is to watch (if he had these powers in Infinity War & Endgame I think he'd likely have done a lot of damage to Thanos and his forces). Mantis was kind of irritating. I fucking loved the sequence with Yondu slaughtering all of the mutinous ravagers like it was child's play.
6) Captain America: Civil War
Team Cap. Even more nonsensical than the comic-based storyline it's adapted from, but somehow more poignant in a few places anyway. Did a better job overall in handling the character of Black Panther than his own film, but I won't pretend his film didn't handle the character properly, either. Has some good fight choreography just like the previous movie, but it gets a bit crowded and not in the best of ways. Still enjoyable overall. Spiderman's introduction also nails it. Wish someone would have called General Ross out as the asshole who caused some of the shit that he's so righteous about. I mean, he practically made the Hulk, and the Abomination too, as if he didn't learn a damn thing the first time.
B Rank:
Doctor Strange was alright; Benedict Cumberbatch is good as Doctor Strange, but the film is just serviceable at best. Ant-Man was funny and is one of the more unique films in the MCU so far (for being more of a caper movie than a straight action movie), but it had more potential which sadly was not explored enough. Age of Ultron was overstuffed and a bit too frenetic for its own good and I honestly felt it should have been divided into two movies to better utilize the (somewhat wasted) title character, but it was still really fun to watch and the introduction sequence still gets me every time. Black Panther was overrated but still has one of the strongest messages in the entire MCU, although I won't go into further detail here. The original Thor is another serviceable film, not really all that special and is kind of anachronistic the more the MCU grows (what's with those extra-bushy eyebrows?).
C Rank:
Eh, Captain America: The First Avenger was not my cup of tea, really. Iron Man 3 is a love-it/hate-it film for me; on one hand it has some solid action sequences, but on the other it squanders what could have been a significantly better plotline (the Mandarin, anyone) to give us the action it ended up with. Incredible Hulk had some obviously fun times in it, like any sequence with the Hulk (my boy) doing what he's best at, but it gets a bit dragged down by the melodrama and isn't much of an improvement over the flaws of the previous film, Hulk, at all.
Shoot Paul, He's a Mime:
Iron Man 2 wasted so much time and also wasted what could have been a monumentally better character, played by Sam fucking Rockwell no less! What a fiasco that turned out to be. Thor: The Dark World was a snooze fest with a one-dimensional villain, and the film is just shy of being redeemed by the plotline where Thor seeks to avenge his mother, who fell while battling against the the bad guy. Loki dies but doesn't because he's Loki, but he's dead in Infinity War I think?
