Every X-Men movie ranked

I love the X-Men! I have for years as they’re my favorite Marvel property right behind Spider-Man. I love the relevant themes and social commentary brought by the X-Men series along with an awesome cast of unique characters from the savage and highly intellectual Beast to the cruel yet understandable Magneto. I’m still a relatively new comic book reader so I’ve much more experience with the films; hence why I’m presenting my personal list of every X-Men related movie.

10. X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009)

How do you mess up the origin story to such a beloved character? This should’ve been the easiest origin story to make but what we got was an over-convoluted mess filled with continuity errors and absurd action sequences. This movie was sad bad that it killed the “X-Men: Origins” franchise before it even started. That’s right. Fox wanted to make even more needless origin stories but instead the X-Men franchise was put into serious trouble after this film’s release. At least the next installments in the series would be far superior and perhaps we wouldn’t have gotten there without this crappy CGI claws piece of garbage.

9. X-Men 3: The Last Stand (2006)

The Dark Phoenix sage is one of the best story lines in the entire X-men comic series so seeing it done on film requires high expectations and boy did they drop the ball here. Director of the first two X-men films, Bryan Singer, unfortunately left the project to direct “Superman Returns” leaving the highly anticipated third film in the oh so capable hands of.... (sigh) Brett Ratner. From killing major characters off screen to turning serious and believable characters into idiots, “The Last Stand” may provide some cool action sequences and even one or two philosophical questions but still falls flat in a series that deserves so much more. By the way, what is Magneto’s power again? Oh yeah, he can control metal with his mind. So why the hell is his hideout in the middle of the damn woods?!

8. X-Men: Apocalypse (2016)

Alright so now that we’re out of the dark days from the X-Men films, let’s get into the brighter side of the series. “Apocalypse” is far from the best X-men film but still proved to be a fun addition to the franchise. I love the new cast brought in for these beloved characters; especially Sophie Turner (Sansa Stark of Game of Thrones) as Jean Grey and Kodi Smit-McPhee as nightcrawler. I’m so excited to see where these new X-men go in the series but also a bit frustrated that this film didn’t just focus on them for the entire film as that’s really what I, along with countless others, truly want to see in an X-men film, the original team of X-Men we know and love from the comics going on missions and fighting the forces of evil. The main villain, Apocalypse, is iconic from the comics though I never really took much interest in him and that didn’t change much here as Oscar Isaac’s portrayal of the blue baddie came across as a generic evil doer who really loves to shout his sentences. This film also suffers from a few idiotic continuity changes mainly involving Wolverine but still gave me most of what I like about the X-Men without taking that next step into elite status.

7. The Wolverine (2013)

The second standalone Wolverine film proved to be far superior to its predecessor by presenting an enthralling story with thrilling action and fleshed out characters… or at least for the first two acts. Logan visits Japan to say goodbye to an old friend whose life he saved from a nuclear blast (which provided for an awesome opening scene by the way) but not all is as it seems, and the Wolverine must engage in a journey filled with ninjas, tense family conflict and a pretty good love story to boot. Hugh Jackman proves in this film yet again how utterly brilliant he is in this role and though director, James Mangold, was unable to take this movie the places he wanted to, a satisfying chapter in the sage of Wolverine was given as was a tease for the brilliance to come but we’ll get to that later.

6. X-Men (2000)

The one that started it all! If Bryan Singer’s original “X-Men” wasn’t the success it was then there would be no X-Men film universe nor would there be a Marvel Cinematic Universe. This film truly started the comic book movie craze that only heightened with “Spider-Man” and later “Iron Man”. Today, superheroes are more popular than they’ve ever been and much of that credits are due to this awesome movie. “X-Men” made these comic book mutants come to life in an exciting fashion; bringing classic characters to the screen while also implementing new aspects for the X-Men such as sleeker new costumes (sorry yellow spandex) and taking these characters to a more grounded level that brought grit to the film. Of course, this movie also introduced us to the perfection of Hugh Jackman as Wolverine who captures the audience’s attention the second they see him on screen. Patrick Stewart as Professor X was also perfect casting along with Sir Ian McKellen as the greatest Marvel villain ever, Magneto.

5. Deadpool (2016)

Fox sowed his mouth shut the first time around, but boy did they get it right on try number two! I wasn’t a huge fan of the character of Deadpool prior to this film’s announcement but one of the best marketing campaign I’ve ever seen made me beyond excited for it. Ryan Reynolds shines in this role he was born to play. I doubt I’ve laughed harder in a superhero movie than in this one from the ultra meta jokes to the zany physical comedy along with Reynolds’ superb comedic timing throughout. “Deadpool” is also a very important film as it showed that studios can make a rated-R superhero movie and still achieve enormous success both with the critics and the box office. “Deadpool” also has one of the best, most believable romances I’ve ever seen in a superhero movie that brought a surprising level of emotion to the humor centric to it ensuring that the Merc with a Mouth got his due on the silver screen.

4. X2: X-Men United (2003)

“Have you ever tried not being a mutant?” That quote from Iceman’s mother exemplifies one of my favorite themes about the X-Men and how what they stand for; not just mutant kind but for anyone who could never quite fit in with everyone else. Now we’re getting into the best of the best in not only X-Men movies but comic book films in general. “X2” is one of the greatest sequels in the history of cinema and is completely unapologetic in being a comic book movie. One of my favorite scenes in the franchise is the invasion on the X mansion where we got to see what berserker Wolverine really likes like (on a PG-13 level that is). The entire cast brings their A-game for the sequel and everything else is brought to a new level. The stakes for our heroes our higher, the villain is more evil and the team-up of good and bad mutants makes this a superhero film you don’t want to miss.

3. X-Men: First Class (2011)

This franchise was down in the dumps prior to the release of “First Class” which could not have rejuvenated the series more. Set in the backdrop of the Cuban Missile Crisis, the prequel focuses on the beginning of the relationship between Professor X and Magneto before the formation of the X-Men we know today, and the result was spectacular. The duality between Professor X and Magneto was exemplified perfectly in the previous films but seeing how it all began was marvelous to the brilliant performances from James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender. This film is a complete delight from beginning to end with tense action scenes and enthralling character interactions. By the way, the Argentina scene with Magneto and the former Nazis is one of my favorite in all of cinema.

2. X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014)

Combining the gravitas of the original X-Men cast with the new first-class X-men led to a film that I love to pieces. Time travel is hard to get right unless you have DeLorean but Bryan Singer’s return to the franchise he started proved to be masterful art of storytelling, deep character and hope which is what this film is about. Hugh Jackman kills it yet again as Wolverine as do McAvoy and Fassbender in their respective roles. Every single character in this movie has an understandable motivation that goes along perfectly with the complex story; oh, and that Quicksilver scene in the kitchen? Movie magic at its absolute finest.

1. Logan (2017)

Deciding my favorite X-Men film was very difficult between my top three but I decided to go with one of the most important superhero movies ever released. “Logan” is a film that transcends the superhero genre with it's unique, gritty storytelling and damaged characters that seems more fitting in a Western than a comic-book movie. “Logan” pulls no punches in giving fans the Wolverine movie they always wanted with its amazingly bloody action and limitless swearing in this R-rated masterpiece. Hugh Jackman saves the best for last in this dark film about a man devoid of hope who finds a little girl that might not only save the future of mutants but his future as well. Patrick Stewart also give an Academy-Award worthy performance as a weary Professor X with Alzheimer’s and seeing the world’s most dangerous mind on the fritz if horrifying to view yet magnificent in terms of acting. The real surprise here is Dafne Keen as X-23. The teenage Keen brings a performance that wows with brutal action and sheer emotion. “Logan” is one of the most powerful films I’ve seen in years and is not only the best of the X-Men franchise yet but perhaps the best movie Marvel as well.