Round 3: Guardians of the Galaxy v Captain America: The First Avenger v Thor: Ragnarok

[Missy]

And go!

[Donomark]

This is interesting because all three movies are claimed to be near perfect. Of course none of them are, and in fact all three have glaring flaws. 

I'm leaning towards Cap. The first half is perfect. The use of the period is perfect because (unlike Captain Marvel) it doesn't come off as hammy or distraction, simply involving. It hews extremely faithful to the source material, and the detours it does takes simply plusses, not subtracts. I wish Red Skull was scarier and Cap's fighting style was better established like it gets later down the line, but that's it really.

Guardians is good, but for me it comes down to how high does my enjoyment of it rank against the others. I enjoy Cap more than not, and with Ragnarok it's ultimately unsatisfying. 

[batguy10]

Oof, this is tricky.

I was never as high on 'Guardians of the Galaxy' as everyone else, but it is hard to deny the fun and charm it exudes. The ensemble is great and there is a lot of fun to be had, even if the villain is a little underwhelming. The music and emotion are all there, and I think this is definitely a breath of fresh air in the MCU. 

Similarly, 'Thor: Ragnarok' has a lot of fun moments and I enjoy it quite a bit even if it doesn't hit the highs of some other Marvel ventures. I think there is a lot to enjoy about Ragnarok, although I wish there was more for Hela to do. I can see the tonal concerns raised by some, however, as I have said before, I don't feel that is a unique issue of Ragnarok but rather the entire MCU, although this might be a prime example of it. I still have a great time with this one and think it is a great Thor outing. 

'Captain America: The First Avenger' is a treat, and is so fun. Again, It doesn't hit the highest highs, but it does a great job introducing the character while playing up the golden-age fun and charm. I'm going to go with 'Captain America', however, the other two are not very far behind. 

[Pan-dub]

Have chosen Cap. Perfect origins story told really well - you know everything Rogers holds dear within minutes and the character stays consistent throughout the rest of his films. Period setting is executed super well too. 

Thor 3 is fun but there's the continuity bug bares that stop me from loving it and GOTG is fab but suffers towards the end. 

[slothian]

It goes:

Guardians of the Galaxy

Captain America: First Avenger

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thor: Ragnarok

[dc20willsave]

I'm voting for Guardians. I love Captain America but Guardians just felt so new and different and that feeling holds up over repeated feelings. It's a fun film, visually creative, and has so many great set pieces. In a lot of ways, this is also where Marvel's "Jokes at points that kind of kill the tension" problem starts but ehh. It does also have a villain problem, whether that's Ronan being kind of bland or the fact that Thanos who Marvel is trying to sell as a big bad totally gets jobbed by Ronan. Still, it's a great movie.

I love Thor:Ragnarok more than some but yeah, this is a two horse race. It can settle for a well deserved sixth place.

[Dread]

I loved First Avenger. I loved Ragnarok too. But they don't stand up to GOTG for me. It was the true diversion from the Marvel playbook. A space opera with a cast of essentially unknown characters that, for better or worse, affected and influenced every MCU film to follow.

[Missy]

Unfortunately I was not able to make the time to rewatch all three films in this bracket, but I with a lot of thought and skimming through clips, I have to give to Cap. It's just a pure, wonderful movie with a classic sensibility about it. The others are great; GOTG literally changes the direction of the MCU and T:R speaks to me in a way that I cannot express, but Cap is just majestic.