DISCLAIMER: Obviously this is a opinion piece as what is overrated to me may or may not be what is overrated to you. I would more than welcome you to make your own article on this but this is my personal piece so please try to remain civil and don't call me stupid for my opinion. However, please feel free to leave your thoughts below while still being respectful! Thanks!
5. The Avengers (2012)
Rotten Tomatoes score: 92%
Average score: 8.0/10
Yes, yes, I know:
The Avengers was awesome. And it
was! However, I do think it was overrated. For me, it is one of the best pieces of Comic Book Movie cinema of all time but it had some issues. Oversimplified plot is often noted as a hinderence for most films but critics praised this film without much regard for the lack of coherent plotting. To be quite honest, I consider a great number of films above this film's level: not in terms of just sheer geekspasms but the amount of solid dialogue and strong storylines. This film probably wouldn't have received such great scores if it wasn't for the novelty that we'd never really seen anything like this before EVER.
What I think it should've got:
Rotten Tomatoes score: 82%
Average score: 7.5/10
4.
Spider-Man 2
Rotten Tomatoes score: 94%
Average score: 8.3/10
This movie defined my childhood. I loved Spider-Man and I loved Sam Raimi's Spider-Man as well. In fact, it was Raimi's Spider-Man that got me into Spider-Man in the first place and, for that, I will forever be grateful. However, this film isn't as good as you would be led to believe. It
does have a solid narrative, unlike the movie stated above and incredible special effects (especially for the time), but the romance, which the movie revolves around, just isn't believeable. Peter Parker is portrayed fine, trying to determine whether or not he can be Spider-Man while getting the girl or does he have to give up being Spider-Man to finally get what he wants? However, Mary Jane is treated like a prize, which she isn't. Mary Jane is portrayed as pretty heartless without much empathy for Peter and his situation. I can understand not understanding but she just went over-the-top and the whole relationship with John Jameson, to me, feels like a way to punish Peter himself. That doesn't sit well with me. The movie's emphasis on telling instead of showing is lazy film-making as well. We are constantly
told how smart Peter is but we're never
shown. We are constantly
told how in love MJ and Peter are but the movie never really tries to
show it. And when it does try to show it, it fails miserably by giving us two actors who clearly don't have much on-screen chemistry. Is it as bad as Jane Foster and Thor's in the
Thor films? No, but it is still pretty bad.
What do I think it should have gotten:
Rotten Tomatoes score: 80%
Average score: 7.0/10
3.
Iron Man 2
Rotten Tomatoes score: 73%
Average score: 6.5/10
Now, this is a movie that is, seemingly,
hated by many. I don't think it is as bad as most people do.
However, I think it is a film that is mediocre to its core. The film had many different problems like trying to juggle way too many things at once. There are ways to juggle a lot of things and still make a great and coherent plot that actually works to help the film and not detract from it. However, the main plot of the film itself is not enough of a reason for all these different things to be occuring. Suddenly, we have an old villain from Tony's father's past come back to haunt him. We have S.H.I.E.L.D. on Tony the whole time. We have a corporate rivalry between Hammer and Tony. And, on top of ALL of that, we have Tony dying, a subplot that, sorry, isn't really all that well handled at all. There was still a way to juggle these things in a way that made sense and the movie could've been really great but it put its focus in the wrong places and made for a really muddled and mediocre film that was still sort of enjoyable. It felt like the film that many are saying
The Amazing Spider-Man 2 was.
What score I think it should've gotten:
Rotten Tomatoes score: 65%
Average score: 5.8/10
2.
Thor: The Dark World
Rotten Tomatoes score: 65%
Average score: 6.2/10
This is probably the weakest entry into the
Marvel Cinematic Universe yet. It really isn't a film that I can really blame too much on a plot that tries to accomplish too much at once. The film didn't really seem all that ambitious at all. The film relied on cliched jokes and a romance that isn't strong in the slightest. It isn't well-written and Natalie Portman and Chris Hemsworth have less than zero chemistry. Loki is probably the only character that is even redeemable for the film. Tom Hiddleston continues to nail Loki in a film that is surrounded with bad dialogue (though, oddly, has its best given to Loki). The whole movie seemed like it was trying to capatilize on the popularity of Loki while not realizing, fully, just how stupid and one-dimensional they made the villain, the romance (which they spent an absurd amount of time on) and how all the characters acted stupid for the sake of a plot that was barely even swallowable.
What I think it should've gotten:
Rotten Tomatoes score: 45%
Average score: 4.2/10
1.
The Dark Knight Rises
Rotten Tomatoes score: 88%
Average score: 8.0/10
Now, this movie isn't even close to being as bad as
Thor: The Dark World. However,
Thor: The Dark World still had one of the lowest scores for the
Marvel Cinematic Universe to date.
The Dark Knight Rises is given a massively great score, in both respects, making it, for all intents and purposes, almost as good as The Avengers. The film is not as good as
The Avengers. The plot makes a decent amount of sense although it does make a few MASSIVE jumps of logic in between the story. However, the biggest sin is, oddly enough, the strongest part of
The Avengers, and that is character. None of the characters in this film really feel like they have that much depth. They do, in fact, feel like charicatures. The screenplay almost feels like they're trying too hard for a metaphor that they are sacrificing, not only depth to new characters, but the established characters like Bruce Wayne and Jim Gordon. The entire film seems to be an attempt to spit on the Batman character: not just the comic one, but the one they created. It isn't exactly a mess but it isn't upholding the promise given by the scores.
What I think it should've gotten:
Rotten Tomatoes score: 65%
Average score: 6.1/10
So, that wraps up my top 5 most critically overrated Comic Book Movies. I hope you enjoyed reading through it. Now, be sure to comment below but, please, keep the debates constructive and not deliberate bullying. I'd really appreciate everything to remain civil. Thanks and be sure to hit the like button if you enjoyed the article!