Ranking the X-Men film series

[Jackie Frost]

I watched Logan today and with that finished all the films in the X-Men series so here they are ranked: going from ones I enjoyed to least to those I enjoyed the most.

For reference, I grew up watching X-Men, X2: X-Men United, X-Men: The Last Stand, The Wolverine, and the first half or so of X-Men Origins Wolverine, I rewatched last stand earlier this year and then decided to watch the whole rest of the series, in this order (a very odd one I know, if you plan to watch the series yourself I'd probably recommend just watching them in the order they came out):

X-Men: The Last Stand -> X-Men: Days of Future Past -> X-Men Origins: Wolverine -> X-Men: Apocalypse -> X-Men: First Class -> Deadpool 2 -> X-Men -> The Wolverine -> Deadpool -> Dark Phoenix -> X2: X-Men United -> The New Mutants -> Logan

Warning that some of these films (namely the two deadpools, logan and the new mutants) are 15+

I'll try to keep major spoilers behind tags

(EDIT: Now that I've completed this thread, here's a full list with just the titles of the films in order of worst to best imo)

Spoiler: Full ranking list

13. Deadpool 2
12. Deadpool
11. The New Mutants
10. X-Men: First Class
9. The Wolverine
8. X-Men: Days of Future Past
7. X-Men: Apocalypse
6. X-Men Origins: Wolverine
5. X-Men
4. X-Men: The Last Stand
3. X2: X-Men United
2. Dark Phoenix
1. Logan

Spoiler: #13

Deadpool 2

"Believe it or not, Deadpool 2 is a family film. True story. And every big family film starts... with a vicious murder. Bambi, The Lion King, Saw 7." - Wade Wilson a.k.a. Deadpool​

Deadpool seemed to be a pretty popular character and I knew he had a healing factor which is basically my favourite superpower ever thanks to Wolverine, so I gave this one a shot (I watched the second film first because it was on Disney+ and I didn't originally realise the first film was on Netflix UK).

I have to say I quickly found myself disappointed. I believe this was my first ever 15+ film and I was put off a lot by the strong violence in the intro. Ryan Reynolds is quite good looking and it was a disappointment he spends almost the entire film looking not so handsome. Still, his acting was amazing and Deadpool's personality was the main attraction of the film. His goofy attitude slightly reminds me of the Teen Titans tbh. Also Domino was a great character, her luck powers are pretty cool and her personality was great.

Spoiler

X-Force was a huge letdown, with all the members dying almost as soon as the team is formed, besides Domino and Deadpool.

Also that scene at the end where Deadpool is shot in the heart and dies because the collar disables his healing power, it would have been great, but I think they did the thing where he seems dead but then keeps talking way too many times, and the reunion with Vanessa I honestly might have preferred if they just killed him for good and left the film like that rather than having Cable saving him, but I guess Deadpool fans want more than 2 movies.

Overall though I wasn't that impressed with the plot to be honest, a lot of the humour didn't work that well on me due to being a bit too mature.

If you plan on watching this film I wouldn't say you have to watch the first one first, I was ok without

The Good	The Bad
Deadpool himself is an amazing character, and Ryan Reynolds portrays him really well	Didn't like the plot too much
I like Domino	Didn't like Cable very much
Some of the jokes and fourth wall breaks were good	A lot of the humour was too mature for me
	Too much violence
	After his great portrayal in the Last Stand I feel this film did Juggernaut bad
	X-Force was a letdown

 

[Jackie Frost]

Spoiler: #12

Deadpool

"A fourth wall break inside a fourth wall break? That's like, sixteen walls" - Wade Wilson a.k.a. Deadpool​

You probably saw this one coming since I put Deadpool 2 in last place, but I do like the first one a lot more because the story is a lot better as it tells the story of how Wade became Deadpool in the first place, and I feel it has more of a focus on actual good storytelling and cool scenes than just excessive gore and adult humour compared to its sequel. Otherwise my reasons for ranking it low are mostly the same as those of its sequel that I won't repeat.

The Good	The Bad
The main character is amazing	Too much adult humour
Some good jokes and fourth wall breaks	Too much violence
I like how this film tells the story of Deadpool's origins
The final battle was pretty good

 

[Ray Trace]

Spoiler

One of the things I remember the most about the two Deadpool films was that there was a character who had luck as a super power and I thought that was a very interesting super power lol.

 

[Cayde]

the x force dying was the most hilarious scene wdym it was a letdown

 

[Jackie Frost]

the x force dying was the most hilarious scene wdym it was a letdown

I just wished we properly got to see them for a little longer

Spoiler

One of the things I remember the most about the two Deadpool films was that there was a character who had luck as a super power and I thought that was a very interesting super power lol.

She was only in DP2 but yes she was cool

 

[Jackie Frost]

Spoiler: #11

The New Mutants

"This place takes your greatest fear and makes you live through it, until it kills you." - Dr. Reyes​

This is the point where we get to the ones I really liked, Deadpool 2 I didn't like and Deadpool I liked in moderation, but the rest were all very good, just some I liked more than others.

The New Mutants has a few notable things about it. It's sort of on its own in the series whereas the other 12 films are all part of a subseries, the two Deadpools, the three Wolverines, the original trio, and then the four beginnings films. It does take place in the X-Men universe and has a couple of ties, like the horrible things we see done to young mutants I believe ties in with Logan (the film definitely happens in the revised timeline and I wouldn't say it'd be that unreasonable to just say it takes place in around the time it was released, 2020) and features Essex Corporation which appeared in Logan and X-Men: Apocalypse. But mostly, the film is very detached from the main story and characters of the series. It has a much bigger focus on horror than the rest of the series rather than action.

I'd say the horror balance was quite good in this one, like if it were less scary it'd just be boring, if it were more scary I'd be uncomfortable, but this film gets it about right.

I kind of like the way the story goes. Sam is the only one of the teenagers whose powers are immediately revealed, and particularly the mystery around Dani's powers is a big part of what makes the plot interesting

Spoiler

And once we do find out, it kind of makes it interesting that like her powers are the threat in the film - not something she uses to fight that threat as heroes like Wolverine or Storm might - the demon bear is the final boss and the smiley men are also a late stage threat, and they're all the result of her powers creating a physical manifestation of the fears of herself and those she's near. They're even what destroyed her home and killed her dad and got her there in the first place. But it's interesting that at the end she manages to control her powers. But as far as I remember, Dani never actually uses her mutant power for anything positive.

Rahne was a pretty good character and I always liked how nice she was to Dani and then when they kissed I was so happy (one of the few LGBT representation in the series)

Also Illyana was a good character too imo, like how at first she was just really annoying and unkind but at the end

Spoiler

She becomes not only good, but really epic with her sword skills and portal teleporting and awesomely killing the Smiley Men and conquering her fear of them.

Illyana only seemed bad at first because of the personality she developed from her horrible origins.

Dr Reyes was a pretty good villain, like at first she seems really nice to Dani and trying to protect the teenagers, but then she like forces them to live in basically prison conditions which is like uh not very nice and then

Spoiler

She turns out to be the main villain, trying to train the teenagers to be killers for Essex Corporation
We find out the force field around the whole place is Dr Reyes using her own mutant powers to create the force field, which the teenagers deduce means they should kill her to free themselves
But then her trying to kill Dani wasn't just cold hearted, she was doing it because she found out Dani's powers were the cause of all the horrible things coming to life, and was trying to sacrifice Dani's life to protect others.
Then she's killed by the Demon Bear who is the final boss, just before the final battle

I wouldn't say I have any particular complaints about the film I just find the characters and premise less interesting than other films in the series. On its own, it's a great film.

​

The Good	The Bad
Dani and Rahne and their relationship are great
Cool plot
Good horror balance
I like Dr Reyes
I like Illyana

 

[Jackie Frost]

Spoiler: #10

X-Men: First Class

"There is so much more to you [Magneto] than you know. Not just pain and anger. There is good, too. I felt it." - Professor Xavier
​

The New Mutants was kind of a spin off, because the story and characters are largely very disconnected from most of the franchise. The same could kind of be said about the two Deadpools. So X-Men: First Class is my least favourite of the films in the series with a major connection to the mainstream story and characters in the franchise.

X-Men: First Class (2011) released following the original trio and X-Men Origins: Wolverine and if I understand it correctly it was originally meant to be a reboot of the franchise, but with the release of X-Men: Days of Future Past, where Logan travels back in time to 1973 to prevent a catastrophic 2023, and changes everything that happened after that (so that's what I mean when I refer to old timeline new timeline), First Class was changed to be a prequel to the first X-Men. Because of this, there are a few plot holes concerning this film, for example:

Spoiler

• In X1 Prof X says he met Magneto when they were 17 but they're pretty clearly older than that in First Class​
• In X1 Prof X says, and in X2 Magneto also says, that Magneto helped build Cerebro even though First Class shows the first Cerebro was built by Beast. (and Magneto and Xavier became enemies at the end, before the version of Cerebro we see in X1 was built, so it'd seem unlikely that Erik would help Xavier build the newer version after that)​
• First Class depicts Xavier losing his ability to walk in 1962 yet he walked in Origins Wolverine and in the Jean Grey flashback in the Last Stand, which both took place later. He also used his telepathy on both occassions, undermining the argument he used Beast's serum seen in DOFP.​
• Xavier should have known about the helmet from First Class and therefore should've known why he couldn't find Magneto with Cerebro in X1.​
• Several characters' ages seem really inconsistent, like Moira MacTaggert in this film doesn't appear to be significantly younger than she does in films set decades later e.g. Apocalypse.​

Set in 1962, First Class is notable for being the chronologically earliest film and the only film in the series whose main events apply to both the old timeline and the new timeline since it's before 1973 which is when Wolverine travels back to in DOFP (I say main events, because for example Origins Wolverine opens when Wolverine is very young which was way before 1973 but the main story appears to be in the late 70s, which were erased). First Class is the first member of the beginnings tetralogy. It tells the story of how Xavier and Magneto were once friends and team mates, but later split and formed the two opposing teams, the X-Men and the Brotherhood of Mutants.

And yeah, it does pretty well, the opening with Magneto's past is really good. I do prefer Ian McKellen as Magneto and Patrick Stewart as Xavier, but Fassbender and McAvoy are also pretty good actors and fitting for their respective roles. What I don't like is Mystique growing up with Charles, it feels a bit weird since a special relationship between them was never really touched on in the original trilogy or really anywhere other than Dark Phoenix. Also it really annoys me when Mystique is referred to as Raven because of Teen Titans Go. And for some reason having grown up with the original trilogy and none of the beginnings tetralogy, Mystique being a hero doesn't sit right with me like Magneto does, probably because her taking sides isn't explored in as much depth.

Anyways, Sebastian Shaw is a pretty good villain. He did terrible things to Magneto's life, leading an adult Magneto to track him down. Turns out that like Wolverine and Apocalypse, he has an extended lifespan and that's just one of his powers. Shaw's powers make him a good villain because he feels really dangerous - it's near impossible to hurt him because he can absorb the energy from whatever you attack him with, and then use it very destructively.

Spoiler

Best seen when he attacks the CIA and all of the bullets, even the explosive projectile fired and him he just absorbs and then uses to blow stuff up.

In the end, it's not quite clear how Magneto managed to kill him with the coin. I'd say there would be three explanations:
1) Magneto is an immensely powerful mutant and using his magnetic powers he gave energy to the coin faster than Shaw could absorb that energy (as seen when Shaw absorbs the grenade's energy he does have limits to how fast he can absorb energy)
2) Shaw's powers are at least partially reliant on his consciousness so Xavier freezing him stopped him from being able to absorb the coin's energy.
3) Magneto moved the coin a certain way so that Shaw couldn't absorb energy to stop it.

Nonetheless, Magneto finally getting revenge on Shaw using the coin he still kept from the the opening of the film we see is very satisfying, though I'm still not quite sure why Xavier was so against Magneto killing Sebastian Shaw - maybe it's because, like with Firefirst in Deadpool 2, Xavier knew that once you start you often can't stop.

Shaw has a team of villainous mutants, the Hellfire Club, which is a decent villain team albeit I'm not too much a fan of any of the individual members besides Shaw himself, but

Spoiler

I'm quite unsatisfied at the end when Magneto willingly joins sides with the former associates of his archenemy, like Azazel and Emma Frost, like it's just something that casually happens without really being discussed.

Beast is a pretty good character in this film too, how he's really smart and cool but he hates his mutation, and Mystique, who he's close to, disagrees with him on that refusing to take the serum

Spoiler

But when Beast takes the serum it gives him his distinctive blue fur we see in the Last Stand and the other beginnings films

And yeah the scenes where the first X-Men are being recruited are cool, I think they're a pretty cool team and it's cool how Xavier and Beast are the only ones who are still on the team by the time the original trilogy comes around. However I didn't like how Darwin

Spoiler

gets killed by Sebastian Shaw very soon after we first get to see him, like it could have been so cool if we'd seen his powers be used for some more things

Also this film is the source of the I prefer the real.... I said the real.... Perfection meme and the Peace was never an option meme but dang that goose for stealing it from Magneto

​

The Good	The Bad
Charles Xavier and Erik Lensherr are both amazing characters and the relationship between them depicted in this film is amazing	Spoiler Unsatisfied by Erik choosing to team up with Shaw's former team mates at the end
Sebastian Shaw is a good villain and the Hellfire Club as an overall team is good	Mystique
Cool how it's the earliest film in the series and the only one in both timelines, and sets the stage for the first film	This film is responsible for a few continuity errors
Beast was good	Darwin
Original X-Men team was cool
Memes

 

[Jackie Frost]

Spoiler: #9

The Wolverine

"Your grandfather called me a ronin, a samurai without a master. He said I was destined to live forever, with no reason to live." - Logan​

Wolverine is my favourite character in the X-Men series, and this film despite my issues with it does not dissappoint. His awesome powers and personality are well presented in this film and the action scenes are cool. I guess the story was pretty good too, like

Spoiler

Shingen Yashida being so corrupted that he attempted to murder his daughter, and Ichirō Yashida actually being alive after he supposedly died in the earlier parts of the film, and being the true villain as he set up everything to steal Wolverine's healing powers after Wolverine refused to transfer it willingly.

Also the foster sisters and granddaughters of Ichirō, Yukio and Mariko were pretty cool in this movie, Yukio's ability to predict people's deaths was especially interesting and Mariko's personality was alright but I wasn't too much of a fan of how she is pretty much just a damsel in distress for Wolverine to rescue, even though there's no real reason afair for Wolverine to care about her that much. However, it was pretty good when

Spoiler

She used Wolverine's severed claws to stab her grandfather, which saved Wolverine from being killed, saying "I buried my grandfather" (I guess that she could see that he had gone evil and refused to let him kill Wolverine)

Also that post credits scene where Xavier and Magneto foreshadow X-Men: Days of Future Past and Wolverine is amazed that Xavier is still alive, and Xavier repeats his line from X1 "You're not the only one with gifts". That was a great post credits scene, maybe my favourite in the series.

My main complaint about the film is that the story, characters, and setting don't feel that much like a Wolverine film - it feels like a film about a bunch of chaos surrounding a family in Japan and the main character has to protect the granddaughter of that family, and that Wolverine was the hero who just happened to be put in that role. I guess the whole thing about eternal life and having powers blocked and how the hero can still be young and fit even many decades after saving the grandfather, is something that wouldn't work with most superheroes, but I feel that mostly, Logan as the main protagonist could've been replaced by another superhero and the film mostly still would've worked without drastic reworking. And that's not a good thing. Whereas, X-Men Origins: Wolverine and Logan I'd struggle to see working if the main protagonist of those films were anyone other than Logan, which is part of why I love those films more.

The Good	The Bad
Logan is an amazing character	Story and setting doesn't feel that much like a Wolverine film
The story was good
I like Yukio and Mariko
Spoiler The final battle was pretty good, with Ichirō being a pretty good twist villain.
Spoiler I really liked the scene where Wolverine removes the parasite bug.
Good action scenes
Great post credits scene

​

 

[Jackie Frost]

Spoiler: #8

X-Men: Days of Future Past

"All those years wasted fighting each other, Charles. To have a precious few of them back." - Magneto​

Note: I have never seen X-Men: Days of Future Past: The Rogue Cut.

Unpopular opinion I know putting this one around in the middle, but still I do like it just I liked several films in the series more.

We open with the dystopian future where mutants are being tracked down and killed by the Sentinels - robots with strong powers that prove too much for even the X-Men to defeat. So we at first see a fight where several mutants, some of whom we recognise as X-Men, fighting the Sentinels and a lot of them are slain. But then we see Shadowcat (portrayed by Elliot Page!!! I think it was after they came out as gay but before coming out as trans) sending Bishop's mind back in time and resets a few things so people like Iceman and Blink are alive again.

Now we see several recognisable characters: Professor Xavier, Wolverine, Shadowcat, Storm, Iceman, and Magneto who are in a hideout. They decide they have to send Wolverine's mind back in time (somehow his healing ability means he is the only one who can survive having your mind projected back in time 50 years) to 1973, when the first edition of the Sentinels were being developed and a certain event

Spoiler

Mystique murdering Bolivar Trask which prompted the humans to see mutants as a threat, so they captured Mystique's DNA to create more advanced sentinels that we see at the start of the film.

and he then finds Xavier and Beast and convinces them to help him so they work together to try to stop the Sentinels being developed.

Spoiler

They find Quicksilver, and with him they break Magneto out of prison (they don't realise they're father and son yet.) The Quicksilver scenes were really cool, especially the kitchen one. Then they go to the white house where mystique is just about to do the assassination and chaos breaks out. Magneto uses metal to gain control of the Sentinels, which later at the unveiling he essentially controls them and uses them against his enemies, including Beast and Wolverine, which was pretty awesome.

During the events of the film, Xavier eventually decides to stop taking the serum, and he reads Wolverine's mind gaining knowledge of the original timeline, and uses Wolverine's mind as a bridge to communicate with himself in 2023 which was pretty cool.

Towards the end of the film we see the future again and how the Sentinels have found them and a lot of the mutants defending Shadowcat and Wolverine are being killed. In the 1973 final battle Magneto does some pretty cool stuff and has the Sentinels to his control. Mystique shoots Magneto but he does survive since he appears in X-Men: Apocalpyse. Mystique dramatically drops the gun which symbolises that she decides not to kill the president, so this stops the Sentinels being made.

By this time in 2023 the Sentinels have beaten everyone, Iceman is the last defense but he's taken out too, and pretty cheesy/cliche (still dramatic tho) is that they're just about to kill Shadowcat when she breaks the connection and erases the future.

Wolverine is pulled out of the lake by William Stryker and his crew and we see Stryker is actually Mystique in disguise, but it's very disappointing that this never goes anywhere. Wolverine's consciousness from 2023 that was sent back in time now wakes in 2023 in the new timeline and sees Jean and Cyclops still alive, and talks to the Professor, which is a pretty cool ending.

The post credits scene shows Ancient Egypt, a guy building pyramids with telekinesis whilst a bunch of people chanting "En Sabah Nur." At the time of watching my first and so far only watch through of this film I was so confused at this (I think it'd have been aimed at fans of Marvel Comics who would have known who Apocalypse is before X-Men: Apocalypse was revealed).

Overall I guess it was cool with the time travel idea (but I can kind of tell that the film basically exists in order to have a more sensible reboot of the franchise rather than just saying first class resets it there's that, with this film they had a reason for there being a reboot.) I think I mentioned this on the boards a while ago, but a problem I have with this film is that it feels like Wolverine himself isn't as good in this film as he is in many others, even though he's the main character, he never really does anything himself he just goes to get Xavier and Beast and then goes along with them, and he doesn't play much of a role in the prison break or the white house attack scene, or the tension between Xavier and Magneto (I hadn't seen First Class when I watched this so that was a little out of context btw),

Spoiler

he makes one attempt at attacking Magneto at the end but is quickly taken out of the fight

it always feels like Wolverine is just following along with the events of the film and not really being a part of it. And the only uses of his powers afair are

Spoiler

• Surving being sent back 50 years
• Accidentally hurting Kitty
• Defeating the guys who attack him after he wakes up in 1973
• A few not really useful instances like taking out the claws to show Quicksilver
• One attempt at attacking Magneto
• Surviving the drowning I guess

​

The Good	The Bad
I guess the story and time travel are cool	Time travel story is kinda confusing and is responsible for making the plot of the series a lot more convoluted with all the different timelines (as hilariously pointed out by Deadpool)
I like Wolverine and it's good he is the main protagonist	While I do like Wolverine in this film I feel he's weaker in this film than in the original trilogy as it feels like he doesn't get involved enough and just follows along
Sentinels are cool and the action scenes with them are cool	Post credits scene made no sense
Quicksilver and the prison break scene was so good	Spoiler Dissappointing that Mystique disguising as Stryker never went anywhere
Ending scene was great

 

[Jackie Frost]

Spoiler: #7

X-Men: Apocalypse

"The weak have taken the Earth. For this, I was betrayed. False gods. Idols. No more. I have returned. The new tomorrow, that starts today " - En Sabah Nur a.k.a. Apocalypse
​

The sequel to the 1973 events of DOFP and the first film whose main events are in the revised timeline (not counting First Class which was before the timeline split, and DOFP), Apocalypse does pretty well. I'd seen the Last Stand and had faint memories of the first two when I watched Apocalypse so it was particularly fun to see some familiar faces from the original timeline, which feel the same but different: Cyclops, Jean, Nightcrawler, William Stryker, Storm, and some more. The film takes place in 1983 so the events of DOFP get referenced as being an important historical event.

The start of the film shows us a bit of Apocalypse's backstory, which Moira MacTaggert later gives more details on. Basically, he was the world's first mutant and transferred his consciousness to the bodies of other mutants to live forever and amass a large set of powers (as when he does this he gains that mutant's powers and keeps all previous ones), and then made himself ruler over humans with four "horsemen" each time. The last transference, in Ancient Egypt is shown in the start of the film, and some people sabotage it, killing the four horsemen and making Apocalypse dormant for millennia. It was a good scene I guess but when I first watched it I found it far too chaotic and confusing.

In short, the film's plot revolves around Apocalypse finally waking up and making an attempt to rule the world,

Spoiler

And force Charles Xavier to be the next mutant he transfers his mind into so that he can acquire Xavier's immensely powerful telepathic abilities.

And we see a lot of different things going on in the film that we switch between:

• Nightcrawler and Mystique in Berlin
• Magneto having a new family in Poland
• Scott Summers developing his powers, enrolling in Xavier's school and being helped by his older brother then meeting Jean Grey
• Storm meeting Apocalypse
• MacTaggert witnessing the ritual then meeting with Xavier (her memory had been wiped of the events of First Class) and discussing Apocalypse's backstory

But in the end these things all come together and we get an X-Men team vs Apocalypse and his disciples in honestly a pretty cool final battle, and the stakes of this film are really high as Apocalypse is intent on overtaking the whole world and is willing to do a lot of killing in order to achieve it.

Apocalypse himself is a pretty decent villain, his powers make him arguably the most powerful villain in the entire series, and it works well with the plot that he's able to bestow and enhance superpowers, and has teleportation, telepathic immunity, and nigh-immortality and invincibility. His personality isn't too unique but it does work well with his backstory, powers, and goals that a major aspect of his personality is seeing himself as a god and expecting others to submit to him and expecting he will effortlessly kill them if they refuse.

Spoiler

But in the end, Xavier (and the rest of the team) manage to defeat him which is satisfying given his arrogance

The Weapon X scene was also amazing, when I was watching the film I'd really been thinking where's Wolverine for the whole movie, and then when he finally showed up I was relieved because even though he disappears after his one scene it was a good scene. It's one of the few times in the series when he goes full on berserker rage mode. Also that post credits scene forshadowing Logan was good.

And you can tell the producers picked up on the positive reception the Quicksilver scene in DOFP got, cause they did it again and it's even better.

​

The Good	The Bad
Good story	Intro scene is a bit chaotic
Apocalypse is a pretty good villain
Good action scenes
Quicksilver scene was amazing
Spoiler Wolverine scene was amazing
Following DOFP it boots off the revised timeline films pretty well and it's nice to see so many familiar characters

 

[Jackie Frost]

Spoiler: #6

X-Men Origins: Wolverine

"In my whole life, I felt like an animal. I ignored my instincts, and I ignored what I really am. And that won't ever happen again." - Logan​

Very unpopular opinion that I didn't put this movie in the lower places on the list, as the film gets a lot of negative reception, the majority seems to be about

Spoiler

Deadpool / Weapon XI for being wildly different to how Deadpool is known to fans as, especially as this film preceded Deadpool by 7 years (this movie was Wade's cinematic debut)

Personally I did dislike the portrayal of Deadpool in this film, especially for not having his suit and having his mouth sewn shut (as Weapon XI - before his transformation he was actually pretty good with Ryan Reynolds looking good as him, and portraying his fun personality really well - with William Stryker commenting "If you didn't have that mouth on you, Wade, you'd be the perfect soldier." Shame we didn't get to see this version of Wade for a little longer.) However it didn't drag the film down that much for me, in particular because I saw this film before I watched Deadpool 2 and thus, before I became a fan of Wade in the first place.

I personally think Team X was a big disappointment anyway, like it's clearly pretty forcefully scripted that they each show their powers once or twice on one mission, and then Logan leaves and the team ends, with

Spoiler

Victor then hunting several of them down to steal their DNA to create Deadpool

Otherwise it also got criticism for the GCI but imo I never had a problem with that.
So what do I like so much about the movie? Well as has previously been mentioned in this thread, Logan is my favourite character in the series and the movie does a pretty brilliant job of telling his origins. The start was good with his childhood and fleeing with Victor, and it was interesting how Victor in the movie's opening portrayed Victor as a really loving older brother, keeping James company and going to find James and accompany him as they fled Howlett Estate even after seeing James killing their father before their eyes, with Victor saying "he deserved it." Like in the comics, James adopts the nickname Logan from the name of his biological father (also Victor's biological father and likely a passive carrier of the mutation which is why they have similar powers, and tells James he is his biological father not John Howlett with his dying breath)

Spoiler

After Logan quits Team X, Victor remains (I think secretly) loyal to William Stryker and helps Stryker fake Kayla's death, which made Logan become determined to kill Victor, a goal he pursues for most of the rest of the movie but when he finally gets the chance, he decides not to. Later, Victor essentially betrays Stryker by saving Logan's life from Weapon XI and they team up and manage to defeat Weapon XI, Victor disappears saying it's never over between them because they're brothers, and then unfortunately we don't really know what happens to him until X-Men, where he's portrayed by a different actor and has no dialogue and just appears to be an obedient servant of Magneto.

So yeah I really liked Logan and Victor's relationship throughout the film, the action scenes were also pretty decent and we had some good fight scenes with Wolverine. Hugh Jackman looked and acted really good for the lead role. It's a slight disappointment the film doesn't really tap into the berserker rage side of Wolverine very much and doesn't make the adamantium bonding procedure seem as traumatic as it's made to seem in X2: X-Men United. But the adamantium bonding scene was still really cool.

The ending was a bit disappointing.

Spoiler

There's Deadpool obviously, as I said a bit about earlier, and then he gets revealed to still be alive in a post credits scene, which sadly never went anywhere since Deadpool doesn't feature in any other old timeline films and Origins Wolverine is erased by the timeline change in DOFP.

Then Logan and Kayla reconcile despite their relationship being a setup by Stryker, and he carries her into the sunset only to be interrupted by Stryker which is really frustrating and Logan's memory gets erased and he wakes up and sees Kayla's body not recognising her which is really sad.

The Good	The Bad
Wolverine is great, and his relationship with Victor is so good	Wade Wilson
Cool fight and action scenes	Disappointing ending
Works as a good prequel to the original trilogy, in particular Logan's backstory	Doesn't explore Wolverine's dark side

 

[Jackie Frost]

Spoiler: #5

X-Men

"We are now seeing the beginnings of another stage of human evolution." - Jean Grey​

The very first movie in the series to be released, X-Men was a movie that when I watched it this year made me very nostalgic for when I saw it a lot as a child. It's a classic, and I think there's one outstanding reason why: most of the main characters that come to mind when I think of the X-Men franchise are in this movie, and in their traditional roles.

Wolverine is a guy wandering the world with no memory of his past, taken in by the X-Men and ends up fighting for them, and is the central protagonist. Charles Xavier is the runner of the school, the leader of the X-Men team, and a kind and peaceful person who believes in mutants and humans making peace. Jean Grey, Cyclops, and Storm are existing members of the X-Men who befriend Wolverine (well Cyclops and Wolverine aren't really friends lmao but they're able to work together at least) and stay on the side of fighting for the X-Men during the film. Magneto is the leader of the villain team Brotherhood of Mutants, who believes contrary to Xavier that mutants and humans cannot and should not try to work together, instead mutants should make themselves superior to humans - he is the primary antagonist. Mystique is his loyal minion who uses her shapeshifting and martial arts skills to infiltrate places and trick or assassinate people.

Also the actors in the original trilogy (consisting of this movie, X2: X-Men United, and X-Men: The Last Stand) are largely the best in my opinion, Patrick Stewart as Professor Xavier, Ian McKellen as Magneto, James Marsden as Cyclops, Halle Berry as Storm, and, of course, Hugh Jackman as Logan (albeit that's the case for all the films). Only real exception that comes to mind is that I actually prefer Sophie Turner to Famke Janssen as Jean Grey, but within this movie, Janssen does work better with the cast cause she's the older Jean Grey and Turner is the younger one that works better with the cast for X-Men: Apocalypse and X-Men: Dark Phoenix. Oh and Elliot Page is the best Shadowcat by far but Shadowcat's appearance in this film was only very minor

The differences in the leaders of the two teams views on the relationship between mutants and humans is the main driving force of the film. Rogue isn't one of the first characters to come to mind but I do remember her from childhood and watching her in this film again was nice, she's a pretty good character imo because I like her personality and her feelings about her own mutation, and how Wolverine acts as a parental figure to her.

Spoiler

and indeed he sure has to once Magneto attempts to kill her to power his machine

The film is just the classic X-Men formula and gives me so many happy memories, and is executed pretty well especially given it came first. Only real issue with this film is that being all the way back then the graphics are a bit poor, this one's the only film in the franchise for which I felt the graphics were a significant problem

​

The Good	The Bad
Nostalgia	Graphics aren't very good
Classic; features most of the characters in their roles I view as classic
Relationship between Cyclops and Wolverine is pretty funny
Wolverine is the main character, and I love him
I like Rogue
Final Battle is pretty good

 

[Jackie Frost]

Spoiler: #4

X-Men: The Last Stand

"I wanna be able to touch people... a hug... a handshake... a kiss." - Rogue
​

Like X-Men Origins: Wolverine, it's a very unpopular opinion that I didn't rank this lower, but like X-Men, it's a classic nostalgic movie to me that probably stuck out in my memory the most in between first watching it as a child and then rewatching it finally this year. It's the final member of the original trilogy of X-Men films, a truly great trilogy imo and while it's not my favourite that still makes it one of my favourites. Fun fact this was the most expensive movie ever when it was released, but has since been overtaken

By far my favourite thing is

Spoiler

The massive final battle. I know I'm discussing this movie out of order here but the final battle is so good I have to start with it. Apart from maybe X2: X-Men United, I believe every film in this series has a final battle but this one is easily the best.

The whole movie was building up to it, Magneto building his team and the cure being developed and gradually becoming more coercively weaponised against the mutants, Magneto being very against the cure to the point of being violent against humans, whilst the X-Men opposed Magneto's actions.

In its entirety the final battle is about 15-20 minutes in length I think and the whole of it is amazing. It's a bit too long to be considered a scene or moment, but if you get what I mean it's one of my favourite bits in the entire series. It's so packed full of action and plot twists and cool mutant power moments and the ending is so awesome.

First Magneto and the Brotherhood arrive on the Golden Gate Bridge and Magneto uses his powers to move the bridge to transport his Brotherhood to Alcatraz (where the cure is being made and Leech/Jimmy the mutant boy who was used to create it resides.) They attack - "the pawns go first" in Magneto's words and many are cured or killed in the battle due to the soldiers using cure guns which removes mutant powers, which are made of plastic so Magneto can't float them away like he did in X-Men. However Arclight, a member of the Brotherhood, uses her powers to generate shock waves which destroys all the cure guns, giving the Brotherhood a big lead.

Then the X-Men (Wolverine, Storm, Colossus, Shadowcat, Iceman, and Beast) arrive and defend Leech and the soldiers which they do successfully. Storm and Callisto have a rematch after they fought once at Jean Grey's house, which Storm wins pretty epically. Magneto eventually orders Juggernaut to break into the building and kill Leech, which Shadowcat alone enters the building to stop him, resulting in an interesting chase where Shadowcat runs through the walls and Juggernaut pursues her, smashing through them. Shadowcat reaches Leech first, but is unable to escape because Leech nullifies her powers, so she tricks Juggernaut into knocking himself out because Leech being near nullified his unstoppable movement powers. By now pretty much the only Brotherhood members left fighting are Magneto and Pyro, so the two start combining their powers to throw flaming cars at the X-Men, each causing a huge explosion, forcing them to hide. Former friends turned archenemies Pyro and Iceman have an extremely cool duel, with Iceman winning. Wolverine distracts Magneto and Beast injects Magneto with the cure.

Then human reinforcements finally appear and shoot at the X-Men mistaking them for Brotherhood members, but Jean stops them all in mid-air and due to her evil Phoenix persona taking over, kills all the soldiers and starts wreaking havoc, but Magneto and the X-Men escape, with Shadowcat and Iceman successfully getting Leech to safety and Magneto looking back at Jean and asking himself "What have I done?". Wolverine stays behind, telling Storm "I'm the only one who can stop [Jean]." His regeneration powers allow him to survive what is one of the most epic Wolverine scenes in the series, with Jean/Phoenix disintegrating his body massively but he heals so fast he survives and approaches Jean. The real Jean comes forth and tells Wolverine "save me" so Wolverine kills her using his claws and cries out in grief - the only time Wolverine feels grief for someone he has hurt, a grief he is shown to keep in The Wolverine. And with that the fight is done.

Other than that, there's not a huge amount I feel like talking about. The cure concept is really interesting and reflects real life where some things about us are things we'd want to have cured, other things sure they can make our lives hard but they're a part of our humanity and we'd never want to change that about ourselves. Mutants like Iceman, Shadowcat, or Mystique don't really have any motivation that I know of to give up their powers, but others, Rogue and Angel being the main ones presented in the movie, would want to take the cure since their mutation makes their lives more difficult. Albeit

Spoiler

Angel at the last second decides he no longer wants to take the cure and leaves, whereas Rogue never changes her mind and does take it

I liked the scene at the start with Professor X and Magneto visiting Jean Grey as a child and how that's repeated later in the film but different.

Spoiler

The film also had good plot twists at the end, with the final pre-credits scene revealing the cure wasn't permanent or fully effective as Magneto wobbles a chess piece (in 2023 DOFP he's then using his powers as if they were never gone) and Charles Xavier shown to still be alive via the exact same thing he was talking to the students about earlier - transferring his consciousness into the body of a brain dead patient.

The scene with Mystique taking the cure gun for Magneto was good and how he then abandoned her saying "You're not one of us anymore." was great

So yeah overall great movie because of how amazing the end was but the rest of it was honestly not that great but still very nostalgic, sorry most of this one is behind spoiler tags

The Good	The Bad
Amazing end	A majority of the movie is not that interesting besides the end
Nostalgia
Cure is a very interesting concept

 

[Jackie Frost]

Spoiler: #3

X2: X-Men United

"People don't change, Wolverine. You were an animal then, you're an animal now. I just gave you claws." - William Stryker
​

My reasons for liking X2 are pretty much the same as with the first film - it's a classic, it gives me a ton of nostalgia, the actors here are the best.

The film takes place seemingly maybe a few months to a year after the first film, and we see Mystique is still impersonating Senator Kelly, and she learns about Magneto being in prison and tries to access him. William Stryker is introduced pretty early in the film (yes, the same guy who was the main antagonist of Origins Wolverine, that film was a prequel to this and yes the same timeline) and is clearly established as the main antagonist, it's gradually revealed his plans are

Spoiler

• Use his mind control serum to get Magneto to reveal Cerebro was in the X-Mansion (success)
• Once he finds that out, he launches an attack on the X-Mansion to kidnap the kids, I don't know what use this was to him, most escape via secret tunnels and many of the soldiers he sends are slain by Logan.
• He breaks into the basement and collects data about Cerebro to make a new one
• He succesfully kidnaps Charles Xavier and Cyclops whilst they're paying a visit to Magneto in prison, and brainwashes Cyclops with the mind control serum
• He uses his son, Jason Stryker (a former student Xavier recognised, also he was referenced in Origins Wolverine as "the first piece in the [Weapon XI] puzzle" but it's not really clear what that was about) to manipulate Xavier to use his new version of Cerebro to kill all mutants.

So yeah Stryker was a pretty good villain in this film despite not having any superpowers himself, both because of his interesting scheme and also his interactions with Logan throughout the film. I also feel Mystique and Magneto were really good in this film, because

Spoiler

Mystique is so cool with two awesome infiltration scenes (once as some authorised person to access Stryker's computer, another as Wolverine to break into Stryker's base and help Magneto and the X-Men break in) and breaking Magneto out of prison by tracking down his security guard and injecting him with excess iron, Magneto's subsequent prison break scene was awesome. Magneto doesn't really have a Brotherhood of Mutants in this film, it's just him and Mystique, they save the X-Men from a plane crash and team up with them, but it was such a good moment when they betray the X-Men to reverse Stryker's plan and kill all humans

I also liked how Wolverine, Rogue, Pyro, and Iceman kind of being their own team was nice and I loved the scene where Bobby comes out to his parents as a mutant because it feels so much like he's coming out as LGBT.

Oddly I believe this is the only film in the series that lacks a real final battle. There's a sequence of closing events, which do involve a couple of combat scenes, but no real single big battle that closes the film.

​

The Good	The Bad
Features Wolverine in a prominent role	No real final battle
William Stryker is a great villain
Mystique and Magneto were great in this film
Classic and nostalgic

 

[Jackie Frost]

Spoiler: #2

Dark Phoenix

"Who are we? Are we simply what others want us to be? Are destined to a fate beyond our control? Or can we evolve? Become... something more?" - Jean Grey
​

As with X-Men Origins: Wolverine and X-Men: The Last Stand, it's a very unpopular opinion that I placed Dark Phoenix so high on this list when it's usually regarded as being one of the weaker films in the series. However, to this day I still don't really get what people hate about this film. It's the final member (both chronologically and by release date) of the beginnings tetralogy, taking place in 1992, so 9 years after X-Men: Apocalypse. It's the second to last film in the overall series by release date, with The New Mutants being the last, but that film is pretty disconnected from the mainline story and characters in the series, so this is the final film to be released which does have a major connection to the main story.

The movie is about Jean Grey, a mutant with powerful telekinetic abilities and maybe moderate telepathic abilities, who absorbs a cosmic force which massively enhances her superpowers but she then starts going through phases (phoenix mode) where she loses control and hurts people. It's very reminiscent of the events of X-Men: The Last Stand, which I like. The main antagonists are the D'Bari, and in particular their leader Vuk, who are gradually revealed over the course of the film and towards the end Vuk reveals

Spoiler

The cosmic force destroyed their home world so the surviving D'Bari pursued the force and Jean was the first thing they encountered who was able to absorb it. Vuk partially absorbs the cosmic force and becomes even more powerful than the other D'Bari.

The D'Bari are shown to be pretty powerful villains - shapeshifting, superhuman durability and regeneration, superhuman strength, and probably total telepathic immunity. Vuk after absorbing a part of the cosmic force is even more powerful and seems to have telekinesis as well.

Unfortunately the 'our planet was destroyed so we searched for one to replace it and found Earth so we overthrow humans to live there' is a bit cliché, for instance the Alien Pigs in TTG did that too.

I guess I like it so much because I found the plot so interesting and Jean Grey as the lead role was done really well (Sophie Turner did really well). The final battle was also really good albeit not even close to Last Stand.

Spoiler

I guess Magneto was interesting too, in that Jean visits him to ask how did you stop hurting people and Magneto says he hurt people to take away the pain he had from having his loved ones taken away from him (shown in First Class and Apocalypse). That was interesting and a good conclusion to his character arc over the course of the beginnings tetralogy. He even does good as when Jean Grey attacks the soldiers that came for her, he protects the soldiers by using his magnetic powers to help them escape in the helicopter. Unfortunately that all turns around when he completely goes against his redeemed villain arc because when Beast informs him that Jean killed Mystique (oh yeah by the way Mystique's death was great imo) he then decides to form an attack to kill Jean, which he fails. Albeit during his confrontation with Vuk, he says he "had a change of heart" and attempts to defend Jean from Vuk.

Beast betraying the X-Men and joining Magneto in the plot to kill Jean, even fighting against his former teammates, after Mystique dies was also a good part of the plot imo.

Charles Xavier was also good in this film as he gets a lot of backlash from other characters but he owns up to his mistakes and continues trying to do his best to help and protect the vulnerable despite all the backlash he faces.

Spoiler

I was a bit disappointed at the end though when he resigns and the school is renamed after Jean instead of him. But he and Magneto having one last chess game at the end was so good - one of the most iconic things about the series is Xavier and Lensherr playing chess.

​

The Good	The Bad
Jean Grey is a great main character	D'Bari aren't really optimal villains
The story was good	After he was amazing in Apocalypse and DOFP I feel this film did Quicksilver badly.
Spoiler Mystique's death and Beast betraying the X-Men was good	Magneto would've been amazing but had one major problem
Charles Xavier was great in this movie
Good final battle

Spoiler: #1

Logan

"Nature made me a freak. Man made me a weapon. And God made it last too long." - Logan​

And my favourite movie in the X-Men series is Logan. Of the many unpopular opinions I've expressed in this thread, this isn't one of them - Logan is often seen as being one of the best in the franchise. The film is about Logan who has grown older and his superpowers in particular his regenerative powers are weaker and he has to care for Charles Xavier and Laura Kinney

I first learned of this film a long time ago, seeing posters of it when I was visiting New York City and they looked so cool, ominously saying "his time has come" I was 14 at the time and I'd seen the original trilogy, The Wolverine, and part of Origins Wolverine and I'd always been a fan of Logan and here he looked so cool. I saw the first trailer around that time also (I didn't see the second trailer until a few weeks before watching the film) and it was so cool. I also did some looking up of stuff on Marvel fandom wiki and found out about X-23 and I eventually pieced it together that the girl in the trailer whom Xavier described as "very much like you [Logan]" was Laura Kinney a.k.a. X-23 which was definitely confirmed when I watched the second trailer. Tbh though I think having Laura as an 11-year old was far too young imo especially in a film that has a lot of dark adult and violent stuff in it, I'd have preferred it if she was a late teen in this film. Despite this, I still really liked Laura in this film for being cool in general and her relationship with Logan. Also after I first saw the ads in NYC I later read an article saying that Wolverine was suffering adamantium poisoning and was losing his healing factor. Unfortunately, a few months after this, someone at school spoiled me that

Spoiler

Logan dies

And I also accidentally got spoiled online (my fault admittedly) that Xavier dies

And furthermore, Deadpool 2 which I saw before this reveals Logan died by being impaled by a tree stump.

In fact one notable thing about this movie is that basically every significant character apart from the X-23 children die at some point. Logan, Charles, and all three Munsons were murdered by X-24. X-24 shot and killed by Laura. Zander Rice shot and killed by Logan, Donald Pierce killed by the X-23 children. Gabriella Lopez killed presumably by the Reavers. Caliban blows himself up.

The film, as stated in OP was the final film I watched in my X-Men film watching spree this year and is chronologically the final film in the series to take place (even if the original timeline is counted; this film takes place in the revised timeline albeit Logan's consciousness is from the original timeline as depicted in DOFP when he wakes up in 2023 again and sees Jean and Cyclops still alive) even though it wasn't the last one to be released. It was a great way to end everything and aside from the DP2 spoiler works well as being the conclusion to everything. I'd seen both the Deadpools and the new mutants by this point so I'd become accustomed to the 15+ content by now (but I still don't feel that the excessive swearing and violence really adds anything valuable.) The start was quite good, not amazing, but once we get to the bit where Laura first unleashes her powers and the chase begins, it becomes so good.

The hotel scene is pretty good and the fourth wall break with the comics is quite cool. Logan, Charles and Laura staying with the Munsons pretending to be an ordinary family was a pretty cool part of the film.

Spoiler

I don't know how I didn't see it coming looking back but when X-24 kills Charles Xavier in the Munson house, I legit thought it was Logan and was like whaaaat and that was such an epic scene. I guess it's a good thing I somehow didn't notice.

Most of the film is essentially one big chase since

Spoiler

Donald Pierce and Zander Rice are out to kill all the X-23 children which include Laura, so Charles, Logan, and Laura are constantly on the run from the Reavers. And it's pretty epic and exciting.

After the Munson family incident, Caliban blows himself up with grenades so they can no longer use him to track Logan and Laura since Caliban realised Rice had lied that he didn't intent to cause harm to Logan and Xavier. Logan buries Charles and then the pair eventually go to meet up with the other X-23 children, after Laura finally says her first words during the film much to Logan's surprise. We find out they're trying to escape to Canada (someone over the phone ) and are being hunted down by the Reavers. It's unclear exactly what's on the other side of the border but it's been speculated that it's a team from Marvel Comics called Alpha Flight who would have protected the X-23 children when they got there.

The Reavers get there and attack the X-23 as they cross. Some use their powers to defend themselves, but most of the Reavers die to Laura and Logan, the latter having overdosed on a serum that boosts his powers. However it wears off and the after effect leaves him weak and vulnerable. Zander Rice gives his speech to Logan, but Logan just pulls out a gun and shoots him and the X-23 children kill Pierce and the other remaining Reavers. Now X-24 is the only enemy left who Logan encourages the X-23 to run from as he is being badly defeated, but Laura stays and it was so cool how she uses the adamantium bullet Logan had been intending to shoot himself with to kill the evil clone.

Logan dies from his injuries in Laura's arms, metaphorically fulfilling Yukio's prophecy in The Wolverine, which I believe the producer James Mangold has confirmed was intentional; "you're lying on your back", true, "there's blood everywhere", true, "you're holding your own heart in your hand, it's not beating", representing he holds hands with his daughter as he breaths his final breath, who has accepted him as her father and is very upset at his death, and is no longer fighting since X-24, the Reavers, and Rice have all been killed.

At Logan's funeral Laura recites the lines from the film she watched with Xavier at the hotel and the X-23 run off the border and the final shot shows Laura turning the cross on Logan's grave to an X instead of a + to honour him as an X-Man. A very fitting ending to my watching each of the X-Men films (there's no credits scene in this one.)

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The Good	The Bad
Stars Logan as its main character, who is amazing in this film
Charles Xavier is pretty good
I like Laura
The whole movie being a chase was cool
The part where Logan, Charles, and Laura stay with the Munsons was good
The final battle was good
Spoiler As sad as it was to see Logan pass away at the end, his death was superbly well done
Feels like a very suitable ending to me watching through the whole series and the last film to take place chronologically

 

[supermariofan]

I don't really consider Deadpool an X Men character. He's more like his own Marvel character that just got woven into the X Men universe.

 

[Jackie Frost]

I don't really consider Deadpool an X Men character. He's more like his own Marvel character that just got woven into the X Men universe.

I included the two Deadpools because according to both Wikipedia and the X Men movies fan wiki, they are a part of the series. Also because the Apocalypse/Dark Phoenix version of the X-Men make a cameo in DP2 and in the comics, I believe Deadpool's healing power is derived from Wolverine's DNA. And Wade Wilson, but an absolutely awful portrayal of him does appear as a significant character in Origins Wolverine. But yeah, I accept the two DP films aren't very connected to rest of the series, like the new mutants and I guess The Wolverine and maybe Logan too, but that doesn't make them not a part of the series imo