The X-Men Film Series has had its ups and downs. It contains some of the best and worst comic book movies of all time. It should be noted that popular franchises like the Marvel Cinematic Universe would not even exist without the X-Men movies. In honor of The New Mutants being released on home media, here is a ranking of every movie from the X-Men Film Series.
13. Dark Phoenix (2019): It is heartbreaking that the main series ended on such a low note, but it is not hard to see why this movie is bad. As bad as some of the other X-Men movies got, at least it felt like they were trying as misguided as some of the choices in those movies were. This film does not even seem to be hiding its lack of effort. The movie apparently tries to make up for how the Dark Phoenix story from the comics was butchered in X-Men: The Last Stand, but it only ends up being worse. We follow the X-Men as they are now celebrities and no longer feared by the public. Charles Xavier (James McAvoy) has become extremely arrogant with the team’s newfound success and sends them on increasingly dangerous missions. When Jean Grey (Sophie Turner) is infected by a mysterious substance in space and becomes the Phoenix, a group of aliens try to hunt her down and steal the power for their own nefarious purposes. Dark Phoenix is unbelievably boring, dull and confusing. The reason the Dark Phoenix story worked so well in the comics is because readers knew about Jean for many years as she was always the level headed character who people could open up to. When she became the Phoenix, it was heartbreaking to see such a pure character become so cruel. The movies barely spent time with Jean, especially with the younger version who has only had one film appearance prior to this one. Making her the Dark Phoenix in this means nothing since we don’t have that much of a connection with her. In addition to this, the movie ends with Jean dying and the school being named after her, which effectively retcons the ending of X-Men: Days of Future Past. Also, if it wasn’t clear that Jennifer Lawrence was phoning it in as Mystique in the previous movie, it is definitely obvious now. Aside from Michael Fassbender’s always wonderful performance as Magneto, this movie has next to nothing to like, and is a pathetic final entry for the main X-Men cast.
12. X-Men: The Last Stand (2006): After two great installments, the original X-Men trilogy came to a close with this train-wreck of a film. Brett Ratner took over from Bryan Singer as the director of this film and brought almost none of the charm and heart that was seen in the first two X-Men movies. We follow the X-Men as they once again contend with Magneto (Ian McKellen) who has a much bigger army of mutants than in the first film. The team must protect a young mutant whose DNA is being used for a cure by scientists. In addition to this, Jean Grey (Famke Janssen) returns after being believed to be dead and has become the Dark Phoenix due to her unstable mutant powers. The main problem with this movie is that it tries to cram too much material in a movie that is under two hours. In addition to that, all of the storylines are done very poorly, especially the Dark Phoenix story. The movie is just a mess from start to finish and not worth the time even if there are a few good things like the action and Kelsey Grammer as Beast.
11. X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009): Most people would normally put this in dead last when it comes to a ranking of the X-Men Film Series. However, the reason that this is higher than the previous two entries is that there are indeed things to like about it. The cast is phenomenal. Hugh Jackman is wonderful like always as Wolverine, and new additions like Danny Huston as a young William Stryker and Taylor Kitsch as Gambit are actually decent in their roles. Quite possibly the best addition to the cast is Liev Schreiber as Victor Creed/Sabretooth. The action scenes are also a lot of fun such as Logan and Victor fighting through several different wars during the opening credits, Logan’s escape from Stryker’s base and a helicopter chase scene. However, that does not save the film from its negative aspects. The first problem is that the storytelling is very poor. Many aspects about it do not make sense like Stryker being able to erase Logan’s memories with an adamantium bullet and Kayla (Lynn Collins) having the power to make people do what she wants by touching them yet not being able to use it on Stryker. The CGI is also downright pathetic. Not once do Wolverine’s metal claws look real and make the spotty effects on them in the first film look like some of the best CGI of all time. How does a movie with such a high budget showcase some of the worst special effects ever? Last but not least, this movie is infamous for butchering the character of Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds), who is given a ton of powers that he never had before in the comics and has his mouth sown shut. Deadpool, one of the most popular marvel characters who is famous for never being able to stop talking is not allowed to speak in this. Somebody actually thought it would be a good idea to do that. You figure that one out. X-Men Origins: Wolverine is not a good film. Not by a long shot. However, the movie still has a great cast and a few decent action scenes that keep it from being dead last.
10. The New Mutants (2020): Well, I’m not sure if this movie is a satisfying conclusion to the X-Men Film Series but it is a conclusion. Being notorious for constantly going through production troubles and release date delays, The New Mutants was finally released in 2020 and received mostly negative reviews. I would be lying if I said I didn’t see why. While the cast has great chemistry with one another and the horror aspects do work in some areas, the movie still has a sluggish pace, an awkward script and a group of characters who you can’t really find yourself rooting for. Half of the characters are unlikeable jerks while the other half are immensely boring and have very unconvincing accents. The two characters who manage to remain interesting throughout the film are Illyana Rasputina/Magik (Anya Taylor-Joy) and Raheem Sinclair/Wolfsbane (Maisie Williams). It was an interesting idea to turn a comic book movie into a horror movie, but the PG-13 rating holds the film back from really living up to its potential. The movie also tries to set up several future films that will never be seen due to Disney cancelling all of 20th Century Fox’s upcoming X-Men projects. The New Mutants has a good idea here and there and the cast is clearly trying, but the overall product leaves it being average at best.
9. X-Men (2000): If it wasn’t for this film, I doubt that Marvel movies would be as successful as they are today. This movie arguably paved the way for comic book films moving forward. This is thanks in part to the tremendous casting of characters like Hugh Jackman as Wolverine, Patrick Stewart as Professor X and Ian McKellen as Magneto. The grounded tone also helps the film greatly in certain areas. However, the grounded elements also hold this movie back from being higher on the list. The first X-Men movie seems almost afraid of its comic book roots with how much they try to mock it. The black leather costumes are rather bland and unappealing, and the fact that they poke fun at the original costumes for being too silly is not appreciated. Anna Paquin as Rogue is also an odd casting choice as Rogue was one of the more confident characters in the comics and animated shows prior to this film. On the subject of odd casting choices, the less said about Halle Berry as Storm, the better. While the original X-Men film absolutely deserves the recognition that it gets, some aspects about it really don’t hold up and its desire to be absolutely grounded in reality detracts from the quality instead of improving it.
8. The Wolverine (2013): A massive improvement over X-Men Origins: Wolverine, this film follows the iconic storyline from the comics in which Wolverine travels to Japan and goes up against the Silver Samurai. There are so many things to like about this movie. The action and effects are so much better than the previous Wolverine solo movie. While the script and story aren’t amazing, they are definitely more coherent and interesting than before. Jackman is phenomenal as the title character like always. However, despite being an improvement over X-Men Origins: Wolverine and an overall good film, The Wolverine still suffers from quite a few problems. Nearly all of the characters besides Wolverine and Yukio (Rila Fukushima) are boring and forgettable even when they do have their moments. More importantly however, this movie’s infamous third act really does damage the film’s overall quality. The main villain twist is not shocking, the giant Silver Samurai robot is awkward and the story takes a complete nosedive once Wolverine is captured. If the characters were more interesting and the movie’s climax wasn’t a complete disaster this might have been one of the best movies on the X-Men Film Series. That being said, it is nowhere near as bad as some people might say.
7. X-Men: Apocalypse (2016): The fact that people call this movie the worst film in the series astounds me. I honestly do not understand the hate that X-Men: Apocalypse gets. There have been people who have called it one of the worst superhero movies ever made and I could not disagree more. While the pacing is rather off, the film more than makes up for it with the terrific interactions between the characters, the fun new additions to the cast, the bigger action scenes and more comic book accurate vibe. While Apocalypse (Oscar Isaac) is not an amazing villain, the series has done far worse with other characters. Magneto’s story is an emotional rollercoaster and Michael Fassbender puts in a ton of effort like always. In addition to this, the film is much more open to being a comic book movie. Scenes like the final battle between the team and Apocalypse, Storm, Psylocke, Angel and Magneto’s transformations into the four horsemen and the Quicksilver (Evan Peters) rescue sequence all manage to make this film fun and exciting. That being said, this movie does have its problems. The pacing as mentioned before is both extremely rushed and unbelievably slow, the makeup on Apocalypse is rather goofy and Jennifer Lawrence is clearly no longer enjoying her role as Mystique and is not even trying to hide her boredom with this franchise. X-Men: Apocalypse is not perfect, but it is such an underrated entry in the series and gets way too much hate.
6. X2: X-Men United (2003): The second film in the X-Men Film Series manages to be even better than its predecessor by focusing on Wolverine’s mysterious past, focusing on new and interesting characters like Iceman (Shawn Ashmore) and Nightcrawler (Alan Cumming) and introducing a terrific villain with William Stryker (Brian Cox). The second film raises the stakes by having Stryker be such a threatening and ruthless villain that even Magneto has to team up with the X-Men during the time being. In addition to the great characters and story, the action is much more impressive with the updated effects and higher budget. However, there are parts in the film that bring the story to a screeching halt, particularly Iceman’s subplot with his parents and Professor X being hypnotized by Stryker. Storm and Rogue have also not improved since the first film and are nowhere near as interesting as the other characters. Despite that, X2: X-Men United is a great addition to the franchise and brought the series to new heights.
5. Deadpool 2 (2018): While Deadpool 2 is not as entertaining as the first film, it is still a ton of fun and hilarious all the way through. We follow Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds) as he attempts to protect an unstable child named Russell (Julian Dennison) from the time traveling mutant Cable (Josh Brolin). Deadpool 2 is a wild ride from start to finish, as the terrific action scenes and humor never fail to be effective. The only two negative things I could say about this movie is that Deadpool’s constant wish to die after the death of Vanessa (Morena Baccarin) became a bit too depressing and the film would have benefitted greatly from an actual main villain as the movie does not have one aside from maybe Russell. Other than that, Deadpool 2 is still a terrific entry in the X-Men Film Series.
4. X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014): This movie is a great ending for most of the characters from the original trilogy. It is amazing that they were able pull off the famous Days of Future Past storyline from the comics in an amazing way. While some things don’t add up like how Logan got his metal claws back after The Wolverine, how Kitty is able to send people back in time, and why Mystique’s DNA somehow gives the Sentinels every mutant power, I still think this movie is amazing. James McAvoy gives one of the best performances ever put in a comic book movie by portraying a broken and angry Professor X, something that we had not seen before. Magneto and Beast are great and while Jennifer Lawrence is not as into the role of Mystique as she was in X-Men: First Class, her story was still incredibly interesting. Hugh Jackman like always is amazing as Wolverine, and the climax at the White House is terrific in its urgency. This movie was also a nice bookend for the original trilogy, and the ending in the new future was a great way to wrap things up. All around an amazing film.
3. Deadpool (2016): Ryan Reynolds was just born to play Deadpool. After the horrible adaptation seen in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Deadpool was brought to the big screen in 2016 with a much more comic book accurate portrayal. The R-rating especially helps the film soar with its heavy amounts of gore, violence and swearing. We follow Wade Wilson as he is transformed into a mutant by a sadistic scientist named Francis (Ed Skrein). After becoming horribly disfigured during the experiment, Wade turns into the anti-hero Deadpool and makes it his goal to hunt Francis down, have him reverse the damage done to him and finally kill his arch-nemesis. Deadpool is just a joy to watch. The action scenes and fourth wall breaking humor make the movie stand out from other films in the comic book movie genre. If you haven’t seen Deadpool yet, it is well worth checking out and a very fun time.
2. X-Men: First Class (2011): Aside from January Jones as Emma Frost and how Darwin (Edi Gathegi) is killed before he really gets to do anything, there is there is not much to really dislike about this film. James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender are great, the recruits are so much fun and provide a great amount of charm to the team, Matthew Vaughn’s direction provide a unique flare to the series which had not been seen before, the action is amazing, the score is fantastic and Kevin Bacon as Sebastian Shaw is one of the best villains from this series. He is often overlooked by comic book movie fans and deserves so much more recognition. The 1960s Cold War setting is also very different than other superhero movies which set their stories in modern times. Lastly, Hugh Jackman’s cameo is pure gold. In my honest opinion, X-Men: First Class is one of the best comic book movies ever made.
1. Logan (2017): How could it honestly be anything else? Everything in this movie is honestly perfect. The final performances of Hugh Jackman and Patrick Stewart are amazing, the tragic story is captivating, the underrated role of Caliban is engaging, the brutal action is breathtaking, the adult themes are intriguing, the menacing and despicable villains played by Boyd Holbrook and Richard E. Grant are two of the most unlikeable characters in comic book movie history, the heartbreaking deaths of Logan and Charles are devastating, and most of all Dafne Keen as Laura/X-23 phenomenal. It is a massive shame that Disney canceled James Mangold’s sequel on her. However, if this is it for her, it is hard to ask for a better sendoff. This movie is a masterpiece. I couldn’t have asked for a better send off to one of my favorite fictional characters and film franchises. Logan is not just the best X-Men movie of all time. It is the best Marvel movie of all time and possibly even the greatest superhero movie ever made second only to The Dark Knight.
