Top Ten X-Men Films: From Worst to Best

To celebrate the upcoming review of Logan, I decided rank all the X-Men films from worst to best.

10) X-Men: The Last Stand (2006)

What should have been the pinnacle highlight of the X-Men franchise turned out to be the very worst.  So bad not only did I pretend this film didn’t happen but Days of Future Past went a step further and erased it from existence!  X-Men: The Last Stand had its issues such as the change of directors.  Bryan Singer jumped ship to direct arguably the worst Superman movie ever made and Rush Hour’s Brett Ratner stepped in his place.  The Last Stand wanted to go out with a bang but sacrifices everything that was good about X-Men and X2 for a generic action film and a misguided Phoenix storyline.

And don’t get me started on Juggernaut’s dialogue…

9) X-Men: Apocalypse (2016)

Who would have thought the end of the world could be so boring?  The disappointing shame about X-Men: Apocalypse is that it follows on from two outstanding films in First Class and Days of Future Past and doesn’t live up to expectations.  With all its potential to conclude the time based X-Men trilogy, this was a massive ball dropped.  Suffering the same issues as The Last Stand, Apocalypse was a jumbled mess.

Not even the awesome Quicksilver cameo could save it.

8) X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009)

The only saving grace from X-Men Origins: Wolverine is Liev Schreiber as Logan’s brother Victor Creed.  It would have been great to see more of him but sadly it was not to be.  While it expands on the Wolverine backstory, this film was largely forgettable and that includes the unforgivably poor CGI claws.

7) The Wolverine (2013)

The first step towards a darker X-Men film, The Wolverine sends Logan to Japan.  The Wolverine makes the brave attempt to add the absent emotion that was lacking from The Last Stand whilst exploring a physical vulnerability within Wolverine.

6) X-Men (2000)

The first X-Men film to start off the journey and it still has all the charm.  It has aged quite a bit (check out the 90s trailer above) but certainly one of the early Marvel films (including Wesley Snipe’s Blade) that made the successful and commercial transition from comic book to the big screen.

5) X-Men: First Class (2011)

After the disappointing The Last Stand, the X-Men franchise could only go in one direction – back to the past.  Directed by Matthew Vaughn (Kingsman, Kick-Ass) and writer Jane Goldman (Stardust, Kick-Ass, Kingsman), this successful combination brought the franchise back on track, establishing Charles and Eric’s relationship set against the backdrop of the 60s Cold War.  The expectations were low but it packed a punch.

4) Deadpool (2016)

Breaking the fourth wall has never felt this good.  Deadpool, the ‘merc with a mouth’ takes full advantage of that 15 certificate.  But the best feature about Deadpool is the lack of fear, not afraid to jokingly criticise the superhero genre and Ryan Reynolds in the process.  A refreshing point of view if you’re someone looking for an alternative to the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

3) X2 (2003)

X-Men always had its roots with politics and how the world views mutants but X2 was the film that really enforces that point.  From Nightcrawler’s awesome entrance to the epic conclusion, X2 still sets the standard to judge the superhero genre.

2) X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014)

An X-Men film with an emotional purpose.  Following in the footsteps of First Class, Days of Future Past combines the 70s past with a brutal future, this time travelling adventure was the best thing to happen in the franchise.  It naturally passed the baton from it’s established leaders in McKellen and Stewart to their younger counterparts in McAvoy and Fassbender.  The film goes back to its strengths, exploring the complicated and difficult relationship between Charles and Eric when the fate of the world was at stake and humanity on the brink of extinction.  It’s a film reflective on its history but brave enough to change it.

1) Logan (2017)

An emotionally engaging modern-day Western, Logan acts as a proper send-off for Hugh Jackman and Patrick Stewart.  But I won’t spoil all the fun here but all I will say is, this is easily the best Wolverine film, saving the best till last but also the best X-Men film in its cinematic universe.  Check out the review.

What do you think?  Agree with the list?  Where would you rank the films?  Comment below.