Best 'Avengers' movie

Infinity War, which I rate a 7/10 and would consider a little better than the first.

I love a bunch of the solo movies, but they've yet to impress me much with a team one.

I still like Infinity War, but the more I've thought about it the more narrative problems I've had with it that are hard to forgive given the pseudo-serious approach of the film. Meanwhile, The Avengers is one of the better examples of a fun, spectacle film. The way the team was brought together, the dynamics between the characters, the lighthearted almost Saturday morning cartoon tone of it, and the cheesy comic book action were all very enjoyable. Plus, as a huge Hulk fan, The Avengers was the first and so far only film I felt really nailed the character and it was back when Mark Ruffalo seemed to still give a damn with his performance.

Infinity War, which is my favorite MCU movie.

The first Avengers movie is kind of bleh and Age of Ultron isn't good at all.

The Avengers >> Age of Ultron >>>>>>>> Infinity War.

First one was one of the most purely entertaining, enjoyable blockbuster spectacles of the decade. Ultron was all right, but I don't remember much about it at all. Infinity War was awful.

I think The Avengers is solidly made yet, at the same time, irritatingly basic in its characterization and direction. Joss Whedon's a good showrunner, but I personally think his visual aesthetic is clumsy and all of his characters have the same "voice" (snarky quip-machines) that feel so interchangeable to the point that 98% of the film's dialogue could've been shuffled around to different roles and the script would hardly have suffered. It also really, really suffers on rewatch.

Age of Ultron suffers from a lot of the same weaknesses, but I will say that Renner and Spader were both excellent. I feel like after the Hawkeye complaints from the first film, they did their best to give him a proper "sendoff" of sorts and in doing so, actually gave him some halfway decent characterization. Spader made for a fantastic villain, but I never felt like there were any real stakes in the story. I mean, once you open your first film with intergalactic eldritch abominations, you kinda lose steam with the follow-up being "sarcastic version of Skynet." It also draaaaaaaagged, man. (I feel like Captain America: Civil War was the better Avengers follow-up.)

Infinity War, by default, is my favorite. It has some pretty good visual flair, most of the performances are strong (but I'm becoming more and more convinced Mark Ruffalo sold his acting talent in exchange for A-list roles), an ace villain . . . but still, fuck Star-Lord.

Infinity War is a true epic. Avengers is dumb, TV-special looking basic fun. Age of Ultron is awful.