Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom is now in theaters, which means that the DC Extended Universe as a whole has officially come to an end.
This has been a shared universe that’s been very inconsistent with it’s quality and it’s overall continuity. The stinkers are absolute stinkers while the hitters hit absolutely hard. Everyone has their own opinion on these series of films. Some prefer the ones that are darker and more thematically attached to one another, A.K.A. the Zack Snyder directed and produced ones. Others prefer the ones that stand alone as it’s own thing without too much emphasis on franchise continuity, A.K.A. the other ones not made or produced by Zack Snyder. Now is time to share my overall rankings on these movies!
First, a few disclaimers. I’m not including Joker and The Batman on this list since those movies take place in their own separate continuities and doesn’t tie into the DC Extended Universe in any way, shape, or form.
Second, as I’ve stated in the past many times before, this is all opinions. Feel free to let me know your list in the comments or on Twitter and tell me just how wrong I am with my list! Without further do, let’s begin the list!
16.) Suicide Squad
It’s baffling how you can take a movie that has such a fun and exciting premise along with a superbly talented cast (outside of Jai Courtney and Joel Kinnaman) but somehow manage to execute it in the worst way possible. Attempting to take a page from Guardians of the Galaxy with it’s style and soundtrack, Suicide Squad is like to trying to build a puzzle with pieces that clearly don’t fit. It’s clear that this wasn’t what director David Ayer had in mind when he first signed one for this as he clearly envisioned something more bleak and grounded.
It also doesn’t help that it has a rushed script that makes no sense, terrible AD-HD editing, pointless characters and subplots, cringe dialogue that sounds like it was ripped straight out of a 90s video game, and a plot that crumbles when you think about it for a split second. Not even the superb casting of Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn, Will Smith as Deadshot, and Viola Davis as Amanda Wallers can save this mess!
In hindsight, despite being the absolute worst movie in this universe, it’s existence did feel like a necessary evil. After all, it did lead to at least two other movies of this list that fully utilized this movie’s premise and characters far better than this one ever could. I guess that’s something.
15.) Justice League (2017)
It’s unbelievable how not only the first ever live-action Justice League movie doesn’t work, but it has to be one of the most lifeless and forgettable superhero movies ever made. It’s clear that Warner Bros and company where so caught off guard over the backlash that Dawn of Justice received that they brought in Joss Whedon, after Snyder stepped down in part due to the passing of his daughter, in the hopes of providing the same spark he gave to The Avengers. Not only is that course correction painfully obvious on screen but mixing the visions of Whedon and Snyder could not have led to more disastrous results.
This is like the equivalent of a superb Japanese anime getting butchered in the English version by 4kids, filled with unnecessary editing, censoring, and scripting to make it more “kid” friendly even if it doesn’t make much sense in the context of the feature film and hurts the overall quality of the picture as a result. Justice League (2017) (also known as JOSStice League) comes across as more of a straight-to-dvd Avengers knock-off that you would find at the bargain bin at the Dollar Store than an actual Justice League movie. The tone is all over the place, the reshoots are as clear as daylight it’s embarrassing, and it’s edited into incredibly bite sized pieces that you can tell were only done just so the movie can finish under two hours.
A handful of moments (or at least the ones I can remember) are cool in their own right (It’s always cool to see Wonder Woman on screen saving people) and is is nice to see Henry Cavill represent a bit of Christopher Reeves here (despite it making no sense in the context of the universe) but it’s incredibly unforgiveable just how cheap, hollow, and unmemorable this whole experience is. When even a remix of Danny Elfman’s iconic Batman theme can’t win me over, you know your movie has failed!
14.) Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice
I’m still in awe how you take a crossover like Batman and Superman and make it so long, dull, and joyless. It’s a film that wants to comes across as the most grand and ambitious movie every made, but when you look deep into it, this movie actually doesn’t have much to say on anything it’s talking about. Other than trying to cram two to three movies worth of material into one film, there’s nothing really risky or daring about Dawn of Justice and it’s so-called themes have been done much better in plenty of other superhero films. The plot is a convoluted mess no matter which version you watch and the conflict between Batman and Superman is so incredibly ridiculous that it could have been avoided if they would just simply talk to each other.
Ben Affleck is fine as Batman and there’s a few standout moments here (The warehouse fight scene and Wonder Woman’s first appearance are all-timers) but that’s nowhere near enough to save this turd of a film. Even the ultimate edition which many claim “saves” the movie really just has more of the same things that were wrong in the first place, aside from being editing and pacing. If there is a clear difference between ambition and aimlessness, then Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice certainly strikes the finest line yet between those two definitions with results that fit more of the latter than the former.
It gets a slight edge over Suicide Squad and Justice League (2017) because it does at least feel like a fully realized vision of a filmmaker but that is no where near enough for me to claim it’s good or even should be praised because of that. It’s a movie so bad that it arguably killed this whole universe for the mainstream audience before it even got a chance to get going! Sorry but I’m not a fan whatsoever!
13.) Wonder Woman 1984
Patty Jenkin’s follow-up to the original Wonder Woman could not have been more underwhelming if it tried. Instead of actually trying to expand upon the character of Diana Prince and develop her even further, Wonder Woman 1984 remains stuck in the past quite literally, as Jenkins attempts to make a sequel with the same tone, heart, and feel as the Christopher Reeves Superman movies but ends up landing closer in the quality to the last two bad ones as oppose to the first two good ones.
There’s many things I can overlook in this such as the nonsensical magical rock plot, the gazillion leaps of logic, and the complete unself-awareness of the whole thing. What kills the whole picture is turning Wonder Woman into a love sick puppy dog, obsessing over her dead boyfriend she knew for like a week over 40 years go, and even raping a guy (Yes, really!) thanks to an ill-conceived body swapping plot device that was clearly not thought out in the slightest. There’s only so much the human brain can take before it flips the table and walks away. Not even the spot-on chemistry between Gal Gadot and Chris Pine works this time around because of this creepy plot mechanic or even Kristen Wig’s solid portrayal as Cheetah.
It’s certainly more watchable than some of the other bad DCEU movies but it all just feels like a waste of time and potential. It’s like Patty Jenkins and the crew couldn’t figure out where to go next with Wonder Woman so they decided to just make a “filler” movie until they could actual come up with something worthwhile. Too bad no one on the creative team will likely have another chance in the future with this universe about to get rebooted. Just stick with the first film!
12.) Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom
After ten years and 16 films deep, the DC Extended Universe comes to an end with Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, the sequel to DC highest grossing film of all time (Yes, really!). While I’m sure no one on the team picture that this would be the last installment in this ill-fated cinematic universe when they first signed on for Part Two, you would at least assume they would give their absolute best effort to end this 10-year DC run on a high note and get audiences excited for the rebooted universe coming in the near future. While I’m sure there was version of that movie that was presented during the production, it is anything but that when it comes to the finished product.
For as much you can pick apart about the original Aquaman, it at least had some form of energy, passion, and even heart from behind the camera which help make it an entertaining ride. The Lost Kingdom, on the other hand, is basically the exact opposite, with the whole thing feeling like it’s on autopilot while hitting many of the same beats as the first movie but with no energy, passion, or heart to be found here. Also, it’s embarrassing how the film was trying to do everything in it’s power to NOT have Amber Heard’s Mera on camera, only showing up when the plot absolutely demands her to show up.
Aside from some fun buddy cop-like moments between Jason Momoa’s Aquaman and Patrick Wilson’s Orm along with some neat visuals, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom is superhero cinematic burnout at it’s finest. You can tell this was a movie that Warner Bros was just desperate to get out of the way so they can finally move on to other things. While not the worst DC Extended movie ever, this is probably far in a way, the most forgettable one by a wide margin, even more so than JOSStice League.
11.) Black Adam
Black Adam is possibly the most paint-by-numbers movie in this universe thus far, not counting the theater cut of you know what. If there was one thing you could give the DCEU is that despite it’s mixed results, each one did feel like a complete different beast of it’s own and unlike any other superhero movies out there, even if it mostly came across as aimless. Unfortunately, you can’t really say any of that about The Rock’s superhero fantasy vessel!
It follows nearly every single beat from any other recent superhero movie to a t without any sole attempt to break from them or at least put a different spin on it. Thrown in overly dull, CGI-heavy action scenes, a colorful cast of superheroes that feel more like action figures than fully realized characters, an out of place moral about superheroes who kill and a dull main protagonist with the least charismatic performance from The Rock ever and you get a very muddled picture. It also has possibly the most embarrassing post credit scene of all time considering it got rendered meaningless just ONE month after this movie came out.
It’s certainly a watchable movie that with good elements to it such as some fun side characters and a solid score. It’s just that what’s good about are things that not only have been good in other superhero movies but it’s been done better in plenty other superhero movies as well. However, for a movie that has been in development for this long and this much talent attached to it, you would expect Black Adam to be something that didn’t simply leave me shrugging my shoulders when leaving the theaters. You can certainly do worse but you can also do a whole lot better.
10.) The Flash
Speaking of movies that were in development hell forever and should be a lot better than they ended up being, we have The Flash, the movie designed to reset the entire DC universe continuity. It also have controversies from behind the scenes largely due to the Flash themselves, Ezra Miller, doing a bunch of awful and unforgivable things off of camera. Even if put all of the behind the scenes and drama with it’s main lead, this is still not a very good movie.
Yes, Michael Keaton is just as awesome as Batman as he was in Tim Burton’s duology. And yes, Sashe Calle is perfect as Supergirl who is more than deserving of her own movie. That still doesn’t take away how terrible the CGI is (I still can’t believe how godawful that one re-creation was and how anyone thought it was a good idea), how the fan service and cameos scattered throughout don’t amount to anything, how it can’t escape the whole feeling of obligation, and how this version of Barry Allen is still an incredibly annoying and unengaging character with Miller feeling very miscast. There are ways to tell interesting stories with the multiverse concept and even as a course correction but it lacks the celebratory and culmination level of storytelling of No Way Home, the inventive and stylish nature of the Spider-Verse films, and even using it’s course correction template in a unique way to push the series forward that X-Men: Days of Future Past did marvelously. Unfortunately, The Flash is unable to do any of that in ways that feel as fresh, creative, and entertaining as the movies that I mentioned.
It does everything it sets out to do with resetting it’s timeline and may even delight DC fans with the amount of Easter Eggs provided along with getting them a glimpse of what’s to come, but none of it is done as well as it could and leaves plenty to be desired. It just comes across as a movie that DC felt they were forced to make just so they can later get to the movies they actually want to make. While it does pave a way towards a more open future, I certainly hope that future doesn’t feel as phoned-in as The Flash does. Please bring back Sasha Calle for Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow!
9.) Man of Steel
The DC Extended Universe kicked off in 2013 with one of the most polarizing superhero movies of all time. Looking back on it nearly a full decade later, I can’t help but have INCREDIBLY mixed emotions when it comes to this film. In terms of casting, tone, action scale, scope, and score, this is everything that a modern Superman movie should consist off, with nearly single technical and sound aspect works absolute wonders. However, when it comes to the overall story, script, and structure, that is where the confliction comes in.
Most of the characters come off as plot devices and motivation for Superman than actual characters, the dialogue strikes a fine line between being poetic/inspiring and just plain pretentious, and it’s overall themes feel not so much explored but just told directly to the audiences. Even so, the action is dynamic, the cast do great with what they have to work with, and the scope and Han Zimmer’s soundtrack are off the charts that it’s almost good enough to convince you that you are watching a much better film than you actually are! The elements that work are absolutely great while the elements that don’t work really bring down the whole picture.
When looking at it’s own thing and the seeds it plants for the future, Man of Steel could have been considered a solid re-introduction to the character of Superman and one that could successfully redefined Superman to a new generation. However, due to it’s shortcomings and the movies after tripling down on the things that don’t work rather than what does, you can’t help but see wasted potential. As it’s own thing, Man of Steel is functional on a surface level but not on a depth level. Henry Cavill deserved a much better standalone film than this!
8.) Shazam!: Fury of the Gods
While Shazam! Fury of the Gods certainly doesn’t break any new ground for the superhero sub-genre and doesn’t quite reach the heights of the first movie, it still makes for a solid albeit formulaic sequel. Director David F Sandberg is able to deliver the exact goods that he delivered in the original Shazam! had even if it’s not able to deliver much else that feels as fresh. It’s not groundbreaking by any means, but with movies that are this lighthearted, fun, and just has it’s own warm tone to it, I really find it hard to be overly critical off.
I still enjoy the lighthearted nature of the whole thing that felt reminisce to classic superhero flicks I grew up with such as Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man and Christopher Reeve’s Superman. I like how it puts a big focus on the majority of the family members on the verge of becoming fully grown adults. And man, does it always feel nice to see superheroes act like actual superheroes by rescuing civilians every chance that they get and saving the day from the bad guys. If you are someone that was just looking to spend more time with this cast and characters for the sequel, then you should definitely get your money’s worth with Fury of the Gods.
I can’t help but think that the negative reaction to this movie is not so much of the quality of the movie itself but with either the feeling of superhero fatigue or the studio politics behind the DC movies itself. My response to all of that is who cares? Sometimes it’s okay to allow yourself to be sucked into the movie going experience and enjoy the time you are having at the moment you are watching the movie without worrying about the aftermath of it. Only then will the world might be able to enjoy perfectly enjoyable movies like Shazam! Fury of the Gods once again. Judge it on it’s own merits and I think this movie will do you just fine.
7.) Zack Snyder’s Justice League
Because we live in some dark and twisted form of an alternate universe, Zack Snyder’s Justice League is a real thing now. Truth be told, even if you remove yourself from the toxicity that is the Zack Snyder fanbase (I won’t blame you if you can’t!), it’s actually not that bad with a lot more to like than their is to hate. This is probably the one movie in the DC Extended Universe with Zack Snyder that doesn’t feel overly pretentious but more of just the man wanting to make the most epic Justice League movie he can possibly make. For the most part, he succeeds even if some of the faults from his other films are carried over here.
The first half is way too stretched out for it’s own good, feeling like Snyder is trying to get every single little frame of work that he desires in there regardless if it actually serves a purpose. There’s also the final fifteen minutes that feels more like a collection of post credit scenes rather than an actual epilogue. But everything in between that is pretty solid. There’s good action set pieces, a nice, riveting score, memorable gorgeous visuals, and some good character interactions between all of the Justice League members, with Wonder Woman and Cyborg being the main standouts. And this also feels like the first time in Snyder’s films that the superheroes on screen actually act and feel like superheroes instead of just being all sad and mopey all the time. What a time to be alive!
While there’s still faults from the theatrical cut that are carried over here (*cough* Steppenwolf and Flash *cough*), this is certainly an improvement over the theatrical cut and should most certainly be considered the actual definite version of Justice League. I might not call myself a fan of Snyder’s input on the DC Extended Universe but I’m at least glad he got the chance to finish what he started after having to originally step down due to the tragic death of his daughter. The Snyder cut of Justice League exists and it’s pretty damn good! Can we please move on with our lives now?!
6.) Aquaman
If there’s anyone in Hollywood who is a master of making dumb, over-the-top, and incredibly fun motion pictures without necessarily making fun of them and even giving it a bit of heart, it’s James Wan. Aquaman is definitely a movie you can pick apart it’s logic and nitpick it’s script to death but it’s also a movie that’s so entertaining, adventurous, and just plain “out there” that it’s hard to really care. All it wants to do is entertain you and look pretty while it does so and it succeeds big time!
This is almost like the live-action Atlantis movie that I’ve always wanted to see. A movie that puts good emphasis on exploring an underwater world while showing off some crazy action scenes and beautiful visuals that it makes for quite an enjoyable ride. Jason Momoa fits Aquaman quite well and is giving more range this time out. The “fish out of water” stuff and romantic angles are nothing we haven’t seen before but it’s done well enough that it’s quite hard to notice when you’re watching it. And, taken out the behind the scenes drama, Amber Heard is cool as Mera and gets some awesome moments to shien. The script does feel overstuffed with too much characters and exposition along with containing some hilariously awful acting and dialogue (“ARE YOU SAYING THEY EXECUTED HER?!) but even when the movie’s overall quality keeps shifting, you will be along with the ride laughing with and at it along the way.
I imagine with a different director that Aquaman would have failed spectacularly as it would either try too hard to be deep and serious or try too hard to be dumb and stupid. With James Wan at the helm, he’s able to find a great mix of both and making for a really good time. I never would have guessed in a million years that an Aquaman movie would be the highest grossing DC film of all time, let alone in the DC Extended Universe, but here we are.
5.) Blue Beetle
I enjoy Shazam!: Fury of the Gods more than most people, despite it being an obvious step down from the first film, and found The Flash to be an ugly and unfocused CGI mess with the only saving graces being Michael Keaton’s Batman and Sasha Calle’s Supergirl. However, Blue Beetle is easily the best film that DC has released this year and their very best one since The Batman. While lower expectations may have played a factor in that, it feels like the only film released this year to do the job it sets out to do exceptionally well without the demand for much more.
There’s no universe baggage or sequel setup to weight the whole thing down, there’s no painfully distracting reshoots and CGI of certain characters that will take you out of the movie, and there’s no drama with any cast member making unpleasant remarks and/or doing terrible things of the camera to distract you from the picture. All we have here is a very well made and enjoyable new superhero origin tale about a cool new superhero with everyone from the cast and crew doing their jobs as well as they possibly could have. Jamie Reyes is a likeable and engaging protagonist, the dynamics with his family are great, the action is fun to sit through, and it has the kind of beating heart that not much superhero movies have nowadays. Also, it has the most badass granny in any movie ever!
It may not be the best superhero movie ever made nor even the best one that has come out this year but Blue Beetle is still a fun and refreshing comic book movie that has plenty of action, humor, and heart at it’s center for anyone to enjoy. If there is anyone out there that was on the fence of watching it for whatever, I definitely give this one to watch. Even though this movie underperformed at the box office, the fact is currently finding an audience due to making it’s way to Max puts a smile on my face.
4.) Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn)
I’m not gonna lie, if I did this ranking based off which ones I had the most fun watching or actually enjoyed watching the most, I would literally put this at #1 and I’m not even joking. However, because this movie isn’t quite as important to other DCEU movies and acts as more of a spin-off than the other ones, I have it at #4. That being said, Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) is an absolute blast of a movie that I have no problem admitting that I love the shit out of it!
The action is some of the most creative and inventive of the whole DC Extended Universe, with the standouts being the prison break and amusement mile sequence, Cathy Yan’s direction is refreshing and stylish, Christina Hodson’s script is clever and witty, the story of Harley’s emancipation and birth of the Birds of Prey themselves are told in a very unique, smart way, and everyone in the cast brings their A game, especially with Jurnee Smollett’s Black Canary, Mary Elizabeth Winstead’s Huntress, and Ewan McGregor’s Black Mask! This movie not only proves that Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn is hands down the best casting choice of the entire DC Extended Universe but Harley Quinn herself is more fun and interesting when she gets to be her own woman and not just simply Joker’s girlfriend. I can nitpick aspects such as Mary Elisabeth Winstead as Huntress needing more screen time and how from a source material standpoint, it’s not necessarily faithful but Birds of Prey made for one rocking good time!
I might lose some masculinity points for putting a so-called “girl power” movie this high on the list but I don’t care. Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) is not just one of the most entertaining movies in the DC Extended Universe but it’s one of the most entertaining comic book movies out there period that I will watch whenever I’m in the mood for it. It may not technically be the objectively best DECU movie but I can’t think of one that I had more fun watching than this. You may hate it but for me, it’s just a blast!
3.) Shazam!
If you want to see a modern comic book movie that commits to the cheeseball nature and lightheartedness of superhero classics such as Christopher Reeves’ Superman and Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man while also having an actual functional brain in it’s head, look no further than Shazam! This is the kind of a superhero movie that I always imagine myself making as a kid. A coming-of-age tale that deals with themes of family and responsibility while also showing off ridiculously cool powers and colorful cast of characters to have fun with.
Zachary Levi (taking recent controversies with him aside) is perfectly cast as Shazam himself and has great chemistry with the entire cast, where every child actor is able to shine extremely well on their own. The family dynamics are dealt with a lot of heart and care, making for perhaps the most heartful superhero movie ever made. The song choices are absolutely inspired and fit perfectly with the overall light and joyful tone, with perhaps my favorite use of Don’t Stop Me Now in any film. The action scenes are fun and not as gloriously excessive as say Man of Steel. And David F. Sandberg direction is top-notch as he make his perfectly fun and child fanboy-like vision realizes with getting to make the kind of movie I imagined he wanted to make since he was a little boy.
Even if Dr. Thaddeus Sivana is a pretty “meh” villain (even if I love Mark Strong) and having the entire family becoming superheroes at the end feels like it should have been saved for the sequel or at least a post credit scene, that doesn’t make Shazam! any less awesome and satisfying! This is a comic book movie I could recommend to not just fans of DC and superhero movies but even for those who aren’t even fond of superhero movies. It’s that good!
2.) Wonder Woman
This is the kind of movie that is hard to dislike. Not just because that it has a great strong female protagonist that has her fair share of strengths and weaknesses despite being a literal goddess herself. Or it has terrific action sequences that fully display Wonder Woman’s power and abilities perfectly. Or has probably the most compelling romance in any superhero movie with Gal Gadot’s Diane Prince and Chris Pine’s Steve Trevor. Or it has it’s own beating heart to it that prior DCEU movies were missing. The thing that stands out the most about Wonder Woman is it’s overall sense of optimism, not just for the DC Extended Universe but for mankind in general.
Whether it’s that powerful scene where Diana leads the soldiers through No Man’s Land or at the end where she helps them single handily win the war, Diane is someone that always inspires a reason for others to hope again, even during the darkest times. This is showcases all throughout the movie, especially towards the end to where she discovers that it’s her love for Steve Trevor that gave hope to resurrecting mankind, not killing Ares. That form of optimism is what made Wonder Woman so satisfying when I saw it in cinema back in 2017 and still satisfying several years later. With a movie filled with so much heart, emotion, and inspiration, how could you not love this movie?
Okay, okay so the climax does feel a bit tacked on and too CGI heavy with a villain that’s not the most interesting? So, what? Even then, that doesn’t really ruin the movie and even contains some of the best character moments and emotional beats of the whole film (which I got to write an article on someday). Wonder Woman is a movie that proved that not only that the DC Extended Universe was in fact worth giving a chance but that female-lead superheroes movies can work and that women have stories that deserve to be told on the big screen just as much as male superheroes. This is still one of very best in this universe and all of DC in general.
1.) The Suicide Squad
Despite my negative feelings and disappointment towards the original Suicide Squad, I was still open to a sequel if it had someone else taking the helm that could fully utilize it’s premise and not have it be plagued by studio inference. Thankfully, we got just that with James Gunn in The Suicide Squad. Not only does he deliver a far superior Suicide Squad movie than the original but the best film in the DC Extended Universe to date! Nearly every single problem that the first Suicide Squad movie had, this one fixes.
The script is packed with multiple characters and subplots but nearly every single one gets resolved and has an arc in their own right. The violence, carnage, and foul language is ramped up to 11 and takes full advantage of it’s R rating. Each actor and actress is 100% committed to their roles and fits it all like a glove, with the standouts being Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn (Of Course!), Idris Elba as Deadshot, and John Cena as Peacemaker. The style, direction, and soundtrack fits organically with the picture with not a single ounce of it feeling out-of-place or try hard unlike the first one. The humor is absolutely on point and perfectly matches the tone and rating of the whole movie. The best of all, James Gunn’s voice is heard throughout the entire thing without any hint of studio meddling of any kind.
This goes to show you what happens when you believe in something and don’t try to mess it up. Maybe then the cinematic universe of DC wouldn’t have to get reboot like it’s about to. We are certainly going to get more from Gunn now that he along with Peter Safran will be the main heads of DC going forward. If we get installments as good as The Suicide Squad, we should be heading towards a bright future for this universe. Regardless, it’s my favorite of the entire DC Extended Universe and one comic book movie that I will watch anytime I want to. In Gunn We Trust!
Adam's Blog 