Captain America: Brave New World is now available to rent or buy digitally which means it will now find a larger audience than it did on the big screen. Now, on one hand, it did fairly well in theaters, but even landing just shy of $200 million domestically it still shows that the MCU has lost some of its financial viability. The next Marvel movie, Thunderbolts*, opening May 2, is poised to perform a little better. And one major factor working in its factor is that it at least looks better than Brave New World which, save for Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania and Eternals, is the lowest-rated film of the MCU on Rotten Tomatoes.
That ranking is, admittedly, quite fair. As a whole, Brave New World is a fully middling entry of the over-arching franchise with some poor special effects. But thanks primarily to the work by Anthony Mackie and Danny Ramirez, it’s a film that isn’t entirely without merit. What other Marvel movies are worth watching in spite of their “Rotten” rating on Rotten Tomatoes? Let’s take a look.
Blade
All three Blade movies carry a “Rotten” rating on Rotten Tomatoes, which is two-thirds surprising. Admittedly, Blade and Blade II are mighty close to being marginally “Fresh,” with 58% and 57%, respectively. Both films are very much worth watching for any Marvel fan (or action movie lover, for that matter) who has somehow missed them. Unfortunately, Blade: Trinity is a cluttered, tonally mismatched mess that isn’t even worth seeking out for die-hard fans of Ryan Reynolds. Its far lower rating of 24% is warranted.
It’s hard to grasp what critics were hoping for with Blade and Blade II. The Guillermo del Toro-directed sequel, in particular, is both well-made and loaded with thoughtful material and intense action sequences in equal measure. Not to mention, both films feature Wesley Snipes giving it his all. Like Hugh Jackman in X-Men and Willem Dafoe in Spider-Man, he was an important early Marvel casting. Considering the Mahershala Ali-led reboot has had incredible difficulty getting off the ground, perhaps it’s time to just get back to what worked before. Now that the MCU seems to be on the rebound, quality-wise, perhaps Snipes’ Blade could now get a solo adventure with a “Fresh” rating.
Punisher: War Zone
Jon Bernthal remains a perfect choice to play Frank Castle AKA The Punisher, and it’s great that Daredevil: Born Again has officially brought him into the MCU fold. But two of the three preceding attempts to adapt the character aren’t too shabby either. The late ’80s Dolph Lundgren version (25% on Rotten Tomatoes) is entirely skippable, but the other two are better than their 29% Rotten Tomatoes ratings would have one believe.
The 2004 version starring Thomas Jane is close to deserving that poor rating, but it should still be appreciated for how perfect the lead actor was for the role in his own right. It’s just that the movie that surrounds him isn’t particularly interesting, and as the antagonist John Travolta seems to be both miserable and bored. Punisher: War Zone, however, is much more of a, say, 65% movie. It’s not perfect. It doesn’t even try to be, but thanks to the well-established grim tone, yet another solid casting choice in the late Ray Stevenson, and a memorable pair of villains in Dominic West’s Jigsaw and Doug Hutchison’s Looney Bin Jim, it’s the best of the Punisher films by quite a bit. Unfortunately, it did even worse with general audiences than it did with critics ($10.1 million worldwide against a $35 million budget).
You can stream Punisher: War Zone on Pluto TV.
[RELATED: Marvel’s Brutal and Underrated Punisher War Zone Is Now Streaming for Free]
The Amazing Spider-Man 2
On one hand, The Amazing Spider-Man 2‘s 50% rating on Rotten Tomatoes is about right. Like Spider-Man 3 (which sits at 63%, in and of itself far lower than the two films that preceded it), it tries to cram way too much into a single film.
But, because of how important its third act is to the subsequent MCU adventure Spider-Man: No Way Home, it’s well-worth a rental or a stream. Does Rhino work? No, arguably even less than he did in Kraven the Hunter. Is Electro’s design ridiculous? Sure is. But is the chemistry between Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone white hot? Undoubtedly, which makes the conclusion all the more devastating.
You can stream The Amazing Spider-Man 2 on Starz and Disney+.
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