…………………………………………………

Ranking DCEU Films List

DCEU is not at all comparable to the MCU as it is much weaker in quality. However, most of these films are pretty solid and not bad at all and I do think that the critics have been harsh to this universe from the beginning. The films have their obvious flaws such as too much seriousness and weak VFX, but they also feature some solid action, characters and interesting approaches. So without further ado, here is my ranking of all DCEU films.

10. Suicide Squad

Suicide Squad easily takes the last spot for me and pretty much everyone else. This film was a giant disappointment and lost potential. Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn steals the show with a bunch of memorable and funny one-liners and Amanda Waller and Deadshot are also memorable characters. But the rest are underdeveloped and very forgettable, the plot is slight and the ending is mediocre with a particularly horrible villain in Enchantress.

9. Justice League

Now Justice League takes the fourth spot because it is a very short, rushed affair with too many underdeveloped characters and its plot and approach are way too simplistic. Aquaman and Cyborg are quite forgettable, but the Flash is a lot of fun thanks to a solid Ezra Miller performance. Of course Superman and especially Wonder Woman and Batman are the highlights. The film is hugely entertaining, but is undone by pretty terrible, baffling CGI.

8. Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice

I really liked Batman v Superman which I honestly did not expect. Certainly the film is overlong, very dark and its third act ruined the whole film with a tendency to focus on boring, prolonged action spectacle. But the remainder of the film is actually pleasantly slow paced, more sophisticated in approach and with a particularly well established, morally complex conflict at its core. It is a very polarizing movie and I myself am more on the positive side of its reception.

7. Wonder Woman 1984

This Wonder Woman sequel is clearly inferior to the original in most areas, though when and where it shines, it shines brightly. The opening is fantastic and thrilling, most of the first half was pleasantly retro and charming and the main romance still worked, but the action was underwhelming, the storyline was half-assed at best while the movie used way too many villains and plot points in an overly chaotic execution.

6. Man of Steel

Man of Steel started it all – both the bad and the good when it comes to the DCEU. The first two acts feature a very interesting, cool and highly modern alien arrival science fiction approach to telling the Superman mythos and origin story, but the third act ruined everything with a giant bore of a spectacle with repetitive action after action scene. It proved to be influential on the rest of the universe here for better and for worse, but it remains one of the more underrated flicks on this list.

5. Birds of Prey

Birds of Prey is an immensely messy flick. Its third act is so anti-climactic and disappointing. The rest of the team suffered from a lack of more screen time. And the whole film felt short and rushed. But, there is no denying its extreme entertainment values as it was incredibly fun to me personally. I loved Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn who stole the show throughout. The humor, action and dialogue are all stellar. The film is problematic, but it really flies by.

4. The Suicide Squad

The second and clearly better movie based on this material, James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad still somewhat disappointed me. The main theme about America’s horrendous foreign intervention practices is excellent, but overall the plot is weak and too silly. Some characters are great, but most aren’t well utilized. The humor is fantastic, but overly sporadic. The film would have been so much better had it been an all-out comedy.

3. Wonder Woman

Wonder Woman isn’t a great film, not by a long shot. It is terribly undone by its third act once again which rendered its powerful and realistic anti-war statement useless by adding a typical monster fight at the end and that was unfortunate. The CGI is also not great. But the character herself is very well developed thanks to Gal Gadot’s charismatic turn, the film is quite funny and charming at times and it’s overall a very well told, engaging origin story. This is an obvious top three choice.

2. Aquaman

Yes, Aquaman is actually the second best DCEU movie despite what the critics would say. It’s a gorgeously shot, beautifully visualized spirited adventure which is old-school in a sense and highly entertaining for that. It has solid characters, very strong action and a cool score. Yes, the dialogue and humor are too silly, but the world building truly is extraordinary. James Wan here brought us one colorful, epic, Greek Mythology adventure that really works and it made me entertained throughout its long runtime. That’s why it’s the most underrated movie on the list.

1. Shazam!

The best DCEU movie so far is definitely Shazam! as it’s the least flawed one for sure. Yes, the main character’s duality as well established and only Darla is well developed of the kids, but still the villain is terrific, the visuals are strong and the horror atmosphere courtesy of David F. Sandberg is so good. I particularly appreciated the movie’s giant heart and its humor as it’s truly hilarious in the kids’ very realistic behavior and dialogue. For all of those reasons, it’s the finest DCEU film, at least so far.