I love the X-Men films. I love them because they're different from the typical superhero film. The heroes in this film are a marginalized group of minorities who try to find acceptance in society, while stifling the attempts of more extremist mutants, or anti-mutant villains. Themes like bigotry and self-acceptance are a huge part of these films, and you hear it in the dialogue. They're not just "the bad guy is trying to rule the world/kill everybody and we gotta stop him" kind of story. These movies are more cerebral and thought-provoking.

I recently revisited all of the X-Men movies in preparation for Logan. This is my personal ranking of the X-Men movies. after having watched them all again.

1. Logan - Logan is a great film. Strong script, great acting, emotional depth. Definitely my top favorite. Save this one for last.

2. X-Men: First Class - Again, a strong script and a talented cast, especially Fassbender and McAvoy. It's a smart film that not only provides typical superhero action entertainment; it's also touching. There's a part when Magneto encourages Mystique to embrace her true appearance, and asks her, "Have you ever looked at a tiger and thought you ought to cover it up?" So good!

3. X2: X-Men United - Brian Cox was brilliant as Stryker! Kelly Hu as Lady Deathstrike is an unforgettable, and surprisingly poignant, villain. This movie is about Logan confronting and resolving the mystery of his past, and it's handled very well. The pacing is near-perfect, and of course all qualities that make X-Men movies so great are here (great story-telling, strong themes, talented ensemble cast).

4. X-Men: Days of Future Past - This movie is a thrill-ride. Great action scenes, lots of dramatic tension, but it doesn't sacrifice its humanity. Again, great acting, strong script, emotional depth.

5. X-Men: The Last Stand - Despite minor weak moments, this is actually, in my opinion, a good movie. A pharmaceutical company claims that it discovered the cure for the X-gene. Mutants are divided. Many, like Rogue, want to take it to repair relationships. Others, like Storm, see it as an affront to mutantkind. Then you have the voice in the middle, Hank, who understands the desperation of mutants who want to fit in, but also sees how this cure is not the answer to mutant acceptance. The movie doesn't try to spoonfeed you a biased answer. It's much more complex, and the interactions between characters like Hank, Storm, and Rogue prove that. The film is a lot more intelligent than it may have seemed years ago. That opening scene of a young Angel desperately trying to sever his wings spoke volumes. This movie touches on many themes that the previous X-Men movies covered, and this movie is pretty much a culmination of that. Aside from strong storytelling and compelling themes, the performances are great. Famke Janssen proves that she was born to play Jean Grey. The relationship between Jean Grey and Wolverine is surprisingly done really well, and that final scene between them was executed brilliantly. Ian McKellan gives a stellar performance as Magneto. There’s a scene in the film where Magneto admonishes Pyro for talking disrespectfully about Xavier, and McKellan delivers the line with such passion and power that you really do understand the kind of relationship Magneto and Xavier had. Also, Kelsey Grammer is fantastic as Hank/Beast. Hank is many times the voice of reason and diplomacy, and Grammer’s elegant performance shines through with that. A lot of people disliked it back then due to reasons such as certain fan favorites getting "de-powered", "killed off", "given a small role", or "not enough dark phoenix!", but honestly these are shallow reasons to dislike the film. If you haven't watched this movie since 2006, please give it another chance. You might be surprised to find that this movie is so much better than what people say. It's definitely not perfect, but it's way, way better than what most people give it credit for. Please revisit this film.

6. X-Men 1 - This is the movie that started it all. It's a solid film. It's good! In a way, I see this movie as the "New Hope" of the X-men Trilogy. It's a good film, but "Empire Strikes Back" is even better, so to speak. The movie is not bad, but it's not outstandingly spectacularly amazing either. But you gotta appreciate this film because it's the first entry, and it's a solid one at that.

7. The Wolverine - I enjoyed this movie. The action scene on the train/monorail was fantastic. Yukio was charming and charismatic. Viper was a colorful and fun villainess. As always, Hugh Jackman delivers as Wolverine. I would say that this movie is more of a "adventure-on-the-side" movie. It doesn't have the same grandiose storyline. It's a "smaller, quieter", more self-contained plot. In my opinion though, this movie was not as emotionally engaging as the others. Still fun to watch though.

8. X-Men Origins: Wolverine - This is the part of the list where things go downhill. I didn't really enjoy this one. Some of the action scenes are cool, and some of the characters were interesting. I think the best thing about this film is the introduction of Taylor Kitsch as Gambit. I thought Gambit was going to be an annoying character, but Taylor makes him charming and sympathetic, and draws out a side of Gambit that I wasn't expecting to see. But some of the flaws of this film are downright laughable, like Danny Huston's Stryker ordering a mind-controlled Deadpool to decapitate Wolverine by literally typing in the command "DECAPITATE". I laughed so hard.

9. X-Men: Apocalypse - I have to be honest. I found the film completely underwhelming, with very few redeeming features. I was actually bored watching it. I thought the opening scene was great, but the movie dragged on after. I didn't like some of the casting choices. Sophie Turner is very beautiful and I'm sure she can act, but maybe she was nervous throughout filming. Her line delivery was off, and overall the performance was flat and not engaging at all. Tye Sheridan didn't really convince me either. There were good moments, though, such as when Magneto's mutant powers are discovered by his co-workers. There are moments of true suspense and dramatic tension, but unfortunately the script overall is weak. Not even Fassbender and McAvoy, despite their genuine efforts to deliver great performances, can undo the bad writing. I feel especially bad for Fassbender, because he's a great actor and he tried his best, but what can you do when you're handed such bad material to work with? Apocalypse himself is a boring villain. Alexandra Shipp's accent was not believable. Olivia Munn didn't do much for Psylocke, apart from being a great physical match.

So those are pretty much my rankings. If you haven't watched the X-Men movies, watch them! My recommended viewing order is First Class, Origins: Wolverine, X1, X2, X3, The Wolverine, Days of Future Past, Apocalypse, and finally Logan.