Rank Rob Marshall's Films

[Sotiris]

Previously:
• Rank John Musker & Ron Clements' Films
• Rank Brad Bird's Films

Rank and rate the feature films directed by Rob Marahall from best to worst or most to least favorite.

In chronological order, these are:

Annie
Chicago
Memoirs of a Geisha
Nine
Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
Into the Woods
Mary Poppins Returns

[estefan]

1. Chicago
2. Mary Poppins Returns
3. Into the Woods
4. Annie
5. Nine
6. Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides

NS: Memoirs of a Geisha

I personally think it's neat he's found his comfort zone with fantasy-based Disney musicals and as somebody who liked "Into the Woods" and loved "Mary Poppins Returns", I'm curious to see what he does with "The Little Mermaid." "Chicago" does remain my favourite of the movies he has directed, but "Nine" unfortunately proved that the device of the songs existing in the protagonist's mind doesn't work with every musical, which is why he quickly abandoned that approach.

[blackcauldron85]

I've never seen Memoirs of a Geisha or Nine, and since I've only seen his version of Annie once, when it first aired on TV, I don't feel like I can rank it (but I listen to the soundtrack all the time).

1. Mary Poppins Returns- Extremely magical. I love everything about this movie.

2. Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides- I know that a lot of people don't like this movie, but I really like it. (It has MERMAIDS!!) I think it fits in nicely with the series.

3. Into the Woods- I'm not a huge Sondheim fan in general; I knew the basic plot of the movie before seeing it, and I did enjoy it up until what the Prince does...then I was just upset. So the original source material had this against it for me anyway, but my husband was recently re-watching it, and I saw some of it on my lunch break, and I do enjoy the first half or first two-thirds or whatever. But not as much as the previous 2 films. It's not a favorite Disney musical of mine.

4. Chicago- I saw this on TV years ago, and I did really enjoy it, but I've only seen it that one time (but more recently than I've seen Annie, so I feel confident in ranking it) so I'd have have to re-watch to see if I like it better than ItW.

[Disney's Divinity]

1. Memoirs of a Geisha
2. Mary Poppins Returns
3. Chicago
4. Annie ~ I love Audra McDonald, and she's the only thing I ever endure this to see. Kathy Bates is alright... Maybe I'm too attached to Carol Burnett's performance to really enjoy her here.
5. Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides ~ I love the PotC series. This one and At World's End are probably the only two I'm not too fond of. At least it's better than AWE, I guess?
6. Into the Woods ~ Chris Evans and Christine Baranski were really the only things I liked about this. I enjoyed Cinderella's song more here than in the musical though. Meryl Streep is great as the Witch in the early parts of the film. She isn't pretty enough to pull off the second half (or it may just have been the horrible costume/makeup) and I hate her rendition of "Last Midnight," sorry. But she does very well in the opening song and I looove her "Children Will Listen." The latter was the only thing I bought from the soundtrack to this.
7. Nine ~ Sooooooo boooooooriiiiiiing.

I'm not in love with any of his films. Right now I'm expecting The Little Mermaid will end up one above or one below Into the Woods.

[Musical Master]

1. Chicago
2. Mary Poppins Returns
3. Into The Woods
4. Annie
5. Memoirs of a Geisha
6. Pirates of the Caribbean
7. Nine

Personally this was pretty hard to rank, because I loved the top 3 of Marshall's movies on equal terms in some ways more than others like pacing, cinematography, source material etc. I am so glad that he treated Nine as a big mistake because the device he used brilliantly in Chicago doesn't work with every single musical which is why I think he left it behind. His 1999 TV movie adaptation of Annie is actually is quite a bit better than the 1982 version and is way better than that pathetic excuse they called a film version from 2014.

Honestly, he is the sole reason why I'm giving his upcoming version of The Little Mermaid a chance because he can do really good things with already great source material. As he's proven with his previous two movies with Disney; plus I wish he would direct the film version of Andrew Lloyd Webber's Sunset Boulevard instead of Rob Ashford as previously reported. Rob Marshall is undoubtedly one of the best musical film directors working in Hollywood today. Plus with Steven Spielberg's version of West Side Story coming in December, I have another reason to be excited for musical film adaptations again.

[Disney's Divinity]

His 1999 TV movie adaptation of Annie is actually is quite a bit better than the 1982 version and is way better than that pathetic excuse they called a film version from 2014.

I don't agree with the former, but definitely do with the latter. The 2014 film felt more like "Inspired by Annie" than Annie itself.

[DVDBuff1]

Chicago
Memoirs of a Geisha
Annie
Into the Woods
Mary Poppins Returns
Nine
Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides

[blackcauldron85]

Chris Evans

Chris Pine!

[tsom]

Rob Marshall is one of my favorite directors! I met him twice last year at two separate events and he was SO nice. He was shocked I brought up his work on Rodgers & Hammerstein's Cinderella because he felt it was so long ago that no one would remember it. I was like "Duhh! That movie is a classic for my generation!"

Anyway from what I've seen, these are my ranking --

1. Chicago -- this brought the movie musical back in my opinion (although I'll admit Moulin Rouge! walked so Chicago could run!)
2. Annie -- the best movie version of Annie in my opinion
3. Mary Poppins Returns -- I think this was a really good movie, and since Rob Marshall grew up on the movie musicals of the 60s (West Side Story, Mary Poppins, My Fair Lady, The Sound of Music) and he's a good friend of Julie Andrews, he had such a great respect for the genre and the subject. It showed in his work.
4. Into the Woods -- Not his fault but this isn't the best musical. I'm not a Sondheim fan either besides WSS
5. Memoirs of a Geisha -- I need to rewatch this. I only saw it once.

I didn't see Nine or Pirates. Excited for Little Mermaid! I know he'll do well with it.

[Sotiris]

My ranking:

1. Chicago
2. Memoirs of a Geisha
3. Nine
4. Into the Woods
5. Annie
6. Mary Poppins Returns
7. Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides

[Disney's Divinity]

Slightly off-topic, but I was finally able to get the MPR soundtrack the other day! I keep an eye on the Amazon Warehouse for used CDs. A copy was there for $1.27! It'll probably be a while before it ships with the quarantine, but I was just excited to be able to finally get to listen to it again. <3 I just had to celebrate somewhere.

[blackcauldron85]

^ It is a really good soundtrack! Have you been listening to it on YouTube in the meantime?

[Disney's Divinity]

I did during first release, but I would only occasionally go back to it for "Nowhere to Go But Up" while I waited for a chance to buy it. YouTube videos always take me time to load, so sometimes I don't want to go through the effort for a song I've heard before.

[DisneyFan97]

Mary Poppins Returns is a masterpice !

[Sotiris]

How would you rank now after The Little Mermaid was released?

[Musical Master]

How would you rank now after The Little Mermaid was released?

I think I'll put The Little Mermaid remake somewhere in the middle. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't anything special either.

[Patricier21]

The Little Mermaid (2023)
Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
Annie (1999)
Into the Woods
Nine
Mary Poppins Returns

Haven’t seen Chicago or Memoirs of a Geisha

[Sotiris]

My updated ranking:

1. Chicago
2. Memoirs of a Geisha
3. Nine
4. Into the Woods
5. Annie
6. The Little Mermaid
7. Mary Poppins Returns
8. Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides

[Disney Duster]

I don't feel right ranking since I haven't seen his Annie (though I should soon, I have Disney+!), and can't remember much of Geisha, but I wanted to at least talk a bit about his films.

I think his choreography in Brandy's Cinderella is great, and at the ball pretty amazing. The "boring dancing" we see first at the ball is so funny. The way Cindy and the Prince dance is interesting and romantic, and when it fits the lyrics it's wonderful, and the way the other guests dance after them is awesome.

Chicago is a masterpiece, and he really must be commended to make that material be elevated to Best Picture winner. 'Course, the revival of the material is still running on Broadway, so maybe there's just something innately great about it!

Nine really was boring, and Mary Poppins Returns, I'm sorry, it just didn't inspire any excitement in me. The original has the magic. Returns has great costumes, though.

Into the Woods, however, has become one of my favorite movies ever. The musical is indeed my second favorite musical ever, so once again, the material helps. But the realism, singing, a lot of the performances, and, most of all, the costumes, are great. Actually, the costumes are mainly why I watch the film. It is my second favorite costume film after 2015's Cinderella. My favorite costume is the weird, unique, original, and yet beautiful blue costume of the transformed Witch. It's like made of twisted ribbons and sheer fabric! I also adore all the Cinderella and her stepfamily costumes. The Stepmother's ball costume is amazing. There are a lot of directorial choices I like, like Cinderella's transformation, the Princes at the waterfall, "It Takes Two", the Witch's transformation, the royal wedding, and "Last Midnight. The jokes and characterizations don't always work, and I hate the Disney sanitation, not to mention the complete fudging of the Witch and Rapunzel's poignant arc, but I still love the movie. I watch it about as often as I can!

The Little Mermaid is alright, but so bloated with stuff I don't like. Oh well, it has a great singer as the lead, a good Eric, Ursula and Vanessa, and a few nice costumes.