ThePirates of the CaribbeanandLord of the Rings/Middle Earthfranchiseshave been two of the biggest names in the fantasy movie genreover the past several decades with new projects always seeming to be in high demand. But which of the franchise's is superior in the eyes of critics.

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Looking at every movie from both franchises along with their scores on review aggregate site Metacritic, this list should hopefully paint a clear picture of each series' ups and downs throughout the years.

ThefifthPirates of the Caribbeanmovie continued the franchise's downward trend with critics but the box office returnsappeared to dwindle somewhat also in this instance whilst still being one of the most successful movies released that year.

Even though it provided a closing story arc for one of the longest-running characters of the franchise, and teased the return of several others,Dead Men Tell No Talesemphasized the increasing loneliness of Johnny Depp's Captain Jack Sparrow, a performance which critics had grown progressively weary with over time.

ThefirstPirates of the Caribbeanmovie to feature Jack Sparrow as the out and out main character, and the fourth movie in the series overall,On Stranger Tideswas actually far more normal than the preceding movies in the franchise but that didn't appear to have any impact with growing dissatisfaction amongst critics.

The movie was still another massive hit at the box office for the franchise but the astronomical costs of its production, making it reportedly the most expensive movie ever made, established the series as one that was now too big to fail and would continue in the face of any level of scrutiny or failure.

The thirdPirates of the Caribbeanmovie followed directly on from the previous movie, Dead Man's Chest, in the back-to-back style ofBack to the FutureParts II & IIIand would be last in the franchise from original director Gore Verbinski, neatly rounding an Original Trilogy for the series.

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Still a big hit at the box office, fatigue had settled in for asignificantnumber of critics with the convoluted plotlines and overall limited potential of the story.

A similarly massive hit at the box officedespite atepid reception from critics,Dead Man's Chestwas the first sequel in thePirates of the Caribbeanfranchise and the overpowering effect of its popularity with audiences secured the title as one that could survive without critical approval very early on in its lifespan.

Introducing a number of new villains and plot threads to add onto the originalensemble, the sequel is bursting with hugely elaborate alliances and betrayals that also flow over intoAt World's End, released just shy of a year later, not to mention its massive action set pieces.

Peter Jackson's first movie in hisHobbitPrequel Trilogywhich would end up actually bearing a number of similarities to George Lucas similarly-debatedStar Warsprequelswas met with relatively little of the acclaim from hisLord of the Ringstrilogy.

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A long-gestating, and heavily restructured, project that was of huge interest to everyone in the movie community,An Unexpected Journeywas too familiar in the end for a number of critics.

The final movie in Jackson'sHobbittrilogy was met with a similarly mixed bag of reviews from critics after a brief improvement with the second installment.

Taking whatwould have typically been the climax of the previous movie and adding it as the opening scene ofBattle of the Five Armies, the finale can't be accused of being short on action spectacle with the enormity of the climax seeming to either captivate or overwhelm critics.

Orlando Bloom managed to dominate both the summer and winter movie box office of 2003 by starring in bothPirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black PearlandThe Lord of the Rings: The Return of the Kingbut it was Johnny Depp who stole the show and secured himself an Oscar nomination for his iconic performance.

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The most well-received of the franchise by critics by quite a wide margin,Gore Verbinski's originalPirates of the Caribbeanmovie is a rip-roaring adventure that few can resist being swept up in.

The secondHobbitmovie fared much better with critics than either of the other two entries in the trilogy, dealing with the main bulk of storytelling duties and appearing to confirm that the trilogy's fundamental issue with critics was a lack of sufficient story to spread out evenly over the 3 movies.

Finally introducing Benedict Cumberbatch as the titular dragon, and reintroducing Orlando Bloom as his character from theLord of the Ringsmovies,Desolation of Smaugdelivered a lot for fans and critics seemed more in tune with their satisfaction than usual.

The least well-reviewed movie of theLord of the Ringstrilogy according to Metacritic's calculations, but the best-reviewed according to Rotten Tomatoes',Two Towersiseither waya very highly-respected movie.

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Expanding on everything that the first movie set up while introducinggroundbreaking techniques to audiences, like Andy Serkis' motion-capture performance as Gollum, the movie has few peers in the fantasy genre as far as critics are concerned and they're all from the same trilogy.

The firstLord of the Ringsmovie has been one of the few movies to ever be compared to the success of the originalStar Warsin 1977 and a majority of critics appear to echo sentiments of its greatness.

A surprising and clearly lovingly-crafted experience,Fellowship of the Ringirrevocably altered audiences' expectations for the fantasy movie genre in the future.

Clean sweeping its 11 nominations at the Oscarspicking up Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Score, Best Original Song, and Best Adapted Screenplay, amongst many othersReturn of the Kingis an undeniable triumph.

With a running time of well over three hours, even in its much shorter theatrical cut form, the grand finale resolved a mountain of plot threads in what critics seem to confirm as a pretty much universally satisfying way.

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Mark is a freelance copywriter and copyeditor. When not writing or editing, he can most likely be found complaining about movies on Twitter.

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Every Middle Earth & Pirates Of The Caribbean Movie (Ranked By Metacritic) - Screen Rant