This year has seen the release of a wide range of highly
anticipated movies. Large blockbuster comic book movies, to smaller independent
movies, this year has seen quite a lot of diversity. Some have been incredible,
and some have been terrible. Those that have made my top 10 list was extremely
hard to organise, especially the top two. Whenever I put one in front of the
other no matter where on the list, the one below suddenly jumped ahead because
of this reason, or that reason, and sometimes, it felt wrong to put one film so
far down the list because of how good it is, but something has to be on the
bottom, and the penultimate.
Some films you will expect not to be on this list, but some you
may find surprising. One, you may not ever have heard of, but I do believe I
have justified why it is on the list. Last year, my list contained only 6 films
that jumped all over the genre spectrum, but was surprisingly easy to put in
order. This year, it took me a couple of weeks to finalise the order, but I am
happy with it, and I hope you are too. If you do disagree with a film being on
the list, or where it is on the list, please let me know because I am
interested to know your thoughts on the films as well.
10: Lazer Team –
The first feature film by Rooster Teeth, a company which specialises
in creating videos for us to watch online. These vary between live-action
shorts, to animation, and Lazer Team is the first full-length feature film
they’ve ever released. They announced the film by asking fans if they could
help fund the movie on Indigogo, a website dedicated to helping independent
businesses create their projects. The fans’ reactions blew their minds. They
reached and flew past their total in less than 24 hours, breaking that record,
and raised over $2.5 million, which broke the record for the most money raised
for any one single project. Every single penny donated went into making the
best possible film Rooster Teeth could, and they did just that.
Four unlikely guys stumble upon an alien spaceship, intended for
the Champion of Earth, and together they must work as a team to defend the
world. If you know Rooster Teeth, you know you’re in for a fun ride. If you’re
not familiar with their work, it’s still a fun, enjoyable film. As their first
feature-length film, it’s fair that they made it for the fans, with many
references of their history throughout, but it does still hold up as a strong
film in its own right so many outsiders can enjoy as well.
They knew what they were doing. They had a goal of $650,000 which,
along with the money they had saved themselves, would have gone to make the
best movie they could. It just proves how much of a solid fan base they’ve
built up that they could make a film with more than double the money they had
originally intended, allowing them to make something even better for all of us
to enjoy. It was an ambitious move, and it payed off considerably. New
opportunities have opened up in front of them, they can now extend the company
into new grounds, and we may be seeing many more films from them in the coming
years. It’s incredible to contemplate how far Rooster Teeth has come in 13
years, and where they will go in the future.
9: Passengers –
Chris Pratt and Jenifer Lawrence’s performances are incredible.
Their on screen chemistry held the film together, but unfortunately, as good as
the premise of the story was and the two leads, there were a couple of scenes
that did drop it down a few spaces on the list. Chris Pratt’s character, Jim
Preston’s pod malfunctions when the ship is struck by a large asteroid, and
wakes up ninety years earlier than scheduled. After failing to return to hibernation,
he eventually accepts that he’s stranded, with only an android bartender, Arthur
– played by Michael Sheen.
After one year, he succumbs to loneliness and depression, before
finding Jenifer Lawrence’s character, Aurora Lane asleep in her pod. He spends
many days and weeks trying to escape from the idea of waking Aurora up, but he
gives in and soon she’s awake. From then on, Jim keeps the secret of waking up
Aurora and pretending that it was a malfunction similar to what happened to
him. Unfortunately, and expectedly, the secret gets out, however, the ever increasing
problems on board the ship forces them to work together.
A third pod malfunction wakes up Laurence Fishburne’s character, Chief
Gus Mancuso, who is Chief Deck Officer aboard the ship. The three of them soon
investigate and work out what the problem is and immediately go about trying to
fix it. This is where my problem lies. They got extremely lucky when Gus, the Chief
Deck Officer who has clearance to override the computers for his own commands,
and to access parts of the ship Jim and Aurora are unable to. If Gus hadn’t
woken up, the ship wouldn’t have made it to their new planet, Homestead 2. Over
the course of the next few scenes, we discover that Gus is terminally ill and
he does die, which doesn’t bring about the impact they were going for, because
it only cements the fact that he was only there to give them access they weren’t
able to before, to fix the problem. It would have been a lot better if Jim and
Aurora found another way round together, fixing the problem and ultimately their
relationship, which was just as expected as their falling out was.
The rest of the film was brilliant. Chris’ performance was strong.
This was his first movie where he was on his own for the first act, and he
certainly showed that. He did have an android to talk to, but it isn’t the same
as another human. Jennifer’s performance was equally as strong, and together
they made a powerful connection. That’s why Passengers is on this list – not because
of the story, but because of the two leads. However, if they didn’t go down the
“luck route”, it would have been much higher up the list.
8: Finding Dory
–
Now, I know what you’re thinking. If you weren’t thinking that,
then you are now. Pixar is my favourite filmmaking company, so why is it not
further up the list. I said during the introduction that this year’s catalogue
of exceptional films was hard to organise, and that one has to be further down
the list. The reason, for me, why I’ve put it 8th isn’t because it’s
a bad movie – in fact, it’s a terrific movie, except for the scene where the
octopus drives a van on the motorway.
Finding Dory is the sequel to the much-loved Finding Nemo. Pixar
had a lot sitting on their shoulders, and they did deliver as they always do
with their films. There’s several strong emotional moments cleverly woven
throughout for maximum impact, lovable characters, and a story that gets you
thinking long after the credits. What let it down slightly and forced me to
push it down a few spaces was when the octopus drives the van.
I know there are talking fish, talking cars, superheroes, and toys
that come to life and did drive the Pizza Planet Truck, but with Toy Story, it
was meant for laughs and wasn’t really meant to be taken that seriously. In
Finding Dory, it was sudden and unexpected during a climactic scene, it was a
little hard to digest at first, because it was meant to be taken seriously as a
lot was riding on them getting back to the water.
Again, Finding Dory is not a bad movie, and my reason for why it
is this far down the list may be taken as a nitpick – which is rather a
compliment on the quality of the film and how good this year’s list of films
really is. I will happily re-watch the film many times over now that I know
what’s to come and I can fully appreciate the film as it is.
7: Fantastic
Beasts and Where to Find Them –
Jumping back into the world of magic was easy. We knew, extensively,
how the world works, because a huge portion of the audience grew up with Harry
Potter, and was sad and disappointed that it came to an end. Having a new and
original story centred around Newt Scamander on his trip around the world in
search for fantastic mythical beasts, was accepted instantly by fans of Harry
Potter. There were many websites dedicated to predicting what would happen with
each newly released piece of information, and the internet blew up when it was
announced that it there were going to be five movies in the series.
As well as bringing back all the classic spells, and terminology,
it introduced us to new characters and, most prominently, the obscurial, which
is a powerful dark entity when a witch or wizard suppress their magic so much
it bursts out of them uncontrollably. What I enjoyed most about the film, is
how it added to the world, and opened our eyes to moments we previously thought
we knew all about. Going by the description of what an obscurial is, Ariana
Dumbledore is one, too. Not only did Fantastic Beasts give us more by itself,
but it also allowed us to see the previous seven books in a new light. I can’t
wait to see what would happen in the next films. I am a little wary about there
being five films, because I don’t want to see the story to be stretched thin,
but if each one keeps up to the first, then the world of magic won’t be going
away any time soon.
6: Sully –
The miracle on the Hudson was exactly that, a miracle. On January
15, 2009, US Airways Flight 1549, three minutes after taking off from New York
City’s Laguardia Airport, it was struck by a flock of birds, taking out both
engines. Captain Chesley Sullenberger successfully landed the plane in the
Hudson river, saving all 155 passengers and crew on board. He became a hero
overnight. This film, Sully, explores the aftermath of that event. His
emotions, how he coped with the sudden fame, and the strict investigation
procedure.
Tom Hanks’ portrayal was immaculate. I was sucked in from the
beginning, and really felt what Sully had to go through, and made me realise
that, because it was a miracle and everyone survived, they would simply walk
away, but there’s a lot more to that, and this film shows us that perfectly.
During the flashbacks when we see the events unfold, the attention to detail
was faultless. Even though I knew it all would be fine, I was still on the edge
of my seat, hoping that it would be, because of the level of detail involved.
Sandra Hudson did the review for this film earlier in the year,
and she said that Sully was the closest representation of a real-life event she
has ever seen, and I do agree.
5: Doctor
Strange –
Absolutely mind-blowing special effects, superb story, incredible
character development, you may be wondering why this is fourth, not third. It
was tough, but I put it third because of the film that comes next. Doctor
Strange, a highly accomplished surgeon who suffered a career damaging,
life-altering accident, rendering his hands completely unusable. He does
whatever he can in search for a cure, only to find himself in a whole new
dimension, or should I say, dimensions, or should I say, a whole new reality.
The MARVEL Cinematic Universe’s first introduction to magic, and along with it,
the first glimpse of the Time Stone, which grants him the power to warp time at
his will – either move it forwards, backwards, or loop it infinitely.
The final battle that saw Doctor Strange rewinding time was a
magnificent sight to see, and kept me hooked to the very end, almost leaving my
mind exhausted at the end, and not many films can do that, not even the next
three in the list.
I could have easily put this third, second, or even first, but the
reason why it’s fourth is because of the reasons why I put the three films
after it where they are. Yeah, I know, a little cryptic, but keep reading and
hopefully I have explained myself well enough to not cause any controversy.
4: Rogue One: A
Star Wars Story –
Whether or not you think the new trilogy of films is necessary,
it’s hard to deny the necessity that is Rogue One. Set in between the prequel
and the original trilogy, the film follows a group of soldiers from the Empire
with the mission to steal the plans for the Death Star. Finally, after so many
years, we get the story that we only very briefly read about during the opening
text scroll in the fourth film.
It was a joy to see classic Star Wars once more, and even more so
to see Darth Vader once more, in action, in an original story, showing his
incredible power once more. When Darth Vader enters the battle right at the
end, even though you know the plan do get stolen from him, you’re still on the
edge of your seat, just wondering if he really will stop the Empire from taking
them.
The film was caked in nostalgic flares, nerdy references,
fulfilled expectations, there’s not really much that can be added – but if they
do, there’s a chance they could have ruined the film. It was clear the
filmmakers didn’t have to worry about the ending, and so they simply could have
fun in getting there, and in turn, so did we.
3: Collateral
Beauty –
Powerful, emotional, and incredibly smart. Collateral Beauty shows
a different side to Will Smith’s acting, and he nails every scene, but this
film isn’t just about his story. In fact, it’s about four, with him being the
main. The premise of the film intrigued me, and so I had to go and see it.
Howard, after suffering the terrible loss of his daughter, during one of his
lowest moments, sends three letters to Time, Death, and Love, and they respond.
At first, I thought it was going to be along the lines of A Christmas Carol,
where three ghosts show up and help someone build a better life, but instead it’s
so much more than that.
His three closest friends, Whit Yardsham (Edward Norton), Simon
Scott (Michael Peña), and Claire Wilson
(Kate Winslet) set about helping Howard by hiring three actors to play the
parts of Time, (Jacob Latimore) Death, (Helen Mirren) and Love (Keira
Knightley), in a hope to bring his mind back to the real world. However, woven
intelligently between the main storyline, his three closest friends also
receive help from those three forces, and their plan changes their lives just
as much as it does Howards.
Although this came out on Boxing Day, near the end of the year,
this immediately jumped up to third spot, and deserves it. I was so glad that
they didn’t follow what I thought the film would be, and instead went down a
different route, which ultimately made it better. A powerful, emotional story
such as Howard’s is difficult to get right sometimes, and so include four
different storylines throughout was a remarkable feat of storytelling.
2: Captain
America: Civil War –
When this film was announced, the excitement was immediate. Fans
of the comic book knew what to expect, fans of the Cinematic Universe knew what
to expect, but with every action, there’s an equal and opposite reaction.
Everyone was nervous. It was a massive storyline in the comics, and with the
announcement of many cast members all in one film, it was understandable to be
on edge. But MARVEL knew what they were doing, and they did it brilliantly.
Civil War is the thirteenth film in the Cinematic Universe. Thor wasn’t to
feature, nor was the Hulk, and The Guardians of the Galaxy. If you take away
those four films, you’re left with nine films before Civil War. Nine films to
introduce and develop all the characters, nine films for MARVEL to establish
themselves, build up a reputation, and trust. They knew exactly where they
stood with the fans and they used that to make one heck of a fantastic film.
People knew that it was going to be an ambitious movie. Juggling
so many characters through a storyline that needs to develop the characters,
introduce new characters, and set up future films in the overall series, and
they nailed that. You didn’t need any official introduction to the majority of
the cast members, because you already know them, and the many side characters
were also already well-known among the fans. We did have some newly introduced
people, Spider-Man, Black Panther, and the main antagonist of the movie, Zemo.
However, we already know Spider-Man’s origin story because we’ve read the
comics and have seen it dozens of time during the many reboots, and Zemo was
part of the secret organisation within a secret organisation, Hydra, which we
all know about now. The Black Panther had to have some explanation, but they
didn’t need to touch upon it too much because we would get the full story in
the coming movie in 2018. MARVEL knew that we knew and took full advantage of
that, didn’t treat us as if we haven’t seen a comic book movie before, or don’t
know anything about these iconic characters; they used all that they had to
make the best movie they could, and they did.
1: Deadpool –
I could easily say the same introduction, and so I shall. When
this film was announced, the excitement was immediate, but again, fans were
worried. Just before this film was released, the studio behind it released the
reboot of Fantastic Four, which couldn’t have dropped harder if they had tried
to push it down themselves. Deadpool is a very particular character: He’s crazy
because his cancer is continuously destroying his brain cells, but his healing
factor is constantly fighting against and healing them, creating the unstable, fourth-wall
breaking lunatic we all love to read in the comics. We simply don’t know what
he’s going to do from one scene to the next, even from one box to the next. The
film needed to capture Deadpool as we know in the comics, and that’s where the
worried stemmed from. It was on par with being as ambitious as Captain America:
Civil War, but for completely different reasons.
The marketing was ingenious. They simply had immense fun with the
character advertising his own film, among other deeds. The potential was
theoretically endless, and we digested it all, and our excitement increased,
but so did we worry. We all thought, if the marketing is this good, how could
the film possibly be bad, but we all knew there was that possibility. However,
it couldn’t have been further from that outcome. It stormed the box office, it
won over fans, and it showed us all what can be achieved if you ignore the
unwritten rules previous comic book movies have set up. It’s graphic, it’s
violent, it’s crazy. It’s perfectly captured Deadpool as we know him from the
comics, and has allowed Twentieth Century Fox to redeem themselves for the
disastrous representation of the character in Wolverine, and the complete mess
of Fantastic Four. Seriously, MARVEL should have the rights back, they will do
the character’s justice, easily.
It was difficult to decide between the two, Civil War or Deadpool,
because they were equally as good but for different reasons, and they were just
as ambitious as each other. I didn’t want the fact that Deadpool was my
favourite superhero to be the swaying vote because that would mean I’m bias. It
was a tough battle, but in the end I settled upon Deadpool because it proved
what can be done. They could have a terrible movie if they wanted to make it
for everyone, or they could have made what fans want. Sure, a movie with
violence and blood and gore do prevent younger audiences from seeing it, but if
they had made the film fit for children, more people would have walked away
than stepped forwards. It is a risky move making an R-rated movie, because a
huge portion of the public won’t be able to see it, but if done right, more
people will than those that aren’t able to, and that’s a win for any studio,
surely.
Deadpool is number one because it proves it can be done, and it
gave us what we wanted, and more besides.
Thanks for reading
Antony Hudson
(TonyHadNouns)
