76. Mockingjay Part 2
75. Side Effects
74. Gone Girl
Nick Dunne's sociopathic wife framed him for her murder. After turning the nation against him and making him the only suspect -- she shows back up at their home covered in blood (she killed her ex-boyfriend in cold blood while she was away). Ordinarily, this would be a great time to file for divorce and never look back. Except the missus used Nick's sperm from a fertility clinic to get pregnant. So in order to protect his child from a world-class psycho (and only for that reason), he agrees to stay with her.
73. Searching
72. The Mountain Between Us
71. Before I Fall
70. Real Steel
In a future in which the sport of boxing and MMA has been eclipsed in popularity by robots going mano a mano, Charlie Kenton (a former professional boxer himself) is informed that his ex-girlfriend (baby's mama) has died.This leaves his son, Max, who he doesn't really know, without a home. Max's aunt and rich uncle make a deal with Charlie in which he'll be paid $100,000 provided he doesn't fight their petition for full custody. But Max has to live with Charlie for the next three months while the couple is on vacation. Well, Max soon discovers an old robot of his own to train as a fighter and both father and son discover that they've bonded through their mutual love of boxing.
69. Gojira
68. Slow Learners
67. Blackhat
66. Chef
After popular chef Carl Casper quits his job at a swanky California restaurant, his girlfriend and his ex-wife convince him to operate his own food truck. Not having the money to buy one, Carl accepts his ex-wife's other ex-husband's offer of an old truck in need of restoration. The catch is: the truck is in Miami. So after fixing up the truck, Carl and his son Percy drive it coast-to-coast back to California serving Cuban food and bonding along the way.
65. Spotlight
64. Snow White & the Huntsman
63. Blade Runner 2049
62. Den of Thieves
Den of Thieves is by no means a rip-off but it does bear a passing resemblance to Heat -- except without all of the subtle (and not so subtle) racism. And if you've gotten to the point where you lose all hope of a movie being worth a watch simply because 50 Cent's a member of the cast -- relax. This one's actually good. And he's good in it. If that weren't shocking enough (it actually shouldn't be for fans of "Power"), he portrays a loving husband and father.
50 and his band of brothers pay the bills by robbing armored trucks. Because they're always at least one step ahead of police, Nicholas "Big Nick" O'Brien, head of a Rampart-style LA Sheriff's unit, and his team of questionable lawmen wanna bring them down -- one way or another.
61. Whiplash
Andrew Neiman's greatest desire is to be somebody in the world of jazz. The first step towards achieving his goal is attending Shaffer Conservatory -- a highly esteemed music college in New York City. After renowned conductor Terence Fletcher invites him to join his studio band, however, Andrew's dream becomes a living nightmare. He soon learns that Fletcher's teaching-style -- which includes verbal and physical abuse, threats and intimidation -- may be more than he can bear. Fletcher has, in fact, driven several of his students to tears and one to suicide.
60. The Lego Movie
The studio pitch for The LEGO Movie could've been, "Robot Chicken, but limited to LEGOs and rated for kids." Without a doubt, Chris Pratt's best work on the big screen in 2014 and Will Ferrell's best family film since 2010's Megamind (2005's Kicking & Screaming was pretty good too), The LEGO Movie is further evidence that toy-based movies don't have to be brainless (take notes Michael Bay). Ironically, the movie's hero, Emmett, is in fact somewhat brainless, as well he should be as LEGO is an obvious The Matrix-inspired satire, what with it's: older, wise African-American mentor; "chosen one" prophecy; highly skilled and acrobatic love interest; robotic law enforcement henchmen; a control freak villain obsessed with order; an underground resistance movement; imagination-based "super powers"; and dual planes of existence.
The beauty of the movie is that it doesn't depend on the usual terms that professional critics like to throw around ad nauseum but that moviegoers could care less about, such as: narrative, story arc and final act, etc. The source of the story (those who've seen the movie know what I mean) even serves to immunize it somewhat from the usual reason for critical derision - cliches. Be warned -- there are sentimental scenes, but just when the film veers perilously close to maudlin schmaltz, the laughs keep coming. Some of the humor stems from the satirical jabs the movie takes at - well, nearly everything - from adventure story archetypes to Big Government to corporate branding to police drama stereotypes to mindless sitcoms to superheroes to Peter Jackson movies to Lego fanatics. Though the screenplay may have caused the studio heads (and the toy company execs for that matter) to see dollar signs, the execution seems to have been a labor of love for the filmmakers. There is so much fine attention to detail that at least two viewings are required to take it all in.
Like most animated features, LEGO is brimming with celebrities and while there are a few voices that you probably won't recognize until you read the credits (especially Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill), directors Phil Lord, Christopher Miller and Chris McKay (director of Robot Chicken) make much, much better use of cameos than last year's Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues. Yep, that really is Shaq and Billy Dee Williams. Morgan Freeman, in a pretty sizable and key role, delivers one of the funniest performances of his career.
As difficult as it appears the animation was for the filmmakers to achieve, the crux of the movie seems to be as simple as thinking back to childhood. However, unlike the vast majority of films that employ CGI, LEGO's distinct look may in fact inoculate it against obsolescence for quite some time.
What LEGO does most effectively is to convey the all-encompassing aura of creativity and other-worldliness generated when playing with toys. It's a testament to the movie's drawing power that the collateral spike in the brand's popularity led to a shortage of toy products seven months after it's release.
59. Joker
Unlike Batman, who's suffered from some regrettable depictions through the years (most notably, in Batman Forever and Batman & Robin), his arch-nemesis, the Joker, boasts a perfect 4-0 record when it comes to big-screen cinematic appearances.
Perhaps because, unlike most comic book villains, and indeed, most comic book characters, the Joker has only been portrayed by award-winning actors, respected by both their peers and moviegoers alike.
With Oscar buzz surrounding Joaquin Phoenix's take on the killer clown in Joker, there's even a fresh new addition to the ever-growing collection of mind-blowing portrayals of Gotham's Most Wanted.
Timid and socially-awkward loner Arthur Fleck lives with his mother in a small Gotham City apartment and works a dead-end job as a party clown. However, he dreams of becoming a stand-up comedian and constantly jots down original material in his joke book to further that end. When he shares his dream with his mother, she dismisses him as not being funny.
Arthur was once hospitalized in a mental facility and continues to suffer from a neurological condition, the pseudobulbar affect, that compels him to laugh uncontrollably during times of stress. He presents a card that explains his affliction to a woman who berates him after he makes her young son laugh during a city bus ride. Arthur is also dependent on medication provided by a city social program that requires him to attend regular counseling sessions.
After being beaten and robbed by a group of kids, Arthur is chewed out by his boss, who docks him for the sign that was stolen from him by the thieves. He subsequently encounters a neighbor, Sophie, for whom he develops feelings and begins seeing socially. A coworker, Randall, provides him with a revolver (unsolicited) for protection against any such incidents in the future. But when the gun accidentally falls out of his waistband in front of a crowd of children and staff members during a performance at a children's hospital, Arthur is fired as a result. It didn't help that Randall lied, accusing Arthur of approaching HIM about obtaining the weapon.
During the subway ride home, Arthur, still in his clown makeup, is assaulted by three stockbrokers in the employ of Wayne Enterprises. Fleck shoots two to death in self-defense and executes the third, instead of allowing him to flee. Mayoral candidate, Thomas Wayne, denounces the killings during a televised interview, disparaging critical impoverished Gotham citizens as "clowns" who never made anything of their lives.
The billionaire's comments spark protests, comprised of people wearing clown masks. Meanwhile, funding for various social programs is slashed, leaving Arthur unable to obtain his medication. And due to his growing self-confidence, he accuses his case-worker of going through the motions rather than actually listening to him.
Later, Arthur makes his stand-up comedy debut but bombs miserably, chuckling uncontrollably but failing to elicit laughs from the audience. After a tape of his performance is sent to the Murray Franklin Show, the eponymous host mocks Arthur live on the air, labeling him a "joker".
As though things weren't bad enough, Arthur reads a letter from his mother intended to be sent to Thomas Wayne, in which she refers to the former as her and Wayne's son. Enraged that his paternity was never revealed to him, Arthur angrily confronts her before heading to Wayne Manor to meet Thomas.
Arthur encounters an eight-year-old Bruce Wayne at the property gate before being confronted by Alfred Pennyworth, who accuses his mother, Penny, of being delusional and fabricating her sexual relationship with Thomas Wayne. Upon returning home, Arthur discovers that his mother has suffered a stroke and rides with her in an ambulance to the hospital.
When he's approached by two Gotham City police detectives investigating the triple-homicide on the subway, it's revealed that the pair spoke to Penny Fleck shortly before her stroke, likely triggering it.
Arthur subsequently maneuvers his way into a face-to-face talk with Thomas Wayne in a men's room. Wayne not only echoes Pennyworth's claims, he adds that Arthur himself is adopted and not biologically related to either himself or Penny Fleck. The encounter ends with Wayne punching Arthur in the face before storming off.
Determined to learn the truth, Arthur goes to Arkham State Hospital, where he was told Penny was committed, and steals her file. The records not only confirm that Penny was treated for delusions and adopted Arthur but also reveal that she and a boyfriend abused him at three years old.
Distraught, Arthur visits Penny in her hospital room, where he smothers her with a pillow. Afterwards, he pays Sophie a visit in her apartment, where it's implied that he murders her -- and presumably, her daughter as well. It's revealed that Arthur's entire relationship with Sophie was imagined.
The next day, Arthur is invited to make an appearance on Murray Franklin's talk show as a result of the attention garnered by his stand-up video. Before the show, Arthur is visited by former coworkers Randall and Gary. He stabs Randall to death in retaliation for lying about his gun but spares a distraught Gary.
On his way to the Murray Franklin Show, Arthur is spotted by the homicide detectives investigating the train shooting and flees. As he's wearing clown makeup, Fleck is able to blend in with a crowd of similarly dressed protesters in clown masks. When Arthur steals one of the demonstrators' mask, he inadvertently incites a brawl that engulfs the detectives. After one of the cops accidentally shoots a protester, the crowd attacks them both, ultimately leaving them with critical injuries.
In his meeting with Franklin, Arthur requests that he be introduced as "Joker", the description that the host had previously given him. Arthur subsequently appears before the audience in full clown makeup and green hair for the live broadcast. After telling inappropriate jokes that fall flat, he admits to killing the Wayne executives on the subway, describing them as "awful" people. When Franklin blames him for the riots that have erupted in the wake of the shooting, Arthur replies that he's not motivated by politics. He also calls Franklin "awful" for belittling him and shoots him to death before laying his gun on the host's desk and walking off.
Following his arrest, the police vehicle in which Arthur is riding is struck by protesters driving an ambulance. Arthur's freed by the demonstrators and upon regaining consciousness, is cheered by the crowd and hailed as a hero.
Meanwhile, one of the rioters confronts the Waynes in a back alley, murdering both Thomas and Martha before fleeing the scene as the now-orphaned Bruce looks on.
After Arthur is committed to Arkham, he undergoes a session with a psychiatrist, who inquires as to what he finds so amusing. He tells her that she wouldn't get the joke and is subsequently seen running from orderlies while leaving bloody footprints in his wake (it's implied that he murdered the psychiatrist before attempting to escape).
The best lines:
"What do you get when you cross a mentally-ill loner with a society that abandons him and treats him like trash? You get what you fucking deserve."
"The worst part of having a mental illness is that people expect you to behave as if you don't."
"I used to think that my life was a tragedy, but now I realize it's a fucking comedy."
58. Sicario
Sicario is one of the Spanish words for assassin. While Traffic presented the War on Drugs from various angles and perspectives, Sicario gives the POV of one FBI agent who gets caught up in it up to her eyeballs and may not make it back out. The movie also provides insight into the hazy legalities involved in fighting the "war".
After FBI agents Reggie Wayne, a former attorney, and Kate Macer discover dozens of corpses in the walls of a safehouse tied to the Sonora Cartel, Kate is recruited to join a Department of Justice special joint task force dedicated to bringing down high-ranking cartel member Manuel Diaz.
After accompanying the task force, led by CIA agent Matt Graver and Alejandro Gillick, on a mission to Ciudad Juarez in Mexico to apprehend Diaz's brother Guillermo, Kate witnesses the team kill several gang members connected to the cartel at the U.S.-Mexico border. When Reggie, who never trusted Graver, questions him about the task force's true objective, it's revealed that the operation's real target is cartel-head Fausto Alarcon and that the team is simply working its way up the ladder to the boss.
The team subsequently executes a raid on a Phoenix bank tied to the cartel, which prompts the organization to target Kate. After Gillick subdues a dirty cop and cartel operative who attempts to murder her, Kate learns that she was included in the raid so that she could be used as bait.
Graver eventually admits that because the CIA is prohibited from operating inside the U.S., Kate was only recruited so that her FBI status could be used as legal cover for the task force's stateside activities. He also reveals that U.S. government decision-makers have concluded that the drug trade would be much more manageable if it was controlled by a single cartel as opposed to several competing groups.
During another clandestine mission to Mexico, Gillick, a former prosecutor trained to be a killer by the CIA following his family's murder by the cartel, shoots Kate for attempting to stop him from kidnapping a Mexican police officer working for the cartel. He goes on to murder the officer and Diaz's entire family in retaliation for ordering his own family's murder.
Following the mission, Kate realizes that she's way in over her head when Gillick breaks into her apartment and forces her to sign a waiver -- at gunpoint -- protecting the team from legal repercussions. Before leaving, he advises her to go into hiding and to find another line of work.
57. The Hate U Give
More than any other movie this year, The Hate U Give conveys the African-American Millenial experience. And like Blindspotting, released earlier this year, Hate also delves into multi-generational issues such as code-switching and murder-by-cop.
Both movies feature a fatal shooting of an unarmed African-American male by a white police officer. Unlike the relatively recent spate of police murders captured on video, there is only one eyewitness -- aside from the cop. The remainder of the films explore the effects that the shootings have on the witnesses.
In the case of Hate, the witness, Starr Carter, was a childhood friend of the victim, Khalil Harris. The two are pulled over for failure to signal a lane change on an empty street when Khalil drives Starr home from a house party. After Khalil is ordered out of the car, he's shot to death by the officer.
What follows is Starr's struggle to come to terms with the death of her friend, her efforts to achieve justice for Khalil while remaining anonymous, and her continued fight to be accepted by her predominantly African-American community without being solely defined by her ethnicity at her predominantly white high school. Despite Starr's wish to blend in and be a "normal" teenager, the seed of social activism planted in her by her father begins to grow.
The title is derived from the acronym (The Hate U Give Little Infants F#cks Everyone) that rapper and actor Tupac Shakur gave to the social movement and hip-hop group that he founded -- Thug Life.
56. Straight Outta Compton
55. Barbershop 3
Barbershop 3 (it's actually subtitled The Next Cut, which no one wants to say) is miles ahead of the first two Barbershops in nearly every way. It's free of the hijinks and shenanigans that defined the those movies, while still managing to be funnier and more mature than both. Most of the ridiculousness this time around stems from Cedric the Entertainer's character, Eddie. But don't completely discount the first two movies because B3 does a admirable job of maintaining continuity. The previous installments provide context for this one. Many of the characters have undergone tremendous growth while still remaining true to their core personalities (14 years later, Terri still loves her apple juice).
For two years in a row, Ice Cube has been involved in films that address the problem of inner-city violence. This year, he stars in B3, which surprisingly, maturely confronts gang culture in Chicago and its effect on his character's son (who was a newborn in the first movie) and his community. In 2015, he produced Straight Outta Compton, a biopic about his early rap career that also focused on gang culture in his native Los Angeles and its effect on him and his community (and the other members of his group NWA). His actual son portrayed him in the movie. How do you like that?
Barbershop 3 isn't the only recent movie to tackle the reality of regular shootings that plagues America's 3rd largest city. 2015's Chiraq, which was hated by everyone except professional film critics (including residents of inner-city Chicago), also chose the city's urban death toll as its subject. But where Chiraq is an idiotic unfunny musical-comedy that utilizes rhyming dialogue and fictional street gangs that are less convincing than West Side Story's Sharks and Jets to convey its message, Shop puts the laughing aside and sobers up for every scene involving the GDs (Gangster Disciples) and Vice Lords, actual gangs native to Chicago, and the only singing you'll hear is performed by the groups (such as Earth, Wind & Fire) who recorded the classic R&B songs played throughout the movie. Chiraq also features John Cusack as Father Mike Corridan, a movie version of Father Michael Pfleger (an outspoken Roman Catholic priest and social activist from the South Side of Chicago), while B3 gives us a video clip of the genuine article giving an interview on a news program. But where Spike Lee's satire presents a cascade of man-bashing and takes pains to highlight the moral and intellectual superiority of its female characters and undermine masculinity, Cube and company provide balance -- a roster of both men and women possessing both flaws and strengths. In other words: Real people.
Native Chicagoan Common was recruited for the final installment of the trilogy, which provides the movie with a pretty surreal moment when his Rashad squares off against Cube's Calvin -- a point in the story that immediately brings to mind the feud between the two rappers which peaked exactly 20 years ago. Ironically (maybe the intentional kind), B3 begins with Calvin giving a rundown of some of the things he loves about Chi-town and his history with the city, before delving into what he views as an ugly turn the metropolis took along the way. Used to Love HER -- the song that incited 90s hostilities between the two MCs -- features Common detailing his love of Hip Hop music and his history with the art form, before describing a series of events that led to his disenchantment with the genre.
Speaking of rappers, the movie is a veritable 90s Hip Hop reunion when you consider that Eve also makes a significant contribution to the film. Even Biggie shows up. Not really, but Jamal Woolard, who portrayed Big in the biopic Notorious, does make an appearance.
No one in Barbershop 3 is gonna be nominated for an Oscar next year, but every single character (with the exception of Eddie) seemed like a genuine person -- complete with individual mannerisms and personal quirks (as opposed to gimmicks). And that is usually the entire point of acting. As strange as it sounds (considering it's led by the same man who starred in the Ride Along movies), Barbershop 3 is the smartest and absolute best comedy of the year.
54. Almost Christmas
If you're like me, you might've seen the poster or the trailer for Almost Christmas and figured it was another run-of-the-mill, cheesy, holiday movie full of sappiness and drama -- basically, a Christmas chick flick. But in this case you'd be wrong.
On the surface it seems like it fits right in with A Madea Christmas, The Best Man Holiday, The Perfect Holiday and even Soul Food.
But this is different. There are no dudes wearing dresses, no stupid hijinks and no stereotypes. There's no scheme to raise a bunch of money to save something in a handful of days (the family home, the family business, etc.) and no soap opera-style family secret. Just people interacting with each other -- but in funny ways.
Another thing -- there's also no matriarch holding all of the various cousins, uncles and aunts together. Shockingly enough, Almost Christmas' Meyers family is led and held together not by grandma, but grandpa -- a widower with brains and principles. When was the last time you saw that in a movie?
Almost is the funniest movie most of the actors onscreen have appeared in. It's one of two hilarious 2016 movies for J.B. Smoove (the other is Barbershop 3). And fellas, two of the cast-members, Gabrielle Union and Keri Hilson, have only gotten better-looking with time. Trust me. Or don't trust me -- see for yourself.
Like I said, Almost Christmas isn't a chick flick and it's not a family movie either. It's a funny movie that happens to be about a family. That's not to say that it doesn't jerk a few tears. My date cried five times (Damn, girl).
It may seem a little early to call it but I think we've got a holiday classic on our hands.
53. Fruitvale Station
52. Get Out
51. Just Mercy
Just Mercy is the film adaptation of attorney Bryan Stevenson's critically-acclaimed 2014 memoir Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption. Focusing primarily on Stevenson's attempts to free a wrongfully-convicted African-American man sentenced to the death penalty in Monroeville, Alabama.
A rarity among Hollywood movies about racism, Just Mercy is a savior film that features Black people being saved by a Black person. The movie highlights the astounding level of institutional racism within the Alabama (and American) justice system -- which persists to this day. Some moviegoers may initially have trouble comprehending the magnitude of the problem and believing the extraordinary lengths to which those in power went in order to uphold a system of oppression.
Interestingly enough, director Destin Daniel Cretton strongly indicts the caucasian male members of the communities involved. But though history tells a different story, the movie goes out of its way to absolve white women of any complicity in connection to the systemic racism that it depicts.
The movie begins with the 1987 arrest of Monroeville entrepreneur Walter McMillian, whose accused of murdering a local 18-year-old white woman, Ronda Morrison. After moving to Alabama and finding local commercial property owners reluctant to rent to an advocate for Death Row inmates, Harvard Law grad and Delaware native Stevenson moves in with the family of Eva Ansley, a local woman horrified by the Alabama justice system's mistreatment of poor defendants.
Initially refusing to work with the young attorney due to his previous lawyer's ineptitude, McMillian finally comes around following Stevenson's acceptance by his family and community.
McMillian eventually reveals that he was transported to Death Row immediately after his arrest, where he remained for more than a year before his trial. He was also at a fish fry attended by several witnesses, one of whom was a police officer, during the time of the murder. He was targeted by law enforcement and the judicial system not merely because he was African-American but because he was an African-American man who'd engaged in a public affair with a white woman.
In the absence of any physical evidence, the state's case depended entirely on witness testimony. And the primary witness, career criminal Ralph Myers, was indicted as a co-conspirator and offered a 30-year sentence in lieu of the death penalty in exchange for his testimony. Following the trial judge's decision to relocate the proceedings to a nearby overwhelmingly white county, McMillian was convicted by 11 white (with one African-American) jurors and sentenced to life in prison. Unsatisfied, the presiding judge set the jury's sentence aside and imposed the death penalty.
Stevenson fight to secure McMillian's freedom even included a segment on 60 Minutes.
Onscreen, Stevenson endures police intimidation, legal stonewalling and reluctance to come forward on the part of witnesses to obtain justice for just one client. Would you believe he's gone on to save 125 men from death sentences?
Just Mercy should be required viewing, particularly for those concerned with the need for criminal justice reform.
A courtroom drama that outshines genre favorites like A Few Good Men, A Time to Kill, Primal Instinct and Philadelphia, Just Mercy rivals To Kill a Mockingbird. Ironically, the author of the book on which that movie was based, Harper Lee, was a native of Monroeville.
Look for Just Mercy at a theater near you this Christmas. And look for it to snag trophies at award shows in early 2020.
50. Murder on the Orient Express
49. Marshall
Thurgood Marshall made history in 1967 when he became the very first African-American U.S. Supreme Court justice. But the film that bears his name is set much earlier in the legal pioneer's career. Marshall takes place in 1940 and 1941 when a then 33-year-old Marshall was still a practicing attorney employed by the NAACP. The movie focuses on his involvment in the State of Connecticut v. Joseph Spell case. The case centered on a white woman, Eleanor Strubing, who accused her African-American chauffeur, Spell, of rape, kidnapping and attempted murder. Because the presiding judge, Carl Foster (a friend of prosecutor Lorin Willis' family), prohibited Marshall from speaking in the courtroom, he teamed with local, caucasian insurance attorney Samuel Friedman (in reality, Friedman was hired because it was believed that the white jury would more readily identify with him than with Marshall). Under Marshall's guidance, Friedman's cross-examination of Strubing exposed inconsistencies in her story. It was ultimately revealed in court that she and Spell had engaged in consensual sex and that Strubing made the false accusation out of fear that her extramarital liason with a Black man might be exposed by an accidental pregnancy. After more than 12 hours of deliberation, Spell was acquitted by the all-white jury, eliciting audible gasps in the courtroom.
Marshall retired in 1991, 16 months before his death, and was consequently succeeded by Clarence Thomas. Fifty-two years after Marshall's appointment, Thomas, who still sits on the Supreme Court bench, is the last African-American justice to join the court.
48. Hunter Killer
Hunter Killer is the best submarine movie since Crimson Tide. And as an added bonus, HK's action isn't limited to the claustrophobic confines of a sub. While the seamen aboard the USS Arkansas elude and engage the enemy under the waves, a four-man SEAL team embarks on a covert mission behind enemy lines on land.
The story revolves around the crew of Arkansas, led by Commander Joe Glass, which discovers that a missing sub, the USS Tampa Bay, has been sunk by its Russian counterpart. With the help of Rear Admiral John Fisk and NSA analyst Jayne Norquist, the sailors discover a conspiracy that could provoke a nuclear war.
The title is derived from the Arkansas' designation. Hunter-killers are specifically designed to attack and disable other submarines. While the general premise bears a broad resemblance to Tide, Hunter Killer is a wholly different movie. The alternating suspense and action hardly ever gives you a moment to breathe. This is one to watch and the best contemporary military movie of the year.
47. Interstellar
When Interstellar was released, several reviewers compared it to 2001: A Space Odyssey. While 2001 was the more philosophical of the two, Interstellar was more exciting. On top of that, TARS and CASE comprise the best robotic duo since R2D2 and C-3PO in the original Star Wars trilogy (their inclusion in the prequels was one of the many, many bad judgment calls concerning the first three episodes).
46. Sleight
The best 2017 release about an orphaned science whiz who uses his brains to fight criminals isn't Spider-Man: Homecoming, it's Sleight. Sleight could actually be considered the realistic version of the popular comic book. While the movie's hero, Bashir Wolfe, has some similarities to Peter Parker (not to mention Tony Stark and Magneto), his mentor is his high school science teacher, not a billionaire Avenger. He also doesn't have a nice aunt to take care of him -- he provides for himself and his little sister. And best of all, he doesn't wear tights.
45. Blindspotting
With only three days left on his parole for assault, Collin Hoskins witnesses an unarmed Black man being fatally shot in the back by a white police officer. With freedom looming and his release from a halfway house right around the corner, Collin tries to put the murder out of his mind so that he can fully assimilate back into society.
His friendship with his hot-headed right-hand man, Miles, whose criminal behavior threatens to get him sent back to prison; his complicated relationship with his ex-girlfriend and current co-worker, Val; the gentrification of his Oakland, California neighborhood; and his money problems give him plenty to think about, but he still can't get the shooting off his mind.
The story climaxes when Collin and Miles, who both work at a moving company, arrive at the address of a job and Collin discovers that it's the home of the cop that he saw kill a man.
Friendship, identity, racial politics, police brutality murder, gentrification, and loyalty are all explored in one of the year's best.
44. Fist Fight
High School isn't only tough on students. Sometimes teachers get the business as well. Unsupportive administrators, disrespectful students, low pay and minimal resources mean that public school teachers only have each other to rely on. So when Mr. Campbell rats Mr. Strickland out to the principal for going ape-shit in front of his students, he decides to handle it the old-fashioned way -- by challenging Campbell to a fight after school. Campbell responds to the challenge the only way that he knows how -- by spending the rest of the day feverishly trying to weasel his way out of it.
43. The Sun is Also a Star
The opening scene of 1993's Menace II Society helped to highlight the divide (cinematically, at least) between South Korean store owners and their African American customers in whose neighborhoods those stores were located. In 1991, real-life 15-year-old, African American Latasha Harlins was fatally shot in the back by 51-year-old, South Korean-born convenience store owner Soon Ja Du in the latter's shop located in Los Angeles. Following a voluntary manslaughter conviction, Du was sentenced to five years of probation, 400 hours of community service and a $500 fine.
Twenty-six years later, The Sun Is Also a Star brings the two ethnic communities together in spectacular fashion. The day before Jamaican-immigrant Natasha Kingsley is scheduled to be deported with the rest of her family, New York City-born Daniel Bae notices her admiring the painted constellations on the ceiling of Grand Central Station but is unsure of how to approach her. When Natasha's so preoccupied with her music to notice the car speeding toward her at a crosswalk, he gets his chance; there may be no better icebreaker than saving someone's life.
After an awkward silence, Natasha notices Daniel's notebook, prompting him to confess that his secret passion is writing poetry This revelation leads to a discussion about his favorite subject matter: love. Seemingly pragmatic Natasha is a non-believer; her lack of faith is disturbing to Daniel, who insists that he can win her heart if given a single day to in which to woo her. Though she doesn't have 24 hours to give, Natasha, clearly intrigued, agrees to hear him out for one hour.
What follows is a series of events that Natasha labels coincidences but Daniel views as fate which allow the two to spend more time together, and more importantly, get to know each other. The film convincingly shows them transforming from complete strangers to a loving couple in the space of a day. It also humanizes the experiences and challenges faced by undocumented immigrants. Maybe Sun should've been released in February, as it's a much more appropriate Valentine's release than 2019's unwatchable Isn't It Romantic?
42. Due Date
Peter Highman is gonna be a first-time father any day now. His wife Sarah is super-pregnant and waiting for him in LA. All he has to do is make his flight home from Atlanta so that he'll be there for the arrival of his first-born. Unfortunately for him, the weirdo he meets on the plane, Ethan Tremblay, gets them both kicked off the flight and placed on the national "no-fly" list. Undeterred but missing his wallet, Peter agrees to share a rental car with Ethan, in spite of his growing hatred for him, on a coast-to-coast road trip.
Along the way, Peter ends up in a high-speed chase from the Mexican police and discovers that his friend Darryl probably fathered the baby that Sarah's carrying. All that to witness the birth of his (probably Darryl's) child. This guy deserves a friggin' medal.
41. Logan
The title is simply, Logan. But the movie's partly based on the 2008 - 2009 Old Man Logan comics storyline, which sounds a hell of a lot better and also happens to be more accurate -- especially considering Hugh Jackman's look in the movie. The source material was inspired by Unforgiven and that influence is pretty clear in the film as well.
The movie does make a stark departure from the original story -- mostly due to corporate realities. Fox, the studio that held the film rights to the X-Men and Wolverine during production, had no such claim on the Hulk, Hawkeye, the Red Skull, She-Hulk, Giant-Man, Thor, Captain America, the Kingpin, Doctor Doom, Iron Man and the Abomination -- all of whom are referenced (some play key roles) in the comics. Even so, the movie is just as good as the source material -- if not better.
Deadpool's position as the highest-grossing R-rated film of all time (in 2016) prompted Jackman to insist on the freedom to earn the same rating. Deadpool's $783 million box-office take certainly gave the studio suits something to think about. It's considerably more than the $414 million 2013's The Wolverine took home. Deadpool star Ryan Reynolds was also in 2009's X-Men Origins: Wolverine ($373 million). He wised up. Fortunately, Jackman did too. The R-rating has allowed us to finally see Wolverine being the best at what he does.
Logan isn't just the best X-Men movie -- it's better than all of the others combined. Jackman's always been pretty good as Wolverine, but until Logan, he's always been stuck portraying the most popular mutant in sh#tty movies with unconvincing special effects, terrible costumes and just overall slackness. But this time around there's no mute Deadpool, no giant samurai, no leather outfits and no wheelchair with X's on the wheels.
Speaking of which, Logan also provides the best movie showcase for Professor X.
A good bit of the story involves a guy, with the aid of an old friend, hitting the road in order to keep his super-powered kid from being reclaimed by federal agents. It's like 2016's Midnight Special -- except entertaining. Logan's time spent with the mutant kids is also reminiscent of Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome. Wolverine even one-ups Batman by dying a hero's death the way the latter should've done in The Dark Knight Rises. Maybe best of all, Logan himself explains that comic books and other media greatly exaggerate his and his fellow X-Men's accomplishments. He says, "It happened once and they turn it into..." But both he and the Professor acknowledge (at least some of) the events that took place at the Statue of Liberty (from 2000's X-Men). Consequently, Logan renders all but the very first X-Men movie null and void - and even negates most of the events in that film.
The movie's only real flaws are the Superman III-style Wolverine vs. himself nonsense and the lack of an explanation for the mysterious green "medicine" -- which is too important to the story not to get one.
Jackman has announced his retirement from the role that made him famous. He even refused to make a cameo appearance in the 2018 Deadpool sequel. If he stands by his decision he'll be doing what Muhammad Ali and Michael Jordan should've done before him -- walking away at the top of his game.
40. Oblivion
Unlike in most alien invasion movies, Oblivion begins with the war already won -- but at the cost of the planet. Just know that Jack Harper and his partner Vika Olsen are the last two people on the ruined Earth of 2077.
39. The Accountant
Christian Wolff is the man he is because of his father. Not long after his childhood diagnosis of autism, his mother abandoned the family. Chris' father, a psychological warfare officer in the U.S. Army, arranged for he and his brother, Braxton, to be trained in various forms of combat so that neither would become victims in life.
As adults, Chris is a wealthy money-launderer and marksman and Braxton is a world-class assassin -- but nobody f's with either of them.
38. Patriots Day
37. 13 Assassins
36. Jurassic World
35. World War Z
World War Z is completely unlike the book on which it's based. The book is more of a detached, unemotional log of the events leading up to, and transpiring during, a zombie holocaust. The film is a harrowing story of one man's globe-trotting attempt to keep his family safe by helping scientists to solve the mystery of worst plague in human history. You will not believe your eyes when you see the course of action he decides to take during an airline flight. Think: Die Hard. And oh yeah, these zombies can run -- fast.
34. Rampage
Yeah, yeah, I know. Rampage's premise sounds like it was cooked up at the last minute by an intern at the Syfy Channel. But believe it or not, it's a movie adaptation from successful source material -- which you probably shouldn't think about in the interest of keeping an open mind.
Rampage might sound idiotic on paper but the execution is friggin' awesome. This thing has horror, space travel, monsters, emergency skydiving and military action.
Lemme break it down:
After an experiment for genetics corporation Energyne, conducted on the international space station, goes left, canisters containing the company's dangerous new pathogen fall to Earth.
The three animals exposed to the pathogen mutate into hyper-aggressive, ginormous monsters and wreak havoc in their respective habitats.
Desperate to recover samples from the creatures, Energyne CEO Claire Wyden lures them to Chicago using a radio signal.
Primatologist and former Special Forces soldier Davis Okoye, who's taken care of one of the animals, an albino gorilla, since infancy; former Energyne geneticist, Dr. Kate Caldwell, whose work led to the pathogen's development; and federal agent Harvey Russell make their way to downtown Chicago in the hopes of applying the antidote before the military ends the rampage by leveling the city.
You won't find a more exciting cinematic ride in 2018 - with the exception of Infinity War. 2020's Gzilla vs. King Kong has its work cut out for them it if it's gonna top, or even live up to, the Rock and George.
Rampage is the third collaboration between star The Rock and director Brad Peyton. They previously teamed up for Journey to Mystery Island and San Andreas. At this rate, their next collab just might bring home an Oscar (Too far?).
33. Mile 22
When I found out that Ronda Rousey was one of Mile 22's co-stars, my expectations for it sank like a rock. After seeing Furious 7 and The Expendables 3, I lost all hope of any movie in which she appeared being any more than mildly entertaining, much less having any substance. But this story about a black-ops team in way over its head is at least as entertaining as the latest IMF mission.
The story centers on CIA agent James Silva, leader of Overwatch, a covert black ops unit authorized to kill by the U.S. government, and his search for nine pounds of cesium-139 -- an isotype used in creating dirty bombs. Diagnosed as highly intelligent but hyperactive and prone to violence as a child, Silva was recruited to the agency after losing his mother and brothers (a set of twins) in a fatal car accident at 11-years-old and later serving in the USMC Force Recon (the Marine Special Forces).
After the team comes up empty, Overwatch member Alice Kerr's source, who originally tipped the CIA off about the cesium, low-level Indocarr police officer Li Noor, turns himself in at the U.S. embassy offering to disclose the precise location of the highly radioactive material in exchange for safe passage out of the country. However, after Noor kills a team of assassins disguised as medical staff, it becomes clear that he's a much more valuable asset than previously thought and each member of Silva's team resigns so that their mission to liberate Noor and retrieve the cesium at all cost can't be tied to the government.
The convoy escorting Noor to a plane to the U.S. is attacked en route to the airfield and several Overwatch members are killed.
Silva and Kerr are the only team members who survive to escort Li Noor to the plane. While all of this is taking place, a team of Russian operatives is tracking Overwatch and monitoring their communications. And once his flight takes off, with a battered and bruised Alice onboard, the low-level cop is revealed to be a triple agent who's been working with them all along.
Mile 22 is the first great spy thriller in four years and makes at least half of the Mission: Impossible series look even more cartoonish by comparison. Overwatch inhabits a more realistic world in which intelligence operatives are aided by system hacks, satellite surveillance and drone strikes rather than rubber masks that we're supposed to believe are indistinguishable from human faces. It's also a world in which disguised enemy agents murder their targets without hesitating as opposed to exposing themselves in order to engage in "witty" banter.
32. Hell or High Water
31. Rise of an Empire
The long-awaited Rise of an Empire was seemingly willed into existence by popular demand following the runaway popularity of 300 (which, not insignificantly, received a standing ovation at it's premiere). As everyone who's seen the first film is aware, 300 is a story of martyrdom and self-sacrifice as all but one of the good guys is killed by the end. New director Naom Murro and still-screenwriter Snyder solve the dilemma of crafting a sequel to a film about the slaughter of it's heroes by setting the story (loosely based on historical events) after, before and during the events of the first movie. Naturally, new characters are introduced, but many return from the original as well. While 300 focused on Spartan foot soldiers on land, Rise explores the naval battles waged by their fellow Greeks that took place at around the same time.
The action centers around the conflict between the Greek forces led by Athenian general Themistocles and Persian invaders, in part led by Artemisia I of Caria, who was a real naval commander, under orders from King Xerxes I. The plan was for a Greek coalition led by Themistocles to repel the Persian invasion at sea at the Straits of Artemisium while a Greek infantry led by King Leonidas I of Sparta held them off at the pass of Thermopylae long enough for reinforcements to arrive. The movie depicts exaggerated and fictionalized versions (especially some over-the-top and absurd scenes involving the perennially nude Eva Green who adds to her unclothed filmography here) of the historical Battle of Marathon, the Battle of Artemisium and the Battle of Salamis in 490 and 480 BC.
Like its predecessor, which is also based on a graphic novel (an unreleased one in the case of Rise) Rise of an Empire has an R-rating, which allows for more on-screen gore, sex and other relatively more mature content. Unlike the 300s, most comics-derived fare is rated for teens, and as a result unnecessarily talks down to nearly every segment of the audience, while simultaneously failing to overcome the inherent silliness of the subject matter (notable exceptions include the Dark Knight trilogy). Rise also retains the graphic novel-style visual aesthetic and surreal fantasy elements of the original.
Considerable criticism has been aimed at Rise for not living up to the original. The fact is that it's not exactly the same story, but neither is it a forced follow-up patched together in a rush by a dozen screenwriters. 300's premise is unique and inherently more compelling simply because everybody kicks the bucket. Since it's based on a true story that involves many of the same people and events, Rise is less a sequel than the second half of the same story. Plus, the element of surprise is gone the second time around. 300 didn't look like anything else out there. If there were no 300, Rise of an Empire would be revolutionary.
30. Ant-Man
Like Blade, Ant-Man was one of those comics that was pretty good for lining the cat's sh#tbox. His solo comic, anyway. Thanks to Quicksilver and, especially, Hawkeye, he was never in danger of being the worst Avenger. His strength was always in his contribution to the team. So, when he was completely left out of the team's first nine movies (that's not even counting those out-of-place Hulk joints) it seemed like it was a wrap for his chances at getting onscreen. Hey, he created Ultron and he wasn't even mentioned in that movie. But, maybe the shot-callers at Marvel Studios and Disney are hip-hop wannabees who took a page from true deejays (the ones who scratch vinyl, not the laptop kind) and decided to focus on maximizing hidden potential instead of only reusing the people's favorites. Or maybe they just figured that nobody would care if they made changes to the wack stuff. Who the hell knows?
Anyway, Ant-Man bears the distinction of being the only superhero movie that belongs to the "heist film" genre (I'm not sure "time heists" count). Our hero pulls off four -- count 'em, four -- such heists before the credits roll. If you really are counting, there's: the VistaCorp burglary that lands him in state prison; the theft of his future super suit; the infiltration of Avengers HQ; and the attempted swiping of the Yellow Jacket suit. Happy now? Both Ethan Hunt and Danny Ocean might have trouble keeping up with this guy. And how great was it to see the Falcon in action again? After being criminally under-used in The Age of Ultron, Wilson is a sight for sore eyes. Although, the more colorful suit is a step in the lame direction.
Ant-Man represents the very rare occasion in which a heavy emphasis on comedy in a superhero movie was a good idea. As much as people criticize comic book movies for taking themselves too seriously, Green Lantern, Superman III, Superman IV, The Green Hornet, Batman Forever, Batman & Robin, The Fantastic Four, Rise of the Silver Surfer, Steel, and The Phantom serve as reminders of the dangers of not doing so.
29. Warrior
28. True Grit
If you didn't already know, the 2010 True Grit is a remake of a supposedly classic 1969 John Wayne movie. For those who did know but haven't yet seen it, now is a good time. This is Jeff Bridges at his best. It's also co-directors Ethan and Joel Coen's best film -- no question.
John Wayne won was given a Best Actor Oscar for his performance in the original, which is mind-boggling even without contrasting his portrayal of Deputy U.S. Marshal Reuben J. "Rooster" Cogburn with Bridges' 41 years later. The 21st century version truly lives up to its title, bringing to light the bleakness and cruelty that pervaded the Old West -- or at least the Coen brothers' vision of it. This wild tale of a teenage girl who recruits a Deputy U.S. Marshal, who in turn teams up with a Texas Ranger, to hunt down her father's killer, is as harrowing as it is exciting.
27. Fury
Fury is the best of only four tank movies to be produced in the 21st century (if you don't count Fast & Furious 6). Like Saving Private Ryan, the HBO miniseries Band of Brothers and Enemy at the Gates, Fury perfectly captures the grittiness of the second world war. While it lacks the soul of Ryan and Brothers, fortunately it also lacks the contrived, love triangle melodrama of Enemy (the movie's love story appears nowhere in the non-fiction book on which the movie is based).
The film follows an American tank crew in 1945 Germany making it's way to Berlin during the last days of WWII. The title is derived from the nickname given to the tank (a M4A3E8 Sherman model) by the five men who have spent most of the war inside it. Not surprisingly, the film picks up on the male bonding amongst the squad but without forcing it or becoming sugary. The main thing that doesn't quite ring true here (besides some highly unlikely battle outcomes given the weaponry involved) is some preachy and hokey dialogue spouted by Brad Pitt's Staff Seargeant Don "Wardaddy" Collier about the meaning and effects of war.
The 134-minute running time belies the film's limited scope, but the restrained reach is a valid choice as it matches the claustrophobic confines of the tank, which comprise much of the crew's world. Fury appropriately pulls no punches in it's representation of the violence and carnage wrought by the Nazis' ill-conceived attempt at world domination. There are also glimpses of Germans living with the reality of their homeland being invaded. Not every war film manages to convey the cliche', "war is hell", but writer/director David Ayer leaves no doubt - which is the very reason the speechifying should've been left out. The visuals and tone get the message across. Pitt, Jon Bernthal, Shia LaBeouf and Jason Isaacs bring to life various veteran soldiers assigned to the U.S. Army's 66th Armored Regiment and invest in them a refreshing credibility. The performances combined with the overall atmosphere and exacting detail to the uniforms, equipment, etc. create the awe-inspiring authenticity which is Fury's greatest strength.
26. Edge of Tomorrow
I gotta confess...when I saw the commercial for this movie I figured I'd skip it. I figured it would just be Tom Cruise going through the motions in a dumb, big-budget, glossy attempt to keep up with all the superhero flicks. I was so wrong I ended up going to see it twice. Tom Cruise's third alien invasion movie (and the only one without an assist from Morgan Freeman) is also his best. Edge of Tomorrow surpasses both 2005's critically-embraced (but audience-panned) War of the Worlds and 2013's excellent Oblivion. While Worlds mainly focused on the civilian flight from the aliens and Oblivion concerned itself with the aftermath of the invasion, Edge is all about the military's role during the war against the invaders. This film also provides much more information about, and glimpses of, the off-worlders.
The heavy and detailed emphasis on the military makes it perhaps the best futuristic war movie of all time (The Empire Strikes Back is set "long, long ago", FYI). The film contains an amusing nod to another memorable sci-fi movie featuring the military as well. I'm not gonna spoil it by telling you which one. There is a significant amount of attention paid to combat training -- which is not at all customary for sci-fi war films. In this aspect, Edge is rivaled only by Starship Troopers and Edge is a far superior movie. Make no mistake, it is indeed a war movie, complete with Marine culture, scuffed up, tangible-looking high-tech weaponry and it has what could be described as the futuristic version of the opening of Saving Private Ryan. The most distinctive pieces of equipment featured in the film are the various exoskeleton battle suits utilized by the infantry in combat. Incidentally, such suits may not be science fiction for long as real life prototypes for similar types of apparatuses have been recorded as producing such results as lifting more than 200 lbs for the person donning it and walking at least one mile on a full charge.
The performances far exceed expectations as both recognizable faces and otherwise among the cast all manage to wholly disappear into their respective roles. Cruise in particular eschews his usual cocky, sometimes selfless, hotshot onscreen persona in favor of the complete opposite in order to render the cowardly and selfish Major William Cage. Displaying far more talent than is expected in a sci-fi action flick, Cruise really does seem like he's scared shitless and desperate to save his own skin when everything goes to hell. This isn't just "Tom Cruise in a battle suit". He's doing some acting here.
Edge of Tomorrow is adapted from a 2004 Japanese novel entitled, "All You Need is Kill", which itself was partly inspired by the author's experience playing video games.
25. Dumbo
Not only is Dumbo Disney's best live-action remake to date but it's also the jewel in director Tim Burton's filmographic crown. And Dumbo himself is the greatest animal character to ever grace a movie screen. I shit you not. Not even Babe or Bambi could outcharm the Jumbo family's baby boy. Dumbo's not the type of film that lends itself to follow-ups -- with good reason. But honestly, I really wanna see more of that little guy. Not since WALL-E has a movie character embodied innocence and purity so completely. Not even the Grinch could hate that floppy-eared little pachyderm.
1941's Dumbo was the Disney classic most in need of an update. An enormous hit upon release, the film actually saved the company from financial ruin (Dumbo's immediate predecessors, Pinocchio and Fantasia, were back-to-back flops). But at a mere 64 minutes, this short Disney smash is nevertheless rife with racism (there's actually a crow -- voiced by a white performer using an exaggerated stereotypically African American accent -- named Jim Crow) and better left in the past. But 78 years later, instead of throwing the baby elephant out with the bath water, the entertainment behemoth has wisely allowed Burton to lengthen the truncated story and clean up its egregious moments of bigotry. The new film even (expertly) uses antagonistic character V.A. Vandevere and his Dreamland amusement park to comment on Walt Disney and his empire's ongoing struggles with diversity as well as the founder and his conglomerate's neverending efforts to monopolize show business (the company gobbled up Marvel, Lucasfilm and Twentieth Century Fox in less than a decade, after all).
Burton retained the crux of the original story: a featured circus elephant (Mrs. Jumbo) gives birth to a baby with oversized ears; the calf is ridiculed and nicknamed "Dumbo" because of his unconventional appearance. However, in a spectacular case of making lemonade out of lemons, Dumbo discovers to everyone's surprise, including his own, that his ears grant him the power of flight -- but only when he's in possession of a magic feather. This ability of course catapults Dumbo from bullied reject to star-attraction. And eventually, he learns that the feather was never necessary and that the magic was inside of him all along. But while the original movie featured the "happy" ending of Dumbo and his mom remaining in the circus with slightly improved treatment, the remake allows the duo to be liberated, returning to the wild where they're warmly received by a new herd.
The term "heart-warming" gets thrown around quite a bit but anyone who's ever had a puppy, a kitten or a heart should find his/her chest on fire before Dumbo even reaches the halfway mark. Cinematically speaking, 2018 was certainly the year of the panther. And as far as I'm concerned, 2019 is the year of the elephant.
24. Creed II
It's a shame that Creed and Creed II couldn't be released as one four-hour movie because the sequel is a perfect continuation of its predecessor. It also brings the events of Rocky IV full-circle but without the corny elements of that film. In particular, the towel is thrown into the ring in order to save a Drago from being killed by a Creed, where 33 years ago a Creed was killed by a Drago because the towel wasn't thrown into the ring.
The film also subtly addresses the series' inadequacies when it comes to naming African American characters (particularly Mason Dixon and Union Cane). And while it has its share of small introspective moments, Creed II has a large scope, featuring the most locales of any movie in the franchise. Adonis Creed traverses the globe like a 214-lb James Bond, traveling to Las Vegas, Mexico, Moscow, Los Angeles and, of course, Philly.
Like Creed and Rocky Balboa, Creed II is very much about fathers and sons -- but to an even greater extent. Now that the loose ends concerning the Dragos have been tied; the Balboas' issues have been resolved; and the Creeds seem to have found both redemption and peace, one question remains: Will Apollo's other two kids ever be addressed?
Fatherhood does loom large here but the second-most pervasive theme is redemption. Note that while Adonis lost twice in Creed, he emerges victorious from all three of his fights in the sequel. At times, the two themes work together: two fathers, Rocky and Ivan Balboa, redeem themselves as parents by mending their respective relationships with their sons.
23. The Age of Ultron
The Age of Ultron is only a disappointing follow-up to The Avengers because The Avengers set the bar ridiculously high. But it's an improvement in the following ways: Nick Fury's thankfully diminished role, Captain America's much-improved uniform, and especially - the villain.
Though his origin was unnecessarily altered, Ultron made for an interesting adversary and owing to James Spader's extremely charismatic characterization, should enter the pantheon of cinematic automatons. As villainous as he is, Ultron is more or less the physical manifestion of Tony Stark's megalomaniacal ego. And he accurately (unfortunately) calls out the Avengers for the killers that they are.
Although, I gotta say, I'm not sure his evil plan to drive mankind to extinction made much sense. If Ultron had succeeded in killing off billions of people by dropping the Sokovian capital city of Novi Grad from the upper atmosphere, wouldn't it have been much more difficult for him to function in the long term? Despite his best intentions though, Ultron did not tally up the highest body count. That honor belongs to the Hulk, who went on a rampage in an African city before ultimately being subdued by Iron Man and Veronica -- which is a name that's, thankfully, a hundred times more mature than "Hulkbuster armor". This isn't one of those movies in which the African-American dude is the first casualty, but having an Avenger kill off countless Africans, civilians included, and later saving the lives of an entire population of a European city sort of misses the point.
And why, why -- Why go back to the stupid-ass blue lasers from Captain America: The First Avenger? And right off the bat, at that?
But hey, at least Cap had some great lines. Some of the best actually - even better than Iron Man's. They include:
"I really miss the days when the weirdest thing science invented was me."
"You get hurt, hurt 'em back. You get killed - walk it off."
"What kinda monster would let a German scientist experiment on him to help his country." (Sarcastically referring to himself and the Maximoffs)
The depictions of the Scarlet Witch, and especially, Quicksilver, were much better than expected. Although, the idea that their superpowers were derived from "experiments" using Loki's stupid wizard staff is a reminder of how far these movies haven't progressed. I suppose Marvel felt compelled to maintain a certain consistency in regards to idiocy -- it lines up nicely with the first movie's illustration of the magic stick's ability to grant it's wielder mind-control powers. I realize that 20th Century Fox owns the exclusive rights to mutant powers, but couldn't the filmmakers have just left the origin of the twins' powers unsaid (We all know they're Magneto's kids)? Mystery is far superior to lameness. And, if one of them had to die, why couldn't Wanda have been the one left in the dirt? I personally prefer physical superpowers to magic. For one thing, they're easier to quantify. And the last thing this franchise needs is more ludicrousness. Seriously, Maria Hill and Robin Hood survive and we lose the best version of Quicksilver, ever? South Korean geneticist Dr. Helen Cho takes a shot from Ultron at close range and she survives too? Come the fuck on.
The Age of Ultron is by no means profound and to most people it's an entertaining distraction at best, but AI researchers would do well to view it as the latest in a long line of cautionary tales.
22. Focus
My expectations were very low when I watched Focus. But it's not what it seems. The trailer gave me the impression that the film was one of those serious thriller/heist/con movies with a twist at the end. But it's not. It's actually a comedy. And that's the twist. Except you don't have to wait until the end. You'd never know from the posters either, but Focus is funny almost from the start. It's not forced comedy and Will Smith and company aren't trying too hard to get laughs -- it just is funny. The key is that the people and situations in Focus would be humorless in most movies, but in this case you get to see them for what they are -- just people and just life. Cool people do dumb shit sometimes. World-class con-men can make fools of themselves and trophy girlfriends can be petty and caring -- at the same damn time.
21. 12 Years a Slave
12 Years a Slave is the film adaptation of Solomon Northrup's 1853 memoir of the same name detailing his kidnapping and subsequent enslavement on a cotton plantation in Louisiana. Though tough to watch, it's no accident that 12 Years won the 2014 Oscar for Best Picture.
20. Selma
Selma is the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. film that got it right. And better than anyone could have hoped. Like previous non-documentary films featuring the civil rights leader, it's not about King. The title is appropriate because the focus of the film is the series of protest marches conducted in 1965 in Alabama in order to pressure lawmakers into legislating protection for the voting rights of African-Americans.
Selma feels legitimate. It's neither a sweeping, grandiose epic nor a melodramatic character study into the depths of a famous person's soul. It's a matter-of-fact depiction of events in the lives of history-making, celebrated men and women. In some cases, the film is a glimpse into the political beginnings of future elected officials. The film notes that Andrew Young was ultimately appointed UN Ambassador by President Carter after serving three terms in Congress, and was later twice-elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1986 and has served in Congress ever since. Hosea Williams went on to serve on the Atlanta City Council, Georgia General Assembly and Dekalb County Commission, one of the few Georgia politicians to ever be elected to seats in city, county and state government.
Several members of the cast have turned in their finest performances to date. Much has been made of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' (the organization that awards Oscars) failure to nominate David Oyelowo for Best Actor, and rightly so. Oyelowo, however, is not the only overlooked actor here. Carmen Ejogo manages to downright illuminate King's wife, Coretta. She does stand by her man, and in his shadow, but Ejogo shows us a three-dimensional person behind the solemn image that we know. Media-mogul Oprah Winfrey uncharacteristically, but wholly, disappears into her role as Annie Lee Cooper, who famously punched Selma Sheriff Jim Clark in the jaw in front of the Dallas County Courthouse in 1965. Rapper-turned-actor Common, whose track, "Glory", is nominated for Best Original Song at the 87th annual Academy Awards, is perhaps the biggest surprise. He was probably hired mostly because he bears an uncanny resemblance to the SCLC's Director of Direct Action and Director of Nonviolent Education James Bevel, who conceived the idea of marching from Selma, Alabama to the state capital, Montgomery. The rapper really has unexpectedly, if only this once, turned into an actor and fits in rather nicely with the professionals.
Selma ranks right up there with universally lauded biographical works such as Gandhi, Malcolm X, Coal Miner's Daughter, The Social Network and yes, even Patton.
Selma received a standing ovation when it premiered in Los Angeles. When I went to see it, the audience applauded when the film ended. Without exaggeration or hyperbole, Selma is simply - and unequivocally - the best film of 2014.
19. Creed
Creed passes the Ran test with flying colors: there are no African-American sidekicks; no Black criminals; no Black "clowns" mugging for the camera; the Black people aren't all uneducated; and the Black guy isn't the first -- or only -- one to get killed (Actually, nobody dies in this movie. The Black guy, who was the only one to get killed in a previous Rocky movie -- Rocky IV -- is mentioned quite often, however). And yet, the film -- a big-budget, mainstream Hollywood film -- is filled with African-Americans.
Rocky, Rocky II, Rocky V and Rocky Balboa all showcase the blue-collar and poor side of Philly -- but mostly Italian Philly. Creed features, even parades, African-American Philadelphia for the first time. But Creed's most significant departure from the rest of the series is something that shouldn't be such a big shift after all. The city is 44.1% African-American and the only Black guys we've seen in the franchise up to this point are out-of-towners: Apollo Creed, his family and his team; Clubber Lang; Mason Dixon and his entourage; George Washington Duke; and Union Cane. For fuck's sake.
The Black guy mentioned earlier, who was killed in Rocky IV, is former undefeated world heavyweight champion boxer Apollo Creed. And he practically haunts this film. It's even named after him. But it's his son Adonis' story and how he copes with having a legendary father. The previous film, Rocky Balboa, touched on Rocky's son Robert's struggle to live in his famous father's shadow as well and its revealed in this movie that he surrendered to the pressure and moved, not only out of Philly, but out of the country. Rocky tells Adonis that Robert, Jr. now lives in Canada. Adonis however, takes the challenge head-on. He not only takes up his father's profession, he moves from Los Angeles to Philadelphia in order to solicit the Italian Stallion's training expertise.
And in turn, when Rocky needs someone to lean on, it is Adonis, and not his only son, who supports him.
For the first time, Sylvester Stallone plays a supporting role in a Rocky movie -- and he was richly rewarded for it. He was nominated for a Best Supporting Actor Oscar and won a Golden Globe for the same category. Creed's release date, November 25, 2015, marks the fortieth anniversary of the date of the first scene in the original Rocky. How's that for coming full circle?
18. Skyfall
Skyfall is the first -- and only -- James Bond film to gross $1 billion at the box office, and to date, the last worth watching. It marks the onscreen 50th anniversary of the character that Sean Connery made legendary and appropriately, takes a look back. While the filmmakers knew better than to deliver an origin story, we get more information about Bond's past than ever. Goldeneye revealed that Bond was an orphan and Skyfall shows off his family home in Scotland -- replete with his parents' grave markers and a games keeper who knew him as a boy.
Skyfall bears many similarities to Bond's first real cinematic challenger, 1996's Mission: Impossible: Several intelligence agents are killed by one of their own, a former comrade, who plans to sell a classified list of undercover operatives on the black market; the hero gets the girl -- a bad girl -- temporarily, but she's eventually shot to death by her real man; and the hero has a fight on top of a speeding train.
There's a moment in which Bond approaches a metaphorical fork in the road. His choice between continuing his new life and reverting back to what he knows parallels the filmmakers' opportunity to proceed with relatively newfound artistic integrity or to devolve into the same old, moronic Austin Powers-styled bullshit they'd embraced for decades. They chose to make Spectre. Smh
17. Battle of the Five Armies
The final Hobbit movie (and 2nd-highest grossing film of 2014, worldwide) boasts a refreshingly dark and mostly serious tone (there is one jarringly out-of-place and embarrassingly cheesy joke late in the film - not one person in the theater laughed when I saw it), which is in stark contrast to most of the goings-on in the previous two installments of the trilogy. The scenes involving the dragon are the only watchable one in the first two movies (which amounted to much less than half of the running time in both cases), so suffice it to say my appreciation of this film was something of a revelation. In scope, sincerity, excitement and maturity The Battle of the Five Armies is actually more on par with the decade-old The Lord of the Rings trilogy than the Hobbit trilogy to which it belongs.
The Five Armies picks up precisely where last year's The Desolation of Smaug ended: with the dragon Smaug leaving the Lonely Mountain after decades of occupation in order to exact retribution for Bilbo and the Dwarves' attempt to reclaim the treasure that he strong-armed from Thorin Oakenshield's royal grandfather long ago.
Director and co-writer Peter Jackson has received criticism for ultimately deciding to film a trilogy instead of the two-part series that he originally envisioned, the argument being that author J.R.R. Tolkien only devoted a small part of the book to the titular battle -- which is not enough to warrant so much time onscreen. Those who take this position overlook the fact that film is a VISUAL medium, which lends itself to action sequences (such as battles) much more readily than do books. Reading about a fight pales in comparison to watching one. Which is not to say that Five Armies doesn't have it's quiet moments. Funny enough, the one piece of the Hobbit collection named after an involved battle features the most introspection. As great as the Rings trilogy is, Bilbo, Thorin and the others face much more dire consequences and higher stakes in Five Armies than Frodo and the members of this fellowship in those films.
Be sure to be on time at the theater. Not only does the Middle Earth saga go out with quite a bang, the final film begins with one as well.
16. The Magnificent Seven
15. Ghost Protocol
One of the best things about Ghost Protocol, the fourth Mission: Impossible film, is the fact that counter-intelligence agent Ethan Hunt really doesn't wanna perform the death-defying stunts crucial to completing the mission. He's so reluctant to put his body on the line -- yet again -- that he looks around the rooom for other candidates when the team decides that someone is going to have to climb the tallest skyscraper on the planet, Dubai's 2,722 foot-high Burj Khalifa -- and within a narrow time frame. The second-best thing about Protocol is the fact that the gadgets, staples of the Mission: Impossible series, don't work -- which makes the idea of climbing that tower, using unreliable company equipment, that much less appealing.
Although the idiotic face-masks that IMF employs no longer work (thankfully), some things never change: computer hacker Luther Stickell is as dependable as ever and Ethan continues one of his personal traditions established in the first Mission: Impossible -- sprinting at top speed.
14. Suicide Squad
When the Superman is killed, the U.S. government comes up with a radical
solution to the potential problem posed by the existence of other
individuals with superhuman powers: a strike-team comprised of convicted
criminals who possess enhanced abilities of their own...
13. The Dark Knight Rises
The Dark Knight Rises features a lot of the same elements as Batman Returns (after having sucked all of the silliness out of them). Think about it: They are the only two Batman movies to showcase Catwoman; both also spotlight a villain who attempts a public takeover of Gotham City -- the Penguin ran for mayor while Bane hijacked the town with a nuclear bomb; and each criminal mastermind also makes his home in the Gotham sewer system. It's funny -- Batman Returns, the beginning of the end for Batman movie greatness, inspired the best film ever about the Caped Crusader.
The Dark Knight Rises is so good that it's easier to bitch about the things that didn't work than to list everything that went right. Not even "went right". Because this film is so more than you could imagine to ask for. If you'd written a wish list of all of the things that you'd like to see in an action/comic book/fantasy/adventure film in 2011, you'd never have dreamed this up.
Having said that, it was still wack that Bane was cheated out of his origin. The fact that he grew up in prison in the midst of bigger, stronger, vicious psychos is a big part of what made him so impressive. Was that just to surprise people who already knew the story? If so, the writer just robbed Peter to pay Paul.
Rises builds on the realism of the first two Dark Knight installments and combines it with an impressive amount of re-watchability. Inspired by the 1993 "Knightfall" storyline, the final chapter of The Dark Knight trilogy explores Batman's greatest trial. Retired for seven years, an older and battered Bruce Wayne is forced to hit the streets again when a stronger, smarter criminal launches a hostile takeover of his beloved Gotham, killing several citizens and hospitalizing the Batman's longtime ally, James Gordon, in the process. A mysterious, hulking criminal-genius known only as Bane shows up in Gotham and promptly empties Bruce Wayne's bank accounts. Not satisfied with merely crippling him financially, Bane faces off against Wayne, whose true identity he'd deduced, in physical combat which culminates in him snapping the latter's back. He also commandeers much of the Bat's equipment and locks him in the brutal prison in which he himself was an inmate before heading back to Gotham to empty its jails (and Blackgate prison), trap the GCPD underground and cordon the city off from the outside world.
As if things weren't bad enough, Wayne's oldest ally and most loyal friend, Alfred Pennyworth, quits in protest over what he views as his employer's suicidal life-mission.
12. The Equalizer
The Equalizer is another example of Hollywood's penchant for mining old television shows in search of big screen material. In this case the conversion is a colossal upgrade. Denzel Washington replaces British actor Edward Woodward as vigilante Robert McCall, a former black ops commando (in the tv series it's implied that McCall is retired from the CIA) who decides to dispense sometimes lethal street justice to protect helpless inner-city residents from various types of criminals. The movie changes the setting from New York City to Boston and completely eliminates the allusions to James Bond. In the film McCall targets, and is targeted by, members of the Russian Bratva.
A common complaint of the film from professional critics is it's "lack of character development". The title character's intentional aura of mystery, however, is faithful to the CBS series (not to mention par for the course with government trained espionage agents/assassins). While his background is only partially revealed, some of McCall's personal quirks and tendencies do become apparent, such as his touch of OCD, his love of classic literature and his habit of using a stopwatch to time his assaults on criminals. Nothing wrong with trying to break your own record. Also, it's evident from the start that McCall doesn't see violence as the first and only option. He tries using his words. But, to quote Liam Neeson, he does have "a very particular set of skills."
Washington (who also serves as a producer) re-teams with director Antoine Fuqua for the first time since 2001's Training Day, which yielded a best actor Oscar for Denzel. By the end of The Equalizer, McCall has compiled a sizable body-count comprised of several members of a Russian criminal organization, which is a bit of poetic justice given that Washington's Alonzo Harris was murdered by members of a similar Russian organization at the end of Training Day. What's funny is, The Equalizer bears an unmistakable resemblance to Man on Fire, a film Washington starred in 10 years prior. Fire also features Washington as a mysterious former CIA operative who acts as protector to a young blonde girl and embarks on a one-man mission of vengeance against the criminal organization that victimizes her - and along the way tortures someone in a car in order to get information as he works his way up the chain-of-command of said organization. #deepbreath
11. Pacific Rim
While Cloverfield provided a civilian take on a seemingly unstoppable monster's rampage through New York City, Pacific Rim details the world's military response upon learning that a lone Kaiju (PR's term for giant extra-dimensional monsters) that blazed a path of destruction through San Francisco was only the tip of the spear.
It's revealed that the Kaiju originated in an alternate dimension and make their way into ours via an interdimensional doorway, called "the Breach", located on the floor of the Pacific Ocean. Besides San Francisco, the initial attacks are directed at Sydney, Hong Kong and Manila.
Realizing that campaigns against the creatures using conventional weaponry are too costly, an alliance of world governments institutes a program in which enormous robots are constructed to battle the Kaiju. Each robot, called Jaegers, is nuclear-powered and operated by at least two pilots who control its movements from the inside.
Scientists studying the Kaiju discover that the monsters' rampages are prompted by aliens from the dimension connected to ours via the Breach. The aliens, intent on invading the planet have been using the Kaiju as an early strike force.
10. The Winter Soldier
When I saw the Superbowl ad for this movie I had zero interest in seeing it...ever. Not even on blu-ray or Netflix. It came across as completely corny in that commercial. The release of Iron Man 3 followed by Thor: The Dark World the year before seemed to signal a downward spiral for the quality of Marvel movies and the sight of Scarlett Johannson's bright, Kool-Aid red wig and Samuel Jackson's Matrix-wannabe leather trench coat just seemed like more of the same. By the way, none of the posters were any better. The revelation that the Falcon was in the film wasn't welcome news either. Sidekicks and characters with wings are usually massive red flags letting you know you're about to see something that sucks donkey nuts. I wondered if history was repeating itself like when 1989's Batman eventually devolved into Batman and Robin...or when Superman descended into Superman IV...The Empire Strikes Back begat Attack of the Clones...and on and on and on. As entertaining as The Avengers is, the truth is Captain America hadn't added much to the thrills. In fact, his goofy costume with the red pirate boots was one of the liabilities. Whose decision was it to put him back in the outfit that he himself (and everyone else) ridiculed in his first solo movie? I get it. It's his signature costume from the comic book, but Captain America: The First Avenger's director, Joe Johnston, wisely realized that it was impossible for that suit to be taken seriously in a live-action, real world setting.
Eventually, two things convinced me to give it a shot. First, I saw a trailer with an uncharacteristic somber tone that contained a single shot of Cap standing over about a dozen bodies. Second, the word-of-mouth was not just overwhelming, it was thoroughly positive. Everyone that I talked to gave it an enthusiastic recommendation. A female friend told me she'd gone to see it three times already and didn't mind seeing it again. At this point I still wasn't convinced. Hell, some people just like action, no matter how terrible the movie is. But I was curious.
From the very beginning it's evident that Winter Soldier is an entirely different movie than Marvel's previous offerings. The most striking disparity is between this film and the first Cap adventure. The sequel isn't a merely a departure. It belongs to another genre altogether. The First Avenger was a light-hearted, good vs. evil, period war movie about a superhero. Winter Soldier is a mostly sober conspiracy thriller loaded with paranoia, suspense, timely concern about government overreach, global surveillance, spies, assassins and shades of grey. According to the filmmakers, there was also a reassuring reliance on practical stunts and special effects and less dependence on CGI whenever possible. Luckily, somebody wised up and replaced the stupid blue lasers with bullets. There are no traces of mystical energy sources and no Nazis. Unlike in The Avengers, there are also no aliens, no Iron Man, no Thor, no Hulk, no Loki and best of all, no Hawkeye. Jackson's Nick Fury and Johannson's Black Widow do make appearances, however. This is the most grounded and mature Marvel movie so far but those two don't let you forget that this is based on a comic book when they're onscreen because neither one looks like they belong in the real world. Luckily, it's only the look that's distracting. They fit right in otherwise. But so far, neither of them is worthy of a solo movie. It seems like somebody overlooked some of the details somehow. Like, why the hell is BW's hair the same color as Ronald McDonald's? And why doesn't she at the very least put it in a ponytail when she goes on special ops missions? And as for Colonel Fury...why is he in all black leather when everyone around him is either in a uniform or a suit? Even in the office!?
Despite my reaction to the trailer, the Falcon's inclusion was a great decision. He's no more a sidekick than Black Widow is and wings are way, waay more realistic than Jackson's wardrobe. Incidentally, he is Captain America in the comics, as he's currently traded in the wings and taken over the costume, shield and duties from Steve Rogers.
Aside from the costume, Chris Evans' Steve Rogers hasn't changed drastically. His hallmark sincerity and stoicism's still there but he's a little more suspicious of people's motives now and there's the suggestion that he's disenchanted with his role as a soldier in today's world. This only serves to broaden and deepen the character and Evans portrays the new depth perfectly.
There are a ton of superhero movies out there and lots more are on the way. Honestly, most of them are a big waste of time and money. Only a handful of them are actually good. As of 2014, there was the Dark Knight trilogy, The Avengers, this movie, and then there's everything else. In that order.
Winter Soldier was the 4th highest-grossing film in the U.S. for 2014 and 7th highest-grossing film of the year, worldwide. It might have been #1 if it'd had a better trailer editor.
9. Batman v. Superman
Some of this was rushed. The way that some of the events unfolded seemed to happen a little too fast. Have the shot-callers at Warner Bros. never heard the parable about the two bulls on the hill? If you take your time and stay focused on the big picture, maybe you get multiple installments that exceed a billion dollars in sales. Chasing the quick payoff gets you a record-breaking opening and a nauseatingly steep drop-off. They had every reason to take things slow. Art, cinematic history, logic and plain, old greed all dictated that a movie with all these people not be the follow-up to Man of Steel. It takes time to tell a story properly (especially one with so much riding on its success). If anybody deserves more than one solo movie, it's Superman. This isn't Thor we're talking about. Everyone knows who he is. When done right, we want more. We were just reintroduced to him three years ago. And he'd just started to become involved with Lois. Time to get familiar with him was sorely needed. Plus, a trilogy, or at the very least a solo sequel, would've had the added benefit of lining the filmmakers' pockets with much more dough. Why would studio executives turn that down? Did these guys even attend Business School??
We all could have done with a less manic Luthor. It seemed like he was doing a Joker impression. If only he were more subdued and thoughtful like, say, Helmut Zemo in Civil War, which, ironically, is one of the criticisms of that movie espoused by professional film reviewers. Luthor's histrionics would've fit right in with all of the goofy goings-on in that thing. I was really hoping to see the more mature Lex -- no, Alexander -- from the Superman animated series, not Mark Zuckerberg on coke. It would be nice if Luthor used his prison sentence as an opportunity to bulk up, but we all know Jesse Eisenberg's not gonna hit the gym.
There were too many people in this thing. Maybe Wonder Woman, Cyborg, and Aquaman should've been saved for a later movie. Peter Jackson was heavily criticized for expanding his planned two-shot Hobbit story into a trilogy. But, then again, the third film (The Battle of the Five Armies) was the only one I liked -- and it generated nearly $1 billion at the box office.
But, even with all its problems, it's not a 27% film. It's the very first film to take Superman seriously -- after he reveals himself to the world. Man of Steel is unmatched in presenting his origin, but BvS actually considers Superman's effect on society -- much like The Dark Knight examined the unintended consequences of Batman's actions on Gotham City. Director Zack Snyder was undoubtedly tempted by the notion of being the first to use the gimmicky title, but Batman's name shouldn't have even been included, much less come first (Dawn of Justice is even dumber).
BvS and Civil War basically tell the same story: A clever, but physically powerless guy manipulates two famous superheroes into fighting each other from behind the scenes. One of the heroes is a billionaire, genius, heir to a business empire who uses technology to fight crime and the other is abnormally strong and exceptionally strait-laced. Because the heroes have caused a tremendous amount of collateral damage, government oversight seems inevitable.
The difference is that where Civil War talks about the destruction left in the wake of the heroes' battles accompanied by quick snippets of news footage, BvS shows the toll it has taken on human lives -- both physical and psychological. The grand-scale of aerial combat to save basically, everybody from Superman's perspective in Man of Steel is contrasted here with the ground-level terror of those same people who only see themselves as innocent victims and bystanders from Bruce Wayne's perspective. But no one is a bystander when the entire planet is in danger.
This film is wholly about Superman and his place in the world. The exploration of Superman as a savior and an uncontrollable, potential threat is brilliant. He's simultaneously feared and almost worshipped as a deity. The comparisons of certain people in the film to Judeo-Christian figures are magnificent. This is a superhero film with philosophy. There's even a nod to Nietzsche. In fact, The Superman would have been a much better title than what the filmmakers settled on (Dawn of Justice is so corny, I can't even say it without shaking my head). Who he is, what his intentions are, whether he can be trusted, how he should be used. These are all questions that plague the global community, of which Bruce Wayne is only one member.
Even so, Batman was incredible. As much anxiety as there was surrounding Ben Affleck's casting, it's clear that Daredevil simply wasn't the superhero movie for him. Or anyone else. This one is. Christian Bale is still the best Bruce Wayne, but Affleck has surpassed Michael Keaton as the greatest Batman. I, for one, was looking forward to seeing him put the mask on again.
BvS has been widely criticized for essentially being too serious (i.e., more serious than any given MCU movie) and humorless (i.e., lacking the non-stop silliness present in any given MCU movie). Is it weird that critics simultaneously adored the original Jason Bourne trilogy (exceedingly serious, without a joke in sight) and Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation (wall-to-wall yucks bordering on stupid-as-shit)? Or is it hypocrisy?
8. Infinity War
"They" say that the book is always better than the movie. Well, I read the comic book series that inspired Infinity War years ago and I'm telling you straight -- that theory doesn't apply here. I more or less knew what would happen beforehand and my eyes were still glued to the screen. I say more or less because some story changes were made between comic and movie. Doctor Strange is much, much better in the comics but it's Thanos' story and his screen incarnation is miles above the version in the source material. He's more than anybody could ever reasonably hope for. It's fitting that Thanos killed Loki with his bare hands in the beginning of the story and hopefully it symbolizes the new era of MCU villains obliterating the old. Seeing the Mad Titan enforce his will on the universe made me wonder why we had to put up with Thor's lame brother for four whole movies when villains like this (and Killmonger) were possible.
I've seen Infinity War plenty of times already and I like it even more than I did the first time I watched it. There was some question as to whether a live-action Thanos would or even could do the original comics version justice. And the fact is that the iteration of the character that we see in Infinity surpasses all the ones that came before. But there are standouts on the other side of the war as well.
The pressure was on for the MCU's 18th feature to deliver on 10 years worth of build-up. And Infinity War certainly met the challenge. The Guardians of the Galaxy have never been better -- not even in their own movies. Quill and Rocket outshone the vast majority of the other characters onscreen. The two of them really did have the best lines. Infinity also provides the greatest showcase for Thor. It's a huge step up from the Thor trilogy, in particular. He really does emerge as the hero, albeit an unsuccessful one.
7. Civil War
For the second year in a row, two big movie franchises released films that told almost the same story. In 2015, Mission: Impossible's Rogue Nation and the unwatchable James Bond flick, Spectre, were both about the revelation that underground international intelligence organizations existed and were out to wreak havoc on the world. Each movie also featured British superspy/assassin and a villain behind a wall made of bullet-proof glass.
In 2016, two blockbusters told the story of superheroes involved in mass destruction and accidentally causing mass civilian casualties during their struggles against super-powered enemies, and the subsequent attempts at government oversight of said heroes. One of those films is Batman v. Superman and the other is this movie.
Civil War is a very loose adaptation of the 2006 comic book storyline of the same name. In the movie version, the U.S. Department of Defense and the U.N. step in after the last straw in Avengers-related mayhem -- the Scarlet Witch's accidental killing of a bunch of bystanders during a mission to catch The Winter Soldier's Brock Rumlow. During a meeting between the team and the U.S. Secretary of Defense, some of the previous missions that ended in collateral damage come up, including: the NYC invasion; the heli-carrier crashes in D.C.; Iron Man's fight with the Hulk in Wakandia; and the Sokovia battle. But aside from a grieving mom slapping the shit outta Tony Starks for accidentally killing her son, and Helmut Zemo's revenge mission, there's no real focus on the actual victims. Speaking of victims, it seems to me that the Scarlet Witch should've had a much harder time getting over her brother's death in The Age of Ultron -- her twin brother and only family, at that. But, what do I know?
And Ant-Man's finally a part of the team. But if he was gonna be included, why change the Ultron story so that Starks and Bruce Banner are his creators instead of Henry Pym? It's a fairly fundamental change, too. I gotta say, that puts a whole lotta dirt on Starks' resume. He was an international arms dealer and he devised a killer robot that nearly succeeded in destroying the planet? This guy's beginning to look like a threat to humanity. It's a lot.
The best things about Civil War are: Captain Rogers' finally-resumed hunt for the Winter Soldier; the Black Panther's and Zemo's respective quests for vengeance; and the brawl involving Iron Man, the Captain and Bucky. By the way, props to the Russo brothers for not putting Zemo in costume. It was also nice to see Rogers finally get some action -- even if it was only a kiss.
6. The Town
Ben Affleck decided not to direct the upcoming movie The Batman because of the disappointing reception he got for the last flick he directed and starred in -- Live by Night. But the first movie on which he pulled double duty -- The Town -- makes the best argument for why he maybe should call the shots when he steps back in front of the camera. Yeah, Argo won the Oscar for Best Picture but it sucks compared to this movie. The trailer might lead you to believe that it's just a heist film. No. The Town is so much more. The movie explores an entire subculture in which the criminals in one Massachusetts community approach robbing banks as though it were any other legitimate trade. Never mind car-jacking. The stick-up kids in Charlestown jack armored trucks. By the way, there's a scene on the extended edition dvd/blu-ray that contains some racist comments. It was wisely deleted from the theatrical version.
5. The Avengers
While the Dark Knight trilogy made comic books realistic, The Avengers is the best example of comics brought to life.
Black Widow, Hawkeye, Loki, Colonel Fury, Thor and Captain America all don absolutely ridiculous costumes, but Iron Man and the Hulk steal the show and make up for all of the campy idiocy. When those two let loose in New York City, it's hard to believe your eyes.
4. Black Panther
Infinity War was the biggest money-maker of 2018. But unlike Infinity War, Black Panther wasn't just a movie -- it was an event. And a cultural touchstone. And a watershed moment for big-budget filmmaking.
Black Panther, even more than The Dark Knight, elevates the comic book movie to a genre that's capable of actually saying something. The film's complex social commentary far exceeds any other installment in the wildly successful MCU while still managing to become the third highest-grossing movie of all time in North America and rack up $1.34 billion at the global box office.
T'Challa, who protects his people under the guise of the legendary Black Panther, finally returns home to the seemingly third-world African nation Wakanda as the heir apparent following the death of his father, King T'Chaka, in Civil War.
Meanwhile, T'Challa's American-born cousin, Erik Stevens, is on a collision course with the new monarch, steadily inching his way to his ancestral home with single-minded determination. After becoming a Navy SEAL and graduating from MIT, Stevens honed his skills as a warrior in Afghanistan and other hot spots around the globe, picking up the nickname "Killmonger" (a reference to his considerable body count) along the way. His military career also includes black-ops missions in which he helped to destabilize governments.
With assistance from black market arms dealer Ulysses Klaue (first seen in The Age of Ultron) and Tilda Johnson, Stevens uses his skills to steal (or liberate) two Wakanda artifacts from a London museum. One of the items, a weapon, is revealed to be made of vibranium - the same Wakandan material that comprises Black Panther's suit and Captain America's shield.
After murdering both of his accomplices, Stevens makes his way to Wakanda, where he reveals his native name (N'Jadaka) and the fact that he's of royal blood (as the son of King T'Chaka's brother) and thereby eligible to challenge T'Challa's claim to the throne. Following his defeat of T'Challa in ritual combat, N'Jadaka does indeed assume the Wakandan throne and announces his intention to distribute the country's advanced technology and weaponry (based mainly on vibranium) to the African diaspora across the globe so that the world's Black population can rise up against white regimes. T'Challa, beaten to within an inch of his life and presumed dead, and his loyal supporters initiate a Wakandan civil war in order to stop the new king from inciting an international race war.
The central conflict in Black Panther stems from the ideological differences between T'Challa and Stevens. The former is a staunch isolationist who continues Wakanda's previous rulers' policy of disguising the advanced nation as a third-world country, in part so as not to share their priceless reserves of vibranium that not only powers Wakandan technology but also bestows enhanced abilities upon the Black Panther. Stevens, on the other hand, not only wants to reveal Wakanda's true nature, his lifelong dream has been to expand the kingdom into an empire that dominates the rest of the world as insurance against the subjugation of Black people. T'Challa also acts as a stand-in for Black Africans while Stevens represents African-Americans, whom he views as being abandoned, historically, by the former.
Fittingly for a story about Native Africans, the cast is almost entirely comprised of Black actors.
Black Panther marks the third collaboration (all critical and commercial smashes) between writer/director Ryan Coogler and co-star Michael B. Jordan, placing them among the ranks of legendary cinematic teams such as Martin Scorcese/Robert DeNiro, Spike Lee/Denzel Washington and Tim Burton/Johnny Depp. And with his scene-stealing turn in BP, Jordan proves that he's just as adept at portraying villains as he is heroes.
3. Man of Steel
Although Kal-El is an alien, an immensely powerful one, he has no interest in conquest. He's lived on Earth since he was a toddler and loves his adopted planet. But there are other members of his species who absolutely do not come in peace.
After Kryptonian General Zod hijacks global communications and issues an ultimatum to the people of Earth, the newly-christened Superman surrenders himself to the warmonger in exchange for his promise to end the hostilities. Zod's home planet, Krypton, however, was destroyed and he and his followers decide that Earth would make for a nice place to settle down -- once all of the pesky humans are gone. It's not that he has anything against humans, he just wants to terraform the planet and change the atmosphere to one more conducive to Kryptonians -- which would render it uninhabitable to the people who already live here. But since the Earth's atmosphere, gravity and sun grant superpowers to natives of Krypton -- why bother? Whatever. You just can't tell some people a damned thing.
2. Star Trek Into Darkness
Contrary to popular misconception, Into Darkness is not a remake of The Wrath of Khan. Yes, both films feature Khan, but the two depictions are markedly different. So different, in fact, that neither is inferior to the other.
While Khan features heavily in Darkness, he acts alone without the support of his cadre of genetically-engineered acolytes, and because he and Kirk have no history, he is not driven by a pathological obsession to murder the good Captain. What's more, Khan is not the main villain this time around. Nor is there any mention of Ceti Alpha V nor VI.
The Wrath of Khan is essentially about time. Now-Admiral Kirk is struggling with coming to grips with getting older -- he feels that his time is running out. And his past catches up with him, in more ways than one: an old enemy resurfaces (Khan); he meets the son he never knew for the first time (a grown man who hates him); and he's confronted by said son's mother, Dr. Carol Marcus (literally, Kirk's baby mama).
Spock's sacrifice and its effect on Kirk in The Wrath of Khan achieve a poignancy unmatched in Darkness' role reversal imitation. However, one scene does not trump an entire film.
Darkness, however, is not without its faults. Future-Spock's presence in this film was jarringly out of place. And if Captain Kirk had to die, he shouldn't have been resurrected until the next film -- at the very earliest. Mr. Scott's new court jester persona is still annoying. He's become the Jar Jar Binks of Star Trek (not to mention Mission: Impossible). Khan could have benefited from more muscle mass, but that last one is just quibbling.
Otherwise, Into Darkness is superb. The best Star Trek film ever made. Yep. If you prefer one of the 80s movies or 1979's Star Trek: The Motion Picture, that's understandable. They're pretty good. However, if you put nostalgia aside for a moment and go back and watch those movies, they don't hold up in comparison to this one.
1. Rogue One
If you're under the impression that all of the best Star Wars movies were created and released in the 70s and 80s -- you're dead wrong. With the release of Rogue One, Star Wars was finally back. Not a remix of the first two films -- an original Star Wars story. The first 21st century Star Wars film, The Force Awakens, has style to spare but not much substance. Let's be real, it's more hype than greatness. Rogue One is actually about something.
The movie was marketed as a "stand-alone Star Wars story". But that's not really true. In reality, Rogue is a prequel and is key to the events that follow. There is also a small acknowledgement of what came before. But fortunately, it's nothing like those pre-Empire movies. Rogue has more in common with The Empire Strikes Back than those things.
To be honest, it's more like Empire than any other Star Wars movie. Vader is in beast-mode, the good guys aren't angels, there's no teddy-bear army and the "heroes" take extremely heavy losses.
In fact, this movie makes up for the wack stuff in Return of the Jedi. For instance, you get a battle that alternates between land and space -- but without the Care Bears.
Rogue One makes me never wanna watch the prequel trilogy, The Last Jedi or Solo ever again. Yeah, I said it. I definitely don't give a sh*t what happens to Kylo Ren, Rey and Poe Dameron in the future. At this point all the Star Wars saga needs is the original trilogy, and Rogue One. There's your new saga right there.
Darth Vader is back too. Not a lame, groupie grandkid trying hard to be live up to the family name and not George Lucas' rewritten version of history -- this time the actual, choke-the-sh*t-out-you-quick, murder-my-own-officers-without-breaking-a-sweat Darth Vader. Star Wars fans had yearned to see Darth Vader in real combat for years. Darth Maul had displayed his acrobatic martial arts prowess; Anakin Skywalker had effortlessly brought Darth Tyrannus to his knees. But Darth Vader, wearing his trademark black armor, had only been shown holding back in two lightsaber duels with his son. Well, Star Wars' greatest prequel waited until the very end of the movie to fulfill the dreams of Star Wars fans everywhere. And not once does he break outta character and yell, "Nooooo!" like he did in Revenge of the Sith and the Special Edition of Return of the Jedi (Smh).
If we're lucky and if Lucasfilm is smart, this is a sign of things to come and not a stand-alone great story.
Rogue One isn't just good. It's so well done that it's ALL the prequel that the Star Wars saga needs. It renders Episodes I, II and III completely unnecessary.
