Seriously, though, I did see a bunch of stuff this year that I do want to talk about. In fact, I ended up seeing a lot more than I thought. Looking through the list, there's a lot to cover, so I've split it up into two articles. Here's the first half!
Actually, let's start off with a few films from the end of last year, as I ended up not watching them until after New Year's Day. Maybe this is cheating, but whatever. My blog, my rules.
Anyways, I'm sure if you saw this one, I don't need to tell you that it was amazing, but it really was amazing. As a big animation fan, I really got a kick out of all the stylization in the characters and scenes that really made it feel like a comic book come to life, especially when the other characters show up with all their unique styles, resulting in a collage-like mashup as they work together. (And yes, I loved the anime girl and pretty much everything they did with her!)
The story is pretty standard stuff, not a lot of surprises, but it was a pretty fun ride along the way, especially with how all the different characters interacted with each other. Very solid, fun animation action film that really shows what the medium can do if you just let the creators create.
_poster.jpg)
While the DC Extended Universe is nowhere near the level of what the MCU has been doing this whole time, I admit I enjoyed the last 15-20 minutes of Justice League, when it all comes together. Aquaman builds off of the ending of that film and proceeds to make a movie that almost works all the way through.
To be clear, this is a very silly movie, going all the way into Aquaman's lore and aesthetic, putting quite the colorful, almost psychedelic show. While the story is more bog-standard, hero-has-to-prove-himself-by-proving-to-himself-he-can-be-a-hero kind of thing, Jason Momoa and the rest make it pretty tolerable, and the sheer energy of going for an underwater Star Wars-esque roller-coaster ride makes up for a lot of the flaws.
That being said, you really do have to be in the right mood to enjoy this kind of ride. The good thing, this does seem to show some positive light on the potential of DC films for the future. While I don't know if they'll be able to build a lot of momentum from this one, it does buy back a little bit of trust, especially in a superhero-saturated market.
.png)
The third installment of the Unbreakable Trilogy, brought about by a sneaky scene in Split that linked the two films together, we finally get a team-up that brings all three of these unique characters together, as they are brought in and put under observation by a shady organization with their own agenda.
Unfortunately, I just don't think this one really works, but I wonder if I brought the disappointment on myself this time. I was expecting a thrilling conclusion and forgot we're dealing with a post-The-Happening M. Night Shyamalan here, where his sense of wonder and drama has been replaced with a bitterness toward his critics and the audience as a whole.
As if laughing at those expecting an MCU-style conclusion, we get a film that really plods along until it decides to through a bunch of twists at the end for a very unsatisfying ending (in my opinion). Which is a shame, because the cast is pretty game for it all. Willis seems to really work the angle of his established character, McAvoy continues to be mind-blowing with his personality switches, and Samuel L. Jackson really brings his character up to supervillain status. It's such a shame that Shyamalan's ego had to come first.
Let me go on record to say that I think the first Lego Movie is a masterpiece in story-telling and world-building, using it's chaotic sense of wonder and humor to be the building blocks (heh) for a very heart-felt story, brought about by a very clever twist in the end. So how do you follow that up, now that all the cards are on the table? Well, mostly be doing more of the same.
While the humor is still pretty top notch, as Emmett remains the King of Obliviousness, the story tries to redo the magic of the first, this time being about a young pre-teen getting along with his sister. However, now that we know the existence of the meta-narrative, it's hard to focus on what's going on as you're busy trying to reinterpret everything with this meta-narrative in mind. As a consequence, I ended up being distracted by a red herring that was delivered so hamhandedly that by the time it was revealed to be a red herring, I had trouble re-adjusting to what was going on.
Still, it remains pretty entertaining, with the solid animation and voice work carrying over from the first, though the animation doesn't seem to have as much of that same "stop-motion" vibe that helped make the first one so charming. Overall, a solid follow-up to a film that was gonna make sequels a challenge.
.png)
I'm gonna be completely honest here: this is the movie of the year. Yeah, I know it came out in February, but after seeing this one, it was going to take a miracle to top what James Cameron and Robert Rodriguez put together here. Yes, it is based on an 80s manga and anime series, and the movie has no shame in wallowing in that kind of gritty, sci-fi atmosphere that made the Japanese style so enticing to westerners in the 80s.
As for the movie itself, it's a blast! An absolute roller-coaster of a movie that rarely slows down, set on charging ahead, filling in exposition whenever relevant, but otherwise sitting back to let the fireworks explode all over the screen. Of course, this means things are very fast-paced, making the story a little thin, but when it has this much momentum and style, I found myself simply not caring.
I get that the big-eyes on the title character and the movie's general atmosphere may not go over well with others, but given that I was already on board from the get go, I had no trouble losing myself in this one. Best of the year!
Captain Marvel
I pretty much covered this when I did my big MCU retrospective earlier this year. Like I said, it's not bad, but it feels so bog-standard of an MCU film that it's hard to feel engaged with anything that's really going on.
_theatrical_poster.png)
What a disaster! After two very good films with Guillermo Del Toro and Ron Pearlman, a third Hellboy felt inevitable, but as time passed, it seemed pretty certain that any new Hellboy was going to be a reboot. At first, I was hesitant, but as trailers came out, they won my trust. I even think David Harbour could have provided a really good version of the character.
Instead, we get a mess that seems more interested in hitting highlights from some of the later comic books, while still being an origin story, while still putting the fate of the world in the hands of a guy wrangling with confidence issues. And it all blows by so fast, I can only image regular viewers simply being confused. I only knew what has going on as I'm a fan of the comics, but as each scene came out, my jaw just dropped at how much they were not explaining.
Hellboy is a fun property with a lot of potential, but I can't help but feel that it's all been pretty much wasted with this film. Absolutely slapdash and probably a waste of time to anyone who hadn't kept up with the comics this whole time.
And that's part one. Part two should be up soon, so keep an eye out for that. In fact, I've got a lot of articles coming out soon, so hopefully you all like to read what I have to say about movies.
No comments:
Post a Comment