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Ruk Ranks Every Movie he Saw in 2017- Top 10 Incoming!

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43. Darkest Hour

 

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You know, one of the most common threads I heard from other people while going into this movie was that the movie itself, as far as story, pacing, etc etc was rather blah, but the movie as a whole was elevated by Gary Oldman's fantastic performance. Whiiiich is why it's kinda weird that I personally enjoyed the film itself plenty,  but thought Oldman's performance was honestly one of its weaker aspects. It was far too phlegmy and blustery and over-the-top for the relatively solemn mood and tone the rest of the movie lay out. Hell, I think Oldman's make-up department is far more worthy of the praise and accolades than he is.

 

Anyway, as mentioned, I actually did kinda like the movie itself. It does a decent job of establishing the mood and atmosphere of a war that is slowly being lost and you do kinda sympathise with the main antagonists, Halifax and Chamberlain, who are merely trying to preserve as much of the country as they can in the face of a situation that feels unwinnable. The hard decisions feel hard and there are genuine stakes at play for each one made. It was far too easy to go the propaganda route and simply portray Churchill as 100% unshakable in the face of Hitler's tyranny, but the movie introduces realistic moments of doubt and a situation where, were you in the same position, you might question what you would do as well (albeit without the preknowledge of what exactly the Nazi's were doing, mind).

 

So yeah, I think the movie is getting a bit of an unfair rap. I don't know whether I'd necessarily call it good enough for a Best Picture nominee, but there's still a fair amount to like. Even if you're like me and think the central performance is really kinda overrated.

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42. Annabelle Creation

 

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's a solid haunted house flick. I have kind of a soft spot for them. What more do you want?

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41. Logan

 

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Ah, the number 3 in the trifecta of 'Genre Movies that People went Gaga over this year that I thought were just okay.' Feel free to take your place with Dunkirk and Blade Runner 2049. Honestly, despite me ranking this the highest, in some ways the fanboy reaction to this bugs me way more than the other two. With Blade Runner 2049 I can at least appreciate the story strengths and why people definitely would like it and I've had more than enough time to get used to Nolan movies being overrated. But with this movie, I keep hearing comments on here about how it 'transcends the genre' and that 'Anyone who thinks WW/TR/GOTGv2/etc is better than it is clearly out of their minds' such and such when... honestly... thematically and character-wise I think it's really kind of a mess?

 

I mean, here's a good example for you. Explain to me Logan's character arc through this movie. And I don't mean give me a vague platitude like 'He learns to appreciate life' or 'gains a family' or whatever, I mean really think about it. Because it never really comes together. Is he supposed to be learning to appreciate life? Well, he fucking sacrifices himself at the end. Was he supposed to be learning to accept death? Well, he was planning on shooting himself after Xavier died, so not much accepting needed there. Was it about finding a family? Because he already kinda had one with Xavier and Caliban and he barely knows most of those kids. Was it about accepting Laura? Then where does his death fit into that emotional arc? It just doesn't come together, which is irritating because it's theoretically set-up as the backbone of the movie. And it's really not the only example. A lot of character arcs, ideas and themes just plain aren't developed or get a competent conclusion and that really undermines a lot of the most interesting ideas and character moments that it brings up.

 

Honestly, I think far too many people were just too enamoured with the idea of this 'adult and mature' R-Rated superhero flick, that handles adult and mature stuff like Prof X having a degenerative brain disease or a super murder child, etc etc, that they fail to notice all the ragged edges and how the movie doesn't really go all the way with most of its subtextual ideas. (It's also especially hilarious when people act flabbergasted about others preferring Wonder Woman considering that movie is almost pitch perfect when it comes to developing a character arc and an emotional/thematic throughline, but I'll save that till later.) As much as people may think TDK gets overpraised, thematically, that movie is tight as shit. This one is not.

 

That said, there is a lot to like about this movie. And I mean a lot. I may have spent most of this review bitching about it, but that has more to do with how much it's overpraised than any real sense that the movie is awful. There's genuinely a lot to like about it, from its action, to the excellent acting across to the board, to its solid sense of mood and so and so forth. Honestly, I'd even go so far as to say that, even if I don't necessarily like it as much as other people, I still genuinely appreciate this movie's existence for helping to expand the CBM to wider potential fields and providing a serious example of a successful R-Rated comic book movie going forward. Which is a definite positive. I just don't think it's nearly as good as other people do.

 

Also, hey, that makes this 3/5 of BOT's Top 5 that have failed to crack the Top 40. Ain't that a funny coincidence? Hahaha. Also, I think Panda is going to run out of Disbelief reactions. 

 

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40. Window Horses

 

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Proof that Kickstarter can actually do some good every once in a while.

 

Okay, for those unaware as to what this is (which I assume is most people), Window Horses is an animated adaptation of a Canadian Graphic novel of the same name about Rosie Ming, a half-Chinese, half-Iranian girl from Canada invited to a poets festival in Iran, that was crowdfunded through an $80,000 indiegogo campaign. It's also really quite good.

 

I will confess that I'm really not much of a poems sort of guy, and this movie didn't do much to change that, but it is an interesting look at Iranian culture and history with some genuinely good drama in there too regarding Rosie and her turmoiled relationship with her absent Iranian father. The animation is certainly simplistic, as you might imagine for a crowdfunded movie, and it might seem offputting at first, but it really starts to grow on you and there are some genuinely beautiful looking moments.

 

Overall, this was a very pleasant little discovery. Admittedly, the simplistic animation did drop it down a bit combined with the fact that, as mentioned, I'm really not a poems guy, but there's plenty to like regardless. It's not the biggest or my favourite animation this year, foreign or otherwise, but it's definitely worth a watch if you're interested.

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39. The Big Bad Fox and Other Tales

 

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So, in case the last entry didn't tip you, I’ve kinda been getting into foreign/indie animation in the past few years. And sure, that mostly tends to take the form of Japanese stuff, but every so often I try to get the chance to watch something from another country. After all, that was how I found may favourite movie of 2016, the beautiful and criminally underwatched Long Way North. So when I got a chance to go see this French Animation (from the makers of Ernest and Clementine (which I’ve not seen)) at the London Film Festival, I decided to give it a shot. And, honestly, yeah, it was fairly good.

 

The movie itself is basically an anthology, made up of three distinct segments. In the first, a Pig, a Duck and Rabbit try to deliver a baby for an injured Stork, in the second, the titular Big Bad Fox tries to raise three baby chicks who mistake him for their mama and in the third, the aforementioned Pig, Duck and Rabbit try to deliver presents for Santa. And you know, for the life of me, I don’t get why this movie is called the Big Bad Fox & Other Tales, because the Big Bad Fox tale is easily the worst by far. It was predictable as all hell and I hated almost every single character. The Fox was whiny, the chicks were annoying little shits, even the mama hen who the chicks were stolen from was a bit of prick, honestly. The only likeable character was that one big bad wolf who is clearly sick of the fox’s shit, but he's also supposed to be the villain, so... Like I said, it’s really not that good a story.

 

However, while I was unimpressed with the titular Big Bad Fox, what really made the movie for me was the Pig/Duck/Rabbit comedic trio and the two stories they stared in. It wasn’t at all surprising to me that 2/3 of the stories involved starred that trio, because they had a really great comedic dynamic going and it was just tons of fun watching their antics. I definitely really enjoyed both of their stories and the hilarious twists and turns and if the Big Bad Fox story had been just as strong, this’d probably be a fair bit higher on the list.

 

Overall, even if I didn’t particularly like the titular Big Bad Fox tale, this is a still a pretty fun kids film that I’d recommend if you’re interested. It’s simple, but it’s fun and funny and timeless and the animation is pretty nice too. Not anything amazing, but it’s fun enough.

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38. Batman vs Two Face

 

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Aka, the sole DC Animated Movie from this year that I didn’t think was kinda awful? 

 

Now, if you were following my list last year, you probably know that I enjoyed the previous 60’s Batman homage movie, ‘Return of the Caped Crusaders’. And, honestly, I actually think this one was actually even better.

 

The first movie was fun and all but it felt like it had to make room for all the 60’s easter eggs and villain cameos and the like which I thought kinda made it feel a bit overstuffed. This is a slimmer story, certainly, but it’s also much more straightforwardly told and easier to enjoy and honestly even funnier than the first movie. All the actors do an excellent job (especially Adam West RIP) and overall it was just a delight to watch. As far as Adam West’s last Batman movie is to be concerned, this is a pretty dang good note to go out on.

 

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37. Wonder 

 

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Man, what is it this year with all the movies with 'Wonder' in their titles being surprisingly good? I mean, sure, I've not actually seen Wonder Wheel (because I'm not much of a Woody Allen fan even before you take into account the creepy pervert crap) and I've no idea what the hell Wonderstruck is about, but I can still count at least three movies this year (including this one) with Wonder in the title that I enjoyed a lot lot more than I was expecting to. And just because this is the lowest ranked of those three doesn't mean it doesn't deserves its fair share of praise.

 

Hell, on the contrary, I genuinely don't have all that much bad to say about this movie. It's a sweet little kids film, with plenty for kids and grown-ups both to enjoy. It has just that perfect mix of drama, comedy and heartwarming moments all round. It just happens to be in that Hell or High Water position where, even though I don't have much bad to say about it, I just had a bunch of other films I preferred this year is all.

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36. Baby Driver

 

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Boy, the Kevin Spacey stuff in this movie sure aged well, didn't it, ehehehe....

 

Elephants in rooms aside, I'll admit I've kinda cooled on this movie a fair bit since I last watched it. Don't get me wrong, I still like it plenty, but it feels a bit substance-less in hindsight. The romance was badly underbaked and it really should've ended a fair bit before it did. Plus, I have a bunch of minor quiggling problems here and there that have just kept with me over time.

 

That said, in spite of all that, there really is a lot to like about this movie. Because for all that it may lack substance, this film certainly has style in droves. Edgar Wright is the sort of director who can make a guy going down the street for coffee interesting and fun to watch (hell, it's arguable a stable of his directorial style) and he's clearly pulling out all the stops in the action for this movie, providing some seriously fun car chases timed perfectly to match with the songs and music. Ansel Elgort was a bit bland (not entirely his fault since the character was written to match), but that's easy to forgive when you have people like Jamie Foxx and Jon Hamm hamming it up (pun unintentional) and clearly having a ball with their roles. 

 

But, as mentioned, it's mainly about the style here and in that regard the movie more than delivers. It's not perfect, but it has a toe-tapping quality all of its own.

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On 2/21/2018 at 3:00 PM, rukaio101 said:

Also, I think Panda is going to run out of Disbelief reactions. 

 

As @rukaio101 might have discovered since his notifications are probably getting lit up like a Christmas Tree by Yours Truly, I have just found this thread and am giving my customary like to every post.  But just had to break in at this moment and say I appreciate the commitment to form from @The Mad Panda.  Not even looking anymore to see who's apoc'ing the posts at this stage. :lol:

 

===

 

The other one thing I want to say here is to give you mad props for the incredibly well thought out and coherent reviews.  You've mentioned your screenwriting several times in the thread, and the commitment to the written word shines through in all of these reviews.

 

Well, aside from the ones that are just one sentence throwaways, that is.  And even there the point is well told way.

 

The other thing I really appreciate is I absolutely know WHY you like or dislike something, even if I disagree with it.  All too often people flail about trying to communicate just what they thought about a movie (and I include myself in this category). But in each of these reviews the viewpoint is clear and concise.  With a distinct authorial voice that doesn't suffer from repetition.

 

On that score alone you deserve all the likes I'm handing out. :)

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Thanks for the positive comments guys. Glad you're enjoying this list. I look forward to inevitably failing to living up to your expectations.

 

35. Ferdinand

 

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Yeah, strike me as surprised as you are that I enjoyed this movie so much. Hell, I wasn't even originally planning on actually seeing it, considering how much I disliked the trailers. Wouldn't have been the first unappealing Western animation I skipped this year based on trailers/general feeling alone. (Also why you won't be seeing Boss Baby, Cars 3, Despicable Me 3, or Emoji Movie on this list, mind). But then Ferdinand ended up getting surprisingly decent reviews on RT and an animated Oscar nomination (which, to be fair, doesn't mean much) and I decided fuck it, might as well take the plunge.

 

And... honestly, I really quite enjoyed it.

 

Personally, a large part of what actually made the movie for me was the titular character of Ferdinand. When I saw the trailers I was expecting him to be your typical goofy wimp who thinks he needs to toughen up, etc etc, cliche and annoying. But in the movie itself, he's a genuinely really nice guy who's comfortable with himself, never lacking for bravery, wins over friends because he cares about other people and doesn't fight not because he's a wimp but because he genuinely doesn't like fighting. It's the sort of protagonist you really don't see enough of in these sorts of movies and made him very endearing in a lot of ways. He's like Chris Evans's Captain America if he was an animated pacifist bull.

 

Honestly, a large part of what makes this movie work is the characters and the way they grown and develop through the movie via their interactions with Ferdinand. Even the token jerk has his own Freudian excuse and character arc and growth through the movie. (Speaking of, I was not expecting the movie with John Cena as a talking bull to be one with a message about toxic masculinity).

 

That said, if there was one thing that kept this movie down, it was the animation. Blue Sky have never really been outstanding in terms of their animation or direction. Competent, perhaps, but never outstanding. And the animation in this was so standard, mediocre and uninventive you could mistake it for an Illumination film. Especially when it comes to the action. Almost all the chase sequences are about as forgettable and unexciting as you can get and even the big arena fight at the end isn't exactly a wower. The only vaguely action related segment I remember that kept my attention throughout was the dance-off and that was more due to sheer WTFness than actually quality of animation.

 

That said Ferdinand was still a genuinely pleasant surprise. It has its flaws yes, but makes up for them with its surprisingly endearing main character and genuinely positive messages. So kudos. It was a lot better than I was expecting. 

 

 

 

PS. Also, did nobody think through the tagline on that poster? The preteen girl only makes it worse!

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34. Colossal

 

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Speaking of movies that I was not expecting to secretly be about toxic masculinity...

 

Okay, can I just get this out of the way now and talk about how great Jason Sudekis's character was in this movie? I know it's technically spoilers (even though we nominated him for Best Villain at the BOFFYs, so cat's kinda out of the bag there) but his villain genuinely got under my skin more than any other antagonist in any movie this year, in large part because he felt so much more real than any other villain this year. Film has far too often conditioned us to imagine domestic abusers as the typical gruff, angry violent asshole, but far too often they're also familiar figures, charismatic, friendly and manipulative and controlling in a way that you don't see coming. I went into this movie already knowing the twist and I still thought Sudekis in the first half or so was a pretty cool guy. And when his true nature comes to light, it's not some sudden switch into abuse mode, it's a slow exaggeration of traits that were already there but that take on a much darker light in this new context. It's genuinely great writing and acting.

 

The rest of the movie was alright too.

 

Okay, that's maybe a bit harsh. Hathaway was genuinely also really good in this and did an excellent job with her (in-universe) trainwreck of a character. Plus the premise itself is a really unique one. That said, it did maybe feel like the whole 'giant monster' thing was kinda let down by what I assume was a limited budget. I'm as much for visual shorthand and symbolism as the next guy, but when we get to the point of Jason Sudekis stomping around a child's playground while dramatic and heartbreaking music plays, I start to get the impression that maybe you're covering up the fact taht you can't afford any more big monster shots. Don't get me wrong, the monster shots that are there are pretty good, but it really felt like the movie needed more of them here and there to really punch up the drama. Because again. Jason Sudekis stomping around a child's playground. Not the most dramatic of things.

 

That said, overall, I enjoyed it a lot and for reasons that I didn't entirely see coming. It was very much a 'come for the premise, stay for the villain' sort of movie and they pulled it off pretty damn well. Maybe not perfectly, but certainly worth a watch.

 

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33. Mindhorn

 

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So stop me if you’ve heard this one before. A washed-up actor, who was formerly famous before his life went to shit... Okay, you know the rest. 

 

Alright, maybe that’s a little bit unfair. Mindhorn is a British comedy movie about Richard Thorncroft, the washed-up ex-star of a popular (fictional) 80’s sci-fi/detective series called Mindhorn, whose life went to shit after a failed attempt to make it in Hollywood and now largely lives in disgraced squalor. However, he is called back into his most famous role to help deal with a serial killer who believes that the show is real. Shit happens, Richard makes a tit of himself, then has to redeem himself in the climax, yada yada, you know the rest. Like I said, it is a very predictable movie. A lot of the character beats, a lot of the story beats, even some of the twists are more or less as standard as you’d expect from reading that premise. There were a couple surprises here and there, but aside from that it's not anything amazingly original.

 

So why is this so high up on this list? Well, it’s funny. It’s really really funny.

 

Yeah, while the story may be somewhat generic, as far as the actual jokes go, this movie is more or less on point. I laughed a lot and had a pretty damn fun time watching it. There’s a lot of good British comedy talent on display, like Julian Barrett or Steven Coogan or, one of my own underrated favourites in a great minor role, Simon Farnaby (who you might remember from Paddington 1 and 2 as Beleaguered Security Guard!) It even has cameos from a suitably befuddled Kenneth Brannagh.

 

In the end, it's certainly a very predictable sort of movie, but it is also a very funny one. And in the end, isn't that all that really matters? ...Well, yeah. It's a comedy. Duh.

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32. Ghost in the Shell

 

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So yeah, this is basically my Warcraft pick of the year. Aka that one movie everyone else hated and shat on, that I thought was actually genuinely fairly good. Maybe not great, but definitely overlooked.

 

Honestly though, while I'm rarely one to call out bias, it did kinda feel like this movie always had the odds stacked against to begin with. Not only was it adapting a very philosophical and thematically complex work that never would've gone over great with blockbuster audiences in its original form (for proof of that just look at the box office for Blade Runner 2049), but there was also the whitewashing controversy which... honestly... I think was kinda unfair on it? I'm only saying kinda because I do sympathise with the motives behind the whole 'whitewashing' protests, if only because I agree Asian actors/actresses are horribly underrepresented in Hollywood, but Major's ethnicity was never remotely important to her character in the original (hell, technically her ethnicity was 'cyborg') and considering this movie is all about artificial bodies and the like, it felt kinda weird that everyone was complaining about the 'Shell' rather than the Ghost. 

 

(Hell, I actually thought the movie made a great subtle commentary on whitewashing, if you were paying attention. Corporations take a Japanese person, try to make her into their ideal of the next level of perfect humanity and turn her into a caucasian Scarlett Johannson? Come on, you really think that was entirely coincidental?) 

 

That said, I honestly enjoyed this movie quite a lot. It's not the original, certainly, but I wasn't expecting it to be and, as a far as a Hollywood translation of that story goes, I honestly thought it was fairly good. It was visually inventive and actually had some fairly solid writing behind it.

 

I can understand why people thought Johansson was a bit bland, but I thought it was made pretty clear in the movie that that was kinda the point of her character. Part of her arc is that she doesn't really feel like she fits in with humanity, considers herself more of a tool or experiment than a person and an understated performance helped to bolster that. Plus she has fairly good chemistry with Batou, Binoche and Pitt (who was probably the MVP of the movie). And she does get a few good moments here and there (although probably not quite enough). There's one scene after Pitt's reveal where she just silently stares at Binoche's character in her bedroom and I will admit it kinda freaked me out a little. 

 

Now, I will admit the story is fairly cliche and predictable and I get why people might not be happy with it (especially since the non-Pitt villain ends up being a very generic corporate bad guy) but I honestly felt it kinda worked. It doesn't elevate the movie, by any means, but it kept me interested and showcased enough of the characters/action/world that I didn't really feel it dragged the movie down either. Sure it could've used a few extra bits of depth and originality here and there (although I did appreciate Pitt's character being largely as clueless about his past as Major's and the discovery the two of them both go through made him feel a lot fresher). A lot of the philosophical aspects from the original GitS are kinda dumbed down and Hollywoodised, for lack of a better word, but, as mentioned, that was something that I was kinda expecting anyway to make it more appealing to mainstream audiences (although it obviously didn't quite work) and there are still some interesting ideas left behind that the movie does a good job of making digestible and understandable. Hell, possibly better than the original movie did. There was a lot about the original movie that I found confusing or underexplained, but I never really had that problem with this one. Of course, that's a tradeoff for the themes lacking the same level of depth and insightfulness as the original, but, again, that was something I was expecting the whole time.

 

So yeah, honestly I enjoyed it a fair bit. I said before it's probably not going be the sort of movie I'm going to go to hold up as one of the classics of the year, but as an action blockbuster with some depth below the surface (if you're paying attention) I thought it worked fairly well.

 

Okay, you can proceed with the hatemail now.

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31. My Life as a Courgette

 

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*Shrugs* Yeah, it’s technically a 2016 film, but I didn’t get the chance to watch it in 2016 because it hadn't been released, so I’m counting it here. Although weirdly I did almost get the chance to see it at the LFF in 2016, but I missed it because I went to see Birdboy: The Forgotten Children instead. Which, to add an extra layer on things, was shortlisted as a 2017 film by this year's animated Oscars. Because fuck it, what even are years anyway?

 

Ahem, anyway, I don't really have all that much to say here, but yeah this was a really nice little film, dealing with issues of abuse and abandonment at a young age and the like. The animation was nice, the kid characters were good, it did a good job of making its little world of the orphanage feel real and overall, there's really not much to complain about. I'll admit, it was much more of a kids friendly film than I was expecting, despite its hefty subject matter, but that's not necessarily a bad thing at all.

 

So yeah, it may have taken me a long time to finally get to see this, but I'm ultimately glad I did. It's a very sweet and likeable movie.

 

 

Note: Also, Birdboy probably would've ranked somewhere in the mid-40's had I counted it on this year's list. Click here if you want to see my thoughts on it from last year (although I'm slightly more positive on it now, given time to think about it).

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30. Logan Lucky

 

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Hoo boy. Okay, we're getting to that really awkward early 30's/late 20's 'good, but not Top 10' point in my list where I end up not really having that all much to say about the movies in question aside from 'Yeah, they're good.' Said movies don't have much in the way of major flaws, yet neither do they really get me all that passionate about singing their praises. And so, a few exceptions aside, the best I've usually got is just a 'Yeah, it's pretty damn good. I just have other movies I preferred this year.' 

 

Case in point? This movie is pretty damn good. The plot was solid, the acting great all round, Daniel Craig in particular was a ton of fun and overall the entire film was very very watchable. Stephen Sodenberg is a bit hit and miss for me, but this was a very firm hit that I enjoyed plenty. I just ultimately have other movies I preferred this year.

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29. John Wick 2

 

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Yeah, it's pretty damn good. I just have other movies I preferred this year.

 

Honestly, joking aside, this is pretty much just solid action movie goodness. I was a pretty big fan of the first John Wick so it was nice to see this movie lived up to its predecessor’s quality, at least as far as action, intrigue and Keanu badassery goes. I’ll admit I don’t quite think the story was as tight as needed and I’ll confessed to being confused at a few of the character motivations towards the end, but it was still a very fun watch and it’s nice to see them expand on the worldbuilding. Looking forward to Wick 3.

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28. Professor Marston and the Wonder Women

 

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Yay for polygamy?! Honestly, no jokes, there were a lot of ways that this movie, about the creator of Wonder Woman, William Marston, and his polygamist relationship with his two wives, could've gone badly wrong. Creating a sympathetic polygamist relationship without it devolving solely into just male wank fantasy is not easy. But, no, this movie makes it all entirely work and gets to really make you buy into the relationship these three had and why and how it developed. It also helps that all three characters are played by great actors and have both genuinely good chemistry and plenty of funny/dramatic moments with each other. It's not just two hot women coming onto hunky Luke Evans, it's a complicated relationship formed on all sides with unique dynamics between all three. So, definite kudos there.

 

I will say that, despite ostensibly being about the creator of Wonder Woman, the movie itself doesn't actually really focus all that much on the actual creation of Wonder Woman (at least not to the extent of something like, say, The Man Who Invented Christmas), but what does do it is contextualise the original comics and point out an additional interesting subtext to all the kinky fuckery in the mythology (or in the original WW comics, at least. The recent 2017 WW movie was notably lacking in said kinky fuckery, unfortunately, but I'll get to that later) and really makes you look at the whole thing from a different point of view.

 

So yeah, in conclusion, this definitely wasn't the sort of movie I was expecting when I went in to see a movie about the origin of Wonder Woman, but what I got was very interesting in its own right. So it was definitely overall a fun watch with plenty of kinky fuckery to enjoy.

 

 

 

(I'll be honest, at this point, I just enjoy typing kinky fuckery too much to stop.)

 

 

(Also, calling @Water Bottle, since I know he's been championing this film a fair bit.)

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27. Big Fish & Begonia

 

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So apparently China is making big animated movies now? Good on them.

 

No seriously, that wasn’t sarcasm. I mean it. Good on them. The more different animations out there the better. Especially if they’re as gorgeous and engaging as this movie was.

 

Seriously though, in case me bringing it up at every opportunity didn't tip you off, I’m a fairly big fan of animated movies. Especially ones with traditional hand-drawn animation. So when I got the chance to check this movie out at the London Film Festival, I was practically chomping at the bit. Not only did the trailer look gorgeous, but it was also animated by Studio Mir, the same studio who did such shows as Legend of Korra and the recent Voltron show. So did it live up to my expectations? Pretty much yeah.

 

Don’t get me wrong, it’s not a fantastic movie and it’s certainly no Ghibli in terms of actual storytelling, but as far as Studio Mir's first effort at a big feature-length animation goes, it was really damn good. Not only did it look absolutely amazing, but it was able to pull some really damn strong emotional chops. No joke, this movie got me closest to crying than other movie I saw this year. And trust me when I say I'm not the sort of person who cries at movies. Like, at all.

 

Okay, for those unaware, here's a brief explanation of the premise of the movie. The film takes place in a mystical realm beneath the human world, where mythical beings with magical abilities watch over the world and help keep the laws of nature balanced. I suspect said world/inhabitants are highly based on some sort of Chinese mythology and I didn't recognise fucking jack shit about it, so it was certainly fascinating to see these strange and interesting designs and ideas translated into animated form.

 

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Anyway, to get back on track, Big Fish & Begonia is about one such inhabitant of this realm, a young girl named Chun, who goes on a coming-of-age visit/exploration of the human world while taking the form of a dolphin. However, on her way back home, she is caught in a fisherman’s net and is only saved by the intervention of a young boy. Unfortunately, said boy is drowned in the process of saving her, naturally leaving Chun with a fair amount of guilt.

 

As recompense, she travels to the underworld and bargains with the grumpy and morally ambiguous Soul Keeper, who makes a deal with her to restore the boy’s life. In exchange for half of her lifespan, the boy’s soul is resurrected in the form of a baby dolphin. Chun must successfully raise the dolphin, nicknamed Kun, to adulthood to fully restore the boy back to life. Which easier said than done when most of the other inhabitants of the realm believe Kun will bring disaster to them all (which, unfortunately, isn’t exactly inaccurate). So Chun, with the help of her best friend Qui (who is also the best character in the movie by far) must keep Kun’s existence hidden until he can be restored to life.

 

Now, first things first, this movie is fucking gorgeous. Seriously, this is eaaasily the best looking animated movie of the year. The landscapes are lush, the action is smooth, the character designs are pretty solid and it really goes to show why it's so annoying that Western animated movies seem to have more-or-less abandoned traditional animation all together. Okay, sure, once or twice these distractingly bad CG whales showed up, but that was only at the beginning, I think, and the rest of the animation more than makes up for it. Trust me when I say these tiny fucking images barely do the movie justice.

 

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Now, as much as I do like this movie, there is one major issue I think really holds it back from being a real masterpiece of the genre. And it’s quite simple. Kun is a tremendously boring character. Seriously, when I think of animal companions in animated movies, I think of characters like Toothless in How to Train Your Dragon or Gromit in Wallace and Gromit. Both are almost utterly silent, yet they convey so much character and emotion through their expressions and movements and actions.

 

In comparison, Kun mostly just swims around looking sad. And, let’s not forget, he’s a large focus of much of the movie. Making a human-animal bond the focal point of your movie doesn’t really work when one half of said relationship is just dull as sin. He’s got a nice design and all, but as far as actual characterisation goes, he has the personality of a goldfish. He even drags down Chun somewhat. Before the climax, I was perfectly willing to put her in the same boat of being a bland main character solely based on her interactions with Kun. She’s fortunately redeemed by the third act, where she has some genuinely heart-breaking emotional turmoil to go through as the results of her actions start to take their toll on her home.

 

Now, I’m not saying this movie is just a pretty face with a lacklustre story under the surface, because it’s really not. (Aside from the pretty face thing, obviously. Seriously, this movie looks gorgeous.) In particular, I have nothing but praise for Qui’s complex and utterly heart-breaking character arc. Seriously, I was not exaggerating when I called him the best character in the movie by far. He’s got a great design mixed with a full realized, three-dimensional characterisation that leads to a genuinely emotional conclusion. As much as the movie proclaims to be about Chun and Kun, Qui is really the emotional centre of the film and is damn compelling at that.

 

Indeed, while the first two thirds of this movie were a touch sluggish and uncertain, not helped by Kun’s dullness, the final third of this movie more than propels this movie into something special. It’s dramatic and epic and heart-breaking for both Chun and Qui. I’m not exaggerating when I say I could hear genuinely sobbing from some people in my screening. And it wasn’t solely relegated to the kids either.

 

In conclusion, with a tighter script and better characterisation for our titular Big Fish, this movie could’ve been one of the real masterpieces of the animated genre. But even as it is, it’s still an absolutely fantastic watch with an emotional third act that deserves nothing but the strongest kudos. In a year where Western animation has been fairly underwhelming all around, it’s good to see other countries picking up the banner. This is definitely one to recommend if you’re curious.

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