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Daniel Boyd (1066 KP) created a post

Jan 16, 2018  
I know that it's a few weeks late, but I finally got around to doing my Best and Worst list of 2017 movies.


Quick disclaimer: I did not see every movie that dropped in 2017 and because I live in the UK, there are some movies that have been out in the US for months that have yet to be released here.
Lastly, this is just my opinion, so feel free to disagree with any or all of it.



The Best

Split (Jan)
iBoy (Jan)
Trainspotting 2 (Jan)

War On Everyone (Feb)
Lego Batman (Feb)
John Wick 2 (Feb)

Logan (March)
Kong Skull Island (March)
The Belko Experiment (March)

The Fate Of The Furious (Apr)
Free Fire (Apr)

The Wall (May)

Wonder Woman (June)
It Comes At Night (June)
Baby Driver (June)

Spiderman: Homecoming (July)
War For The Planet Of The Apes (July)
Dunkirk (July)
Atomic Blonde (July)
Detroit (July)

Wind River (Aug)
Logan Lucky (Aug)

It (Sept)
American Made (Sept)

Blade Runner 2049 (Oct)
Brawl In Cell Block 99 (Oct)
The Foreigner (Oct)

Thor Ragnarok (Nov)
Murder On The Orient Express (Nov)
Justice League (Nov)

Star Wars: The Last Jedi (Dec)





The Worst

Fist Fight (Feb)

Life (March)

King Arthur (May)
Baywatch (May)
Pirates 5 (May)

The Mummy (June)

The Dark Tower (August)
The Hitman’s Bodyguard (August)

Kingsman 2 (September)

The Greatest Showman (December)
Bright (December)




My Top 10 Of The Year (In no particular order)

Trainspotting 2
Logan
Star Wars: The Last Jedi
Blade Runner 2049
Spiderman: Homecoming
Wind River
War For The Planet Of The Apes
Detroit
Baby Driver
Dunkirk




I found that when I was doing my list this year, that there were a quite a few movies that I was struggling to place on either the best or worst side. For example, Justice League and Murder On The Orient Express sneaked onto the best list, whereas Bright and The Dark Tower only fell onto the worst list because although I didn't hate them, I wasn't willing to label them the best 2017 had to offer. Maybe next year I should introduce another column titled "Films I felt pretty indifferent about."
     
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Joe Julians (221 KP) Jan 17, 2018

Ah I really liked Life and The Greatest Showman!

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Daniel Boyd (1066 KP) Jan 22, 2018

I can't deny Jackman's talent as a performer, but it just wasn't my thing

X-Men: Apocalypse (2016)
X-Men: Apocalypse (2016)
2016 | Action, Sci-Fi
New characters (0 more)
I love the xmen as a small kid i used to read the comics over and over .ive seen all the xmen movies this one is not that great not terrible but not awesome apocalypse is one of there most powerful characters .the last few movies with the new cast i really liked .first class and the one where they go back n forth in time.i really liked psylocke storm and death angel .but honestly they could have done better.the special effects were good.idk it needs something new .dark phoenix should be good .i dont rember seeing wolverine rouge (who is my fav)ice man .but just like the comics they constantly come and go.if u like xmen you will like this movie.i wish i could write a xmen movie team up with say spiderman and a crazy villian like mestphito (spelt wrong sorry)and throw in a love story gambit and rouge collousis and kitty pryde.some thing to give the movie character and feeling.cant wait for the next one
  
The Avengers (2012)
The Avengers (2012)
2012 | Action, Sci-Fi
Known in the UK as 'Avenger's Assemble' (to avoid confusion with the other Avengers film!), this was the first of the MCUs big-screen cross-overs, bringing Captain America, Tony Stark/Iron Man, Bruce Banner/The Hulk (here played by Mark Ruffalo instead of Ed Norton), Thor, Black Widow and Hawkeye (and not forgetting Agent Coulson, pre TVs Agents of SHIELD!) all together for the very first time to face off against Thor's brother Loki, returned from the (supposed) dead and at the head of an army of Chitauri - with the post-credit sting revealing, for the very first time, just how is the 'big bad' behind the entire thing!

That 'Battle of New York' at the end of the film would have further ramifications down the line in both the movie and TV side of things for Marvel, with the (not shown here) clean up activities afterwards even providing the impetus for one of the newer (at the time of writing) releases, in Phase III's Spiderman: Homecoming
  
Venom: Let There Be Carnage (2021)
Venom: Let There Be Carnage (2021)
2021 | Action, Horror, Sci-Fi
Well.

That was ... different.

I'd read a few reviews of the first Venom movie that basically described it as a rom-com between Eddie Brock and the symbiote Venom.

Watching this, so must have the producers of this film as they have seemingly 'doubled down' on that aspect, with Tom Hardy again portraying by Eddie Brock and voicing Venom, with lots of internal conversations going on between the two (that sound vaguely like something out of Deadpool), and with the two of them arguing and bickering the part out with each other, leading to a (temporary) breakup of sorts.

As for Woody Harrelson? He portrays the serial killer whom the symbiote Carnage latches onto (although it's never fully explained how Carnage came to be from a sliver of Venom), alongside Naoime Harris's Shriek, who surprised me right at the start of the film in that she is a mutant. In the Spiderman Shared Universe

All in all, I have to say, I *think* this is an improvement on the first, but it is a close call.
  
Morbius (2022)
Morbius (2022)
2022 | Action, Sci-Fi
It's Not Bad...It's Stupid
“It’s not as bad as you heard”, is certainly the very definition of damning something with faint praise, but that is exactly the right thing to say about the 2022 Sony Comic Book Film Adaptation of MORBIUS.

Starring Jared Leto, MORBIUS follows the origin story - and first adventure - of Spiderman villain Morbius who, inexplicably, becomes the hero in this story.

While, ultimately, not a good film, there are some good things happening here, so let’s begin there.

The lead performance by Jared Leto as Dr. Michael Morbius is - very surprisingly - somewhat grounded in reality. Leto is not one to be subtle in his character choices (see HOUSE OF GUCCI) but in this one, he is (somewhat) reserved. It would have been easy for Leto to go over the top with this character, but he wisely chooses the opposite route…and it works. The always watchable Jared Harris (CHERNOBYL) is on-board in the “mentor” role while Tyrese Gibson and Al Madrigal bring some humor to the proceedings as “Agents” who are chasing after Morbius. The rest of the cast are benign - neither adding nor detracting from the proceedings - with the exception of Matt Smith (LAST NIGHT IN SOHO) who’s character is so badly written that he flounders under the weight of the absurdity of what his character is tasked with.

Trying to overcome the ridiculousness of the story is the Direction by Daniel Espinosa (the Denzel Washington action flick SAFE HOUSE). He moves the action along quickly, never really lingering on the absurdities of the events going on (and there are PLENTY of absurdities to avoid - more on that later) and Espinosa actually has an artistic vision of what he wanted to accomplish visually in this comic-book film, freezing many frames when the picture on the screen looked like a page from a graphic novel. It’s a smart choice for a film that can only be described as dumb.

And dumb this film is. I kept feeling any sense of common sense and reality slip away as this film - written by Matt Sazama and Burk Sharpless - quickly devolved into the absurd and ridiculous. One does have to suspend belief when watching Comic Book films (how else are we going to believe that a man can turn into a human spider) but in this case, the suspension is mighty - it is one of the dumbest films ever made (in terms of plot and situations) and that is saying something. The makers of this film really stretch the term “go with me here” as Morbius is constantly chasing and evolving and being chased in the most absurd ways throughout this film with special effects that add to the absurdity of the proceedings. To be fair, this film never falls into the “so bad it’s good” range, it hovers just above that line.

The end credits scenes start to setup a “Sinister Six” Spiderman film, so there is some hope for this - it would be interesting to see Leto’s Morbius team up with some other Spiderman villains (who’s names would be a spoiler), provided the script is better. There’s no way that it can be worse.

MORBIUS is not a bad film - it just will insult your intelligence.

Letter Grade: C

4 Stars (out of 10) and you can take that to the Bank(ofMarquis)
  
Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019)
Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019)
2019 | Action, Sci-Fi
Home Run
Spiderman Far From Home while more like add on dlc to the far superior Homecoming is packed with enough breathtaking moments & genuinely touching character moments to make is a top notch Spidey road trip. I cant deny Im a sucker for anything Spiderman related so please take my review as possibly slightly bias. At first Far from home had me extremely worried as some of the writing is borderline awful, some acting felt extremely off & its strange offbeat comedy is thrown at us so thick & fast I was eeeessshing more than I was laughing. However about half an hour in something changed & all the things I hated started to come together & I really felt my self becoming really involved with it all. I think what the movie had actually managed to do was not only remind me of the 90s animated show but almost recreate its feel in live action form too. Full of exposition & plot twists I saw coming a mile off Far from home still managed to keep me invested in its characters & raise the stakes/tension constantly as the film went on. What started off as a silly predictable romp actually ended up being a thrilling adrenaline rush filled with pulse pounding busy action scenes that utilised slow motion & unique camera tracking brilliantly as well as a finally thats heartfelt & extremely touching. Themes of new love & the rush it brings as well as its beautiful awkwardness are so relatable & believable & its darker themes of how the worlds gullibility/naivety/social media can be used against us as a weapon are scarily current also. Jake gyllenhaal is literally of the chain as mysterio & I would go as far as saying brings THE best acting I've ever seen in any marvel film so far. Seriously his performance is next level especially when you compare how his character behaves in the first half of the film against in the second half going from quiet, bland, weak & emotionless to unstable, intelligent, overconfident & tactical with some intense/harrowing use of his powers too. One of the most comic like comic book superhero films we've had so far its dorky, full of awesome action, twists/turns & a kickass villain so sit back & take it for what it is pure enjoyment.
  
Spawn (1997)
Spawn (1997)
1997 | Action, Animation, Horror
Michael jai white, character/costume design, visual effects (0 more)
Rough dialogue (0 more)
Where you're going, every day is Halloween.
Spawn is a 1997 anti-hero film based on the comic book character of the same name. the film stars Michael Jai White in the title role, and is one of the first films to feature an African American actor portraying a major comic book superhero.

Al Simmons is a mercenary who, after accepting a mission is double-crossed and assassinated on the orders of Jason Wynn. After selling his soul to Malebolgia, Al soon returns to Earth as a demon, a hell spawn with a raging thirst for vengeance.
After being reborn, Spawn has little time to understand his new being and must act fast all whist learning new abilities along the way.

Though not as dark as it's comic book counterpart and a little more humorous, Spawn is a nice addition to a pre MCU world, which would have been amazing to see this version of him team up with the likes of Wesley snipes Blade and future hero's like tobey Maguires Spiderman & Nicholas cages Ghost Rider.

Visually entertaining & always a personal favourite.

Love the CGI Cape.
  
So: Daredevil.

AKA MAtt Murdock: Blind Lawyer by day, Vigilante by night.

And a character that, unlike (say) your Superman or Spiderman or Batman's, only really came to my attention with the (so-so) 2003 movie of the same name, and the more recent (and better) Marvel Netflix series'.

I'd also never read any of the comics/graphic novels before, although I knew that the TV series, in particular, drew heavily from that source, but had heard good things about them. With all that said, I thought I would take a risk on this particular collection (purchased, and read, via Comixology on my iPad) to see what all the fuss was about.

And, at first, I wasn't overwhelmed - I found the first story arc just so-so, and couldn't really get to grips with the art-style.

However, things picked up (for me) once the collection went back to a more conventional art style, with the whole story arc around the attempted coup against the Kingpin, followed by his estranged wife's revenge, then by the outing of Murdock's secret identity (wow!) and the trial of the Costumed Superhero (not him) that follows a succession of whammies (for want of a better word) one after the other ...

More, please!