With the holidays literally right around the corner, I figure it’s time to start going over the best and the worst movies I’ve seen this year. It’s been a pretty bizarre year for movies. The summer season for movies was disappointing to say the least. You had a huge number of big-budgeted movies that failed to resonate with audiences. Obviously, I’m only going to discuss the movies that I’ve seen, so if there’s one that you guys have seen but I haven’t, sorry. I didn’t get to it. I will be including movies from December of 2015, because it’s the last month of the year, and I generally don’t count those movies for that year. So, if a movie was released in December of 2015, I will be including it on this year’s Best List. With that said, my first category will be for comic book movies. We’ve had a slew of comic book movies this years, some good, some not so great. I will be listing the runners up first before giving the award to the movie that earned it the most. Let the show begin:
Runner Up #1:
Batman V. Superman: Dawn of Justice
Now, this one might seem controversial because the theatrical release of the film was very problematic. I still found it good enough to give an 8 for it, though. The film features really strong performances across the board, especially Ben Affleck as Batman. While all the other actors did really good, it was Affleck’s performance that really sold the movie. It had a lot of fantastic visual effects and the action sequences were second to none. I understand that people really had an issue with Snyder’s approach to the film, but I found it to be very entertaining if not problematic, which is why it’s not getting the award. Too many loose ends that weren’t tied up properly, and certain characters’ motivations were not very clear. The extended version fixed a lot of these problems, but I’m focusing on the theatrical version here.
Runner Up #2:
Doctor Strange
Honestly, I was not expecting a lot out of this one. I was seriously expecting it to not be as good as it was. So, why did it work? There’s a lot in this movie that really worked. The visual effects were absolutely out of this world. There were certain city-bending sequences in the trailers that made it look like it ripped off Inception, but it took that concept to a whole different level. The action sequences were fun and engaging. The humor in the film is really funny. The performances are what really made the movie work. Tilda Swinton was phenomenal as The Ancient One. Chiwetel Ejiofore was awesome as Baron Mordo. Mads Mikkelson almost stole the show as the film’s villain, Kaecilius. The anchor here, though, is Benedict Cumberbatch as Steven Strange. Cumberbatch is to Steven Strange as Robert Downey, Jr. is to Tony Stark. It’s a perfect fit. I definitely recommend it.
Runner Up #3:
X-Men: Apocalypse
My initial viewing of this film didn’t blow me away, but subsequent viewings have made me appreciate it even more. Yeah, there’s a lot going on, but it’s a surprisingly well-paced and emotionally engaging film. Yeah, the villain could’ve been handled a bit better, but the guy who played Apocalypse was awesome. The performances are what really make this movie worth watching. Michael Fassbender’s performance as Magneto is Oscar-worthy in my opinion. The film doesn’t shy away from the violence either. It pushes the PG-13 rating pretty far. But overall, I really dug this entry into the X-Men franchise.
Runner Up #4:
Captain America: Civil War
This was one of my most anticipated films of the year. I was not expecting the Russo brothers to top their previous effort, The Winter Soldier. They haven’t yet, but they really came pretty damned close with Civil War. Instead of taking on a global-scale catastrophe, the film focuses more on the team’s relationship with each other in the aftermath of some of the events in the previous films. You have Tony Stark on one side saying that the Avengers need oversight, because of the collateral damage that they bring, and Captain America says that they need to go wherever they’re needed without restrictions. This leads an all-out confrontation that tears the team apart. We get new characters like Black Panther, who was brilliantly played by Chadwick Boseman and Tom Holland who plays Spider-Man. The actual fight is something to behold. It’s absolutely amazing. But it also doesn’t forget that it’s a comic-book movie, so there’s definitely laughs to be had.
Aaaaand the Best Comic Book Movie of the Year goes to…..(drum roll, please):
Deadpool
Who didn’t see this one coming? Really? Ryan Reynolds has been wanting to get this movie made for years. The “leaked” footage from a few years back basically sold Fox Studios on the film, and lo and behold, we have a Deadpool movie. This is by far one of the best comic-book movies ever made. Not only does it pay respect to the character, but it gets him right. Ryan Reynolds is PERFECT in the role of Wade Wilson. As is the character’s style, there’s a lot of juvenile humor, 4th wall breaks and bone breaking, brain-blasting action. It doesn’t hold back on the gore. What’s really surprising is that the love story between Wilson and his girl, Venessa, feels legit despite it being very raunchy. This is NOT a movie for kids, ladies and gentleman. Movie studios, THIS is how you do a comic-book movie. Not only did the film bring home nearly 800 million dollars during it’s theatrical run, it is also the highest-grossing R-rated film of all time. I didn’t review it, and I probably should, but you still need to see this one.
I will be back tomorrow night with another category, so stay tuned.