This post reflects my neglect and trying to keep up with my movie reviews. Truth be told, I don't really go to the movies that often. It's too expensive for me. But the following movies represent what I went to see in 2016:
1. Star Wars: The Force Awakens -
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| Peter Mayhew and Harrison Ford |
What can I say about one of the greatest movies ever released in the last ten years that hasn't already been said. Not much, that's what. It's already been said in countless reviews already been written a couple of weeks ago. I guess I could say what "Star Wars" means to me. In many ways, my late father would write a better review than me. "Star Wars" has always held me under a kind of sway, holding me mesmerized. But my dad was with me for every movie from the beginning, and his eyes were open.
I remember the first moment I saw every movie. When "
A New Hope" came out in May, 1977, I was seven years-old, and it seemed like every kids in my class had seen it. It came to the theater in our small town in Utah, and it left without me seeing it. Then, that autumn, it miraculously came back, and the lines were around the block. We arrived late and sat down in time to see the Rebels destroy the
Death Star. We sat through the next showing to catch what we missed. Over the next month, we saw it a total of seven times. The last two times, my dad fell asleep during the screenings. He liked it, but he was quick to point out the flaws. He hated "
The Return of the Jedi", and not just for the Ewoks. He felt that it was telling the same story as "A New Hope" all over again,
I waited in line until midnight to see "
The Phantom Menace", and I was starry-eyed about it. He thought that the Gungans looked fake and unrealistic. A month before he died, he saw "
Attack of the Clones" and had criticism for it as well. There has not been a "Star Wars" movie out that I have not thought about my dad, wondering what he would think about it.
For instance, I raved about "
The Force Awakens". But I can hear my dad. "Another Death Star? Except they call it Star Killer Base? They power it with the sun? How do they move it?" My dad is gone, except he is very much with me still. That small voice will not let me suspend disbelief.
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| Deadpool |
2. Deadpool - A lot of noise was made about
Ryan Reynolds' new superhero movie, sort of reprising the role he played in "
X-Men Origins: Wolverine". It's a superhero movie with a hard "R"! Thanks a lot, Fox! You made a superhero movie that all of my little kids wanted to see, but couldn't. And it was cool - a lot of superhero action with splatter gore and violence. The best part was that this movie does not take itself seriously and often mocks itself. That was refreshing, and Reynolds has the wit to pull this off. The negative part - the other characters were kind of sketchy and the plot was kind of weak. But who needs that when you got gore and boobs, right?
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| Mary Elizabeth Winstead & John Goodman |
3. 10 Cloverfield Lane - This was probably one of the best movies of the year.
J.J. Abrams took a script and had it adapted into part of his "
Cloverfield" universe. But that's not really the reason it is good. It tells the story of a girl (
Mary Elizabeth Winstead) who wakes up from a car accident as a prisoner in a nuclear bomb shelter, held by a crazy guy (
John Goodman) who tells her that there has been some kind of invasion on the surface, and she must stay in the shelter for her survival. The movie reduces the drama to the confines of the shelter and relies on acting, not special effects, to tell the story, and the acting is superb. We spend most of the movie wondering if Goodman's character is really insane. It has kind of a
Hitchcock feel. I loved it.
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| Ben Affleck, Gal Gadot, & Henry Cavill |
4. Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice - This movie was really disappointed to me. I loved
Chris Nolan's "
Dark Knight" series, as well as "
Man of Steel". I have loved
Zack Snyder's movies. However, this movie commits a faux pas that I hate in movies - they spend the whole movie, not exploring plot or characters, but setting up a franchise. "
Justice League" had better be damn good after having sat through this boring mess. Surprisingly,
Ben Affleck comes off really well as
Batman, and
Gal Gadot is fairly badass as
Wonder Woman. It's about time she made it to the big screen.
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| Team: Cap |
5. Captain America: Civil War - Definitely my favorite in the franchise, this movie pits the
Avengers against each other when
Captain America (
Chris Evans) tries to defend his old friend, the
Winter Soldier (
Sebastian Stan) resulting in a schism where the former friends actually go to blows. It's funny - most of my kids were on Team Iron Man, obviously because
Iron Man (
Robert Downey, Jr.) is so cool. But I, myself, was on Team Cap, because Iron Man was actually allowing U.N. control of the Avengers. The libertarian in me didn't like that. The action is cool, and some of the characters from other spin-offs - like
Ant Man (
Paul Rudd) and
Spidey (
Tom Holland) get in on the action. Plus, they introduce
Black Panther (
Chadwick Boseman), who was always one of my favorites. These are always fun to take my kids to.
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| Samuel L. Jackson & Peter Skarsgard |
6. Legend of Tarzan - Tarzan was an important part of my childhood growing up; I owned all of the books by
Edgar Rice Burroughs. But I was never completely satisfied with the movie versions. The '50s serials were cheesy. I liked "
Greystoke", but it was too serious, focusing more on the psychology of the
Lord of the Apes, rather than the adventure. Finally, a movie true to the spirit of the books - with
True Blood's
Alexander Skarsgard as
Lord Greystoke and
Margot Robbie as
Jane.
Christoph Waltz plays a smarmy villain, and
Samuel L. Jackson plays... well, Samuel L. Jackson. The movie is at once fantastical and believable. You will lose yourself in the jungle. They need a sequel.
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| Chris Pine, Sofia Boutella, & the late Anton Yelchin |
7. Star Trek Beyond - I enjoyed the third installment of the
Star Trek reboot more than I though I would. The preview made it look cheesy, but it turned out better than I expected. Granted, it did seem more like a TV episode than it did a movie, but it was still a fun ride. The crew of the Enterprise find themselves stranded on a planet isolated by a nebula, at the mercy of rogue space pirates, and the crew must rely on the cunning expertise of
Capt. James T. Kirk (
Chris Pine) in order to survive. It is a veritable roller coaster, and I hope they continue the franchise. I was saddened by the tragic death of
Anton Yelchin, who played
Lt. Chekov. I am not sure what they are going to do without him.
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| Eva Green |
8. Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children - This movie was based on a children's novel of the same time that many of my children had read, so the movie version of this was high anticipated by them. It tells the story of a boarding house for children with supernatural abilities, looked after my a mysterious lady named
Miss Peregrine (played by the delectable
Eva Green). For me, it was mainly another
Tim Burton, which means that it is full of fantastical weirdness and does not disappoint in this respect. However, if you are in the mood for a
Danny Elfman soundtrack, I guess he sat this one out. It does have the ubiquitous
Samuel L. Jackson in this one as well, playing the monstrous villain. A great movie for the kids.
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| Felicity Jones & the ensemble of "Rogue One" |
9. - Rogue One - Hands down, one of the best
Star Wars movies ever made, perhaps next to "
Empire Strikes Back". Dark, gritty and violent, this movie is something that every Star Wars fan hoped each movie might be, but was sorely disappointed. Ever confusing to non-fans, this movie is nestled between
Episodes III and
IV and is about the ill-fated mission to obtain the plans to the original Death Star, led by
Jyn Erso (
Felicity Jones). The movie is loaded with easter eggs that will please hardcore fans, and the battle, on land, in air, and in space, is perhaps the best ever orchestrated in a Star Wars movie. It did not disappoint. It seems
Disney is doing the franchise right.
So these were the movies I saw in 2016. I will do better in 2017.
