Monkey Man and Boy Kills World are both out in theaters! These are two crazy action male led action films that have not being so well at the box office! Even if you take into account how there’s very little movies nowadays that do well at the box office, these two flicks have been playing in mostly empty theaters. That is such a shame! Not only because these are two very well done action movies that perhaps have a hiccup or two in terms of storytelling but these are literally the kind of flicks that people claim they want in theaters.
And to go into exactly what I’m talking about, I’m going to give you all five reasons why I genuinely believe that Monkey Man and Boy Kills World deserves your time and money at your local movie theater!
1.) Stellar Debuts For Two First Time Directors
That’s right! Monkey Man and Boy Kills World made for the very first film from a directing standpoint from both Dev Patel (who is also the main lead of the picture) and Moritz Mohr. It’s always important for directors to make the best possible first impression to audiences and both are able to do that just splendidly with their directorial debuts.
When watching both films, you can definitely tell that have a unique version of what kind of action flick that they were wanting to make throughout the entire production. Patel was aiming for a bleak and dirty action flick with fight scenes that have personal stakes and wants the viewers to feel every punch the main protagonist takes. Mohr was aiming for a crazy and over-the-top action flick where each action sequence dare to top themselves in terms of pure spectacle and carnage. Both of these kind of action flicks have their place within the genre and both directors were able to make the best use of it.
That’s not to say either one of them is flawless. Patel could have afforded to move the camera back every now and then and Mohr could have added a bit more weight to each fight scene. However, these are definitely flaws that can easily be fix with future film installments from the creative mind of these two gentlemen. These two films only got me more curious to see what these two will do next for their upcoming projects in the directing chair.
2.) Dev Patel And Bill Skarsgård Are Action Stars In The Making
The most impressive aspects of both movies is how well both Patel and Skarsgård suit themselves as action stars and provide enough screen presence to carry each film. Sure, both actors might have been part of big franchises out there such as with Patel in The Last Airbender *shivers* and Skarsgård with It and John Wick but this is mostly the first time they had to take action roles in order to carry an entire film. Thankfully, both are able to live up to the challenge.
They not only look the part and are completely buyable in the action scenes but they have their own unique screen presence that makes their performances for their characters stand out. Patel has his own stoic stone-face charisma that is able to copy the right notes from the likes of Keanu Reeves and Jason Statham. Skarsgård is able to find the perfect dry sense of humor of having to provide his own A.I. voice spin, playing a character that is both mute and deaf at the same time.
Action flicks can’t work if your main action lead isn’t compelling, entertaining, or awesome to watch in action. Despite the minimal experience, Monkey Man And Boy Kills World are able to provide that greatly with the performances from Patel and Skarsgard.
3.) The Action and Set Pieces Are Spectacular
Of course, the most important part of action movies is the action. Thankfully, Monkey Man and Boy Kills World are able to deliver very well on that front, creating impressive and stylish action set pieces that’s able to stand perfectly on its own.
While admittedly suffering with a bit too much shaky can and the camera being too zoomed in during certain fights, the fight scenes in Monkey Man are really hardcore. It’s always interesting when you see the protagonist start off completely sloppy at the beginning during fight scenes only to get better and more badass the more the movie goes on. The standout sequences include every boxing match in the ringer, an impressive bathroom set piece, and the final showdown between Kid and his mother’s killer.
As for Boy Kills World, it’s able to lean hard on its blood and gore to make the action more delightfully gruesome. If you can imagine the best possible version of Deadpool meets Kill Bill, this is basically what you get. Plenty of slicing and dicing and hand-to-hand combat, Boy Kills World is able to deliver on the action front in ways that will only itself can. The standout sequences include the training montages, the news brawl, and the final showdown between Boy, his *SPOILERS* and the true antagonist of the picture.
Even in a genre full of variety, these two films are able to provide their own significant stamp on action films. Not only to create memorable fight scenes with stellar fight choreography but to also use its set pieces to tell its rather complex stories, with the action serving as an unique metaphor for the journey that are protagonists go through. Those are action films at their absolute finest!
4.) New Male Led Action Flicks
There has been two tiresome complaints when it comes to modern cinema by folks on social media in recent years. The first one of those is that there are too many female led movies going on right now and not enough male ones. Never mind the fact that we literally just came off a year with another John Wick and Mission Impossible, the later of which was a financial failure, that pushed the boundaries on what action films can do, studios have stopped caring about male demographics and are only interested in trying to get a female demographic to big action flicks for brownie points.
If that’s the case, then I would like to hear their excuse as to why those folks have likely not shown up for these two films yet. It’s got straight male leads front and center that kick plenty of ass while also having a sense of vulnerability throughout that makes each fight scene have their own genuine stakes to them. We see them work hard, train, and put themselves through hell to become the ultimate badass in the hopes they are rewarded for it by the very end. While I’m not sure that Kid and Boy (lol, I can’t believe those are their actual names) will be as iconic as the likes of Ethan Hunt and John Wick, they are very compelling action heroes to watch on screen.
In a year that has these two movies, Dune: Part Two with Timothe Chalamet’s Paul Atreides, The Fall Guy with Ryan Gosling’s Colt Seavers, and Deadpool & Wolverine with Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman, we have quite a bit of male lead action films to look forward to. For those that whine about there being so many “girl boss” movies nowadays, you all better be supporting these two movies and/or at least any of the other upcoming films I just mentioned or else you can not complain whatsoever.
5.) These Are New And Original Films
The other most tiresome complaint about modern cinema is that there is nothing original anymore. It’s all just reboots, remakes, legacyquels, and superhero flicks. Later, rinse, and repeat! Those who make that constant complaint always prove themselves to be massive hypocrites. First off, there are more original films being made in this day and age than there ever has been (Seriously, go look it up!). Secondly, whenever there is an original film that comes around such as Monkey Man and Boy Kills World, they don’t show their support it.
Rather than put the money in their mouths and support flicks that is not a reboot, remake, legacyquel, or a superhero flick, they would rather whine about Hollywood’s constant reliance on it, despite the fact that those are usually the kind of flicks that end up being among the most successful films of each individual year. Granted, that could just mean that the internet is not always an indicator on what the general public thinks of modern films nowadays. Even so, it would be for the better for those folks to support films like these two and spread the word of their good quality onto others both online and in-person.
If you really want to tell Hollywood that we want new and original flicks, then make your voice heard by showing your support at the box office in your local theater. There is no other better form of communication with Hollywood than box office numbers. That gives the exact indicator on what kind of films that people want and what kind of films they don’t want. At the moment, the low box office numbers is giving the indication that Monkey Man and Boy Kills World are not what audiences want for the future. If you want to prove otherwise, then go check out both films in cinema and tell your friends and family to do so as well.
It’s also important to enjoy original movies and/or IPs while you can because if they happen to get more installments, then it’s technically no longer original but another franchise for Hollywood to bank on. As the old saying goes, something can only be original one time.
In Conclusion
I can understand the circumstances of Monkey Man and Boy Kills World not performing very well in theaters at the moment. These are smaller, more experimental that had little to no marketing attached to it and not much word of mouth outside of critical acclaim from the film festivals they were a part of. Not to mention with how high prices are for seeing movies in theaters and buying concession is nowadays, general audiences are more likely to save their money on trips to cinema and only use on special occasions.
However, for those that don’t qualify as that kind of general audience and go to the theaters on a daily basis, I strongly recommend checking these two films out. Not only do they make for great action flicks, they make for great experiences that is worthy of the big screen. Whether your reason is for watching movies in cinema nowadays, you owe it to yourself to check out Monkey Man and Boy Kills World in theaters.
This was when SpongeBob SquarePants got truly as bad as folks claimed the show got after the first movie. While I still stand by my opinion that Seasons 4 and 5 weren’t the worst things in the world, these next three seasons I’m about to talk about is MORE than deserving a seat at the table. Okay, maybe that’s a little harsh. It’s not the worst thing ever but it’s undoubtedly SpongeBob’s roughest time throughout his history up to this point.
There are multiple different factors that played into the poor quality of these three seasons I’m about to talk about. Part of it is because most of the writers from the original three seasons were no longer present. Another part of it is because the writers of these three seasons likely tried to add their own style of humor and slapstick to the show that just fell flat. And of course, there’s that part that might be how the show has gone on for way too long and basically ran out of ideas. However, I do think the one main factor in all of this has to do with Nickelodeon and them relying SpongeBob SquarePants WAY too much to keep their network afloat!
Nickelodeon has been a controversial network for quite some time, ESPECIALLY in recent events (Dan Schneider is going straight to hell!). A big part of that has to do with their habit of expecting a new show to be a big grand hit RIGHT out of the gate and never looking back. When a new show doesn’t meet anything near those criteria, they tend to disregard it quite quickly.
So much so that they won’t even have the decency to air the rest of the episodes of a season but just dump it on their “back-up” network and letting that show go out with an absolute whimper. Or in the case of The Legend of Korra, they’ll just stop airing new episodes halfway through a season on TV and dump the rest of the show on their website. Yes, that really happened!
However, when a show does in fact become as big of a hit as they want, they go too far in the other direction and milk it until that cow is dry. And even then, they’ll just find another cow to milk.
There has been two shows throughout their history that has been the direct result of that: The Fairly Oddparents and SpongeBob SquarePants. With Nickelodeon constantly cranking out new episodes and content for these long lasting franchises like crazy, it played a significant role in their inevitable decline in quality.
It was by the points of Seasons 6, 7, and 8 that Nick was relying HEAVILY on the SpongeBob brand to keep the network at a steady heart rate. They would constantly demand for new episodes to be made as fast as humanly possible. Don’t worry about the overall quality. All that matters is that they get a ton of episodes released so they can be covered for the next two to three years before having to worry about anything beyond that timeline.
When watching Seasons 6 through 8, you can definitely tell that Nick was rushing production for new episodes of SpongeBob that the writers never had time to sit down and figure out what the hell they were even doing. It was that bad!
The end results of that leads to an era of very ill-fated and mean spirited episodes that goes against everything that the show has been up to this point. You have characters acting constantly out of characters, the same repetitive “torture porn” jokes, inconsistent animation with unintentional creepy imagery, messed up morals that aren’t well thought out in the slightest, and episodes that lack any sort of substance whatsoever. If there was ever a time where the post-movie haters got to gloat how right they were with SpongeBob losing his way after the first three seasons, this was it.
Let’s dive a little deeper as to why this era of SpongeBob SquarePants has been the show’s most infamous.
Seasons 6 & 7
You might be wondering why I’m going to be talking about Seasons 6 and 7 at the same time? Well, that’s because they both have the exact same kind of problems that I just mentioned. So much so that it’s pretty hard to tell which season that each episode belongs to. Not only because Nickelodeon aired episodes in between both seasons before either one was officially complete (This would not be the only time they would do that in this show before and after!) but because the majority of the episodes gave that exact sense of ill-conceived, poorly thought out gags and storytelling.
First off, you have the infamous episodes that lacked any sort of substance. These were mainly ones that take the most paper-thin premise imaginable and filled 90% of the runtime with filler. You have Penny Foolish which is about Mr. Krabs trying so hard to get just a little penny from SpongeBob. You have The Card which is about SpongeBob trying to protect a special Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy card from Patrick. You have A Day Without Tears which SpongeBob makes a bet with Squidward that can he go a whole day without crying. There’s also Gone, which is about everyone but SpongeBob disappearing from Bikini Bottom, only to find out they left because it was National No SpongeBob Day! They are about as dull, one-note, and shallow as the premise of each episode makes it out to be.
You have the infamous episodes that show of the lackluster animation and gross out images. There’s The Splinter that shows the most disgusting looking splinter that you will likely ever see on your life. There’s House Fancy that shows Squidward’s entire toenail coming off in rather painful fashion. There’s Keep Bikini Bottom Beautiful where we see Squidward eating, bathing, and sleeping in complete garbage. While the earlier SpongeBob seasons weren’t necessarily a stranger to gross out humor, these seasons take it way too far to the point where these episodes might make you legit nauseous.
You have the infamous episodes that completely butchers the characters beyond repair. You have Boating Buddies, Choir Boys, and Squid’s Visit which makes SpongeBob come across as a complete stalker with the way he refuses to let Squidward have his space and knows his home and lifestyle near perfectly. You have A Pal for Gary that makes SpongeBob look like an arrogant and illogical jerk to Gary, who is literally getting TORMENTED by the other pet in this house. You have Yours Mine and Mine and Stuck in the Wringer which takes Patrick’s stupidity to ridiculous level and making him look like a selfish a-hole. There’s even One Course Meal, which makes Mr. Krabs look like the most soulless crab in the ocean by trying to drive Plankton into committing suicide (an episode which even Clancy Brown admitted he was very uncomfortable doing voice work for). These episodes were so bad that I wouldn’t blame anyone if it made fans not look at certain characters the same way again.
You also have the infamous special episodes, especially one in particular, that were so overhyped and underwhelming that it made people lose interest in the show completely. While SpongeBob vs The Big One was pretty good, just about every other one in Seasons 6 and 7 were about as lackluster as the majority of special SpongeBob episodes. The Clash of Triton was mediocre at best that made you want to sympathize with King Neptune’s whiny and annoying son but failed spectacularly. SpongeBob’s Last Stand was a bold attempt on making commentary on environmental awareness that mostly fell flat and was ultimately forgettable. And do I even need to mention the dull, obnoxious, poorly directed, visually ugly, non-existential story driven, and disappointing as hell special that was Truth or Square. The 10th anniversary special that was nothing but false advertising and empty promises, the worst possible celebration for ten years of SpongeBob SquarePants that you could imagine. That one special alone was so bad that it made plenty of folks drop the show completely, such as yours truly.
That’s not to say there were ZERO good episodes of any kind to be found in Seasons 6 and 7 such as Sand Castles in the Sand and The Bad Guy Club for Villains. It’s just that you would have to dig HARD to find those hidden gems buried within such garbage. Anything else you would find is nothing but trashy, greasy nonsense. A sign that Nickelodeon no longer valued the quality of SpongeBob SquarePants but more saw it for it’s name and brand alone. There’s plenty of fingers to be pointed around here but this was the show at it’s absolute lowest point.
However, why didn’t I lump Season 8 into this as well?! Well, it’s complicated!
Season 8
To be clear, Season 8 was also not a good overall season whatsoever. There were plenty of episodes of the dire examples that I just mentioned to be found here. You have Face Freeze! which showed off the creepiest and most horrifying face expressions that has ever been seen on this show. You have Pet Sitter Pat which made Patrick more unlikable and insufferable than he always has been, allowing poor Gary to be beaten up the whole way through. And it’s better not mentioning Demolition Doofus, the episode where Mrs. Puffs is trying to get SpongeBob literally MURDERED! This was a bad season by all accounts, but it did have it’s moments!
As much as there were plenty of bad things about Season 8, it also had a handful of good things about it. The good things that not only help make it more salvageable compared to Seasons 6 and 7 but also it helped plant the seeds for the inevitable resurrection seasons for the coming years. These were good episodes that helped made Season 8 not just the best out of a bad bunch but also the best possible conclusion to the worst era of SpongeBob’s history.
A handful of fan favorite episodes this season include the likes of Frozen Face Off, Planet of the Jellyfish, Super Villain Aquatic Villain Team Up Is Go!, Chum Fricassee, the Vacation episodes, and The Krabby Patty That Ate Bikini Bottom. However, there were two special episodes that I believed helped evaluate this seasons quite a bit. Those two special episodes were It’s A SpongeBob Christmas! and the Season 8 finale, Hello Bikini Bottom!
While the Vacation episodes with the main characters going on vacations were light and enjoyable enough on their own merits (even if most of them probably could have just been shorts instead of 11 to 22-minute long episodes), these two special episodes were able to capture a certain spark that the majority of this era couldn’t come close to achieving. It showed that not only is it possible for there to be new SpongeBob episodes that were good but that this show did in fact have some creative energy left within itself.
It’s A SpongeBob Christmas! was the first major SpongeBob episode to be strictly in stop motion animation. It also officially premiered on CBS during November 2012 before airing on Nickelodeon a month later. And believe it or not, it was very, very good. It managed to be funny, charming, moving, and just put you right into the Christmas spirit! For as good as the original Christmas Who? special was, It’s A SpongeBob Christmas managed to be just as good if not better than that already classic Christmas animated tale.
I would also go into deep details into how important Hello, Bikini Bottom! was to this season and the whole show in general but I actually have a special piece of that coming next month. And yes, that will be the monthly piece for this yearly SpongeBob retrospective! There’s just so much to talk about that episode and the multiple meanings that it has. Needless to say, it’s a very special episode and one that I feel should be even more appreciated than it already is.
Overall, I guess you can look at Season 8 compared to Seasons 6 and 7 the same way that folks look at Revenge of the Sith compared to the rest of the Star Wars prequel trilogy. It may not be particularly good but it’s definitely the least bad of the three with some redeemable values to it. However, the redeemable values are definitely worth bringing up as it would eventually build up towards another golden era of the yellow sponge quite later on in the future. This is something that I will be tackling in my next piece of the yearly SpongeBob marathon with talking about why Hello, Bikini Bottom! might be the most important episode of SpongeBob SquarePants.
In Conclusion
I’m not sure what more I can say that hasn’t been said about everyone else on the planet to how bad this era of SpongeBob SquarePants truly was. It’s the era which saw SpongeBob at his absolute lowest point. Due to Nickelodeon’s constant micro management and time constraints along with writers that might have been over their heads, Seasons 6-8, even with the last season’s good elements to it, is what sank SpongeBob’s reputation so hard. It was so bad that it killed any good will that most folks had left in this series. It did so much damage to SpongeBob that it made folks not want to acknowledge the legit good episodes that are a part of it because of how bad the majority of the episodes were. Whenever I feel the urge to claim that post-movie SpongeBob was no where near as bad as many have led you to believe, it’s these three seasons that respond back with an enthusiastic, “Yes, it is!”. And it’s then I would lose this fight completely.
I feel sad that the episode I will be talking about next month had to be a part of this era. In some ways, it basically had to die for this era’s sins to push towards the brighter next era that would come along. And it’s that episode of Hello, Bikini Bottom! that I will be covering in May!
Next Month: Why Hello, Bikini Bottom Is The Most Important Episode of SpongeBob SquarePants
Last year, Melissa Barrera was betrayed. Following the success of her standout performances in Scream (2022) and VI, the producers of those films decided to cut ties with her for having the audacity to voice her support for a dying Palestine. They can claim that it technically wasn’t “firing” because her contract was set to expire all they want but that was a cowardly move made by the studios. Even so, Melissa Barrera did remain working with Radio Silence, the company behind those last two Scream movies along with the excellent Ready or Not. Here she plays a character that by in large resembles the situation that Barrera has found herself dealing with in real life. She committed certain screw ups that got where she is now and is fighting for her life to get back to making things right. While that is mostly largely coincidental, Abigail could not have been a better follow up for Mrs. Barrera and Radio Silence if they tried.
It’s able to get an insanely talented cast and crew and put them front and center to make one of the best vampire movies in recent memory. It’s full of wit, charm, blood bath kills, and is completely bonkers from beginning to end. It made take a while for all the pieces to be put into place and those that watched the trailers might see some of the big reveals coming from a mile away but nevertheless, Abigail is proof that Radio Silence is the next consistent horror movie studio to watch out for and this film will definitely be up there as one of the best horror movies that 2024 will have to offer.
Premise: A group of would-be criminals (Melissa Barrera, Dan Stevens, Kathryn Newton, Will Catlett, Kevin Durand, and Angus Cloud) kidnaps the 12-year-old daughter (Alisha Weir) of a powerful underworld figure (???). Holding her for ransom in an isolated mansion, their plan starts to unravel when they discover their young captive is actually a bloodthirsty vampire.
(I don’t want to reveal too much more considering the trailers had already given away a good chunk of the plot. Once again, if you haven’t seen the trailers yet and are looking forward to the movie, I would recommend to NOT watch them before seeing the movie.)
It may seem tiring to call films “self aware” nowadays, especially since that seems to be the norm for a film trying to be as “critic proof” as possible and would allow for it’s own “get out of jail” free card. However, Abigail remains the best kind of self aware. Not just because it wants to subvert the vampire genre that it’s a part of but it wants to embrace it with opening arms. It’s not so much interest in reinventing the wheels but more of putting both hands firmly on the wheel and taking viewers into directions that they may or may not expect. The main reason Abigail is able to get away with being self aware because it fully embraces the wit, camp, and gore that you come to expect from a vampire movie and a Radio Silence movie up to this point.
It does take a little while to get going however. Because it has quite an ensembled cast, it takes it’s time to get them all characterized with clear cut motivations and backstories as to who each individual is and why they got themselves into the matter that they are in. And of course, they have to establish who exactly Abagail is, even if most of the marketing as already done so, before the ball gets rolling. These sequences are made for the absolute better not just because it makes all the pay offs worth it but also for just how insanely likable the cast is.
Melissa Barrera is even better here than she is in the last two Scream movies combined, practically evaluating her status as a true iconic final girl and one that can carry any horror movie that she is a part off. Dan Stevens steals every scene he is in even harder than he did in Godzilla X Kong, somehow able to make his character likable and hilarious despite basically playing an absolute a-hole. Kathryn Newton is just as good here as she was in Freaky and Lisa Frankenstein, Angus Cloud (May he RIP!) and Kevin Durand gets some of the best laughs in the movie, and while not quite in the movie as much as I would like, Giancarlo Esposito is always a delight to see on screen.
Despite how strong the other cast members are, the real star of this show is no other than Abigail herself in young Alisha Weir. She slays every scene that she’s in and makes for the perfect centerpiece for this movie. She’s able to be fun, sympathetic, and terrifying all at the same time, making her presence feel noticed throughout the entire runtime of the film. Whether it’s for strictly horror or other movies, this young girl should have a bright future ahead of her.
As you would expect for a horror slasher and a straight up vampire flick, it more than delivers on all the kills here. Once things are set in place, Abagail becomes an absolute blood bath in the best and most gruesome ways possible. There’s plenty of thrilling and convincing kills that will give horror fans their craving, it’s able to play in it’s own B movie camp to near perfection, and the demented death scenes feel as satisfying as it does gruesome. Even if the film does commit to it’s campy and comedic undertone, it also commits greatly to it’s kills and thrills as well.
If there is any glaring weakness outside of the bit overlong set-up and the trailers spoiling the big reveals, it’s that perhaps it goes too far by the end with it’s over-the-top ness. It wouldn’t be quite as noticeable as the rest of the movie if it wasn’t for the fact that it tries to throw one or two more twists and emotional beats towards the end. It’s hard to explain without spoilers but the final deathmatch comes across as being stretched just in the hopes of not feeling too short or anti climatic with it’s last minute reveals.
Even so, in a year that has been quite underwhelming for cinema thus far, Abigail does feel like a refreshing change of pace for not just the horror genre but films in general. It’s able to meet the expectations it sets out too because it know every single trope of it’s genre it wants to commit to and manages to execute them all in the best way possible. It may not be revolutionary but it does everything it possibly can to make for a satisfying experience. The cast is great, the kills are brutal, the scares all work, and even if you are able to see the reveals coming from a mile away, you’ll be fascinated to see how well they are all done.
I can only hope this movie does well enough that it not only allows Radio Silence to keep making these kind of movies but it also puts Melissa Barrera on the map as a gal to watch out for in movies. Don’t let the Scream producers win here folks! Go support Abagail for not just a very fun time but also for our girl Melissa!
#JusticeForMelissaBarrera
And once again, Rest in Peace to the great Angus Cloud!
And here’s the ranking that is likely going to get me attack/cancelled from hardcore stans of this director!
Zack Snyder might be the most controversial big name director working today. While he is certainly a man with a vision and always has big ambition with everything that he makes, he has been inconsistent to translate that perfect vision he always has in his head properly in front of the camera. The action and visuals is always guarantee to talk the talk but the story and character development can never always walk the walk. Because of that, his films always tend to be divisive and even sometimes outright panned.
However, Snyder is no doubt an interesting filmmaker to talk about and do a ranking on. Despite everything I’m about to say with all 11 of his films, I can’t say the man has ever made a film that had me shrugging my shoulders. That certainly has to amount to something, especially in this day and age. I don’t know if I can call myself a fan of Zack Snyder as a whole but there definitely are films of his that I admire and appreciate. Just a shame that is an opinion that is hard to talk about on the internet without being dogpiled along with the so-called cult of Zack Snyder who view him a cinema Jesus!
Nevertheless, Rebel Moon Part Two: The Scargiver has just arrived on Netflix (or at least some version of it that may or may not be Zack Snyder’s true film) and it’s time for my long awaited ranking of all 11 films in this man’s directorial filmography!
And fyi, I am NOT including the director’s cut of Justice League (A.K.A. JOSStice League)! I don’t care if he’s still the credited director for that crap, we all know for a fact that was NOT his movie whatsoever! Which is why only his four-hour long cut will be included on this list!
11.) Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice
I’m still in awe how you take a crossover like Batman and Superman and make it so dull and joyless. Dawn of Justice is a film that wants to comes across as the most grand and ambitious movie every made, but when you look deep into it, this movie actually doesn’t have much to say on anything it’s talking about. Other than trying to cram two to three movies worth of material into one film, there’s nothing really risky or daring here and it’s so-called themes have been done much better in plenty of other superhero films. The plot is a convoluted mess no matter which version you watch and the conflict between Batman and Superman is so incredibly ridiculous that it could have been avoided if they would just simply talk to each other.
Ben Affleck is fine as Batman and there’s a few standout moments here (The warehouse fight scene and Wonder Woman’s first appearance are all-timers) but that’s nowhere near enough to save this turd of a film. Even the ultimate edition which many claim “saves” the movie really just has more of the same things that were wrong in the first place, aside from being pacing. If there is a clear difference between ambition and aimlessness, then Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice certainly strikes the finest line yet between those two definitions with results that fit more of the latter than the former.
This is a movie so bad that it not only arguably killed the DC Extended Universe before it even got a chance to get going but also caused big damage to Zack Snyder’s reputation as a filmmaker! I know tomatoes are going to be thrown at me for putting this at the very bottom but I’m sorry! Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (Both the theatrical and ulimate edition!) is an epic failure on every level!
10.) Rebel Moon Part Two: The Scargiver
Part Two of Zack Snyder and Netflix’s answer to Star Wars and Seven Samurai could not have been more anti-climatic if it tried. While Part One was far from perfect, it did at least set some solid groundwork for Part Two to continue in good graces. Unfortunately, Rebel Moon Part Two: The Scargiver fails to capitalize on that promise in just about every way.
The visuals are still nice and Sofia Boutella still makes for a compelling action lead but nearly every flaw from Part One is carried over and made even worse. You have a universe that still feels undeveloped, characters that still feel one-note, exposition dumps that are still tedious, slow-mo that is still nauseating, and inspirations that still feel way too on the nose. Not even the action and set pieces work this time! Despite Zack Snyder clearly wanting to make an original franchise of his own, he still has clearly not been able to find a voice that matches his own and those he is inspired by.
Speaking as someone who went easy on Part One, Rebel Moon Part Two: The Scargiver crushes any hope for this IP to ever take flight. It pains me to say that because there is always room for more sci-fi that’s not just Star Wars and Star Trek and we should applaud for more creative voices. However, Part Two is a reminder that sometimes filmmakers need restraint and need to be surrounding by more than just “Yes” men! Refuse to do that and you get the Rebel Moon series as a result!
9.) Sucker Punch
Sucker Punch is the most bizarre and ill-conceived movie that Zack Snyder has ever made. On the surface (and considering it’s time), it just seems like Snyder just wants an excuse to hang out with some talented women that he has worked with it and make a movie where they all kick ass together. When looking deep beyond the surface, it also wants to be a commentary on Hollywood treating women like sex objects and violence against female companions is wrong. It’s the perfect example of a film trying to have it’s cake and eat it too but not at the end results it actually wants.
The action is dynamic, the cinematography is well done, and the main female cast all do fine work and bounce off each other very well. Unfortunately, it’s letdown by a script that couldn’t give two craps about the paper-thin plot, underdeveloped characters, and constantly contradicting it’s themes and messages. On one end, the film can be seen as a mildly entertaining action flick. On the other end, the film falls into the same trappings it’s aiming to avoid because it clearly wants to be more than that.
Sucker Punch is a film that can be enjoyable but not for the reasons that Zack Snyder has intended. It’s basically the exact kind of movie that it’s claiming to be critiquing. Yes, women deserve to be more than eye candy and male gaze but that’s literally all they are in this movie. The fact that Zack didn’t realize that before cameras even rolled here basically made Sucker Punch doomed from the start.
8.) Rebel Moon Part One: A Child of Fire
Rebel Moon was a film that started off as a Star Wars pitch to Lucasfilm shortly after Disney bought them in 2012. It was a pitched as an R-rated Star Wars film made strictly for adults and would take itself more “seriously” than any other Star Wars film. What should be a shocker to absolutely NO ONE but Snyder himself, that pitch got denied and many years later, has now been made into it’s own “original” film.
There is plenty of interesting concepts and exciting moments throughout Rebel Moon. The visuals are as good as they can be for a Snyder film, the worldbuilding while familiar is intriguing, the action is pretty damn solid throughout, and Sofia Boutella is awesome as Kora, the most compelling character in the whole film. It’s just a shame that it can’t escape the trappings of most theater cuts from Zack Snyder where a good chunk of it is left on the cutting room floor. Because of that, you got side characters that are painfully undeveloped, an internal conflict that’s not as clear or fleshed out as it should be, and references to other sci-fi pictures such as Star Wars, Dune, and Battlefield Earth that is as obvious as clear daylight.
Even so, I still couldn’t help but be intrigued by Rebel Moon- Part One: A Child of Fire despite it’s major flaws. It lives rent free in it’s own sandbox and throws so many different ideas on the screen that it’s near impossible to be bored by it. That being said, Snyder seriously needs to learn how to make proper cuts of his movie that are able to work for mainstream audiences and not just for himself and his hardcore fanbase. Even though Part Two was unable to deliver on this films promises, it was at least fascinating to see what it was leading to beforehand!
7.) Army of the Dead
Snyder’s first Netflix exclusive is an aggressive mixed bag. On paper, this seems like the film that Zack Snyder has always been destined to make and act as the perfect successor to his film debut of Dawn of the Dead. A zombie heist movie with with a hard-R rating sounds like it would fit right in the man’s alley. While there are certainly elements here that do work, Army of the Dead never quite reaches it’s full potential.
The cast, action, and practical effects (especially for the zombies) are all there and do lift the film quite a bit. However, it’s bogged down by poor dialogue, characters that constantly make dumb decisions, and not going all the way with it’s bizarre premise. And don’t get me started with the bloated 150 minute long runtime and the ending which has the film completely trip and fall over the finish line.
The elements are there for Army of the Dead to be an instance Zack Snyder classic and a great zombie flick all around but it never quite comes together. If Rebel Moon is proof that Snyder desperately needs someone to handle the scripts for his movies, then Army of the Dead is proof that he desperately needs someone to handle the editing for this movies as well.
6.) Man of Steel
The DC Extended Universe kicked off in 2013 with one of the most polarizing superhero movies of all time in Man of Steel. Looking back on it nearly a full decade later, I can’t help but have INCREDIBLY mixed emotions when it comes to this film. In terms of casting, tone, action scale, scope, and score, this is everything that a modern Superman movie should consist off, with nearly single technical and sound aspect works absolute wonders. However, when it comes to the overall story, script, and structure, that is where the confliction comes in.
Most of the characters come off as plot devices and motivation for Superman than actual characters, the dialogue strikes a fine line between being poetic/inspiring and just plain pretentious, and it’s overall themes feel not so much explored but just told directly to the audiences. Even so, the action is dynamic, the cast do great with what they have to work with, and the scope and Han Zimmer’s soundtrack are off the charts that it’s almost good enough to convince you that you are watching a much better film than you actually are! The elements that work are absolutely great while the elements that don’t work really bring down the whole picture.
When looking at it’s own thing and the seeds it plants for the future, Man of Steel could have been considered a solid re-introduction to the character of Superman and one that could successfully redefined Superman to a new generation. However, due to it’s shortcomings and the movies which came after tripling down on the things that don’t work rather than what does, you can’t help but see wasted potential. As it’s own thing, Man of Steel is functional on a surface level but not on a depth level. Henry Cavill deserved a much better standalone film than this!
5.) Watchmen
Snyder’s first official DC film is able to perfectly capture the style and feel of what the source material of Watchmen has always been known for. The looks, aesthetics, and effects are all completely on point and help make the film’s fascinating world come to life near perfectly in front of the camera. If only the pacing and structure was able to match the quality of it’s outstanding visuals.
Aside from the pretty colors, Watchmen has also many other great things going for it such as the talented cast, brutal action, inspired song choices, and even having one of the most underrated villains in any superhero movie with Matthew Goode’s Ozymandias. That being said, the pacing is constantly grinding to a screeching halt just for the sake of Snyder showing off his wide angle shots and constant slow-motion sequences. Also, this film easily has one of the most laughable sex scenes of all time! Just saying!
Still, there is a lot to like about Watchmen than there is to dislike. Had it benefited from a tighter runtime and cut down on the needless slow scenes, this might have been Zack Snyder’s own masterpiece. Thankfully, the HBO Max series is able to expand upon the quality of Watchmen even further and make that a worthy adaption alongside this film.
4.) Dawn of the Dead
Snyder’s official directorial debut happens to be no other than a remake of 1978’s Dawn of the Dead with James Gunn as the main writer. With all the discourse surrounding Zack’s reputation as a filmmaker, you would think this would be the most divisive film in this man’s career. However, that is not the case whatsoever. It’s basically just a very faithful and well done remake and that’s about it.
It’s got a very likable cast, the action is non-stop, the humor is quick and witty, and it manages to be consistent with it’s tone the whole way through. The Zombie Celebrity is still to this day the main highlight of the movie and the opening credits themselves is an all-timer! I don’t know if it has to do with James Gunn’s involvement as a writer but Zack Snyder is able to get the right script that perfectly matches his skills and capabilities as a director with Dawn of the Dead.
Even if a lot that has come after have been polarizing at best, at least Zack Snyder was able to start his career with a solid hit with this surprisingly solid remake in Dawn of the Dead. If you want a zombie movie from Zack Snyder that is done right, look no further than with this movie.
3.) Zack Snyder’s Justice League
Because we live in some dark and twisted form of an alternate universe, Zack Snyder’s Justice League is a real thing now. Truth be told, even if you remove yourself from the toxicity that is the Zack Snyder fanbase (I won’t blame you if you can’t!), it’s actually pretty good with a lot more to like than there is to hate. This is probably the one movie in the DC Extended Universe with Zack Snyder that doesn’t feel overly pretentious but more of just the man wanting to make the most epic Justice League movie he can possibly make. For the most part, he succeeds even if some of the faults from his other films are carried over here.
The first half is way too stretched out for it’s own good, feeling like Snyder is trying to get every single little frame of work that he desires in there regardless if it actually serves a purpose. There’s also the final fifteen minutes that feels more like a collection of post credit scenes rather than an actual epilogue. But everything in between that is pretty solid. There’s good action set pieces, a nice, riveting score, memorable gorgeous visuals, and some good character interactions between all of the Justice League members, with Wonder Woman and Cyborg being the main standouts. And this also feels like the first time in Snyder’s films that the superheroes on screen actually act and feel like superheroes instead of just being all sad and mopey all the time. What a time to be alive!
While there’s still faults from the theatrical cut that are carried over here (*cough* Steppenwolf and Flash *cough*), this is certainly an improvement over the theatrical cut and should most certainly be considered the actual definite version of Justice League. I might not call myself a fan of Snyder’s input on the DC Extended Universe but I’m at least glad he got the chance to finish what he started after having to originally step down due to the tragic death of his daughter. Warts and all, this is easily the best DC superhero film that Zack Snyder has ever made!
2.) 300
Considered Snyder’s best by many, 300 feels right at home with what the man has to offer. It’s able to put the action, visuals, and cinematography front and center while leaving the story and characters arcs to the wayside. In most films, that would be a set up for failure but thankfully, Snyder is able to make the very best of it by not going too far on either end of those spectrums.
The action sequences are absolutely great, the cinematography is a treat for the eyes, the performances all work here, there’s a handful of standout lines that are memorable, and this might just have the most impressive visuals in this man’s filmography. Even, the required slow-motion bits actually work here! Sure, as I mention before, the story telling and character development are nothing to write home about and the historical inaccuracies will certainly be infuriating to some but for those looking for a rock solid action flick will likely be more than satisfied with 300.
For years, I’ve argued that 300 is the kind of film that Zack Snyder should always inspire to make. A film that’s able to build greatly on his strengths as a filmmaker and not doubled down on all his weaknesses. If you are able to deliver solid action and visuals with a brain in its head that isn’t bogged down by tiresome exposition and mind numbing flashback scenes, then just stick to that and you will be seen as a reliable filmmaker that knows what they are doing. However, there is at least one more film that I would argue does in fact show that Snyder can be great with telling stories with his visual flare to back up perfectly.
1.) Legend of the Guardians: The Owl of Ga’Hoole
That’s right! My favorite Zack Snyder film is the animated one about owls! Go, figure! In all seriousness, Legend of the Guardians: The Owl of Ga’Hoole is one of the most criminally underrated animated films in recent memory! It’s able to match that sense of awe and wonder in scale that Snyder always aims for in this film while also able to tell a shockingly heartful and cohesive story with these birds despite taking inspiration by multiple different books. Not to mention, even nearly 15 years later, the animation holds up WONDEFULLY!
As much as I can give praise to the animation, visuals, action, and voice work, I think the thing for me that stands out the most about Legend of the Guardians is it’s able to capture that right amount of earnest feels that most of Snyder’s films lack. It doesn’t feel it’s trying to hard to break new ground nor talking down on it’s audience that dare question it’s director, it’s just trying to be an engaging tale about the endangers of owls and the importance of having your friends and family alongside each other. All the pros of most Zack Snyder films are still here but very rarely are his cons present.
Legend of the Guardians: The Owl of Ga’Hoole is to date my favorite Zack Snyder film because it’s one that I can 100% get behind EVERYTHING that the man is trying to do here that I don’t need an extended cut or DLC in order to do so. That’s not to say this film is totally flawless (certain characters get painfully sidelined) but it has that perfect heart and wit to do it that it’s able to fully meet it’s grand ambition. Legend of the Guardians is not just Snyder as his best but also animation as it’s very best! Check this one out if you haven’t already!
This month saw the release of the new Amazon hit series of the live action adaptation of the popular video game franchise known as Fallout. In about a week or two since it has come out on Prime, it has been quite a success for critics and fans alike! So much so that Amazon has already greenlighted a second season just one week after all eight episodes of the first season released! There might have been some trivial debate about releasing all the episodes at once or whether or not it retcon a certain Fallout game from existence but for the most part, the series has basically pleased the majority of viewers who have given it a watch thus far. And as you would expect whenever a new video game adaption turns out to be surprisingly good, you still get the typical question about whether or not this was the one that broke the so-called “video game adaptation curse”, despite them asking the exact same question about the previous video game adaptation that the media praised.
Never mind the fact that there has been numerous adaptions for video games in the form of movies and tv series that have been good to great for at least the past five years! Never mind the fact that there was a big popular and well received video game movie or show that got a rave response from everybody a year prior! Apparently, those never happened and Fallout is the one that broke the curse by being the first ever video game adaptation to not suck! I don’t buy that for a second and I don’t think even the people that have made this claim do.
The main reason I say this has to do with the success and praise that last year’s video game adaptation in Max’s The Last of Us received. And just like with Fallout, that was a video game series that led many people to say that was the first legit great video game adaptation to ever exist and the one that broke the video game adaptation curse.
Did we just forget about that all of a sudden? Did we forget that everyone and their mother put that series on a pedestal when it came out as that being the first adaptation to get it right? Or are we just going to ignore all of that entirely that just for the sake of propping up Fallout? I’m not gonna say I know the answers to these questions but I do remember everything that folks have been saying about Fallout was also said about The Last of Us. And the reason I know that was because well…..I wrote a piece about that as well.
As I discussed on that piece last year, I would strongly argue that video game adaptations have taken a HUGE step up in quality as least since 2019 with the releases of Detective Pikachu and The Angry Birds Movie 2. And there’s even an argument to be made that the year prior wasn’t so bad with the releases of Tomb Raider (2018) and Rampage. As a matter of fact, the last true bad year for video game adaptations was in 2016 and 2017 with the releases of Warcraft, Assassin’s Creed, and Resident Evil: The Final Chapter. That is a good seven to eight years ago since video game adaptations truly sucked! Since the 2020s rolled around, there have been more winners than losers!
In terms of movies, we’ve had The Super Mario Bros Movie, that grossed over a billion dollars worldwide last year, the two Sonic the Hedgehog flicks, with the third coming out this December to massive mainstream hype, the Five Nights at Freddy Movie which despite it’s poor critical reviews, was a solid hit for hardcore FNAF fans, the Gran Turismo motion picture that was a surprising crowd pleaser, and Werewolves Within which most didn’t even recognize it was an adaption because of how good it was at it’s own thing!
In terms of tv shows/streaming services, we got some pure quality and well made adaptation in terms of live-action and animation such as the masterful Arcane, the anime hit Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, the perfectly live-action adaptation in The Last of Us, the unexpectedly fun and amusing Twisted Metal, and now we have the latest banger in Fallout.
And that’s not even going into the other upcoming adaptions in the works that have potential to be just as good as the examples mention such as the new Minecraft movie and the new animated Tomb Raider series from Netflix. Have there been stinkers and more to come? Absolutely! But literally, no genre of any kind is perfect and will always have a dud every now and then. However, it’s incredibly safe to say that video game adaptations have gotten much better since the 2020s rolled around and have shown fans of multiple video games franchises that these can in fact work in terms of movie and television form that works greatly as it’s own thing.
Which yet again makes me wonder why we keep having this same argument over and over again. Why is it that we are still shocked whenever a video game adaptation is good despite the many other proven examples that I just mentioned? More importantly, why is it that we keep devaluing them just to praise the newest one that comes out when it’s any good? The only answer I can come up is that perhaps people are just afraid to call a video game adaptation good because of all the missteps of this subgenre in the past.
Much like how there are certain folks afraid to admit they like a new Disney movie or superhero flick or whatever motion picture made from a so-called “assembly line”, maybe folks don’t want to admit that video game adaptations are good now. They don’t want to accept that this is a medium that can in fact be successful when giving the proper care and treatment. It’s no longer the kind of movies and shows that can be a whipping boy to everything wrong in modern entertainment. Because now, video game adaptations have proven that they can be just as successful as a movie or show as they are with a game. Video game adaptations can evolve and develop into something greater that does its source material justice to not just fans of the franchise but also to newcomers as well. Because of all the examples I have given and more, video game adaptations no longer deserve the scrutiny the get just based on past mistakes. And you know what, it’s okay to admit that.
It’s okay to admit that a movie or series based off a video game can be good or even great. It’s okay to admit that the creators of these recent video game adaptations have learned from the mistakes of other failed adaptions in the past to make something worthwhile in the present. It’s okay to acknowledge the shortcoming of new adaptations without tearing down the entire subgenre itself. And most importantly, it’s okay to admit that video game adaptations can be just as good as anything else. Not just in spite of being a video game adaptation but BECAUSE it’s a video game adaptation! It’s okay to admit ALL of that because it’s true, ALL OF IT!
The Fallout series certainly deserves all the praise and success it has been given thus far. It’s well made with excellent production values, a bonkers feel that seems the most appropriate, unique world building, and great performances from the cast, especially Ella Purnell and Walton Goggins. However, there is no need to put this one on a pedestal as being the one video game adaptation that got it “right” or claim it shouldn’t be as good as it is strictly because it’s a video game adaptation. Fallout works whatever way you look at it and not for the reasons you don’t. It’s a video game adaptation that is good just like many other recent video game adaptations have been good. And as I’ve been saying throughout this entire piece, it’s okay to admit that. I sure hope I’m not the only one that feels that way!
Please don’t screw up Borderlands, Eli Roth! I don’t want to have to make another one of these posts four months from now!
Alex Garland is one of the most interesting filmmakers in recent memory. He tends to make film that is able to deliver beyond anyone’s expectations for both the better and the worse. Regardless of what you think about his films, you can’t deny the man is usually not afraid to go all in on controversial matters or explore hidden depths within the sci-fi genre. Results always vary but no doubt, it’s always compelling to see a filmmaker always swing for the fences even if it always doesn’t work off.
With what is perhaps his biggest film to date just coming out in theaters in Civil War, let’s take the time to rank his four films released up to this point that he has been credited as a full-on director.
However, I would like to give one honorable/unqualifiable mention to this list.
Dredd (2012)
Dredd (2012) is one of the most underrated/overlooked gems that has been released for the past decade. A solid, intense, and incredibly enjoyable sci-fi action flick that’s able to improve on nearly every shortcoming that the original Judge Dredd had and be something even more than that. The main reason I can’t add this to the list is that despite writing the screenplay for it and did help complete the film, Alex Garland did NOT get any credit as director, that goes to Pete Travis.
Still, Dredd (2012) is a gem and it tanking at the box office still remains one of the biggest cinematic tragedies in recent memory! Hopefully, the cult following for this remains so strong that one day a sequel will be greenlighted!
Now that mention is out of the way, let’s get to ranking the official four films in Alex Garland’s directing library!
4.) Men
Alex Garland’s first film set outside his comfort zone in the sci-fi genre attempts to explore the inner depths of toxic masculinity and the mental state that abused women go through when having to deal with it. It’s just a shame that Garland couldn’t think of anything compelling to go along with that or provide an engaging narrative to get this obvious point across.
Men is ego-filled filmmaking at it’s absolute worst! The message of toxic masculinity is thuddingly obvious and not well handle, sequences are way too drawn out and repetitive as hell, it’s own attempt at shock value gets old very quick, and the final act remains one of the most infuriating climaxes of a film that I’ve ever suffered through in theaters. Even commendable performances from Jessie Buckley and Rory Kinnear along with a handful of stand out sequences (particularly the haunting tunnel scene) can not save Men from being the preachy and pretentious mess that it is!
Men was always going to be a film that was controversial no matter what given it’s subject matter but the end results of Men just gives certain folks more ammo to support their own grift-filled narrative. Between this and the next film I’m about to talk about, it’s for the best that Alex Garland does more research on the subject matter he is tackling so the films don’t come across as distractingly obvious or inaccurate as it does. Plus, having a woman co-write or co-direct this film likely would have helped to! Just saying!
3.) Civil War
On the surface, you think you know exactly what you are going to get with a film like Civil War. In a year with yet another controversial election for America that is expected to arrive in the coming months, what better way for A24 to coast on this hot topical year than putting their own spin on what an effed up America would like? The kind of film that leaves no stone unturned and be unafraid to tear into every single realm of America politics and inner turmoil of the U.S. governments! The kind of film that is basically guaranteed to earn it’s F rating on Cinema Score like a pride badge of honor! The kind of film that would likely cause fights from hard core liberals and conservatives during theater screenings! However, when you sit back and look at Civil War with an open mind, it’s surprisingly as apolitical and pointless as they come.
It’s doesn’t amount to being the political cringe fest that most viewers envisioned it as. It doesn’t commit to being the overblown disaster flick that it constantly flirts at throughout the entire picture. And it doesn’t even seem to be interest on exploring it’s own take on what a civil war set in America could or would be like. Civil War just acts as a typical America murder porn flick with not much rhyme or reason do it and will likely leave viewers wondering what point Alex Garland was trying to make here.
It’s certainly as well made and well acted as you would expect from Garland himself but it lacks any creativity or boldness that this director is usually unafraid of showing off. I don’t know if this was because Garland was unsure which kind of movie he wanted to make or if he just didn’t want to piss anyone off but Civil War just seems as confused as all the people that are fighting in the movie are. Between this and Men, perhaps Alex Garland should remain in the sci-fi genre as that is clearly the field he is best playing on.
2.) Ex Machina
Alex Garland’s directorial debut that came out in 2015 was about as perfect of a first impression as you could imagine. Ex Machina is able to be an imagative, creative, and engaging tale about the emergence of A.I. and how the human race responds to being in a world with technology as their overall counterpart with the realization that there is not much different between the two. The film has big ideas that it executes tremendously well, while also leaving a lot of room for further analysis.
You also have to credit the stellar performances given by the main players here which consists of Oscar Isaac, Domhnall Gleeson, and ESPECIALLY Alicia Vikander, who all carry the entire picture on their backs all the way through with little to no hassle. Seeing Ava’s transformation from being a mindless robot to an artificial intelligence that is perhaps more intelligent than either Nathan or Caleb realize is really fascinating to see play out and keeps leaving you guessing on what will come next. Even the somewhat iffy last stretch isn’t enough to derail the impressive achievement that Ex Machina is.
Ex Machina is the best kind of sci-fi. The kind that treats it’s audience like human beings and doesn’t need to rely on pure action and spectacle to make for a satisfying experience. Masterfully directed, smartly written, and wonderfully performed by it’s main cast, Ex Machina was able to start Alex Garland’s directing tendure on the best note possible. Even in a year that saw the release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Ex Machina remained as the best sci-fi film of 2015 that happened to star Oscar Issac and Domhnall Gleeson.
1.) Annihilation
For as great as Ex Machina is, I still don’t think it tops the absolute sci-fi horror masterpiece that is Annihilation. This still remains not only the best film in Alex Garland’s filmography but one of the best sci-fi films of the 21st century thus far. Even when facing release problems by Paramount and Skydance and criticism from the original Author, Annihilation is Alex Garland at his most creative, ambitious, and pure visionary!
This is a very engaging and complex story of a group of female scientists who are summoned to an enchanted forest to uncover a mystery as to what happen to a group of male scientists during this phenomena. The mystery as to what is happening on screen is intriguing and full of hidden details that beg for repeat viewings, the characters are well defined and engaging, the visual imagery is mind blowing, the slow pacing feels well utilized and earned, the tension is felt the whole way through, the score is absolutely mesmerizing, and the final 20 minutes contains one of the best and haunting climaxes I’ve seen in any film. It also feel refreshing to have an all-female cast done in a way that makes sense for the story it’s telling and not strictly to try to earn a few brownie points.
I understand it’s divisive to some but Annihilation still remains my favorite work from Alex Garland and one of my personal favorite sci-fi movies. It remains one of the most engaging and mesmerizing theater experiences that I could recall. There wasn’t a single moment where I wasn’t blown up away by the visuals, tension, performances, plot turns, score, and just plain attention to details. I sure hope that author Jeff VanderMeer comes to his senses one day and realize the absolute brilliance that is the film, Annihilation. This isn’t just Alex Garland or sci-fi at it’s best, it’s pure filmmaking and cinema at it’s best! Annihilation remains a sci-fi film that I’ve gone back to many times and will continue to do so in the future!
On the surface, you think you know exactly what you are going to get with a film like Civil War. In a year with yet another controversial election for America that is expected to arrive in the coming months, what better way for A24 to coast on this hot topical year than putting their own spin on what an effed up America would like? The kind of film that leaves no stone unturned and be unafraid to tear into every single realm of America politics and inner turmoil of the U.S. governments! The kind of film that is basically guaranteed to earn it’s F rating on Cinema Score like a pride badge of honor! The kind of film that would likely cause fights from hard core liberals and conservatives during theater screenings! However, when you sit back and look at Civil War with an open mind, it’s surprisingly as apolitical and pointless as they come.
It’s doesn’t amount to being the political cringe fest that most viewers envisioned it as. It doesn’t commit to being the overblown disaster flick that it constantly flirts at throughout the entire picture. And it doesn’t even seem to be interest on exploring it’s own take on what a civil war set in America could or would be like. Civil War just acts as a typical America murder porn flick with not much rhyme or reason do it and will likely leave viewers wondering what point Alex Garland was trying to make here. It’s certainly as well made and well acted as you would expect from Garland himself but it lacks any creativity or boldness that this director is usually unafraid of showing off, even with his last godawful film in Men. I don’t know if this was because Garland was unsure which kind of movie he wanted to make or if he just didn’t want to piss anyone off but Civil War just seems as confused as all the people that are fighting in the movie are.
Premise: In a dystopian future America, a team of military-embedded journalists (Kirsten Dunst, Wagner Moura, Cailee Spaeny, and Stephen McKinley Henderson) races against time to reach Washington, D.C., before rebel factions descend upon the White House.
The element that is the most striking about Civil War is how little it is interested in exploring this dystopian version of America that we are follow our four main characters in. There is no explanation as to what this civil war is about, why either side is fighting one another, or the concrete difference between the current political climate in the real world vs the one that this movie is set in. The film basically expects you to fill in the blank yourselves about the context of the world this movie is set in and insert your own politics to have the civil war make any sense.
There are hints of that kind of version that is scattered throughout the film. The major example is that of Texas and California being on the same side. That’s a great start in going all in on the ridiculous nature of that concept but the film doesn’t go far beyond that. The screenplay by Alex Garland is shockingly stale, lacking any sort of risk taking on exploring this own version of America or any logical reason as to why the civilians are fighting in the first place.
The biggest plot element involves our four lead characters, who are professional journalists and assigned to cover all the commotion that is happening throughout the course of the film. Despite the clear intend on exploring the impact of journalism and the consequences that can come from those involved in that industry, it’s hard to be invested in it because the film constantly makes it clear that they are in the wrong the whole way through when they truly believe they are in the right. It also doesn’t help that the main characters are constantly making dumb decisions throughout the entire movie with no self awareness that it makes you wonder how they even got hired for this job in the first place. While that might be the intention when it comes to the overall arc that Cailee Spaeny’s character, Jessie Cullen, she is so out of the league with everything happening that it makes it so hard to root for her. Even when we get to the point where she learns the lesson she is suppose to, it doesn’t feel earned in the slightest because none of it feels real.
And that is the exact issue with Civil War at it’s center. Despite the film throwing everything but the kitchen sink at you when it comes to war, causality, and politics, it doesn’t feel real because it doesn’t seem interest as to why this is all happening in the first place. And if there is no purpose, then what is even the point of all this fighting in the first place?
I’m well aware certain folks are gonna argue that is the true intention of Civil War. Alex Garland is trying to make it clear that all of this is pointless because war itself is pointless since no one truly wins at the end and we all lose. If that’s the case, then why make the movie at all? Just because something is intentional by design doesn’t automatically make it good. Like if someone took a dump in my mouth and then say it was okay because it was done on purpose, then does that make it any better? No, it doesn’t! It’s just tasteless!
At least the movie is well-shot with solid production throughout. Outside of a few scenes with distracting CGI, this does have the proper care and treatment as you would expect from Alex Garland behind the camera. The best sequences involve the main cast of journalists we follow having to take photos while massive battles are happening. They make for some rather intense and suspense heavy sections with glorious sound design to aid them. Those are easily the standout sections of the entire movie and definitely shows the hidden potential that is constantly hinted at throughout the entire picture.
The entire cast does their part as well. It’s always nice to see Kirsten Dunst in movies and she does the best here with what she is giving as basically the leader of the group. Wagner Moura acts strongly as the right counterpart to the rest of the cast, Stephen McKinley Henderson is entertaining in every scene he is in, Cailee Spaney has strong potential to stand out as her own as an actress, and we desperately needed more of Jeff White throughout the picture. And as everyone has said, Jesse Plemons is great in his one notable appearance in the movie, even if it makes even less sense when you put it within the context of the movie and not just with the trailers.
Civil War comes across as a cinematic equivalent of a make-your-own buffet that expects the audience to bring their own ingredients with them because it doesn’t seem to have much of it’s own. When taking into perspective of the nonexistence politics and overall lack of context to anything happening, Civil War is at its heart just an empty disaster flick with only a handful of intense sequences and a strong cast to help pull it through. And considering it’s timing and placement as to when this movie is coming out, it’s clear that A24 was wanting something way more than that.
Perhaps this has to do with Alex Garland tackling something outside of his comfort zone and coming from the UK rather than the USA but it’s baffling how Civil War seems to be utterly unaware and confused of not just the current political climate in America but even in it’s own distinct universe. It may not be my least favorite film from Alex Garland (That honor goes to Men!) but Civil War is easily his most tame and thematically empty film he has ever released!
The only kind of politically heavy folks that will get angry over this film are the ones that brought their own politics into the theaters with them moments before it even started. Because when you look into the deeper meaning of the film’s politics and it’s current status quo of it’s own America, it all just feels pointless. If that is what Alex Garland intended from the beginning, that’s on him but it doesn’t mean I have to like it.
Congrats, Disney! When it comes to making the superior Civil War movie, you guys win this round1
There is not a company that has a bigger impact on the entertainment industry or possibly even on the entire human population than Disney. This is a company that has been providing family friendly content for generations now and in recent memory, mostly due to buying other studios and companies, are also now providing adult content as well. However, one form of entertainment that is has been providing ever since that medium itself was invented, is animation. People tend to have very specific terms they referred to as what each era of Disney animation consists off.
There is the Golden Age where it all began from Disney, the Wartime Era which basically speaks for itself, the Silver Age which was the post-war phase but ended with the brutal passing of Walt Disney himself, the Bronze Age where Disney was as their absolute lowest point, the Renaissance Age which Disney was as their absolute highest point, the Post-Renaissance Era where it was mostly riding the wave of the previous one, and now comes the age we are currently living in that I will be looking over, referred to by many as the “Revival” era.
The “revival” era mostly consists of the era which saw the tail end of classic 2D Disney animation pictures and it’s full transition into strictly 3D animation pictures. Most would argue that this took place at the start of the late 2000s and carried over to the early 2010s. While not quite the best era of Disney animation in my humble opinion, I think there is an argument to be make that this is the most reliably consistent era of Disney. With the exception of one absolute stinker and a couple of “meh” pictures, the Revival era where most Disney animation pictures are reliably “decent to good” with only a handful standing out as being remarkably great or remarkably terrible. Everyone has their own opinion on each era of Disney but this is mostly what I think off when it comes to this current era of Disney animation.
I decided to take a look back at this era of Disney movies and rank them from worst to best. I am mostly referring to movies made strictly by Disney Animation since 2009 starting with The Princess and The Frog and their most recent feature with Wish.
14.) Wish
There hasn’t been any Disney movie in the modern era that had as much pressure to prove itself as Wish did. Not only having to answer for all the past sins of the company’s mistakes in recent years but it also had to act as a perfect culmination of the past 100 years of all things related to Disney. Unfortunately, no matter what what you look at it, Wish is an absolute dud that serves as one of the most dull and lifeless animated movies that Disney has ever made!
There has not been a Disney movie in this era that feels as mad libs as they come, constantly following similar plot beats and structure with nothing new added to it. It feels like if you ask ChatGPT to make a typical Disney princess movie for the company’s 100th anniversary and this is exactly what you would get. The “wish” concept is not explored very well, side characters and tropes are only here just because that’s a stable with every Disney movie, the songs range from forgettable to an absolute pain in the ear and it never 100% committees to it’s new animation style that is as inconsistent and half-baked as it comes.
The ingredients are there for Wish to be an instant Disney classic along with acting as a perfect bridge between classic Disney 2D and modern Disney 3D motion pictures for a new generation. Unfortunately, the end results are near disastrous. Wish doesn’t feel so much like a movie made to celebrate 100 years of Disney but more like a movie that was made just so there’s a Disney movie for it’s 100th anniversary. The fact I could barely remember a single thing about the movie just minutes after the credits roll really says a lot about how underwhelming and disappointing Wish was.
13.) Ralph Breaks The Internet
There were many folks that were claiming for a follow-up to the original Wreck-It Ralph as there were tons of potential for future sequels for it. Too bad no one involved with this sequel even bother to even fully utilized even a tiny bit of that potential. Ralph Breaks The Internet feels like a sequel which the creative team behind it either didn’t watch the first movie or didn’t understand the moral of it (which is baffling considering this was made by the SAME creative team as the first one). Instead of expanding upon the video game world of Ralph and company, that gets tossed aside in favor of a generic, by-the-numbers story about surfing the web along with adding in all the most painfully cliche and outdated internet tropes imaginable.
Ralph and Vanellope arcs are back to square one, 99% of the wonderful supporting cast of the original get sideline, nearly half the plot is non-existent and consists of filler, it’s themes, while not necessarily bad on their own, have no place in this universe, and the ending practically breaks the established lore and entire point of Wreck-It Ralph. There’s admittedly a handful of callbacks, references, and easter eggs I did get a chuckle at, particularly Sonic’s cameo and the Disney princess scene, and the animation is reliably great, but if that’s all your movie has to offer, then that will only get you so far.
Ralph Breaks The Internet doesn’t so much feel like a Wreck-It Ralph sequel but something similar to The Emoji Movie and Space Jam 2 (albeit it not nearly as bad as either one of those), a movie that seems to only exist for a company to pat themselves on the back to show off how much stuff they own to everybody and just to advertise it’s own products. That might work well for a PowerPoint presentation or a commercial but not so much for a feature-length movie. While there might still be potential for future adventures with Ralph and friends, you will definitely not get that with Ralph Breaks The Internet.
12.) Strange World
The newest Disney feature that flew under the radar from a lot of people and was one of the worst financial bombs in the company’s history. Even pushing all of that aside and some of the most obvious controversy surrounding it, it’s easy to see why it didn’t seem to resonate with those that actually saw it. There’s nothing about Strange World that’s aggressively bad but there’s nothing that stands out as being aggressively good either.
It has characters tropes and plot beats you’ve seen done a million times before and done a million times better in other films, environmental messages that can be quite preachy, and the ending is something that you could see coming from a mile away. However, the world themselves are quite nice, it moves at a good pace, and it is nice to see an openly gay character in a Disney movie that isn’t treated as a big deal or anything different to that of a straight character.
While I still stand by my piece I wrote in December about how it’s a shame that Disney basically left Strange World to die in theaters due to the overall lack of marketing of it, I just wish the overall movie was better. It’s every family friendly adventure you’ve seen before with not much new added to it that won’t make you want to watch it again anytime soon. It’s not the worst time waster in the world but one you will likely not find yourself revisiting anytime soon.
11.) Frozen II
After the original Frozen took the world by storm, a sequel was inevitable. Even when Disney isn’t usually keen on making sequels that didn’t go straight-to-DVD, they just had to make a Part II to what is probably their most financially successful film to date. Just a shame that the people involved couldn’t come up with a more concrete, artistic reason to keep the Frozen brand going.
There are certainly areas of improvement here such as the animation, character banter, song placement (Into The Unknown>>Let It Go), and even Olaf himself is quite funny here. However, in terms of script and structure, it’s quite inferior. It feels the need to answer questions from the original that no one was really demanding answers to (Does anyone actually care about how Elsa got her ice powers?!) and in so doing so creates plot holes of it’s own (How is it that Anna is able to remember about what happened to her parents, her sister’s powers, and the forest when her memory got wiped when she was a little girl?!). It also doesn’t seem to know what to do with Kristoff (despite his solo song behind a standout) other than having him propose to Anna over and over and over again. All of which accumulates to a rather inconsequential third act that doesn’t feel genuine (Even with a dying snowman!) because it’s never clear what the actual stakes are throughout the movie (I honestly had no idea Arendelle was in any real danger until it was pointed out in the last 20 minutes) or even the overall point to it.
Frozen II feels like a sequel that is trying to do too much with too little and at times, feels like it’s being made up as it went along (which the people behind it outright unironically admitted in the behind-the-scene features). There’s still some enjoyment to be had for those that just want to spend more time with the characters and enjoy some good toons, but this sequel walks a fine line between ambition and aimlessness. It’s not that the heart isn’t there, it’s just frozen this time out.
Also, this movie is basically just a PG-rated version of the movie Annihilation but with more songs. (Watch Annihilation btw if you haven’t already. It’s brilliant!)
10.) Raya and The Last Dragon
Raya and the Last Dragon is a film that gets so close to being up there with one of Disney’s absolute best! An action-packed spectacle with plenty of world building, colorful characters, and a moral surrounding learning to trust others in a time of crisis. However, despite the best intentions, it never quite gets there and feels like it needed an extra script rewrite or two. Raya‘s biggest strength also happens to be it’s biggest weakness, it’s just too ambitious for it’s own good.
The movie has a ton of characters and worlds they introduce that don’t feel as fully form as they should be because it has to make room for every single one of them, which leaves the whole thing feeling quite unfocused. The overall moral of trust, while well-intended, doesn’t really work because the film never provides a reason as to why the main character herself is wrong for not trusting others. Also, you are lying to yourself if the climax didn’t make you think of Guardians of the Galaxy. Even so, this moviestill does provide plenty of entertainment on a surface level with gorgeous animation, enjoyable set pieces, good humor, and introducing perhaps the most badass Disney princess since Mulan.
Raya and the Last Dragon has a foundation that has potential to be expanded upon with future content such as a sequel, a Disney Plus series, and perhaps even an appearance in a future Kingdom Hearts game. While Raya doesn’t ultimately live up to its ambition, I wouldn’t be against seeing this heroine and her friends returning in the future.
9.) Big Hero 6
I could honestly copy and paste almost the exact same points from Raya and the Last Dragon and apply it to here as well. Big Hero 6, the first fully animated film from Disney based off a Marvel comic, is a movie that on paper sounds really great but the execution of it is just okay. Although, unlike Raya, there has been future content such as a tv show, streaming series, and a Kingdom Hearts III appearance that help expand upon the ideas and worlds even further.
The central relationship between Hiro and Baymax is great stuff and give the film the overall beating heart it needed. The action is well done and once the Big Hero 6 finally come together, it’s awesome and makes for a really fun superhero team. That being said, the journey to getting there can be a bit rough. The other members of the Big Hero 6 are very thinly written and aren’t that interesting on their own merits, none of the voice actors as those members stand out, it takes too long for the team to come together, and the twist reveal with the villain is one you can guess the moment that character first appears on screen.
Even with it’s flaws, Big Hero 6 has plenty of redeemable qualities to make up for it and has a very unique world of it’s own that thankfully got expanded upon further in future Disney content. It also has easily the best Stan Lee cameo of all time hands down! A middle-of-the-road Disney flick but still a solid one overall.
8.) Frozen
The one Disney movie that no one or their mother could escape the impact of. If you ever met someone that claimed they have never heard of this movie or listened to Let It Go at least one time in their lives, they would be lying to you. Even if you can take out the massive impact this movie has had on pop culture (Although, I wouldn’t blame you if you can’t.), Frozen is still pretty good but definitely not the best Disney movie ever made.
The central conflict and relationship between Elsa and Anna is really well done making for a rather engaging sisterhood bond ship, the songs themselves are catchy, the voice work is stellar, the twist villain, while quite obvious, does teach a nice lesson to young girls to never blindly trust your prince because they can easily stab you in the back, and the way the film resolves it’s climax with true love between the two sisters is quite refreshing for a Disney movie. That being said, the films does suffer greatly from some structure and pacing issues along with a rather half-baked, rushed backstory with Elsa and Anna (Did these two just not talk to each other for the last two decades or so?). It also seems to forget it supposed to be a musical towards the last third of the movie (the final song that plays before the credit rolls is the troll song) and Olaf the snowman can be quite annoying after awhile.
Frozen is a movie that is admittedly hard to judge itself and take away it’s insane impact it has had on the entertainment industry and pop culture as a whole without believing it was perhaps a bit overhyped or overexposed. It’s kinda like the Avatar (The movie, not the show) of animation, a movie that was a tremendous success that everyone eventually got sick and tired of hearing about to the point that everyone just started calling it overrated. It’s still a fine movie overall, but it’s a case of a movie known for it’s reputation as oppose to it’s actual quality.
7.) The Princess and the Frog
Here seems to be the one Disney princess movie that doesn’t get discussed as much as the others and when it does, most seem to agree it’s pretty good but not their absolute favorite overall. That is more or less, how I feel about The Princess and the Frog.
There’s plenty to like about this movie. It’s very charming with it’s own energetic tone to it, they actually manage to make the relationship between the princess and the frog believable, the songs are nice, Tiana herself makes for a welcome addition to the cast of Disney princesses, and it does feel bittersweet to have this be one the very last Disney movies to be strictly 2D and consists of more traditional hand-drawn animation. However, it couldn’t escape criticism for it’s depiction of Louisiana voodoo and historical negationism of the Southern United States during the Jim Crow laws. I could care less about that but if you are serious about any of those, then you might dislike this movie.
The Princess and the Frog is not a Disney movie I go back to a ton but whenever I do, I have a fairly good time with it. It aims to be a solid B/B+ Disney princess movie and it’s able to meet those merits exactly. It’s also nice to see Tiana getting her own Disney Plus series.
6.) Winnie The Pooh
Perhaps the most overlooked Disney movie in the revival era and (to date) the final movie in the Disney canon to be fully 2D and hand-drawn animated. While this might have to do with the fact that the movie underperformed vastly at the box office at the time it came out in 2011, Winnie the Pooh should not be glossed as it’s actually a really enjoyable and charming movie.
The whole Winnie the Pooh cast is exactly how I remember them as a kid and shows just how timeless of characters they actually are. In an age where franchises are always trying so hard to “modernize” their properties, it’s nice how this movie (along with 2015’s The P.E.A.N.U.T.S. Movie) decides to keep the characters the way they’ve always been and not feel the need to change them to try to fit in the more “modern” times. Sometimes it’s okay to leave things well enough alone. The voices matched the characters perfectly, especially Jim Cummings as Pooh and Tiger along with Tom Kenny as Rabbit, it has an incredibly sweet vibe to it, and has that nostalgic feel that even those who didn’t grow up with Winnie the Pooh will be able to get out of it.
While it’s a very brief and short movie (it’s only 63 minutes long!), this is definitely worth a watch if you have Disney Plus, a great fondness of Winnie the Pooh, or if that live-action Christopher Robin movie left you feeling a bit cold.. If this is truly the last 2D Disney movie we ever seen, at least it went how on a quiet but sweet note. Although, Disney should SERIOUSLY consider doing more traditional 2D style animated movies in the future! I sure PLENTY of folks would appreciate that.
5.) Moana
On the surface,Moanadoes come across as a “Disney Greatest Hits” kind of a movie as it does hit the same beats that most traditional Disney movies do. You got the traditional lead Disney princess, the traditional side character voiced by a well-known celebrity, the traditional animal comic relief, the traditional moral about growing up and finding your place, and of course, the traditional songs. However, there’s just something about Moana that helps it stand out greater than simply just that.
Maybe it has to do with the pitch perfect casting of Auli’i Cravalho as the title character, the engaging conflict Moana goes through, The Rock stealing the show every time he gets as Maui, the inspired songs, and having some of the most beautiful animation I’ve seen in any film. But what I think this movie excels as is having the perfect balance of everything. It has the right amount of characters, right amount of plot, right amount of action, right amount of drama, right amount of laughs, and the right amount of songs. It’s able to find the right balance of everything that one tends to expect in a Disney animated feature film but does it in a way that is almost as if we are seeing these things done for the first time however. Could have done with more of the pig and less the chicken though.
While Moana is far from the most groundbreaking Disney film, I still find it to be one of the more satisfying ones of the revival era. Let’s hope that Moana II doesn’t disappoint! And please, put Moana in Kingdom Hearts IV and not just bring back the Pirates of the Caribbean yet again! Please and thank you!
4.) Encanto
This is probably the one that has grows on me the most the more I watch it and the more time has gone by. This was the 60th animated feature ever made by Disney and it resulted in the absolute triumph that was Encanto. While this is certainly not the most stake-heavy film on here, this is the one that is arguably the most personal, human, and relatable Disney film in this era.
It’s a movie about embracing your family regardless of their flaws and how deep down inside, everyone is different and special in their own unique way. You don’t have to be defined about what is set in stone for you but can be defined on who you chose to be. Throw in a very likable and charming main character in Mirabel, breathtaking animation, a wonderfully utilized setting, great supporting characters, and songs that only get better for me as time goes by (We Don’t Talk About Bruno FTW!) and you got an absolutely wonderful film.
Encanto is one of the most human and relatable Disney films to date which it’s cultural representation is able to perfectly match it’s quality. I can see this potentially being higher on the list in the future, but for now, it’s a solid #4. It’s sad how despite this not technically being the 100th anniversary film for Disney, it still feels much more worthy of it than Wish.
3.) Zootopia
If you want to see an example of a Disney movie being very mature and adult with it’s subject matter and contains social/political commentary that doesn’t come across as forced or preachy, Zootopia is basically what you get. In so doing so, it makes for a rather excellent film and one of the main top 3 of this current Disney canon.
The world building is brilliant, being able to smartly craft a unique world full of andromorphic animals with obvious changes to the real world that makes sense and fit well in it’s own established universe. The main characters of Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde are immensely likeable and the two play off of each other perfectly. It’s genuinely funny with plenty of fresh and unique humor that doesn’t consist of mindless slapstick comedy. The set pieces themselves are fun, inventive, and incredibly beautifully animated. The biggest accomplishment of all is the way the film’s commentates on modern and timely issues such as diversity, racism, sexism and other forms of prejudice but it never gets bogged down on it and actually does interesting things with it. It doesn’t just come across a simple rant on prejudice but more tries to highlight how that remains a problem and how exactly can be fixed. It actually gives answers and solutions to the things it’s talking about which helps the journey that the characters themselves go through. To be honest, if it wasn’t for the obvious twist villain and the underwhelming resolution to that specific arc, this might be even higher on the list.
Zootopia is one fun, smart, and beautifully made animated movie that shows that you can make a movie with timely and important themes without it bringing down the entire picture. Working as both an entertaining film for kids and a thought-provoking film for adults, this is genuinely terrific. Don’t screw up the sequel!
2.) Wreck-It Ralph
Video game movies tend to be very hit or miss. Whether it’s for straying too far from the source material or even sticking too closely to it, these are the kind of movies that never seems to live up to their full potential. While they have certainly gotten better over the years, I think most agree that the best video games movies are the ones that aren’t just adaption of video games but ones that are ABOUT video games. If you want to see a perfect example of that, look no further than Wreck-It Ralph.
This is a movie that is able to fully utilize it’s premise in every way possible. It has a fully realized world, charming leads, a tremendous supporting cast who all stand out, great humor, wonderful themes and morals, and has video game references that don’t feel obnoxious or pandering. This is also one of the very few times where the whole “the two main characters break up at the end of the second act but get back together during the climax in the third act” actually works because how genuine and heartbreaking it is since you really want the two to stay together. Let’s also not overlook the great vocal performances by John C. Reilly as Ralph, Jane Lynch as Sergeant Calhoun, and even Sarah Silverman (who I normally don’t like) as Vanellope. Sure, the main bad guy is nothing to write home about and I do wish I could have gotten a cameo of Mario but nothing could take away how awesome this movie is.
Wreck-It Ralph is just one of those movies that knows exactly what it wants to be and executes it in the best way it possible can. It shows that movies surrounding video games can work if you are able to come up with a strong central story and have engaging characters to help carry it the whole way through. If for some reason you still haven’t checked it out, I highly recommend you do. Just perhaps skip the sequel.
1.) Tangled
No offense to any other movie on this list but if I had to pick one movie that feels like it truly belongs in the Renaissance Era of Disney and up there with the likes of The Lion King, Beauty and the Beast, The Little Mermaid, Aladdin,Mulan, and any other top-tier Disney animation feature, that would be this one. Not only is Tangled the very best movie of the revival era but it’s one of the best Disney movies ever made period!
Rapunzel is probably the best Disney princess of all time! She has the perfect amount of likability, relatability, charm, and pure feminine energy out of any Disney princess to date. (It also helps I have a thing for blondes and even brunettes.) Flynn Rider makes for one of the best side characters in Disney history and being a perfect counterpart to Rapunzel herself. I love seeing the chemistry between the two blossom and the overall journey they go through together. You also got amazing animation, a really well thought out and heartfelt story, some refreshing spins on the traditional Disney fairytales, superb character development, great voice work from Mandy Moore and Zachary Levi, hilarious animal sidekicks, and songs that are both memorable and extremely catchy. Even some of the minor things I can nitpick at (such as the somewhat obvious villain reveal) can’t bring it down because even then, there’s enough interesting things done with those so it’s hard to complain. Nearly everything about Tangled works and makes for a perfect Disney classic!
Even with how good some of the other movies in the revival era has been, none of them compare to Tangled. It works as a movie for kids, a movie for adults, a movie for the whole family, and even as a movie for anyone of any age. It functions greatly as a drama, a comedy, a musical, an animated movie, and just a a feature length film itself. No matter what way you put it, Tangled simply works in every way. It stands proudly as one of the absolute great works ever to come from Disney and is hands down the best movie of the revival era thus far.
Last week, Captain America: The Winter Soldier turned an unbelievable ten years old! This is a film that is considered a fan favorite among Marvel fans! It was able to tell a smart, complex and politically driven story about the dangers of trusting the government and your allies, it delivered some of the best and most unique action in the entire MCU, it gave side characters such as Nick Fury and Black Widow more to do than ever, and best of all, it just made Captain America an ultra cool badass instead of a Mr. Goody Two Shoes hero that the character was originally thought of as.
And in just about four months, we will also see the ten-year anniversary of the original Guardians of the Galaxy. This is a film that is also considered a fan favorite among Marvel fans and perhaps their most surprising film they have ever made. It was able to be a super fun, action packed, heartful and hilarious movie about becoming a family while introducing five instantly memorable characters that turned out to be the most lovable group of misfits you can imagine want to following. Considering the fact that the guardians themselves were characters that very little people knew about outside of hardcore Marvel fans, Guardians of the Galaxy being as good as it is was quite simply a miracle.
Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Guardians of the Galaxy were two installments in the Marvel Cinematic Universe that were so good that I would argue helped turned the tide of the narrative of the MCU as a whole. A narrative that this franchise was more than just Iron Man and his best friends in The Avengers. This franchise could in fact rely on more than just one person with star power but MANY other people with star power as well. So much so that I’m willing to declare that 2014 still remains the most important year for Marvel Studios and the Marvel Cinematic Universe overall.
Yes, more important than 2008 which saw the release of Iron Man, the film that kicked started this cinematic universe. Yes, more important than 2012 which saw the release of The Avengers, the payoff to Marvel’s five to six year plan up to that point. And yes, even more important than 2018 and 2019, which saw Avenger: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, the culmination and payoff to the entire Infinity saga, being two of the most commercially successful films of all time. While all off those were undeniably important and impactful, 2014 was where the Marvel Cinematic Universe was able to achieve it’s own level of peak.
Before 2014 rolled around, Marvel was still riding high off of The Avengers and the building blocks of Phase One. However, while every Phase One movie has their fans, it was mostly the first Iron Man and The Avengers that carried the weight of that entire phase and are the two films that are looked the most fondly of! Those two films were so good that it made the entire first wave of Marvel movies worth it, even with the indifferent quality of the other features!
Phase Two of the Marvel Cinematic Universe kicked off a year later in 2013. However, despite the financial success and solid reviews for certain installments, the fan response was arguably very mixed. Iron Man 3 was a genuine crowd pleaser but was controversial among hardcore fans due to the film’s portrayal of the Mandarin, A.K.A. Iron Man’s greatest enemy. Thor: The Dark World was seen a decent “filler” movie at best and a dull and forgettable movie at worst for critics and fans and is usually ranked as one of the lowest rated movies in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. There was also Marvel and ABC’s first show in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., which had strong ratings for it’s first two episodes but saw a steady decline with each episode getting less viewers as the season went on. Although the show would end up getting a following due to the improved quality of later seasons, the first season of the show was not looked to fondly.
When looking back at the state of the MCU in 2013, the reaction that got from fans was almost identical to the state of the MCU for the past few years. After a handful of subpar and lukewarm at best installments, it made people question whether or not Marvel still has it. Is that superhero fatigue setting in and that special bubble is about to burst? If 2014 had anything to say about, the answer was quite simply hell no!
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. finished off its weak first season on a strong note and started a second season that was considered a HUGE step up in quality. So much so that most fans that stuck around felt that was when the show had finally found it’s footing and was well worth their time and investment. Even if the ratings did decline after each season, the show was still able to last for seven seasons, with the final episode airing in August 2020. What seemed like a questionable show to keep going in it’s first season was able to find a following and fanbase that helped pushed it to seven seasons!
When it comes to the 2014 MCU slate regarding films, we had Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Guardians of the Galaxy! After the mixed bag of a 2013 slate with Iron Man 3 and Thor: The Dark World, these two films had a LOT to prove! Not only to prove that Marvel Studios was not slipping away in terms of quality but that these stand-alone installments could in fact exist on their own terms and didn’t need Iron Man or the rest of the Avengers to carry it. And man, did Marvel respond to 2013 about as good as they could have!
First up, we had Captain America: The Winter Soldier! This acted as a sequel to The Avengers and served as the next step of Steve Rogers’s development that started with Captain America: The First Avenger. While The First Avenger acted as a period piece flick, The Winter Soldier acts as a modern day espionage thriller. It was a showcase of Steve Rogers adapting to modern day events, discovering the corruption of a government that flew right under everyone’s nose, working and bantering along with his trusted allies, and seeing the pieces of his past come back to haunt him in present day. And it was all brilliant!
The Russo Brothers’ first entry into the Marvel Cinematic Universe was met with widespread acclaim from fans and critics, instantly ranked up there as among the very best installments in the Marvel Cinematic Universe! It acted as a perfect way to follow up Captain America’s story from his first movie and The Avengers while planting the seasoning for future installments in film and television for that universe.
Perhaps the most important thing about The Winter Soldier was not only how impressive it was in terms of story, characters, action, and themes but also how it stood strongly on it’s own without the notable successes of Phase One to bog it down. It shown that these side stories with these characters still had a purpose and they weren’t just being made just for the sake of buying time for the next Avengers movie. Important characters such as Captain America could carry his own film without the need of Robert Downey Jr. or the Avengers name alone. These stand alone entries could in fact stand on their own and play a big important role to the future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
For as impressive as Captain America: The Winter Soldier was, one could still make the argument that Captain America was still a well known superhero that was going to have his well deserved due at some point. That is something that could NOT have been said about the other big movie to come out of Marvel Studios in 2014, Guardians of the Galaxy.
I will die on the hill that Guardians of the Galaxy was the most risky project that Marvel has ever released. It contained a bunch of characters that mainstream audiences were unaware of, it had a space opera vibe that the MCU really never had up to that point, and it was directed by James Gunn, a man that tends to have a dark and twisty sense of humor and had a director vision that no other directors of Marvel had yet. If this failed, there was NO way Marvel or Disney was gonna try anything like this again and stick to strictly familiar names and brands for the future. Guardians of the Galaxy was a giant leap of faith……that ended up stick the landing big time.
Once again, Marvel Studios was able to strike gold with their most unrecognizable movie to date in Guardians of the Galaxy. It was met with the same love and acclaim that The Winter Soldier got just four months earlier. People fell in love with the characters of Peter Quill A.K.A. Star Lord, Rocket Raccoon, Drax the Destroyer, Gamora, and even a talking tree named Groot, people were enthralled by the visuals and set pieces, people were laughing at the jokes, people were crying at the big emotional beats, and people were rocking to the movie’s awesome soundtrack, which sold like GANGBUSTERS on Apple just weeks after the movie came out. It was so loved and adored that there are those that would argue that this is not only one of the best Marvel movies ever but perhaps their favorite Marvel movie to date, even more so than The Winter Soldier or The Avengers. It was that good!
Just like with The Winter Soldier, Guardians of the Galaxy was a Marvel movie without the big main selling points of their biggest successes with Iron Man and The Avengers. There was no other recognizable superhero to be found or had a tied together plot that made it acquired viewing for Avengers: Age of Ultron. Sure, there was a tease of Thanos himself along with the setup of the Infinity stones but they were never a big focus or distraction that it took you out of the the movie. It was just the Guardians of the Galaxy themselves on their own space adventure and it could not have been better for it.
Looking back on the MCU ten years later to where it is now, I stand strongly on the statement that 2014 was the turning point of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and when it was able to become something even greater! With the success of the MCU slate that year, it was prove that Marvel did have an identity of their own that wasn’t just strictly Tony Stark and his amazing superhero friends! They did in fact have other interesting characters with their own stories to tell and other unique brands that was worth drawing attention to. They could afford to go bolder, weirder, and riskier and it could all end up for the better!
It’s by being able to make lightning strike twice with Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Guardians of the Galaxy that motivated to make other great installments later on such as Thor: Ragnarök and Black Panther along with multiple sequels with Captain America and Guardians of the Galaxy. They didn’t need to rely solely on Iron Man, The Avengers, and Spider-Man once they formed a partnership with Sony to keep the franchise going. They could afford to try out other characters and untested properties to allow their brand to grow and evolve into other things. And I don’t think they would have gone that exact route if it weren’t for the success of their 2014 installments in Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Guardians of the Galaxy.
2014 may not have been the most commercially successful or profitable year under Marvel’s belt nor even the one with the most cultural impact but without the success that Marvel was able to gain that year, there is a good chance the Marvel Cinematic Universe would have looked quite different in the past ten years that what we have seen! I sure hope whatever the future holds for Marvel, that they look back on 2014 as to why that got them to where they are now and NOT learn the wrong lessons from it!
The 2024 season of Major League Baseball has just begun! While there are plenty of fascinating stories to go around, I don’t think there has been one as fascinating as the amount of injuries have occurred already. While injuries are coming year in and year out, the one element that stands out the most to start off 2024 is the insane amount of injuries that have occurred to pitchers. The number of injured pitchers has been……disturbing! If you don’t believe me, here’s a list of all of the notable pitchers that are on the IL as we speak!
Gerrit Cole, Jacob DeGrom, Shohei Ohtani, Sandy Alcantara, Shane McClanahan, Max Scherzer, Shane Bieber, Felix Bautista, Justin Verlander, Tony Gonsolin, Luis Garcia, John Means, Eduardo Rodriguez, Robbie Raby, Sonny Gray, Brandon Woodruff, Clayton Kershaw, Dustin May, Alex Cobb, Drew Rasmussen, Gavin Williams, Lucas Giolito, Bryan Woo, Nick Lodolo, and Framber Valdez.
There’s probably a few others I forgot to mention and I wouldn’t be surprised if another big one joins the list as soon as I published this piece.
That amount of injured starting pitchers at the same time is INCREDIBLY alarming! Not only because most of the pitchers on this list are considered among the very best pitchers in baseball but how the number continues to grow by each passing day! If this is not a sign that there has been a pitching problem in baseball, then I don’t know what is!
The big question everyone likely has is how did this all happen? While many have referred to the addition of the pitch clock, I think it’s much much complicated than that. You have to look back about a decade ago with the way pitching changed in today’s game. Today’s pitching philosophy puts a MAJOR emphasis on the amount of speed, spin rate, and velocity that each pitcher can throw. It’s no longer about pitching to contact but pitching has hard as you can! While the standard miles per hour with a fastball used to be in the lower 90s, it now ranges in the high 90s and low 100s! Just as much as the hitting approach in today’s game has changed due to the strict focus on power and launch angles, the pitching approach in today’s game has changed due to the strict focus on speed and velocity.
On one hand, it’s always impressive to see pitchers throw at a max 90 mph or a min 100 mph! To put that much time and work into increasing how fast you can throw a baseball has to be commended! However, that also puts a great risk on the human body and arms! There’s only so much one person can take with their arms and body before they decide to shut down and even break apart entirely! This is ESPECIALLY the case in regards to starting pitcher, who usually start to run out of gas by the time they get to the 5th inning!
While pitching injuries has always been common in baseball, the new philosophy in pitching that puts the focus on speed, spin rate, and velocity has caused these injuries to skyrocket! Back in the day, it wasn’t so much about pitchers trying to throw as hard as they could but throw as effectively as they could. They put the majority of focus on mixing pitches, finding different ways to get each hitter out, and trying to go deep to the game as they can! However, that line of thinking has changed big time in the year 2024! It’s been ten years since we saw Madison Bumgarner’s EXTRAORDINARY pitching performance in the Giants 2014 World Series run and I don’t think we could be any further from that timeline than we are now!
Nowadays, the pitching philosophy just can’t measure up to the same standard as old school baseball! Because the majority of the focus is how fast and hard pitchers can throw, they are unable to go deep into games because their arm will be wore out by the time they reach the halfway point of the game. Because pitchers are all about setting new records on the radar gun, there’s not much in-game planning because it’s usually about fastballs and one or two filthy, breaking pitches! Because there is a constant push on this pitching approach that is likely to break a pitcher’s body or arm sooner rather than later, an avalanche of injures have occurred and will continue to do so!
I view this current situation with too many pitchers getting injured the same way I looked at too many blockbusters bombing at the box office last year! In the sense, that the bubble has finally burst and at long last, consequences are being faced on flawed, ill-fated philosophies that not enough people have the solution for! It has all finally come crashing down and no one but the people in charge should be surprised to see this all happen!
All this could make me wonder is whether or not it’s the beginning of the end of this philosophy with pitching! Are we about to go back to the basics where it was all about mixing pitches and going as far into the game as you can? Are we going to see more focus on pitch to contact instead of just constant spin rate and velocity? Are we going to see starting pitchers feel more like starting pitchers back then and not just a pitcher that just so happened to start the game? If the answer to all those questions is no, then baseball needs to at least consider it if they want healthier pitchers in their future!
The main thing that has become very obvious with high velocity pitchers is that there is no chance for them to have as long of a career as some of the legends of old. Regardless if you are a high velocity relief pitcher that comes into over 50+ games a year or a high velocity starter coming into 30 games a year and at least 150 innings, you have very little chance to have a long lasting career pitching in the big leagues.
All you have to do is look at poor Stephen Strasburg! A once highly valued prospect that had to cut his career short before he got to reach a new peak due to severe injuries with his pitching arm and body overall. Despite the Nationals trying to do everything in their power to preserve him and have him pitch out in a long career, that wasn’t enough. The amount of speed, spin-rate, and velocity in every pitch he threw would eventually get the better of him! After his superb performance in the 2019 playoffs and given a massive seven-year contract extensions, he was only able to pitch in just eight games for the remainder of his career! He gave every bit of energy he had left in him in 2019 to give the Washington Nationals their first ever title! While I’m sure that Strasburg doesn’t regret that, I’m sure he wishes it didn’t involve giving up the rest of his career to do so!
If Major League Baseball continues to double down on the modern style of pitching, then expect even more pitching injures for the inevitable future. This style is beyond broken and needs to be changed! Pitching should be more than just throwing hard! It should be about finding different ways to get hitters out and using all eight position players on the field in order to do so! By continuing to go down this path, not only does this lead to more injuries but it also hurts the product on the field due to the amount of noteworthy pitchers that are unable to make their presence noticed on the pitching mound.
I’m certainly beating a dead horse when I said this but I’m going to do it anyway. Baseball has a pitching problem and it’s time to fix it now more than ever!
Adam's Blog 