2020 was such a turbulent, unexpected and outright crazy year for so many of us. I think it's a year that is going to have a truly historic impact on a number of industries, the very way our world works has changed for the foreseeable future and that is unbelievable in a lot of ways. Every week since I started running this film review blog I have strolled down to my local cinema and watched the latest offering, but this year I found that was no longer possible. We entered lockdown and a number of shared and familiar experiences were lost to us. In the world of cinema productions were being halted, some projects were being pushed back while others were cancelled. I got over my stigma against reviewing streaming services original features, a number of the films I have reviewed this year I watched via Netflix, Google Play, Disney Plus or HBO Max. It was something so different for me, watching movies that felt like they belonged in a theatre on a smaller device but there was something certainly charming and convenient about watching at home too.
Now we're seeing studios beginning to get underway again, major and minor productions alike are finding safe ways to bring entertainment back to our screens. Streaming services are wielding a lot more power and content than they did before, so for better or for worse there will be more to watch readily at home in years to come. But I will tell you this much: after my country left lockdown and eventually progressed back to level one I I went back to my local cinema. Not only that I tripped about the country and went to a number of smaller theatres and the experience is still one of my favourite things in the world. Lounging back in a spacious seat, warm popcorn at your side as surround sound speakers orchestrate you through a visual journey set upon the big screen, there is nothing like it. Where it is safe, where you can, I strongly encourage the support of local cinemas in what has been a very tough year. It is very easy to watch a film, but experiencing a film in the theatre is absolute magic.
Allow me to take you through some of my experiences this year, as I share a bit of insight into the best and worst films I watched in 2020...
The Best:
5. Onward - 8.5/10
Disney/Pixar together have almost always crafted these animated features that breathe magic into whichever world they want to construct. This time around that happened to be a world of, well, magic. Onward is a fascinating original setting, a fantasy world that has cast aside the need for magic due to the convenience of technology. It's a real treat watching characters like orcs and manticores blend between a modern setting and a more mystical one. The feature is a lovely story about family and the relationship between two brothers who have supported one another their whole lives. Chris Pratt and Tom Holland bounce off one another with charm and lead a phenomenal cast in what is immediately another classic for the House of Mouse.
4. Savage - 8.5/10
Not only did New Zealand set a fine example with our response to the pandemic this year, but our cinema releases have been decisively great as well. I was initially quite nervous about Savage because New Zealand has done a number of features covering gang violence and I didn't believe it could do anything new or original. But Savage is an intensive character study that shows the main character, Damage, as he navigates a social services system that has a number of flaws and becomes embroiled in gang life. Watching the deep psychological duress and extreme violence Damage lives with is one of the better narratives I witnessed this year and it is played out brilliantly by lead actor, Jake Ryan.
3. 1917 - 8.5/10
This might not be the highest of my top five but it is certainly the best in terms of cinema as an experience. 1917 was filmed utilising a number of long one take shots that blend together seamlessly to make you feel placed right into the chaos of a First World War battlefield. It was a high stakes piece of cinema that was unlike any other war film I had seen and was visually stunning. Heightened by a pulse-quickening musical score I was blown away and astounded by 1917. It is a must see.
2. The Gentlemen - 8.5/10
I love Guy Ritchie. He is, quite possibly, my all time favourite film director. This is a man who made some very clever black comedy gangster films and has since gone on to make some of the better blockbusters in modern cinema. The Gentlemen is a blend of Ritchie's roots and all that he has learnt handling bigger production pieces. This is a major mobster narrative told through the eyes of an unreliable narrator, it is a web of deceit filled with twists and witty laughs aplenty. There is an all-star cast here who will blow you away, in particular Matthew McConaughey, Michelle Dockery, Charlie Hunnam and Hugh Grant. Each time I go back to his film I have a new favourite scene, it is nothing short of both style and substance.
1. Soul - 9/10
Disney/Pixar did it twice this year. Where Onward is a fresh new world that will become an instant classic for a lot of families and young viewers, Soul is something a little different. It has all the style, humour and care of a classic Disney/Pixar animated feature but there is far more to it than that. Soul holds a valuable lesson about the significance of experiencing and enjoying life, told through a beautiful character arc that a lot of mature audiences will really relate to. Soul possesses an unparalled musical score that transports you in key scenes; literally in the case of the last ten minutes. There are good animated features out there but this is a crowning achievement and a reminder that more can be told through the animated medium than we give it credit for.
A lot of these films are an interesting example of more exposure to local NZ made cinema, that which I watched at home and the releases I got to see at the start of the year. A very strong indicator of just how different this year has been for our cinema viewing experience. These changes did lead to watching some rather bad films as well...
The Worst:
5. Artemis Fowl - 2.5/10
I loved reading the Artemis Fowl books growing up, I reread them this year before the film came out. So I have a strong sense of feeling behind it when I say that this is the worst book to film adaptation of all time. This isn't one of those things where they missed a few scenes from the book to make a better quality feature; this is an unwatchable mess. As a character Artemis is stripped of any exciting traits and becomes an awkward rich kid who struggles to fit in until all the weirdness of the plot comes to catch up with him. Between Josh Gad garbling over the story as a strange narrator, the eyesore visual effects and action scenes and a plot that is constantly struggling to piece itself together, it's no wonder people prefer the book to the film in this case.
4. Wonder Woman 1984 - 2/10
I was never the biggest fan of the first Wonder Woman feature but what did work for that film was its strong message around a female hero who was able to be loving and nurturing while also being powerful and strong. It was a film that resonated strongly for a lot of people and with fair reason. This sequel couldn't be further from the first movie in any respect, even some of the returning cast struggle in roles they have already played. This film is a staggering two and a half hours long and never once manages to justify its inexcusable runtime. The entire premise is built around a magical wishing rock that Wonder Woman must stop after an oil tycoon absorbs its powers. It's a story that gives the bad guy and the good guy whatever they need to advance the plot all while it trips over its own storytelling. I was extremely disheartened to see a film built around female empowerment handle a female antagonist so poorly in the guise of Cheetah. This is going to go down as the worst DC film in recent years.
3. Bill And Ted Face The Music - 1.5/10
I'm going to say it louder for the film producers in the back: cult films don't always need sequels or reboots! The first two Bill and Ted films are a lot of fun, they're very light comedies that don't take themselves too seriously and are entertaining through rose-coloured glasses. But this final note in the trilogy was one that I wish had never been executed. The film is obsessed with pushing itself as the biggest and most important moment in our main characters story; yet nothing ever happened that lived up to that big pitch. The film takes things way too seriously and drains a lot of the humour and energy out of the two leading roles. Everything needs an explanation for why it happens now and the film is very rarely allowed to be silly just for the sake of it. This is a Bill and Ted film in name only, there's very little in it actually worth watching.
2. Godmothered - 1.5/10
Disney Plus is a relatively new streaming service and doesn't have a lot of original content out there yet, in fact a lot of its best exclusives are films that have been pulled from a cinema release window and put on the streaming platform. Godmothered is a good example of why I'm so hesitant to watch streaming original films, they're often low budget nightmares with very little soul to them. This is a film with terrible visual effects, all the plot of a Disney Channel original and an all-star cast that should be capable of better. It's a shallow performer at best and it makes we worried that we'll get films cranked out like this because they're easier to make and market. There might be a fairy godmother at the heart of this film but I see no magic here.
1. Playing With Fire - 1.5/10
This has to be one of the worst comedy films I'll ever see and it was my biggest cinematic low of the year. This film had little to no plot, a romantic relationship that felt awkward and wooden and an egregious amount of My Little Pony references. This was the lowest of the low in terms of comedies because it was very simple pratfall humour and otherwise toilet-based jokes. Failing that you have to watch John Cena hit a career low and present an embarrassing performance that will be a stain on his filmography forever. Thank od the last time I had to watch this was back in January.
So concludes another wrap up of the year's best and worst films, as
always I'm keen to hear what your own favourite and least favourite
films were! Here's to a new decade of exciting cinema ahead! For those
curious where your favourite film of 2020 wound up check my list below
to see my complete rankings:
- Soul – 9/10
- The Gentlemen – 8.5/10
- 1917 – 8.5/10
- Savage – 8.5/10
- Onward – 8.5/10
- Extraction – 8/10
- Emma – 8/10
- Dark Waters – 8/10
- Radioactive – 8/10
- Spies In Disguise – 8/10
- This Town – 7.5/10
- The Lovebirds – 7.5/10
- Palm Springs – 7.5/10
- The New Mutants – 7.5/10
- Happiest Season – 7.5/10
- Saint Judy – 7.5/10
- Bloodshot – 7.5/10
- Honest Thief – 7.5/10
- Sonic The Hedgehog – 7.5/10
- Fatman – 7.5/10
- Enola Holmes – 7/10
- Love And Monsters – 7/10
- The Dry – 7/10
- Bombshell – 6.5/10
- Seberg - 6.5/10
- The Invisible Man – 6.5/10
- Freaky – 6.5/10
- Blithe Spirit – 6.5/10
- Come To Daddy – 6.5/10
- Tenet – 6/10
- The Old Guard – 6/10
- Red Shoes And The Seven Dwarfs – 6/10
- Eurovision Song Contest: The Story Of Fire Saga – 5.5/10
- Scoob! – 5.5/10
- Underwater – 4.5/10
- The Personal History Of David Copperfield – 4.5/10
- Baby Done – 4.5/10
- Trolls World Tour – 4.5/10
- Greenland – 4/10
- Mulan – 4/10
- The Call Of The Wild – 3.5/10
- Unhinged – 3/10
- Birds Of Prey – 3/10
- The Witches – 3/10
- Project Power – 2.5/10
- Artemis Fowl – 2.5/10
- Wonder Woman 1984 – 2/10
- Bill And Ted Face The Music – 1.5/10
- Godmothered – 1.5/10
- Playing With Fire – 1.5/10
No comments:
Post a Comment