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#5
This movie finished at #10 in 2015's ranking and has moved up to #5 in 2016. My 2016 viewing took place way back in January. I had seen it in the theater for the second time (the first being in December of 2015).
I think I enjoyed it more the second time around because I knew what was coming. I was more relaxed watching it this time. I wasn't there simply to soak in every detail. I was able to just kick back and enjoy the movie for what it was this tine. Great cast, great special effects. As always, an epic musical score. And there were some memorable, emotional moments toward the end when Han is killed and we get to see Leia's reaction to it.
My only complaint is that the story line is a bit too simplistic, and it seems to borrow heavily from themes we had already seen in the original trilogy. With a little more originality and an identity of its own, this movie could have been truly great rather than just very good.
#4
I had heard all kinds of good things about this movie before I finally sat down and watched it. I didn't actually know what it was about, but I knew that people liked it. So I came into it with pretty high hopes.
It turns out that people liked the movie for a reason: it is very good. It was actually better than I was hoping for, which was a pleasant surprise.
I am a sadist and I like seeing people suffer in movies, so of course I thought it was awesome when Leo fought with the bear. That was one of the scariest scenes I have seen in a movie in a long time. The movie is very brutal and there is a lot of gore and violence. The weather is cold and unforgiving. The film makers do a really fantastic job depicting how harsh the conditions are.
The Revenant goes through many stages. Western, survival movie, revenge thriller. And I was fascinated the whole way. While I was watching this movie, the thought popped into my head that this could win my ranking for the year. It didn't quite finish #1, but it did come very close.
#3
I've seen The Rock a handful of times in my life before. While I have always enjoyed the movie, I thought it was particularly incredible watching it in 2016.
Let's start with the bad: Nicolas Cage. He is not the greatest actor, and there are some cringe worthy moments in this film. In particular, the sex scene. If you don't know what I am talking about, you will when you watch this. But really, he is the only bad thing about the movie. Because everything else in it is pretty bad ass.
The supporting cast is one of the best I have ever seen. Sean Connery, Ed Harris (who is really, really good in this), Michael Biehn, David Morse, Tony Todd, and the dude who plays Tuco in Breaking Bad all shine in this movie. One of my favorite performances was by John Spencer, an actor I had never heard of before. I Googled him after the movie and found out that he died. That's sad.
The movie is nonstop action almost the entire way. But The Rock is unique in the fact that this never gets tiresome. Scenarios are constantly changing and evolving. The plot moves along at a fast and entertaining clip. The movie is a thrill ride, there is no way around it. I was blown away by how fun it is.
Don't write this off as a cheap dime a dozen action film. It is definitely worth your time.
#2
I enjoyed the original Cloverfield movie. It was intense and a lot of fun. It was a very simple "monster destroys city" movie, but effective and enjoyable. When I heard about this movie, I probably assumed what everyone else did as well: that this would be a sequel to the original Cloverfield. Or if it wasn't necessarily a direct sequel, it would be related in some way.
Not at all actually. Despite having the name Cloverfield in the title, this movie couldn't be more different. The film follows a young woman who wakes up from a serious car accident in a mysterious bunker. She is held captive by a slightly nutty John Goodman. He insists that it is dangerous to leave the bunker and that everyone outside is dead. You don't know whether he is telling the truth and just happens to be a little eccentric, or if he is making it all up and he is absolutely out of his mind. But I will tell you that Goodman is fabulous in the role. He is very creepy and keeps you alert with his unpredictable behavior.
The whole movie keeps you guessing as to what is really going on outside the bunker. It kind of reminded me a little bit of some of the mysteries of the TV show Lost. It felt pretty cool to experience something like that once again, if only for a short little movie like this.
I thought the film was sensational, and I loved every second of it.
#1
You know, I never thought the day would come when a big blockbuster superhero movie would win one of my year end film rankings. Don't get me wrong, I have always liked superhero movies on the whole. But I can't say I have ever been too excited about them.
But that changed with Captain America: Civil War. This movie isn't just about superheroes vs bad guys. In fact, it blurs the line between who exactly is good and who is bad. In the film, a rift opens up between Captain America and Iron Man when concerns are raised that the Avengers have too much freedom and power to do whatever they want. A registration act becomes an area of contention between the opposing superhero factions. Things are further complicated when Captain America's old friend Bucky (The Winter Soldier) shows up at a peace deal and kills a bunch of people.
The side that wants to force the heroes to register themselves want Bucky dead. But Captain America and the anti-registration heroes want to capture him alive and find out the truth about what is going on. The movie becomes a giant hero vs hero battle.
It is epic watching the two sides duke it out. I was more excited by this film than I was any of the Avengers movies. Great plot, great action scenes, characters that you really care about. Twists and turns all over the place. And the cast... so many superheroes! There is something exhilarating about seeing Ant-Man vs Spider-Man vs Captain America vs Iron Man vs Black Widow vs Hawkeye vs Black Panther and so on and so forth.
There is never a dull moment in this movie. And with all the different characters that make appearances here, the film does a brilliant job getting you to care about each and every one of them. I want to see the new Spider-Man now. And I want to see Black Panther. And I want to see the new Ant-Man if and when they ever make one. The next Captain America. The next Iron Man. It goes on and on. Everything is tied together too, which I love about the Marvel cinematic universe. Everything has repercussions which will be felt in the next film.
So yeah this ranks as my favorite movie watched in 2016. I'm probably more surprised that I loved this movie as much as I did than you are. What will 2017 have in store? I don't know, but I have changed up how I do my ranking 2 years in a row now, so I think I'm going to make it #3.
Stay tuned.
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