Seeing as Christmas is looming, and New Years is not soon
after, as it seems customary for those of a film-going disposition - here's a
'Review' of 2013. It's usually the case that people will try and assemble a
list of what they thought were the 'best' films, or order them by preference -
I'm just going to pick out my favourites, in no particular order; I'll also
pick out other film-related things which have had an impact on me this year.
First, here (in no particular order) are My Five
Favourite Films of 2013 - to start with, 'IRON MAN 3'.
This film deserved to be the most successful blockbuster
of the year - not just financially, but critically too - as it was a
tremendously entertaining action-comedy-thriller, which managed to be smart,
and occasionally subversive, too. I know
more than a few comic fans were really put out by the portrayal of The Mandarin
in this film - however I don't think anyone would argue that getting a
comic-faithful take that would not look either racist or anachronistic to the
rest of the Iron Man films would have been nigh-on impossible. Along with some great action sequences, funny
dialogue, and a non-nauseating pal-up with a kid, this was one of the master-strokes which proved that Marvel Studios have still got plenty to offer
after the success of 'The Avengers'.
Next up is 'THE WORLD'S END' - it's a shame, though
perhaps understandable, that this didn't get the same level of Box Office
success as the same team's previous cult-classics 'Shaun of the Dead' and 'Hot
Fuzz'; the humour in this is more low-key (though no less effective) than those
films, and the ending less likely to leave you with a glowing feeling (it's
pretty down-beat). However, I really
believe that this represents the team's most intelligent and thought provoking
work - not only in the portrayal of friendships, addiction, growing up, but
also bigger sci-fi themes such as technology and collectivisation vs the
individual. This is a film, I believe,
really needs more than one viewing to appreciate - I'm hoping I get a copy in
my stocking this Christmas so I get the chance to do that!
My next choice is 'GRAVITY', which has deservedly won
many plaudits as one of the best films of the year. A remarkable technical feat (you'd be
forgiven for thinking they DID actually film it in space!), visually stunning, tense
and thrilling - this is an important and entertaining piece of film making. It's rare that technical wizardry is married
to an intelligent approach to theme and visual metaphor, so this film is truly
special. Alfonso Cuaron's technical achievements
with this film are not the only reason this film should be held up as one of
the year's most important films - respect should be given to Sandra Bullock
too, whose central performance sells the drama, terror and tension of the
situation, and pulls of a believable arc for the main character.
The most flat-out fun I've had at the cinema this year
was 'PACIFIC RIM'; this film totally wears it's heart on it's sleeve, and has
no pretension as to what it is about - an entertaining block-buster featuring
giant freakin' robots fighting enormous frikkin' monsters! Yeah, the script could have been better, the
characterisation given more depth, perhaps a tighter plot line - but to be
completely honest, if you're wanting those from a film then this isn't the
place to look! Some have complained that
the film could have been darker and more mature, but Guillermo Del Toro stated
he wanted to make a film kids could watch, to give them the same experience he
had as a child watching Japanese 'Mecha vs Kaiju' movies. I think kids who watch this film, and continue watching it as they grow up, will realise there are suggestions of deeper, more
serious ideas (rationing, social divisions meaning the rich can escape the
Kaiju while the poor can't) which will resonate more with them over time. But as it is, this was just pure fun, and
with 'The Battle for Hong Kong' it had my favourite action sequence of the
entire year. Seriously, this sequence
was so good, that I genuinely believe if the film had been the box-office
success it deserved it would have made Michael Bay re-think his
involvement with the Transformers franchise.
And as an aside, can you imagine what those films would have been like
if he had brought the same amount of passion and just pure LOVE for the
subject, as Del Toro did to Pacific Rim?
It does make you wonder...
Finally, I round out my Five Favourite Films with 'THE CONJURING'. My expectations were quite
low for this movie going in to seeing it, so I was pleasantly surprised that
not only did it turn out to be far more than an uninspired tread-through of Horror
clichés - it is in fact a masterfully crafted thrill-ride of jumps and chills -
but that it was so much fun. Kudos to
James Wan for making what, I think at least, will be regarded as a benchmark
for future haunted house movies over the next few years.
Obviously, it isn't all good any year at the cinema -
whilst the bad films have been so obviously bad that they don't warrant
attention (though, sadly, in some cases it's not been an obstacle to box office success), sometimes a highly anticipated film can really let you down. I must say that for me the most disappointing
film of the year was 'STAR TREK: INTO DARKNESS'. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not a die-hard
Trekkie who is hating on Abram's take on the franchise - his reboot was tremendously
entertaining, and the cast he assembled have slotted in to their characters
masterfully. And it must be said that,
for the most part, 'ST:ITD' was also a fun, energetic, briskly paced romp - up
to a point. The part which, for me, and
I realise I'm not alone in taking this view, lets the film down is a couple of
decisions taken near the end which try to pull off the same type of moment as
the franchise's benchmark 'Wrath of Khan'.
Only, in this film not only is it kind of sign-posted, it also comes off
as a pretty misguided story-telling decision on the part of the writers.
I can understand why they wanted to harken to 'Khan' -
not only, as stated, is it the best 'Trek' film, the ending is regarded as one
of the most powerful in any franchise.
But the way it has been aped in 'ST:ITD' comes across as slightly
disrespectful perhaps at worst, but it shows that the writers don't truly have
confidence in the franchise - they seem to feel that they have to harken back
to specific moments in order to do 'justice' to Star Trek. And that is a real shame - as a friend of
mine put it, you show respect to Star Trek by making a good Star Trek
film. This rebooted franchise shouldn't
need to try and emulate previous high-points in the franchise - they've got a
great cast who really pull off their roles, the visual look is spot on (though
perhaps not so much of the lense flare, ok?), and the potential for exciting
and entertaining stories is tremendous - next time, if the writers just try to
write the best story they can to suit the characters and the actors portraying
them, then they can make a much better Star Trek film.
Finally, I'd just like to close this post with my
favourite piece of movie score this year; whilst Steven Price's 'Gravity' score
was the perfect match to the visuals, tension, terror and drama portrayed on
screen, and Ramin Djawadi's theme for 'Pacific Rim' was something of an
ear-worm for me - my favourite single piece is 'Flight', from Hans Zimmer's
score to the (partially successful) Superman reboot, 'Man of Steel'. As we look forward to 2014, hopefully there'll
be many great, memorable and entertaining movies that soar as high as Kal El
did to this theme.
Till then, Merry Christmas/Happy Hanukkah/Season's
Greetings & A Happy New Year!
No comments:
Post a Comment