At number 3, it's the long-awaited
return of one of cinema's most iconic franchises. I am of course
referring to...
3. SKYFALL
After spending half of the year
preparing for this movie by watching every single James Bond movie
since 1962's 'Dr. No', the good and the bad, I ended up calling
'Skyfall' the best Bond film yet. Considering that this is the 23rd
film in the longest running film series to date, that's quite a lot
to say about just one film. But there are many reasons why I consider
'Skyfall' the best, and a lot of it comes from how director Sam
Mendes takes Bond to new levels where he hasn't been before. While
this may not be the only film in the series that starts with Bond's
supposed 'death', this film doesn't ignore a key question. In the
modern technological world that we live in today, is someone like
Bond really needed anymore? It's established in this film that Q (now
played by Ben Whishaw, a very worthy successor to Desmond Llewellyn)
is perhaps superior to Bond, being able to do more on his laptop in
his pajamas before his first cup of Earl Grey than Bond can do in a
year. Pretty much the way to sum it up... is that Bond may be getting
too old for this s***.
Of course, you can't have a great Bond
film without a great villain, and Javier Bardem's Silva is easily one
of the franchise's best. Overall, his motive and background is
similar to that of Alec Trevelyan from Goldeneye, but I feel that
Silva is a more compelling villain. He's almost like the Joker from
'The Dark Knight' in that he is always one step ahead of MI6 no
matter what they try and do. Bardem isn't the only great actor in
this movie, which has probably the best cast of any Bond film yet.
The film also establishes new iterations of old characters, including
Q, a new Moneypenny (played by Naomie Harris, who does have great
chemistry with Daniel Craig), and a new M. Ralph Fiennes takes over
as Judi Dench makes her final appearance in the Bond franchise and
while Fiennes is a great actor to take on the role of M, he follows
in the footsteps of the series' best M.
Daniel Craig is excellent once again in
his third outing as Bond, continuing the fine line of work he has
done in 'Casino Royale' and 'Quantum of Solace' (Craig's performance
being the best part of the underwhelming latter). 'Skyfall' also
serves as the first film to go into Bond's back story, as he and M
travel to his old childhood home, Skyfall (hence the name of the
movie), in Scotland on the run from Silva. The film's biggest
strength is the relationship between Bond and M. Not only is Judi
Dench given her most substantial role yet, but she and Craig work off
each other extremely well. In the year that the Bond franchise
celebrates its 50th anniversary, it is blessed by a film
that is not only my pick for the best Bond film ever, but the number
three spot on this list.
For my Number 2 film, we have the third
film from another director who's becoming a force to be reckoned with
in Hollywood. This film may just be his best yet...
2. ARGO
After two Boston-based crime thrillers
in a row with 'Gone Baby Gone' and 'The Town', Ben Affleck leaves the
comfort of his hometown for the dangerous city of Tehran in the late
70's with 'Argo', based on the true story of the CIA's bold attempt
to rescue diplomats trapped in Tehran during the Iranian Revolution
by posing them as a film crew shooting on location. The thing about
this movie is that in a way, it's almost two movies in one. Aside
from the tense opening sequence, the first half is mostly played for
comedic effect as Tony Mendez, played by Affleck, tries to get the
'fake' movie idea up and running. After doing so, he heads off to
Tehran to help the diplomats get out of Iran and that is when the
movie shifts to a full-fledged thriller.
This leads to my biggest praise of the
movie in that it keeps you at the edge of your seat. That is
especially great when considering the fact that this is all based on
a true story. Before seeing the film, I did read about the whole
situation and how the diplomats were rescued so that puts Affleck at
a bit of a disadvantage. Still, the finale of the movie is quite
thrilling as Mendez and the diplomats attempt to get out of Tehran,
with Iranian guards on their backs. Affleck manages all of this
without going overboard with the violence. The movie is just
genuinely thrilling, even when it is based around something that
actually happened.
Of course, Affleck also continues to
prove how great he is when working with actors. In the lead role, he
is pretty subdued and allows his co-stars to shine in the spotlight,
most notably John Goodman as makeup artist John Chambers and Alan
Arkin as producer Lester Siegel. These two pretty much steal the show
and they both do a great job. But another key factor in this movie
that works to its advantage is the portrayal of the six diplomats who
Mendez attempts to rescue. They're not just side characters who don't
play a integral role to the movie. We are given reason to care about
them getting out of Iran alive. That is Argo in a nutshell, a film
that might just be Ben Affleck's best film as a director yet.
So because 'The Dark Knight Rises', a
film that many have put as their pick for the best film of the year,
is only at number 6 on this list, you've probably guessed what my
Number 1 is going to be so without further ado, my pick for the Best
Film of 2012 is...
1. THE AVENGERS
There's a big reason why 'The Avengers'
was my pick for not only the best film of the year, but also the best
superhero film of the year when compared to 'The Dark Knight Rises'.
This isn't because 'Avengers' had more superheroes in it because
that's not fair to 'Rises'. Also, aside from that, each movie is
different from the other. While 'The Dark Knight Rises' was a more
dark and intense film, 'Avengers' is a more lighthearted adventure.
But when these two movies are compared in other categories, 'The
Avengers' is just the better movie overall because it's proof of what
happens when you take your time when making a project as
unprecedented and big as this film.
Let's go back to 2008, when the first
Iron Man film came out. I'm sure I'm not the only one who doubted the
idea that an Avengers movie could work because there had never been a
film quite like it before. So what did Marvel do? They took their
time by making solo films for each of its main heroes: Iron Man,
Thor, Captain America, and the Hulk. They didn't just go for the
movie right away (unlike what DC is doing with 'Justice League').
Because of this, we are already connected to the characters and their
endeavors right off the bat. But even with all of these heroes,
director Joss Whedon, master of witty screenplays and large casts,
gives each character ample screen-time. No one hero is more important
than the others.
Whedon also makes sure that each of the
main heroes' personalities are still the same. Tony Stark, AKA Iron
Man, is still the wise-cracking 'genius, billionaire, playboy,
philanthropist' who doesn't work well with others. Steve Rogers, AKA
Captain America, is the noble 'leader' who struggles to adapt to the
new modern world he is now in after the events of 'The First
Avenger'. Thor, the god of Thunder and brother of the main villain
Loki, is the noble hero who is conflicted by his brother's actions.
There is also much stronger character development given to some of
the other major characters, including Black Widow, Loki, and Hawkeye.
In Iron Man 2, agent Natasha Romanoff,
AKA Black Widow, was more of an enigma and we weren't given much
about her back story. Here, that back story is given and she is also
given somewhat of a romantic subplot with Hawkeye. As for him, he is
probably the Avenger with the least screen-time, because for most of
the film, he is under Loki's control but his relationship with Black
Widow makes up for it. Finally, there's the god of mischief himself,
Loki. Now, Tom Hiddleston was great as Loki in 'Thor' but his motives
in that film were rather weak. Here, there's no messing around and
this film establishes as a great villain. Sure, when you get down to
it, his plan is kind of weak as he tries to get the Avengers fighting
each other, but he just has a great presence. He is hands down the
best superhero villain of the year.
But of course, there's one character I
haven't mentioned yet, and that is the Hulk. This is the Hulk's third
appearance in a Marvel film, and also the third in which he has been
played by a different actor. I would have liked to see Edward Norton
play Hulk again, but quite frankly, Mark Ruffalo blows Norton out of
the water. Like Norton, he perfectly captures the character of Bruce
Banner, and also manages to make him a pretty calm and unsuspecting
guy especially when considering his 'secret'. Whedon also utilizes
the character of the Hulk extremely well, not having Banner transform
into the Hulk until halfway into the movie. Of course, this leaves us
wanting more, but what we got is just plain awesome. The bottom line
is that if Marvel does another Hulk movie, DO NOT RECAST RUFFALO!
As I mentioned earlier, you can also
hand it to Whedon for making one of the best-written screenplays of
the year, that is just full of smart and witty dialogue, which lead
to some great, memorable, and funny scenes. Of course, there's the
scene where Loki is smashed up by the Hulk but the one that gets me
every time is when after Hulk and Thor crash down into Grand Central
Station on one of those giant alien space worms, Hulk just punches
Thor off-screen, right out of nowhere. I mean, the scene with Hulk
and Loki was hilarious but you can kind of tell that was going to
happen. This moment, on the other hand, just catches you off-guard. I
can just watch that scene with Hulk and Thor over and over again.
All in all, I can't really find any
major problems with 'The Avengers'. Sure, the opening is actually
rather slow and kind of boring, but the final hour of the film, where
the Avengers fight Loki and the invading forces of the Chitauri in
the middle of New York, makes it all worthwhile. Needless to say, I
am pumped for all of the upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe movies;
Iron Man 3, Thor: The Dark World, Captain America: The Winter
Soldier, Ant-Man, heck even that Guardians of the Galaxy movie. Why?
Because Marvel has hit the jackpot with this universe that they have
created and 'The Avengers' is the pinnacle of it all. That is why it
is my pick for the Best Film of 2012.
And those are my Top 12 Films of 2012.
See you next year!
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