Why a Top 12 instead of the traditional Top 10? Well, as
long-time readers know, this was mainly started as an inside joke to tie into
the fact that I started this site in 2012. But in the years since, I’ve found
that doing a Top 12 allows me to talk about even more of the great films that I
see every year. But before we begin, I must do what I always do and lay down my
ground rules for this annual list. First off, a fair warning for those who
haven’t seen any of the films that I’ll be discussing as these posts will be
filled to the brim with spoilers. In other words, the biggest moments in 2019’s
biggest films will be addressed in full detail. Thus, if you haven’t seen some
of the films that I’ll be talking about, don’t worry because I will be
providing links to my spoiler-free reviews of them throughout these next few
posts. Just look for the film posters as that’s where these links will be
located. Secondly, as you could probably notice by the smaller number of posts
that I’ve published in 2019, I don’t always have the time to go to the theater,
which means that I haven’t seen every new noteworthy release. This explains why
you won’t see films like this year’s Best Picture winner Parasite, the
Safdie Brothers’ Uncut Gems which garnered some major awards buzz for
Adam Sandler, or the Fred Rogers biopic A Beautiful Day in the
Neighborhood on this list, just to name a few. To be clear, though, that’s
only because I haven’t had the time to see them yet. With that in mind, I also
need to point out the fact that this list will be almost entirely made up of
sequels, remakes, and basically any film that falls into the ‘blockbuster’
category. I know that this probably won’t sit well with those who prefer indie
films and films that offer more ‘original’ stories, but those just aren’t the films
that I tend to go see regularly. Plus, let’s be frank, I’m not really
in the mood to get mercilessly grilled for liking a film that some may describe
as “an example of the film industry at its worst”.
Finally, I can’t stress enough about what is probably the
most important rule to remember of them all, especially nowadays… just be
respectful of other folks’ opinions. I mean, seriously, I frequently find it
hard to believe that, from an internet perspective, this is apparently nigh impossible to do. I know damn well that there will be folks out
there who will disagree with some of the choices on my list, especially since I
am including a few films that weren’t necessarily well-received. Likewise,
there were a few films this year that were massive hits… but I admittedly
wasn’t as big on them compared to others (e.g. Quentin Tarantino’s latest, Once
Upon a Time in Hollywood, and the billion-dollar grossing phenomenon that
was Joker). And yet, this doesn’t mean that I’m going to give people a
hard time for liking or disliking a certain film because I understand that
films will always fare differently with different people. Sadly, not everyone
online shares that same sentiment, and while a lot of this tends to come from
the obnoxious trolls that I mentioned earlier, you may be surprised to find
that, sometimes, this can also come from those who aren’t racist misogynists. And
as you might have guessed, I will certainly be addressing a lot of the
questionable online behavior that I’ve seen over the past year during this
list. Thus, with all that introductory information out of the way, it’s time to
finally get this party started as I present Rhode Island Movie Corner’s Top 12
Favorite Films of 2019. Today’s post will be the first of four that will be
published over the next few days that will be covering three films apiece. It
all begins with Part 1, where we’ll be delving into films #12-10.
As always, though, we
start things off with my Honorable Mentions. For this year’s list, I have 6
films to name…
If my previous reviews of this franchise are any indication,
I’ve been a consistent fan of the Fast and the Furious franchise,
especially since its unexpected resurgence in 2011. Many will agree that one of
the key factors to this was the introduction of Dwayne Johnson to the franchise’s
ensemble cast as the no-nonsense DSS agent Luke Hobbs. And thanks to the
introduction of Jason Statham’s imposing villain turned controversial anti-hero
Deckard Shaw in Furious 7, Johnson soon found himself an excellent
co-star to share the screen with, leading to the franchise’s first official
spin-off, Hobbs and Shaw. Under the solid direction of David Leitch,
who’s quickly becoming one of the best action directors in the business, Hobbs
and Shaw continues to provide fans of the franchise with everything that
it’s known for, especially when it comes to its trademark action sequences that
constantly defy all logic. In fact, this film manages to take the series’
already ludicrous plots to a whole new level by introducing a sinister organization
known as Eteon that’s represented by Brixton Lore (Idris Elba), a
cybernetically-enhanced super-soldier who literally refers to himself as ‘Black
Superman’. Although to be fair, it’s been a perpetual running gag at this
point about how many predict that this series will probably go to space someday,
so it’s arguably not that surprising that this spin-off is practically a
superhero film. Nevertheless, Johnson and Statham once again prove why they’ve
been such a dynamic duo in these films and are then backed by an equally strong
female lead in Vanessa Kirby’s Hattie Shaw, Deckard’s sister. The film even
does a better job than most of the other Fast and Furious films when it
comes to conveying the franchise’s long-running theme of the importance of family.
In short, yes, this is as mindless of an action blockbuster as you can get at
this point, but when it comes to the behemoth of a franchise that it stems from,
it goes without saying that you should already know exactly what you’re going
to get going into it.
The first of two Stephen King adaptations that will be
making an appearance on this list, Doctor Sleep is a follow-up to King’s
1977 classic The Shining. However, director Mike Flanagan’s adaptation
is a film that respects both the novel that precedes its source material and
director Stanley Kubrick’s 1980 film adaptation of it, which still stands as
one of the most iconic horror films of all-time despite being one of King’s
most despised adaptations of his work. While the imagery that Flanagan relies
on obviously stems from Kubrick’s film, he goes about this story of a now
grown-up Danny Torrance overcoming the trauma of his time spent at the Overlook
Hotel with the kind of emotional poignancy that King is known for. This extends
all the way to the film’s finale, which notably deviates from King’s 2013 novel
and instead opts for an ending that honors his version of The Shining.
Whereas Kubrick’s film concluded with Jack Torrance freezing to death in the
snow, King’s version ends with him sacrificing himself to destroy the Overlook.
Thus, in this film, Dan ends up taking his father’s place when it comes to the
task of ensuring that the horrors of the Overlook will never harm anyone again,
even if it comes at the cost of his own life. And while the film’s finale
somewhat devolves into one Shining callback after another (e.g. The
Grady Twins, the bloody elevator, etc.), Flanagan’s direction is phenomenal
throughout and Ewan McGregor is fantastic in the role of Dan Torrance. He’s
then backed by an equally terrific pair of performances from newcomer Kyliegh
Curran as young ‘Shining’ prodigy Abra and Rebecca Ferguson as the film’s
sinister antagonist, Rose the Hat. Because of all this, Doctor Sleep is
another prime example of why the horror genre has been in a state of resurgence
these past few years thanks to incredibly well-made films such as this one.
If there’s one major advantage that Jumanji: The Next
Level has over its predecessor, 2017’s Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle,
it’s that it doesn’t have to deal with any of the awkward bits of set-up that
came from that film. The early sequences of Welcome to the Jungle before
the main characters were sucked into Jumanji were the weaker parts of
that film due to their generally flat humor and the fact that the lead quartet
of Spencer, Martha, Fridge, and Bethany hadn’t yet gotten the solid character
development that they would come across while trapped in the game. Thus, since The
Next Level does continue from where its predecessor left off, the main
protagonists are a much more likable group this time around and the early
scenes before they head back into Jumanji flow a lot better because of this.
But, of course, the biggest highlight of these new Jumanji films is
getting to see Dwayne Johnson, Jack Black, Kevin Hart, and Karen Gillan taking
on the personalities of those who inhabit their in-game avatars. And because
the addition of new characters and the somewhat glitched status of the game
means that they occasionally switch avatars, these four get to partake in some
fun body swaps along the way. Highlights include the spot-on impressions of
Danny DeVito from both Johnson and new addition Awkwafina as thief Ming
Lightfoot and Fridge fully relishing in the chance to play as Gillan’s
dance-fighting commando Ruby Roundhouse. And while The Next Level does
admittedly rehash almost the exact same plot as its predecessor (right down to
having a practically non-existent villain), it’s still a highly entertaining
watch thanks to the phenomenal camaraderie of its main leads, top-notch humor, and
excellent action sequences. Thus, I will argue that the third installment of this
blossoming franchise is its best installment yet.
As Youtuber Patrick (H) Willems points out in his video ‘The Broken Formula of Music Biopics’, the musical biopic genre often abides by the
same narrative tropes, from montages of an artist’s success that don’t really
delve into their creative process to their subject’s struggles with a drug
addiction. And while the Elton John biopic Rocketman does delve into
some of those familiar tropes, director Dexter Fletcher manages to make the
most out of them. For starters, John’s lesser moments are emphasized just as
much as his career’s many highlights, right down to the opening sequence where he
goes into rehab and admits every single one of his addictions from drugs to his
shopaholic tendencies. The film also covers his struggles with his identity as
a gay man much better than 2018’s Freddie Mercury/Queen biopic Bohemian
Rhapsody, allowing us to truly sympathize with him when things get rough
(e.g. him trying to tell his mother, who admits that she already knew and
suggests that he’s setting himself up for a lonely life). This helps to make
the film’s ending where he finally begins to get his life back on track
incredibly satisfying and can best be summed up by the fully cathartic moment
where he sees a vision of his younger self who promptly asks, “When are you
going to hug me?”. And through it all, Taron Egerton is utterly phenomenal in
the title role as he perfectly conveys all that emotional depth while also delivering
amazing covers of John’s iconic songs. Because of all this, Rocketman is
easily one of the best films to come from the musical biopic genre thanks to its
strong visual style that perfectly matches the extravagant stage presence of
the one and only Elton John and a highly reverent take on everything that he
went through to become one of the all-time greats.
This is notably the first instance where a John Wick film
has appeared on this annual list. I didn’t see the first John Wick in
theaters back in 2014 and while I did see its 2017 follow-up Chapter 2 in
theaters, it just missed out on making my Honorable Mentions for that year’s
list. That’s not the case with Chapter 3 – Parabellum, however, and I’m
damn glad that I can finally devote a section of these lists to one of the best
action franchises there is. Even at three films in, the John Wick films
haven’t even remotely lost a beat when it comes to their amazing action
sequences as director Chad Stahelski once again ensures that they’re all
incredibly well-shot and brilliantly choreographed. Keanu Reeves is phenomenal as
always in the title role while being backed by a great ensemble cast made up of
series regulars like Ian McShane and Lance Reddick and newcomers like Halle
Berry and Mark Dacascos. And while Chapter 3 may be a tad bit overlong
for what is arguably the simplest plot of this series so far, with John Wick on
the run from practically every member of the assassin underworld, that same
sense of simplicity has also been a key factor to this series’ success. In
fact, one of the things that impresses me the most about the John Wick films
is how each installment naturally continues the story of the legendary Baba
Yaga, with the second and third films continuing right where their immediate
predecessors left off. And while I’m sure that I wasn’t the only one who initially
thought that Parabellum was being set up to be the finale to this
‘trilogy’, the film ends on yet another exciting cliffhanger as John and the
Bowery King prepare for war against the High Table. Sure enough, John Wick:
Chapter 4 is now in the works for a 2021 release, and if it’s anything like
the three films that came before it, don’t be surprised if it ends up landing a
key spot on that year’s ‘Best of’ list.
It’s really saying something about the current state of film
fandom when Captain Marvel, the first female-led installment of the MCU,
somehow became one of its most controversial installments for reasons that
didn’t even have anything to do with the film itself. Instead, this all started
when lead actress Brie Larson made some completely innocuous comments about the
need for a more diversified collection of reporters and film critics. For some
reason, the same misogynistic man-babies who got mad at Star Wars: The Last
Jedi interpreted these comments as sexist, prompting a lot of that clickbait
garbage that I mentioned back in the intro. Thankfully, though, this ultimately
meant nothing in the long run as the film became the 7th installment
of the MCU to gross $1 billion worldwide, and rightfully so. Now to start
things off, I will openly admit that while I do genuinely love this film, I
don’t consider it to be one of the ‘best’ installments of the MCU. Like the
first Ant-Man, it takes a little bit for the film to get going and its
big twist in which the faction of Skrulls led by Talos are revealed to be
peaceful refugees hiding from the sinister Kree Empire yields mixed results
when it comes to its overall execution. On the one hand, it’s a neat idea to
have a noble group of Skrulls in contrast to their traditionally villainous
portrayals in the comics and Ben Mendelsohn is phenomenal in the role of Talos.
However, this twist also ends up severely hindering the real villains of the
film, Carol Danvers’ former Kree squad Starforce, since they barely get any
screen-time beforehand. Their leader Yon-Rogg (Jude Law) does get a pass,
however, since the film properly establishes a teacher-mentor relationship
between him and Carol and their final conflict is truly a memorable one.
Instead of a more traditional final brawl like we usually see in these films,
Yon-Rogg declares that he’s proud of Carol’s personal growth and requests
another one of their usual sparring matches… which concludes with Carol
promptly knocking him on his ass with just one photon blast, indisputably
confirming that she no longer has anything to prove to him.
On that note, Brie Larson does an excellent job in the title
role of Carol Danvers AKA Captain Marvel. While I’m aware that some were thrown
off by Carol’s overly snarky attitude, I’d argue that it’s very appropriate for
a character who’s spent most of her life being told what to do. Because of this,
her transformation into the MCU’s newest heroine is one of the most satisfying superhero
origin stories in recent memory. Whether it’s the words of encouragement that
she gets from her best friend Maria Rambeau or the montage where we see that
she always got back up whenever she was knocked down, this is what ultimately provides
the film with that trademark emotional poignancy that we’ve fully come to
expect from the MCU. And for most of the film, she’s backed excellently by MCU
mainstay Samuel L. Jackson in what is easily his most substantial role to date as
Nick Fury. Since this film takes place in the mid-’90s before most of the other
films in the MCU, Marvel Studios’ impressive de-aging technology is used to its
fullest extent to de-age Jackson for an era before Fury became the director of
S.H.I.E.L.D. This film even lets us see how Fury lost his left eye by means of
arguably the film’s biggest standout, Goose the Cat AKA Goose the Flerken. And
yes, I know that some found this reveal to be rather lame (especially given the
line in Captain America: The Winter Soldier where Fury remarks that “the
last time [he] trusted someone, [he] lost an eye…”), but if you ask me, it’s
utterly hilarious (“MOTHERFLERKEN!!!”). In conclusion, like with the whole
debacle that arose over Star Wars: The Last Jedi, I know that the
faction of trolls who tried to ruin this film’s reputation is just a small
part of our current online film fandom. Nevertheless, it’s incredibly frustrating
that they continue to be such an infuriating nuisance online, which they once
again proved in this instance by making Captain Marvel, through no fault
of its own, a source of intense scandal.
And now we officially
move on to the Top 12, which begins the same way that it did in 2017 with a
horror film. As I’ve made it clear in the past, I’m admittedly not that big a
fan of horror films. Despite this, however, these past few years have allowed me
to gain a greater appreciation for the genre thanks to both James A. Janisse
and Chelsea Rebecca’s YouTube channel Dead Meat and, of course, the many
great horror films that have come out over the past few years. This includes
our #12 film, which is the latest directorial outing from one of the most exciting
new filmmakers in the industry.
Us serves as the sophomore directorial effort of the
one and only Jordan Peele after his 2017 smash hit Get Out, which went
on to win the Oscar that year for Best Original Screenplay. However, I’ll admit
that I didn’t go see it in theaters when it came out that March since that was
before the point when I truly started to get into the horror genre. Ultimately,
though, I did make sure to see it before that year’s Oscars, and like many
others, I found it to be one of the best films of 2017. And because of this, I
knew that there was no way that I was going to miss seeing Us in
theaters because I knew that it would elicit an excellent theater-going
experience, which it very much did. One particular moment that I still remember
is when an audience member yelled “Get ‘em, M’Baku!”, in reference to lead
actor Winston Duke’s breakout role in Black Panther, during the
scene where the Wilson family is first attacked by their Tethered doppelgangers.
As that moment suggests, Us clearly lived up to Get Out’s status
as a premier film to see with a crowd, but when it comes to the films
themselves, they couldn’t be any more different. Get Out, of course, was
a psychological horror-thriller that focused on the ever so timely topic of
modern-day racism. Us, by comparison, is a far more traditional type of
horror film but is just as well-layered as Get Out was when it comes to
its relevant themes. In this instance, Us revolves around the concept of
class discrimination with the film’s main antagonists, the Tethered, being a
vastly underprivileged group of clones who have been stuck in underground
tunnels for many years after the government put an end to the failed experiment
that had spawned them in the first place. As the film’s main antagonist Red
later reveals, the Tethered were meant to be a means of controlling those who
lived up above, with two different bodies sharing the same soul.
But while Us certainly delivers on the intense horror
action that fans of this genre crave, it also gives Jordan Peele a chance to
showcase the style of humor that he’s been well-known for his entire career. The
Wilson family’s strong camaraderie ends up being the primary source of the
film’s best humorous moments, including the big debate that they get into at
one point over how many Tethered beings that they’ve killed. But, of course,
the biggest aspect of this film is that each cast member plays both their main
character and their Tethered doppelganger. It’s a complex undertaking, for
sure, but thanks to the strong work from Peele and his crew, any scene where
the characters directly share the screen with their Tethered doubles are well
put-together and everyone is phenomenal in their dual roles. It’s all headlined
by Lupita Nyong’o’s outstanding lead turn as main protagonist Adelaide and the
Tethered’s sinister leader Red, which paves the way for one hell of a plot
twist following the finale, in which Adelaide heads into the underground tunnels
to confront Red after she kidnaps her son Jason. The final fight between these
two is easily the best part of the film thanks to everything from the pitch-perfect
editing and fight choreography to composer Michael Abels’ chilling use of the song “I Got 5 on It” by Luniz in his score. And after all that she and her
family have been through throughout this film, Adelaide finally brings
this nightmare to an end by killing Red and rescuing Jason. But as the Wilson
family drives away from all the carnage on the Santa Cruz boardwalk, Adelaide
then begins to reflect on the first time that she ever crossed paths with Red back
in 1986.
When she was a little girl, Adelaide wandered into a deserted
funhouse where she came across a girl who looked just like her. As we’re
initially led to believe, this incident traumatized Adelaide so much that it left
her silent for many years. But at the very end, we see what really happened
when Adelaide ran into this doppelganger… who promptly choked her out, dragged her
down to the underground tunnels, and took her place up in the real world. Yes,
the Adelaide that we’ve been following this whole time was her Tethered while
Red was the original Adelaide who had become the de facto leader of the
Tethered and orchestrated their whole plot as a means of revenge. It’s a brilliant
twist that, upon re-watch, was set up and teased perfectly, whether it’s the
fact that Red’s the only Tethered who could speak (albeit in a raspy voice stemming
from her injuries) or the various instances where Adelaide makes the same kind
of animalistic grunts that the non-speaking Tethered make. It’s also impressive
how this twist effectively makes Adelaide and Red both the protagonist and
antagonist of their respective situations, with the former managing to become
the first Tethered who successfully seized the chance to live a normal life
even if it screws over the real Adelaide in the process. With all this in mind,
it’s easy to see why Us was yet another Grade-A effort from Jordan Peele,
whose sharp attention to detail when it comes to his scripts has yielded two of
the most well-written horror films in recent memory.
At Number 11, we have
the first animated film on this list with the latest installment of a truly delightful
franchise. Sadly, though, it can also be described as a prime example of a film
that, upon its release, was criminally overlooked for reasons that I find
highly questionable.
In 2014, Phil Lord and Chris Miller took a project that many
figured would be nothing but a cynical cash-grab and turned it into a beautifully
animated film that was both effortlessly funny and wholly heartwarming. That
film was The LEGO Movie, which was the first official theatrically released
film based on the beloved line of plastic construction toys. Three years later,
the film got a spin-off centered on one of its most popular characters, Will
Arnett’s LEGO Batman. And while The LEGO Batman Movie was far more
humor-oriented (complete with an endless array of nods to practically every
facet of the Dark Knight’s extensive lore), it still delivered the strong
emotional poignancy that helped make its predecessor the masterpiece that it
was. But that wasn’t the only LEGO film of 2017 as there was also The LEGO
Ninjago Movie, an adaptation of the company’s widely popular Ninjago line.
However, this one did not do as well with critics and audiences compared to the
previous two films, and yet, while I’ll admit that I didn’t see it in theaters,
I did end up liking it when I eventually saw it on digital. Granted, I wouldn’t
call it the ‘best-written’ of these recent LEGO films, but it still had
the series’ trademark sense of humor and the main plot of a son trying to
reconnect with his father (who just so happens to be an evil warlord) paved the
way for some hard-hitting emotional moments. But now we’ve finally returned to
the side of the franchise that started it all with The LEGO Movie 2: The
Second Part, and while Lord and Miller weren’t the directors this time
around, they were still heavily involved with the production as its producers
and primary screenwriters.
The LEGO Movie 2 does an excellent job continuing the
story of the LEGO universe as envisioned by a young boy named Finn who, at the
end of the previous film, was told that his younger sister Bianca would soon be
joining in on his playtime. Thus, in the LEGO world, invaders from the planet
Duplo arrive and terrorize the city of Bricksburg, effectively turning it into
a Mad Max-style post-apocalyptic wasteland, Apocalypseburg. And if that
wasn’t enough, the main characters soon find themselves kidnapped by General
Sweet Mayhem on behalf of Queen Watevra Wa’Nabi of the Systar System, prompting
Emmet to try and rescue them with the help of ‘galaxy defending, archeologist,
cowboy, and raptor trainer’ Rex Dangervest. However, as Emmet and his
girlfriend Lucy/Wyldstyle soon discover, the residents of the Systar System
only want to establish a peaceful relationship with them (which is reflected in
the real world by Bianca’s attempts to spend time with her brother) even if
they weren’t exactly good at illustrating their peaceful intentions. Instead,
it’s revealed that Rex is trying to cause the destruction of both their
universes AKA ‘Armamageddon’, which is represented by Finn and Bianca’s mother reprimanding
the two for their squabbling and forcing them to put away their toys. Rex is then
revealed to be a future version of Emmet who became a cynical shell of his
former self after being abandoned for years and vowed to change all that via a
time travel machine made out of the DeLorean, Bill and Ted’s phone booth, the
TARDIS, H.G. Wells’ Time Machine, “Whatever Skynet’s been using”, and the hot tub
from Hot Tub Time Machine.
There’s a lot to unpack from all this, but the key thing to
take from it is how Lord, Miller and director Mike Mitchell manage to craft a
story that provides some nice contrast to what we saw from the original film. Specifically,
they challenge the notion that people might’ve gotten from the first film’s
catchy anthem ‘Everything is Awesome’ by showing that ‘Everything’s Not Awesome’ but that’s okay because it’s better to stick together through thick
and thin. In other words, whereas the first film primarily served as a
celebration of creativity, the second film honors the importance of
togetherness in the face of toxic attitudes like the one that Rex maintains
throughout the film. And through it all, The LEGO Movie 2 maintains
everything that we’ve come to expect from this franchise. It boasts amazing
animation that deftly honors the stop-motion animation style that has defined
numerous LEGO fan films and the franchise’s trademark sense of humor continues
to be strong throughout, whether it’s thanks to the cavalcade of fourth wall
jokes or the film’s hilarious musical numbers. Yes, The LEGO Movie 2 features
a full soundtrack of original songs from comedian/songwriter Jon Lajoie and
they’re all excellent. There’s Queen Watevra Wa’Nabi’s opening number ‘Not Evil’, where she assures the gang that she’s totally not an evil queen despite
the ‘super evil’ vibes that she’s giving off. She also headlines a hilarious duet
with Batman, ‘Gotham City Guys’, where she tricks him into proposing to her by acting
like she prefers guys like his long-time rival Superman, complete with
references to every single live-action incarnation of Batman up to that point.
And just like the first film, there’s a fully intentional earworm of a song that’s
meant to rival ‘Everything is Awesome’ appropriately titled ‘Catchy Song’… and
yes, it does indeed live up to that reputation by easily being a song that’s
“going to get stuck inside your heaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaad!”
Any way you look at it, The LEGO Movie 2 is another
masterpiece from this awesome franchise… so it’s sad, then, to know that it just
didn’t do too well at the box-office. To be clear, the film did solidly with
critics even if a lot of them felt that ‘it wasn’t as fresh as the first film’
which, as some of you might recall, is a recently trending bit of film
criticism that I’m not a fan of. Simply put, just say that it’s not as good as
its predecessor; don’t ding it just because it’s a sequel. Anyway, upon its
release, the film barely managed to do better than The LEGO Ninjago Movie
financially as it only grossed around $191 million worldwide, which is a far
cry from what the original LEGO Movie and The LEGO Batman Movie pulled
off several years prior. Many have attributed this to the idea of ‘franchise
fatigue’… which, I won’t lie, kind of rubs me the wrong way because I really
don’t see why this would be such a big deal in this instance. Superhero
fatigue? Yes, it’s a concept that’s the absolute bane of my existence, but as
much as I hate to say it, it’s a reasonable possibility given how prevalent the
superhero genre has been this past decade. Star Wars fatigue? Again, I
don’t buy it since it’s not like the recent films have flooded the market or
anything, but given that Star Wars is quite arguably the biggest
franchise there is, it’s perfectly understandable if some folks have found
themselves overwhelmed by the yearly release schedule that they’ve been on
recently. By comparison, there have only been four of these recent LEGO films
since 2014, and apart from LEGO Batman and LEGO Ninjago both
coming out in 2017, they’ve all been released a few years apart from each
other.
And if that wasn’t enough, this film’s overall underperformance
effectively made it the last entry in the series to be produced by Warner
Bros., who would end up relinquishing their distribution rights several months
later. At this time, future LEGO films will be made by Universal, and while I’m
sure that they will be just as great as the ones that we’ve gotten, I have the
feeling that a major series overhaul is about to happen because of all this.
Sure, there’s a second LEGO Batman film that’s reportedly in the works,
but since Warner Bros. is behind all the big DC Comics projects on both the big
and small screen, this could potentially end up being a bit of a problem from a
legal perspective. There’s also that Billion Brick Race project that’s
been in development for years now, but at this point, who even knows if that’s
still a thing? At the very least, there may be a chance that Phil Lord and
Chris Miller might still be involved with the franchise since they recently agreed
to a production deal with Universal. Nevertheless, it’s completely unclear
right now what’s going to happen to this franchise going forward. Now with all
this said, I recognize that it’s necessary, sometimes, for certain franchises
to take a break when they start to suffer from diminishing returns. Simply put,
it’s a natural consequence of an always-evolving industry. But at the end of
the day, I just don’t understand why the LEGO Movie franchise deserved
such a tragic fate when there literally wasn’t anything wrong with it. Case in
point, The LEGO Movie 2 is endearing to a fault and so well-written that
it fully succeeds at being both a light-hearted comedy and a timely parable of
optimism.
To start off this
year’s Top 10, we have, admittedly, the only entry on this list that scored a Best
Picture nomination at this year’s Oscars. And yet, it’s easy to see why given
how this film more than delivers when it comes to its pure, kinetic thrills.
There’s a lot to love about director James Mangold’s dramatization
of the long-standing feud between two of the most famous car manufacturers in
the industry, specifically focusing on Ford’s historic victory at the 24 Hours
of Le Mans race in 1966 that promptly brought an end to Ferrari’s six-year
winning streak there. Thanks to Mangold’s excellent direction, the film boasts amazing
racing sequences that are made even better by the fact that they were all done
practically. However, the film also benefits greatly from strong pacing and
editing, meaning that even with a hefty two-and-a-half-hour runtime, there’s
never a dull moment. A lot of this is thanks to how the film effectively
manages to be a thoroughly engaging ‘David and Goliath’ story on two different
fronts. While it is primarily focused on Ford’s efforts to beat Ferrari at its
own game, it’s also very much about the two men who made it all happen, car designer/engineer
Carroll Shelby and driver Ken Miles. These two men weren’t exactly in line with
Ford’s squeaky-clean image (as seen by their many conflicts with Ford VP Leo
Beebe that usually revolve around the decision to have Miles be one of their drivers
at Le Mans), but they knew that the only way to beat Ferrari was to challenge
that status quo. Their excellent camaraderie is on full display throughout,
especially thanks to Matt Damon and Christian Bale’s outstanding turns as
Shelby and Miles, respectively. Shelby’s dignified Southern charm and Miles’ brash
British attitude provide an all-around fun dynamic that promptly builds to a
finale that manages to go down a few routes that a lot of other films in its
genre wouldn’t normally go.
Given that this is a film based on a true story, it goes
without saying that the film ends exactly the way you’d think going in by
showing Ford finally beating Ferrari at Le Mans. And yet, it’s not exactly a
‘happy ending’ because while Miles dominates most of the race, he’s pressured
by the Ford higher-ups to slow down so that the other two Ford drivers can
catch up to him and they can cross the finish line together. While this
decision clearly angers our two main protagonists, Miles does end up managing
to be a team player in this instance and eases up on his lead so that Ford can
have their picture-perfect moment… which then results in one of the other Ford
drivers being named the winner of the race on a technicality. Undeterred, Miles
and Shelby begin to prepare for next year’s race… but this ends in tragedy when
Miles is killed in a fiery car crash during a test drive. In another biopic, a
moment like this would’ve been relegated to the closing bits of text that pop
up on-screen before the credits. But in this case, the film continues from that
moment, ultimately concluding with Shelby visiting Miles’ widow Mollie and her
son Peter (who was there when his father died, making Miles’ death even more
tragic) and giving the latter the wrench that Miles threw at him before the
race seen at the beginning of the film. This final moment truly illustrates how
James Mangold managed to find the emotionally poignant human element in this iconic
focal point in the history of auto racing. And because of this, Ford v
Ferrari manages to find that perfect balance between being a well-made
drama that managed to attract some major attention at the Oscars this year and
a highly-entertaining crowd-pleaser that doesn’t require a background in
automobile racing to appreciate such an incredible film.
And that concludes
Part 1 of Rhode Island Movie Corner’s Top 12 Favorite Films of 2019. Thanks for
following along and be sure to check back in tomorrow for Part 2, where I’ll be
delving into films #9-7.
