Top 12 FAVORITE FILMS OF 2019: #12-10 + Honorable Mentions

As you might recall, the intro to my ‘Top 12 Favorite Films of 2018’ list mainly consisted of some particularly critical statements on the current state of film fandom. Fueled in large part by the explosively divisive reaction to 2017’s Star Wars: The Last Jedi, the internet quickly forgot the age-old rule of film (“Everything is subjective”) and devolved into a series of violent online feuds and unnecessarily cruel attacks against members of the film industry. Well, folks, I’m sorry to say that this only got WORSE in 2019 as practically every major film fandom there is got corrupted by some of the most toxic ‘fans’ (a term I use very loosely) that I’ve ever seen in the decade that I’ve spent as a film critic. As I’ve said plenty of times before, it’s perfectly okay if you find yourself in a situation where you didn’t quite like a film since film itself is a subjective medium. What I don’t understand, however, is why certain folks on the internet feel that the best way to express their views on the matter is to vehemently attack those responsible for making the films as if they’ve committed a crime against humanity or something. And sadly, you can see this toxic behavior practically anywhere you look online. For example, if you go on YouTube and type in a member of the film industry who’s deemed ‘problematic’ in the eyes of these ‘internet types’ (e.g. Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy, Last Jedi director Rian Johnson, Captain Marvel’s Brie Larson, etc.), you’ll find nothing but an endless array of their racist, misogynistic garbage flooding the top search results. It goes without saying that crap like this has made my job as a film critic a hell of a lot harder than it has ever been in the past and was one of the main reasons why I decided not to do a ‘Top 10 Worst of 2019’ list. Simply put, I just didn’t want to contribute to all that negativity. And yet, that won’t stop me from doing my annual retrospective on the year prior to give you all my Top 12 Favorite Films of 2019.

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…

FAST AND FURIOUS PRESENTS – HOBBS AND SHAW

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.

DOCTOR SLEEP

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.

JUMANJI: THE NEXT LEVEL

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.

ROCKETMAN

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.

JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 3 – PARABELLUM

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.

CAPTAIN MARVEL

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 7^th 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.

12. US

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.

11. THE LEGO MOVIE 2: THE SECOND PART

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.

10. FORD V FERRARI

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.

Onward (2020) review

What’s this? Two Pixar films in one year? And they’re both original stories? “Huzzah!”, the internet proclaimed. Yes, it’s safe to say that 2020 marks a new era for one of the most revered animation studios in the industry. For starters, it’s the first feature in the studio’s history to not involve one of its most prominent figures, John Lasseter, after he left the company in 2018 due to the various sexual misconduct allegations directed against him, with fellow Pixar mainstay Pete Docter now serving as the studio’s Chief Creative Officer. But the change that has excited the internet the most is that following the release of Toy Story 4 last year, Pixar announced that it would be their last ‘sequel’ film for the foreseeable future in favor of doing more original stories like the ones that made them famous in the first place. For fans of the studio, this was a very big deal given the arguably mixed run that Pixar has had over the past few years when it came to doing follow-ups to some of their most beloved works. Personally, though, I’ve loved most of the films that came out during that time, which means that the demand for Pixar to do more original stories wasn’t that big of a concern for me, especially given how the internet often has intense expectations for Pixar films either way. Nevertheless, here we are with the first Pixar film of 2020, Onward, which serves as the second feature-length directorial effort of Dan Scanlon. Since joining Pixar in 2001, Scanlon served as a storyboard artist for the first Cars and was the co-director of that film’s direct-to-DVD short, Mater and the Ghostlight. Scanlon would ultimately make his feature-length directorial debut with the company via Monsters University, the 2013 prequel to the studio’s 2001 masterpiece Monsters’ Inc. But as for Onward, Scanlon’s main source of inspiration for this suburban fantasy adventure was his own personal experiences of losing his father at a young age and the relationship that he formed with his older brother in the wake of that moment. And with that personal backstory in mind, it’s easy to see why Onward ends up being yet another classic (and devastatingly emotional) outing from Pixar. 

In the old days, the world was full of beings who could conjure powerful magic. However, these magical abilities proved to be incredibly difficult to learn, and in due time, this world of fantastical creatures began to rely more on technology instead, thus paving the way for a more modern lifestyle. In the present day in the town of New Mushroomton, a teenaged elf named Ian Lightfoot (voiced by Tom Holland) celebrates his 16^th birthday. During this time, Ian begins to wonder about what his father Wilden was like since he unfortunately passed away before he was born. And as luck would have it, his widowed mother Laurel (voiced by Julia Louis-Dreyfus) gives him and his older brother Barley (voiced by Chris Pratt) a gift from their father, which turns out to be a mythical wizard’s staff. Almost immediately, Barley, who’s a massive fan of fantasy role-playing games, deduces that their dad had studied magic and the brothers discover that he had collected a rare Phoenix gem that would allow them to cast a Visitation spell that would bring him back to life for one day. Ian soon discovers that he possesses the rare ability to conjure such magic, but unfortunately, his attempt to use the spell isn’t a complete success, resulting in only the lower half of their father’s body materializing into existence. And since the powers of the Phoenix gem that their father found were used up during this attempt, Ian and Barley head out on a quest to find a new gem in the next 24 hours so that they can complete the spell and reunite with the father that they never got the chance to know.

Onward certainly crafts a fun fantasy world that combines its cast of mythical creatures with the visual aesthetic of modern-day suburbia. However, for those fearing that this means that Pixar has just made a film that relied entirely on modern references like several of its competitors tend to do, that’s not even remotely the case here. Sure, you do have some characters using cell-phones here and there and other bits of modern technology, but moments like these never overtake the key narrative points of the story while still resulting in plenty of fun visual gags that are brought to life by Pixar’s always-stellar animation. Admittedly, I wouldn’t call this the ‘best-looking’ Pixar film to date, but since this is still Pixar we’re talking about, the animation is top-notch regardless. And given the nature of the plot in which the main characters are guided by Barley’s extensive knowledge of role-playing games, this film is filled with tons of references to the genre. While I’m personally not too familiar with the likes of Dungeons and Dragons and other popular fantasy RPG’s, those who are will surely love all the nods that this film contains and how, from what I can tell, it perfectly captures the spirit of these adventures. But, of course, Pixar also knows how to deliver on the emotional depth of their stories, and Onward is no exception. After all, this is a story in which two brothers are trying to bring their father back to life (even if it’s just for one day) that’s based heavily on writer/director Dan Scanlon’s own life. Thus, it goes without saying that Onward hits hard when it comes to its emotional beats.

Onward also happens to be quite special in the fact that it serves as an unexpected crossover between Spider-Man and Peter Quill AKA Star-Lord… all joking aside, it’s kind of funny how Tom Holland and Chris Pratt’s characters in this film end up mirroring their respective superhero roles in the MCU to a tee. Ian’s the socially awkward teenager with something to prove while Barley’s the boisterous rogue who, despite his goofy nature, has experienced quite a bit on an emotional level. With that in mind, Holland and Pratt do phenomenal jobs in their respective roles. The brotherly camaraderie between them is superb and just like they’ve done for years now over in the MCU, these two brilliantly handle all the film’s big emotional moments. Holland and Pratt are then backed nicely by the duo of Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Ian and Barley’s mother Laurel and Octavia Spencer as Corey, a manticore who the brothers seek out given the significant role that her species often plays in fantasy RPG’s. And while the fact that the film focuses primarily on Ian and Barley means that Laurel and Corey admittedly don’t get that involved in the action until the climax, they also form a fun partner dynamic once the two of them meet up. Julia Louis-Dreyfus brings just as much heart to her role as Tom Holland and Chris Pratt do to theirs as a mom who’s fully dedicated to keeping her boys out of trouble while Octavia Spencer has a lot of fun with Corey’s arc of rediscovering her adventurous spirit after several years of being in an unfulfilling job as the owner of a local family restaurant.

As I’ve pointed out several times over the years, I’m not exactly part of the crowd who continues to have incredibly high expectations for Pixar films to the point where any Pixar film that isn’t an outright masterpiece ends up getting ignored. It’s a tragic fate that has, unfortunately, affected quite a few of the studio’s films over the years such as Brave, Monsters University and The Good Dinosaur. And while Onward technically hasn’t been a flop with critics and audiences (although that pesky coronavirus will certainly do a number on it at the box-office), I also wouldn’t be surprised if it ends up getting completely overshadowed by Soul, Pixar’s other 2020 release that will be coming out in June. It’d be quite the sad scenario if that did happen, though, since I would argue that Onward is another masterpiece from the legendary animation studio. Like many of Pixar’s classic outings, Onward is a delightful fantasy adventure that delivers an excellently written story full of highly endearing characters. The fantastical world that it creates is a lot of fun to explore and the main adventure that its heroes go on is so well-handled that you don’t need to be an expert in the lore of Dungeons and Dragons to appreciate it (although it would make the journey even more satisfying). But, of course, the best Pixar tradition that Onward dutifully maintains is its impeccable ability to tug at the heartstrings with a story that’s just as much about brotherhood as it is about two brothers hoping to get the chance to have a connection with the father that they never knew. Because of all this, it’s easy to see real growth in Dan Scanlon’s talents as a director and how he’s shaping up to be a major standout amongst Pixar’s next generation of filmmakers. And while I again recognize the fact that this film will undoubtedly be impacted by the global pandemic that we’re all dealing with right now, I also hope that it’s ultimately the main reason why since that’d be a much easier pill to swallow than the fact that this is another Pixar film that isn’t being regarded as a ‘15/10 masterpiece’.

Rating: 5/5!

Pixar films have almost always been accompanied by one of the studio’s shorts that precede the main feature… however, while I’ve been reviewing Pixar films on this site for the past 8 years now, I’ve realized that I don’t usually talk about the shorts that they’re paired with. The only instance where I have addressed one of them was in my review of Coco when I also reviewed Olaf’s Frozen Adventure, and that was just due to the unique situation of it being a Frozen short instead of something that came directly from Pixar. Thus, I’ve decided that starting now, every Pixar review that I do from this point on will conclude with a brief discussion about the short that accompanies it (if there is one). This new tradition begins with, of all things, a Simpsons short.

PLAYDATE WITH DESTINY

The most famous animated family in pop culture recently joined the Disney universe following Disney’s purchase of 20^th Century Fox (now 20^th Century Studios) last year. This fact is well-reflected in this short, as it opens with a shot of Mickey Mouse’s iconic silhouette… before being revealed to be an image of Homer Simpson holding two donuts and then cutting to a title card proclaiming that ‘Disney welcomes The Simpsons’. And at the end of the short, Mickey can be seen in the production logo for producer James L. Brooks’ company Gracie Films as one of the theater patrons. Anyway, Playdate with Destiny is the second theatrical short to come from The Simpsons; the first was The Longest Daycare, which ran with 2012’s Ice Age: Continental Drift. Both shorts revolve around the youngest member of the Simpsons family, Maggie, with this new short consisting of her meeting a boy named Hudson, the adventures that they go on together, and her efforts to see him again the next time she’s taken to the park, which becomes rather complicated when Homer’s the one taking her instead of Marge. Keeping in line with the fact that Maggie usually never speaks on the show, this short is almost entirely dialogue-free and instead opts for visual humor. And while there’s been plenty of debate over the years regarding the quality of a show that’s been on the air for three decades now, this is a genuinely cute little short that develops a whirlwind romance out of an innocuous playdate between two babies. I wouldn’t go as far as to say that this is one of the best things to come out of The Simpsons (which, admittedly, I can’t say much about anyway since I haven’t watched a lot of it), but it’s still a pleasant watch nevertheless. And if that wasn’t enough, the events of this short will be addressed in an upcoming episode of the show that’s set to air on April 19^th.

Sonic the Hedgehog (2020) review

In the ’90s, video gaming was primarily defined by the intense rivalry between the two biggest game developers in the industry at the time, Nintendo and Sega. For the longest time, Nintendo had been the most dominant force in the industry thanks in large part to their third-generation home video game console, the Nintendo Entertainment System, which almost single-handedly saved the industry from financial ruin after the video game crash of 1983. And ever since his debut in the 1981 arcade classic Donkey Kong, the red-hatted Italian plumber named Mario has been the company’s quintessential mascot. During this time, another company named Sega was also developing its own video game consoles, and in 1988, they released their first 16-bit system, the Sega Genesis. While the console wasn’t exactly a top-selling item in Sega and Nintendo’s native country of Japan, it fared far more successfully in the U.S., where it promptly challenged Nintendo’s own 16-bit system, the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, thus paving the way for the concept known as ‘console wars’ that technically still persists to this day. And just like Nintendo, Sega’s success would become defined by its own mascot, a blue anthropomorphic hedgehog with super-speed known as Sonic. Developed primarily by programmer Yuji Naka and artist Naoto Ohshima, Sonic the Hedgehog would officially make his debut in the 1991 Genesis game of the same name. As you might have guessed, it was a massive hit upon its release and effectively made Sonic one of the most recognizable video game protagonists of all-time. Since then, the series has seen numerous follow-ups over the years, with some even making their way onto Nintendo consoles after Sega transitioned away from developing consoles in 2001.

Admittedly, though, the Sonic franchise has had a tumultuous run over the years when it comes to the overall reception of its games. In other words, amidst successful outings like the original quadrilogy of games for the Genesis and more recent titles like Sonic Generations and Sonic Mania, other installments like Sonic ’06 and Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric have been some of the most critically savaged games in recent memory. Nevertheless, Sonic the Hedgehog continues to be a prominent figure in the world of gaming and has even left his mark on other forms of media. In the world of comics, Sonic was responsible for one of the longest-running series in the medium’s history thanks to his 24-year run with Archie Comics. He’s also headlined several successful TV series over the years, including the beloved 90’s series Sonic the Hedgehog (affectionately referred to by fans as SatAM) and the TV adaptation of the Sonic Boom games. And yet, it wasn’t until nearly three decades after his initial debut on the Genesis that the blue blur would finally get to make his feature film debut. That’s not to say that an attempt at a Sonic the Hedgehog film has never happened, however, as this film has technically been in the works since 1993. However, it wasn’t until 2016 when production would finally get underway on the film under the direction of VFX artist Jeff Fowler in his directorial debut, who developed it alongside his long-time collaborator, Deadpool director Tim Miller. And, of course, as I’m sure many of you reading this already know, this film attracted quite a bit of infamy online when the intensely negative reaction to Sonic’s initial design prompted a full-on redesign. But now the film has finally come out and the result is a decently entertaining popcorn flick that, largely thanks to that crucial redesign, does a nice job of adapting its popular source material.

On a far-off planet known as Green Hill, a young hedgehog named Sonic (voiced by Ben Schwartz) is constantly on the run from those who are after his ability to run at insanely high speeds. He eventually ends up traveling to Earth, where he spends the next ten years living a secret life in the town of Green Hills, Montana unbeknownst to its residents. However, when Sonic begins to lament the fact that his life of solitude has resulted in him not having any friends, he accidentally makes his presence known to the world when his powers cause a regional blackout. In response, the government enlists the services of an eccentric scientist/inventor named Dr. Robotnik (Jim Carrey) to track down the source of this anomaly. To make matters worse, Sonic’s attempts at escaping to another world are hindered when he’s confronted by Green Hills’ sheriff, Tom Wachowski (James Marsden). In the process, Sonic loses the bag of special rings that he uses to travel to other worlds when it ends up stuck on top of the Transamerica Pyramid in San Francisco. Thus, Sonic now finds himself having to join forces with Tom (and later Tom’s veterinarian wife Maddie (Tika Sumpter)) so that he can get to San Francisco, collect his rings, and escape before Robotnik can capture him with an army of robots that he powers with the supersonic energy that he collects from one of Sonic’s quills.

As that plot synopsis suggests, this is one of those cases of a film based on a popular property that takes the main characters of that series out of the worlds that they’re from and puts them on Earth to interact with humans. There have been quite a few films over the years that have done this including the recent live-action Smurfs films and even the first Thor, and to be perfectly blunt, this can often lead to mixed results since fans are most likely more interested in seeing these characters in their natural environments. As such, the first Sonic the Hedgehog film’s plot is admittedly very basic in its execution. Now granted, fans of the franchise know that the idea of Sonic interacting with humans has been done before in almost every other form of Sonic media, so it’s not like this is a completely illogical concept for a Sonic story. Still, what we get here is your basic ‘comedic road trip’ plot that goes exactly the way you think it does. But despite the generally predictable nature of its plot, Sonic the Hedgehog does handle it a lot better than some of the other films in this unique little ‘subgenre’. It mainly manages to achieve this by maintaining a breezy pace throughout and by also sporting an earnestly heartfelt character arc for Sonic in which he simply yearns for some friends after spending so much time alone. And when it comes to the action sequences, the film does a wonderful job of translating Sonic’s super-speed abilities into a live-action context. Plus, the film is also chock-full of fun nods to other facets of the franchise’s lore to make up for the fact that it doesn’t focus too much on Sonic’s universe.

While there was a lot of hubbub made over Sonic’s original design, the one aspect of his character that stayed consistent throughout this film’s development was his voice, and Ben Schwartz does a phenomenal job in the role. For starters, he certainly sounds like Sonic, with his rendition of the character sounding very reminiscent of voice actor Ryan Drummond, who played the character from 1998 to 2004 in games like the Sonic Adventure series and Sonic Heroes. But most importantly, Schwartz excellently maintains Sonic’s wisecracking but all-around likable persona from the games that is then matched nicely with the character’s cinematic arc of longing for a friend, which he ends up finding in James Marsden’s Tom ‘Donut Lord’ Wachowski (‘Donut Lord’ being the nickname Sonic gives him (it makes sense in context)). While Marsden’s role is your basic ‘best friend’ archetype that also requires him to interact with a CG character most of the time, he and Schwartz do manage to form a terrific camaraderie that helps make Tom and Sonic’s growing bond feel incredibly genuine. Marsden also has some nice romantic chemistry with Tika Sumpter as Tom’s wife Maddie, who admittedly doesn’t factor into the film too much (i.e. she’s absent for the whole second act until Sonic and Tom get to San Francisco) but still manages to be a solid supporting player. But, of course, the most talked-about member of the ensemble is Jim Carrey in the role of Dr. Robotnik. In fact, Carrey’s turn as Sonic’s notorious arch-nemesis was so anticipated that before Sonic’s big redesign, many figured that he’d be the best part of the film and partially make up for all the shortcomings surrounding Sonic’s controversial look. And while Sonic’s initial design is no longer an issue for this film, Carrey is still easily one of its biggest highlights as he’s clearly having a lot of fun playing an over-the-top mad scientist. All in all, it’s a great return to form for the man who practically defined the comedy genre in the 90s with hits such as The Mask and Ace Ventura.

At the end of the day, Sonic the Hedgehog’s first foray on the big screen will most likely be known primarily for the fact that it nearly ended up being a total disaster. When it came to bringing the title character to life in a live-action film, the initial intent was to give Sonic a realistic/humanlike design. However, when the film’s teaser trailer dropped and showcased Sonic’s new look (which I’ll be providing a visual link to here for reference), it was almost universally panned for quite arguably making him look nothing like he does in the games. But in an unprecedented move for a film of this nature, director Jeff Fowler announced that he and his team had recognized their mistake and would fully redo Sonic’s design to be far more game-accurate. And while there was some initial concern that the film’s VFX team would have to endure some major crunch time to get the film done in time for its initial November 2019 release date, those fears were assuaged when Fowler also announced that the film would be pushed back to February 2020. Thus, when the film’s second trailer debuted in November (AKA the month it was originally meant to come out) and showcased Sonic’s new design that had been spearheaded by franchise artist Tyson Hesse, the fandom rejoiced about having a much better-looking cinematic interpretation of their beloved hedgehog. And overall, this correlates nicely to the film itself being a good old-fashioned crowd-pleaser. It may not be perfect by any means (namely due to it having a rather basic plot), but thanks to an enthusiastic cast, fun action sequences that perfectly highlight Sonic’s abilities, and of course, that pivotal visual update, Sonic the Hedgehog is another one of those rare cases of a video game based film done right.

Rating: 4/5

Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) (2020) review

On September 5^th, 1992, Batman: The Animated Series made its official debut on the Fox Kids programming block and would go on to span 85 episodes throughout four seasons that would later pave the way for various spin-offs set in the same universe. Since then, the show has gone on to become one of the most beloved interpretations of the Dark Knight, garnering much acclaim for its dark and mature writing, noir-inspired animation, and strongly layered characters. This, of course, includes the show’s iconic interpretations of Batman’s legendary Rogues gallery headlined as always by his archnemesis, the Joker (voiced by Mark Hamill). However, this series would also see the debut of a villain who quickly turned out to be a fan favorite, Harley Quinn, a former psychiatrist at Arkham Asylum who fell in love with the Clown Prince of Crime and promptly became his fiercely loyal second-in-command. The character was largely inspired by her original voice actress Arleen Sorkin, a college friend of the series’ co-creator Paul Dini who once appeared in a jester outfit on the classic soap opera Days of Our Lives, which would influence Harley’s iconic harlequin look. After making her official debut in Episode 22 of the series, “Joker’s Favor”, Harley became such a popular character amongst fans of the show that she was then properly implemented into the comics. And in 2016, she would make her live-action cinematic debut in the DC Extended Universe’s Suicide Squad, where she was played by Margot Robbie. While the film proved to be a dud with critics, Robbie’s portrayal of the iconic villainess turned occasional antihero was considered one of its biggest highlights.

Because of this, plans were then set into motion for several potential spin-offs featuring Robbie’s take on the character, including one that focused solely on her and the Joker and another that would be based around the squad of her, Poison Ivy, and Catwoman known as the Gotham City Sirens. Ultimately, though, the first official Harley Quinn spin-off would end up being one proposed by Robbie herself based on a different all-female squad known as the Birds of Prey. The Birds of Prey were originally introduced in the mid-’90s by writer Chuck Dixon and former DC Comics editor Jordan B. Gorfinkel and, in the context of the DC Universe, was spawned from a partnership between Black Canary and former Batgirl Barbara Gordon who, at the time, had become known as ‘Oracle’ following the controversial events of The Killing Joke. Since then, other superheroines have been featured on the group’s roster over the years including Batwoman, Hawkgirl, and Power Girl. Outside of the comics, there was a Birds of Prey TV series that aired on the WB from 2002-2003 but sadly only lasted one season due to poor ratings (said series also notably featured a version of Harley Quinn played by Mia Sara). But now the Birds of Prey have been given their own film which, as alluded to earlier, primarily came to fruition thanks to Margot Robbie, who initially proposed it during the production of Suicide Squad. Along with headlining the film in her second official outing as Harley Quinn, Robbie is its primary producer via her production company, LuckyChap Entertainment, and prioritized a female-led crew that includes screenwriter Christina Hodson and director Cathy Yan. Thus, we now have a film that boasts the legendary title of Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn), and sure enough, that elaborate title gives you an exact idea of the unabashedly chaotic and highly entertaining comic book flick that it ultimately is.

(Disclaimer: To avoid having to constantly repeat that long title, any future use of it in this review will consist solely of the Birds of Prey part of it and not the Fantabulous Emancipation of one Harley Quinn subtitle)

Sometime after the events of Suicide Squad, former Arkham Asylum psychiatrist turned crazed henchwoman Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie) breaks off her relationship with her longtime boss/lover, the Joker. But while Harley is more than ready to move on with her life, she quickly learns that this now puts her on the hit list of every criminal in Gotham City that she had previously wronged but was always protected from due to her ties with the Joker. At the top of that list is crime boss Roman Sionis AKA Black Mask (Ewan McGregor), who is currently after a diamond that’s embedded with information regarding the elusive fortune of the former Bertinelli crime family. But while he and his right-hand man Victor Zsasz (Chris Messina) end up finding the diamond, it’s then promptly stolen from them by young pickpocket Cassandra Cain (Ella Jay Basco). To save herself from his wrath, Harley offers to retrieve the diamond for Roman but ultimately ends up taking the young girl under her wing instead. In the process, the two also end up crossing paths with a bunch of other women who are tied to their current predicament. This includes Dinah Lance AKA Black Canary (Jurnee Smollett-Bell), Roman’s club singer turned driver who can project hypersonic screams, Gotham City police detective Renee Montoya (Rosie Perez), who’s looking to build a case against Roman, and Helena Bertinelli AKA Huntress (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), the sole survivor of the Bertinelli family who grew up to become a crossbow-wielding vigilante. Recognizing that they all share a common enemy, Harley proposes that they work together to protect Cassandra from the army of goons that are headed their way.

Much has been said about how Suicide Squad ended up being yet another example of the DCEU’s early installments being hindered tremendously by executive meddling, thus paving the way for its mediocre reception. One of the biggest criticisms directed towards it was that despite its marketing campaign’s promise of being one of the flashiest installments of the superhero genre, a lot of the final film was downright ugly when it came to its visuals. Thankfully, that is not the case with Birds of Prey as director Cathy Yan never shies away from the bright visual aesthetic that has commonly defined the character of Harley Quinn. And instead of the arguably quite cynical tone that defined much of Suicide Squad, Birds of Prey achieves a great mix of wacky hi-jinx and solid emotional drama. This is, after all, a film where Harley Quinn finally breaks off her long-standing relationship with the Joker which, despite being one of the most famous relationships in all of comics… is also one of the most toxic relationships in the history of media. In other words, Birds of Prey deserves a lot of credit for being thoroughly committed to producing a female-led superhero film that takes a full-on sledgehammer to toxic masculinity, and if you ask me, it handles this all very well. Sure, the plot can be a little jumbled at times due to all the story elements that it’s trying to juggle alongside the primary storyline with Harley (more on that in a little bit), but the film still flows at a very nice pace throughout. Plus, it also sports some excellent action sequences, with any sequence that was done during reshoots notably being handled by none other than John Wick director Chad Stahelski.   

Prior to the film’s release, there was some concern from fans that despite being titled Birds of Prey, it would end up being more focused on Harley Quinn given that the marketing primarily revolved around her, and to be perfectly blunt… that’s exactly what the film is. Birds of Prey is very much a Harley Quinn film and the titular squad doesn’t properly come together until the final act. However, I wouldn’t necessarily call this a bad thing in this instance since the film properly follows in the footsteps of Wonder Woman and Aquaman by giving its main character quality material that fully matches her commitment to the role. Margot Robbie was already a fantastic pick for Harley Quinn as evident by her performance in Suicide Squad, but just like Gal Gadot and Jason Momoa before her, it’s ultimately Harley’s ‘solo film’ (even though I do use that term loosely in this case) where she’s truly allowed to shine. And while this does mean that the other female leads in the film don’t get as much focus compared to Robbie, they’re all just as phenomenal in their respective roles. Jurnee Smollett-Bell brings a lot of humanity to the role of Black Canary (who’s arguably the most grounded of the group despite her metahuman abilities), Rosie Perez brings the right fiery tenacity to the role of Renee Montoya, and Mary Elizabeth Winstead’s Huntress is a great combination of badass action heroics and solid humor that pokes fun at her overly serious persona. And as for newcomer Ella Jay Basco as Cassandra Cain, she has wonderful camaraderie with Margot Robbie, whom she primarily shares the screen with given everything that goes down plot-wise. Finally, to close out this film’s excellent ensemble, we have our main antagonists Black Mask and Victor Zsasz. Ewan McGregor kills it in the role of Black Mask, fully succeeding at making him a down-right sleazebag of a villain (with some solid dark humor mixed in as well). And while Chris Messina doesn’t exactly get as much to work with as Zsasz, the partner dynamic that he forms with McGregor is top-notch.

Back when Suicide Squad came out in 2016, I was amongst those who thought that it wasn’t too bad; heck, I even gave it a 4/5 in my initial review of it. It wasn’t until recently, however, when I finally re-watched it, and while I will admit that I’m not exactly as positive towards it as I was back then, I don’t ‘dislike’ it. It is, however, still a prime example of an era of the DC Extended Universe that is thankfully over. Thanks to films like Wonder Woman and Shazam, it’s clear that this franchise has now realized that it’s better to develop its characters first before putting them all together in one film, and sure enough, Birds of Prey nobly continues that trend. Sure, at the end of the day, it’s a Harley Quinn film first and a Birds of Prey film second, but the clearly dedicated effort from producer/star Margot Robbie to highlight some lesser-known heroines in the DC Universe is incredibly admirable. In other words, one of the best things about this film is that it shows the incredible potential for future adventures with the squad of superheroines that it sets up. At the same time, it allows Margot Robbie the chance to firmly establish herself as the definitive live-action interpretation of one of DC’s most popular characters, and if that wasn’t enough, this won’t be the last we see of Harley in the DCEU as Robbie is already set to return in next year’s Suicide Squad sequel. And while I know that there are some out there questioning why Suicide Squad demanded a sequel given how it turned out, I can answer that question in two words… James Gunn. Yes, the man who brought us two of the greatest superhero films of the past few years is in charge this time around, and I’m fully confident that he will give us a superior sequel. But in conclusion, let’s also thank Cathy Yan for starting off 2020’s slate of superhero films on a high note with the delightfully madcap adventure that is Birds of Prey.

Rating: 4.5/5

Miracle (2004) review

Today on Rhode Island Movie Corner, we’re celebrating the 40^th anniversary of one of the most iconic moments in not only the history of sports but also the history of the entire United States. On February 22^nd, 1980, the U.S. Men’s Hockey Team played against the Soviet Union Men’s Hockey Team at the 13^th Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, New York. At the time, the Soviet Union squad was one of the most dominant forces in Olympic history and had taken the Gold Medal in 5 of the last 6 Olympic Games. But against all odds, coach Herb Brooks’ squad of amateur/college players pulled off the impossible and defeated the supposedly unbeatable Russians 4-3 on route to a historic Gold Medal run. This moment in history would forever become known as the ‘Miracle on Ice’ and provided a jolt of national pride that America was arguably quite lacking at the time. But now this brings us to the 2004 film adaptation of this historic event, simply titled Miracle. Released by Disney and directed by Gavin O’Connor, the film was a solid success both critically and commercially upon its release. It grossed over $64 million worldwide and scored good reviews with critics, and even nowadays, I find that many people still regard this as one of the best sports films of all-time. Unlike the actual Miracle on Ice, 2020 doesn’t connect to any specific anniversary for this film, but it did celebrate its 15^th anniversary last year. Thus, I figured that now is the perfect time to celebrate an undisputed classic of the sports film genre; a film that flawlessly works around its genre’s predictability to perfectly capture the spirit and emotion of the legendary game that it’s based around.

In the summer of 1969, University of Minnesota Ice Hockey coach Herb Brooks (Kurt Russell) is hired as the new head coach of the U.S. Men’s Hockey Team. Brooks, who had previously played on the 1960 squad but was cut right before their Gold Medal run at the Olympics that year, proposes that the only way they can defeat the unstoppable force that is the Soviet Union’s hockey team is by changing their strategies and the ways that they practice. However, Brooks’ radical ideas are initially met with skepticism by the members of the United States Olympic Committee, especially after he ends up selecting the initial 26-man roster on the first day of what was meant to be a week-long tryout session. Nevertheless, Brooks sticks to his guns and selects a team made up of amateur and college players, including players from Boston University and several who had previously played for Brooks at the University of Minnesota. The only problem, however, is that Boston and Minnesota are responsible for one of the fiercest rivalries in college hockey, and sure enough, that hostility starts to become an issue once the team gets on the ice. However, Brooks manages to work around this by implementing a strict training regime that pushes the players to their limits so that he can properly instill in them the values of playing hockey for the United States of America. And in the process, the team starts to come together as they head to Lake Placid, where they find themselves becoming the catalysts behind a newfound sense of national pride as they brace themselves for the inevitable battle with the Soviets.    

As I alluded to in the intro, sports films can often get dinged for having predictable plots that usually revolve around a team that’s established as being major underdogs but end up winning the most important game of the season against their biggest rivals. This is especially the case for films that are based on true stories since there’s a very likely chance that audiences are well-aware about the history of events that they’re based on going into them. But while Miracle is quite arguably one of the most blatant examples of the latter since, let’s face it, we all know what happened on that fateful February day 40 years ago, this never hurts the film in any significant manner. A lot of this is thanks to how director Gavin O’Connor perfectly conveys the tumultuous atmosphere of everything that was going on in America at the time without ever shifting focus away from Herb Brooks and his team. Whether it’s the opening credits montage that covers events like the Three Mile Island incident and Watergate or a sequence where Herb’s wife Patti (Patricia Clarkson) diverts his attention to news on the developing hostage crisis in Iran, the film never shies away from how American morale was arguably at an all-time low. But just like in real life, the film does a wonderful job of building up to the climactic game against the Soviets and showing just how big of a deal it ended up being for the U.S. In fact, the attention to detail when it came to recreating this game is so authentic that legendary sportscaster Al Michaels didn’t even bother to re-record his iconic final words from the original broadcast (“DO YOU BELIEVE IN MIRACLES? YES!”). Why? Well, it was quite simply because he knew that he couldn’t even remotely come close to replicating the pure, unbridled emotion of that moment.

But, of course, the best aspect of this entire film is Kurt Russell’s phenomenal lead performance in the role of Herb Brooks. Russell fully commands the screen as the legendary hockey coach who pushed his team 24/7 to be the best that they can be. And yet, as much as the film focuses on the instances where he dishes out tough love to them like no one’s business, it also makes an effort to emphasize his humanity amidst all the pressure that he was clearly under to lead his team to victory. Much of this comes through in the scenes that he shares with Patricia Clarkson as Herb’s wife Patti who, despite her admittedly limited role as the generally passive ‘supporting wife’, does get to have a few instances where she keeps her husband in line when he starts to become too focused on his coaching responsibilities. After that, they’re backed by solid supporting players like Gavin O’Connor regular Noah Emmerich as Herb’s assistant coach Craig Patrick and Sean McCann as Walter Bush, the team’s general manager who also serves as Herb’s liaison when it comes to defending his actions to the U.S. Olympic Committee. As for the 20 men who made up the 1980 U.S. Men’s Hockey Team, the filmmakers primarily relied on casting actual hockey players in the roles. And while the film does tend to focus on some players more than others (namely, the quartet of goalie Jim Craig (Eddie Cahill), team captain Mike Eruzione (Patrick O’Brien Dempsey), defenseman Jack O’Callahan (Michael Mantenuto), and forward Rob McClanahan (Nathan West)), their overall camaraderie is outstanding.  

I still remember going to see this film in theaters back in 2004 when my family and I were on vacation in New Hampshire. I also remember a time in 2008 when, due to various reasons that range from having to do a school project on the ‘Miracle on Ice’ to just casually watching it at home on DVD, I ended up re-watching this film at least 3 or 4 times in the span of a month. In other words, just like another classic Disney sports film of the era, 2000’s Remember the Titans, Miracle is a film that I have quite a lot of history with, and upon re-watching it for this review, it’s easy to see why. Sure, it can be just as predictable as other films in the sports genre from a story perspective, but to be fair, this is the ‘Miracle on Ice’ we’re talking about. Thus, in this instance, it’s not a big deal that you already know the outcome of the film going into it because that’s not the point of it all. Instead, Miracle succeeds immensely thanks to excellent direction from Gavin O’Connor that perfectly conveys the historical importance of this legendary game and an unforgettable performance from Kurt Russell in the lead role of head coach Herb Brooks. I may not have been alive to witness the ‘Miracle on Ice’ in person, but this film more than does its job when it comes to authentically recreating such a spectacle on the big screen. And really, it doesn’t matter how many times you re-watch the actual game itself or this film’s interpretation of it as the climactic medal round matchup between the United States and the Soviet Union still stands as one of the most exhilarating finales in the history of sports films.   

Rating: 5/5!