2014 Midyear Recap

Well we are now officially halfway through 2014… and you know what that means. It’s time to do my annual Midyear recap of the year so far. If you’re new to this site, basically what I do here is that I just go through all of the films that I’ve seen this year so far. I don’t really do any rankings on this post, though I do basically go from worst to best. The only time I’m doing any film rankings is right at the end when I list my Top 5 of the year so far. So with that said, how has 2014 been so far in regard to the movies? Well, overall I’d say that 2014 has been a pretty solid year so far. Sure, as is every year I’ve definitely seen a couple of stinkers but so far the good has at least outweighed the bad, which is always a good thing in my opinion. Summer 2014 in particular has been really good so far. Out of all of the films I’ve seen so far this summer, there has been only one movie that, at worst, I was only ‘meh’ on. But now let’s not waste any more time and get onto the recap. This is how the first half of 2014 has been so far for me in regards to the movies that I’ve seen.

STINK-BOMBS

As that title suggests, these are my picks for the worst films of the year so far. And what’s the number one worst film I’ve seen so far, you ask?

WORST FILM OF THE YEAR SO FAR:

THE LEGEND OF HERCULES

I have a suggestion for a new title for this film; ‘Legendary Stinker’ because holy s*** was this one bad. It’s a film that tried to be the next ‘300’, especially in regards to its visual style, but failed to do so for multiple reasons. First of all, despite the fact that this is a ‘swords and sandals’ flick, the movie’s action is pretty much bloodless as the film’s rated PG-13. There’s some very violent action in this movie, but you really don’t see any bloodshed. Secondly, this movie’s visual effects are horrendous; seriously, they look more like they came from an old PlayStation 1 game; they’re some of the cheapest visual effects that I’ve seen in recent memory for a film with a fairly decent budget. Finally, the acting is pretty bad from all involved. I mean no offense to Kellan Lutz but right now this guy is not fit to be a leading man as he comes off as being very bland in the role of Hercules. The only positive thing I can say about this film is that from time to time Scott Adkins provides some entertainment as the main bad guy… but only because he’s so over-the-top. Do you want to know how bad this movie is? It’s so bad that I’m actually looking forward to a Brett Ratner film… that being the other ‘Hercules’ that is set to come out this year. If anything, hopefully that one will be much better than this turd.

OTHER DISHONORABLES

TRANSCENDENCE

Not only is this one of the worst films of the year so far, but it’s currently the most disappointing film this year for me because I was actually looking forward to this one. The main reason for this was because it was directed by Wally Pfister, Christopher Nolan’s long-time cinematographer and it looked like maybe Pfister’s experience working with one of the best directors working today would help him when it came to directing his own movie. But while I do still think that Pfister has potential as a director, ultimately the biggest problem with ‘Transcendence’ is that it’s a major snore-fest. Nothing really happens in this movie despite the fact that technically in regards to the plot things are happening (it’s kind of hard to explain but to put it quite simply, this movie is really boring). It may have some really excellent cinematography and a fairly solid cast (even though A.) most of the characters are very flat and uninteresting and B.) Some members of the cast don’t get much to do), but at the end of the day, this film unfortunately starts Pfister’s directorial career on a very, very low note. I don’t necessarily blame him for it, and I do hope that this won’t be his only foray into directing but quite frankly he definitely should have gone with a different first film than this one.

I, FRANKENSTEIN

Yet another stinker from January (which by this point is not at all surprising in the least given the usual slate of films that come during this month of the year), ‘I, Frankenstein’ tries to be the next ‘Underworld’ (it’s even based off of a graphic novel of the same name written by the co-creator of the ‘Underworld’ franchise, Kevin Grevioux) but ultimately comes off as a pretty dull fantasy action flick (Quick Disclaimer: I have not seen the ‘Underworld’ movies). The characters in this movie are incredibly bland as is the story and the action sequences sometimes feel a bit too over-bloated at times. None of them really stand out in anyway, and also on multiple occasions, the CGI is actually pretty bad, mostly in regards to the gargoyle and demon creatures in this movie. The only reasons why this isn’t my pick for the worst film of the year so far is that if anything else, Aaron Eckhart is at least trying in the lead role of Frankenstein’s Monster and the action sequences are at least not shot in the shaky cam style that currently dominates quite a lot of action movies these days. But aside from that, everything else about this movie is pretty mediocre.

‘MEH’-FLIX

These films are ones that I’m hoping won’t be in my ‘worst of’ list at the end of the year because while I don’t completely dislike these films, I’m not that positive about them either. So basically, these are the films that I think are just ‘okay’.

     A MILLION WAYS TO DIE IN THE WEST   

         

Seth MacFarlane’s second directorial effort does have a decent amount of laughs in it, but overall his last film ‘Ted’ was the funnier movie. This film’s biggest problem is that there are at least two-three instances where nothing funny is either happening or being said for a good 10-15 minutes. It is during these times where the film tries to develop its story and characters, namely the romantic relationship between MacFarlane and Charlize Theron’s characters, and while the two of them do have really nice chemistry, that still results in a severe lack of humor during these periods of time and that can’t justify a near two-hour run-time whereas ‘Ted’ had enough material and was only 10 minutes shorter than this film. The film has a good cast (MacFarlane does a pretty solid job for his first major on-screen performance) but overall ‘A Million Ways to Die in the West’ could’ve been a whole lot funnier. To its credit, though, it’s much funnier than most of the comedies I saw last year.

JACK RYAN: SHADOW RECRUIT

The first major 2014 release I saw this year, this film was originally supposed to be released in December of 2013 but it ultimately got pushed back to January 2014 to make room for ‘The Wolf of Wall Street’. That made me worried that the film wasn’t going to turn out that good considering that it got pushed back to the usual ‘dead’ month of movie releases; January. But, after seeing it, I can safely say that I realized that it perfectly fit to have the film come out in January. It’s not a bad film by any means; it’s certainly better than most of the films that come out in January. But the thing is… this movie doesn’t really ‘wow’ you with anything. It’s a fun and entertaining little spy film and it does feature some really good performances from Chris Pine and Kevin Costner, among others, but overall aside from that nothing about the movie really stands out. This is only director Kenneth Branagh’s second action film after ‘Thor’ and I feel that he needs to work more when it comes to doing action sequences. I do feel that this franchise does have potential but if they do make a sequel, I think they should go with a much-more experienced action director. As for this film, I can only recommend it as a rental.

OCULUS

Not being a major horror film fan, I was actually sort of looking forward to ‘Oculus’; the premise looked interesting (partially thanks to the trailer), and the film was getting pretty good reviews from critics. But in the end, I found myself having very mixed opinions about it. It’s one of those cases where most of the best things about the movie also resulted in some of its major problems. This film has a terrific cast, including Karen Gillan, Katee Sackhoff, Brenton Thwaites, as well as some really standout performances from its two kid actors, Annalise Basso and Garrett Ryan. This film’s second half also featured some genuine creepy moments… but that was after a first half that, well, kind of dragged. The whole idea of the past and the present starting to mold together is interesting but at the same time also gets rather confusing at times. Finally, while the ending did catch me by surprise, it also feels more like sequel bait than anything else. I haven’t seen the original short film that this was based on, but overall I think I would’ve been better off with that. Again, I don’t think this film was bad, but really I’m just ‘meh’ on it.

WORTH-WHILES

Now we’re getting into the good stuff. Here are all of the films (excluding my Top 5 of the year so far) that I do recommend in one way or another.

300: RISE OF AN EMPIRE

While Zack Snyder may not be behind the camera this time for the follow-up to his hit film ‘300’, the same film that put the ‘Man of Steel’ director on the map, director Noam Murro does manage to maintain the original film’s style pretty well though this one doesn’t really have the same amount of mysticism as the original had. Really, if you liked the original ‘300’ then I think you will like this interquel (being that it’s mostly set around the same time as the original film though at times shows events that take place both before and after the events of ‘300’) because it does maintain the same visual style and is full of bloody action and Snyder-esque slow-motion. However, that does mean that this is sort of style over substance. Now the same could be said for the original ‘300’ but at the same time I did find that there were some really nice themes that went on in that film and sometimes the same thing occurred in this film as well. But for the most part, most of the main characters in this are fairly bland… save for one, Artemisia (played by Eva Green, who’s easily the standout in this film). If only because of Green’s great turn as this sexy but fierce villainess, I do feel that this movie is at least worth checking out. I mean, yes it’s not the best-written film ever but like its immediate predecessor it is still pretty entertaining and with these films, I wouldn’t have it any other way.

ROBOCOP

It’s safe to say that many people were not very happy about this film being made, seeing how it’s was a ‘remake’ of one of the best sci-fi films of all time, 1987’s ‘Robocop’; definitely a hard act to follow. But I was surprised to find that I actually really enjoyed this film. The main reason why I liked it so much was because while it’s techincally a ‘remake’ of the original film being that it follows cop Alex Murphy as he becomes the robot lawman Robocop after almost dying at the hands of a crime ring, the film manages to be its own thing while making some references to the original film. Ultimately, this film is a reboot and the end result was a film that was actually pretty entertaining, though it was still flawed in some areas. For one thing, it actually had the WEAKEST villains in the history of the franchise with one that was barely used in the film at all and another that really didn’t come off as being that villainous despite the fact that this character was credited as being one of the main villains. Plus, for a film that is called ‘Robocop’, it actually focuses more on the supporting characters than Robocop himself, which is sad because I do feel that Joel Kinnaman actually did a pretty good job in the role given what he had to work with. Hopefully, if they make a sequel (which for the record I do hope they make), they can improve on the first film’s shortcomings. But even as is, I’d say that this is the best Robocop film since the original.

DRAFT DAY

I was pleasantly surprised by how much I liked ‘Draft Day’. Sure, like with most sports films, the overall story is a little predictable but quite frankly the film’s greatest success is that it really holds your interest throughout the entire film. That’s saying a lot considering that this is based around the NFL Draft and all of the stuff that goes on behind the scenes with teams’ general managers as they try to land it big in the draft. The movie makes it work because the film has a generally speedy pace meaning that there wasn’t any time when the film was starting to drag. It’s also not just about the Draft itself; I also liked the other side of the main story in which Browns GM Sonny Weaver (played by Kevin Costner, who does a pretty good job in this) finds himself in a stressful situation because everyone’s putting their faith in him to hopefully turn the Browns’ luck around. Sure at the end of the day it may seem like nothing more than a commercial for the NFL but I still found the film to be pretty entertaining. In other words, this is probably one of the biggest surprises of the year so far for me.

MUPPETS MOST WANTED

Everyone’s favorite puppet performers are back in ‘Muppets Most Wanted’, the sequel to 2011’s surprise hit ‘The Muppets’. As for ‘Most Wanted’, it’s exactly what you’d expect from a Muppet movie. It’s a whole bunch of zany fun filled with enjoyable musical numbers and a bunch of cameos. However, I find myself liking 2011’s ‘Muppets’ much more, which is actually kind of ironic because I’m surprisingly finding that while the last film was critically acclaimed, it seems that generally audiences have had a bit more mixed reaction to it. From what I’ve seen online, the main reason for why some people weren’t too big on it was because it didn’t focus on the Muppets enough, whereas this film is much more focused on them. But ultimately the main reason why the first film was better is because it really benefited from the fact that it was an open ‘love letter’ to the franchise, resulting in a film that had a lot of heart. This, on the other hand, is more or less your basic sequel going through the usual motions. I’m not saying that it’s bad, but overall I prefer the first film more than this one. But even with that in mind, I’m glad that this franchise is back as I feel it’s one of those rare franchises that are able to appeal to both young and old. Sure, this film in particular may be a bit more oriented towards kids but there’s still enough there for adults to enjoy it as well.

NOAH

Certainly one of the more controversial films of the year, this film did manage to be a pretty successful hit at the box office and with most critics which did catch me by surprise because I kind of thought that because of its controversial take on the Bible story of Noah’s Ark and the fact that this was director Darren Aronofsky’s first major big-budget blockbuster, I kind of thought that this film would’ve been a potential flop… but it wasn’t. For the record, yes this film does take quite a few artistic liberties with the story of Noah but at the same time, I also liked how Aronofsky took a more ‘humanistic’ approach to the story. It’s still the same general story of Noah’s Ark but this film focuses more on Noah as we see how he struggles dealing with the massive burden that has been placed upon him, resulting in him nearly committing a terrible act himself but only because he was ‘commanded’ to do so. This film really explores how there is darkness in all of us but it all depends on whether or not we let that darkness overpower us and I feel that that main theme was handled very well. The film has excellent visuals and good performances from all involved, with Russell Crowe giving one of the best performances of his in recent years as Noah. This is not the same story of Noah that you’re used to, but it is still a pretty compelling alternate take on it.

GODZILLA

After the whole disaster with 1998’s ‘Godzilla’, or as some call it ‘Godzilla in Name Only’, director Gareth Edwards brought us a film that is much more deserving of the name ‘Godzilla’. Now this has been a fairly divisive film (despite it getting pretty solid reviews from critics); some really love it, and some really hate it. As for me, I’m kind of in the middle; I like the film, but I don’t love it. First off, it’s definitely a ‘Godzilla’ film. I’m not that big of a ‘Godzilla’ fan but I can safely say this is much more of a ‘Godzilla’ film than the ’98 film was. Also, the final act of this film really delivers on epic monster action. But one of my biggest problems with this movie is that it teases us just a bit too much early on as the camera cuts away from not one but two of Godzilla’s fights with the creatures known as MUTOs. Now at the same time I do appreciate that Edwards didn’t drop the ball on the monster fights right away, but still it’s pretty annoying to have the film cut away from some potentially awesome monster fights. As for the human characters in the film, they may not be given as much quality material to work with, and are focused on a bit more than ‘Godzilla’ if you really think about it, but then again that’s always the case with ‘Godzilla’ films. Bryan Cranston and Juliette Binoche stand out amongst the cast despite the fact that both of them are only in the film for barely 10-15 minutes. Everyone else does a fine job but most of them come off as being either rather dull (e.g. Aaron Taylor-Johnson, though for the record I don’t think he was ‘bad’ in this) or woefully underused (e.g. Elizabeth Olsen). But as is, ‘Godzilla’ is a fun little summer blockbuster that is a welcome return for the ‘King of the Monsters’… however, I kind of like ‘Pacific Rim’ more as I feel that film better delivered on its premise more than this film did. But with that said, I do look forward to the planned sequel… but for that one please filmmakers do two things for us… have Godzilla fight one of his classic foes and don’t tease the action as much.

JERSEY BOYS

Do you want to know the main reason why I was interested in this film? It wasn’t because of the source material (I haven’t seen the actual Broadway musical this was based on) or because I’m a big fan of music. It was because this film was directed by Clint Eastwood. Who would’ve ever thought that the same man who brought us films like ‘Unforgiven’ and ‘Million Dollar Baby’ would direct a musical? Well, he did, and I have to say that I really enjoyed it. I mean given the fact that there are some shady elements within this story of the origin and eventual break-up of the Four Seasons, namely some associations with the mob, it does sort of make sense for Eastwood to direct this film after all. I also liked the fact that this film had a pretty laid-back pace, even if it did mean that the film was just a little bit too long. However, I did really get into the film (after it did sort of take about twenty minutes or so to get going) thanks to a few things. First off, the music is great (I seriously don’t care if I sound like an old man; I just love this kind of music). I also liked the main cast, the majority of whom had already played these roles on stage. I know some have said that their performances feel more suited for Broadway than a film, but I still felt that the four main guys did a really good job, especially because they all had a great camaraderie. If you haven’t seen this one yet, I feel it’s worth checking out.

MALEFICENT

Fans of arguably the greatest Disney villainess of all time might be a little disappointed that this new film, a live-action retelling of ‘Sleeping Beauty’ from Maleficent’s point of view, portrays her as its protagonist rather than the main villain. However, this does actually work for two main reasons. First off, as it has been noted already by everyone, Angelina Jolie is fantastic in this. Simply put, she was perfectly cast in the role and she does make the character very sympathetic in regards to how this film portrays her not as a villain, but as someone who was betrayed who enacts revenge against those who wronged her, which I did find to be an interesting new take on her story. The second major strength of the film is the relationship between Maleficent and Aurora (Elle Fanning, who may not have as much to work with as Jolie but I have to say I found her Aurora to be much more interesting than the Aurora from the original animated film); it’s sort of a motherly relationship, which provides the real heart of the movie. First-time director Robert Stromberg (who has been known more for his work in production design… phenomenal Oscar-winning work on films like ‘Avatar’ and previous big-budget Disney tent-poles ‘Alice in Wonderland’ and ‘Oz the Great and Powerful’, I might add) makes a pretty solid debut with this film, which I found that I liked more than Tim Burton’s ‘Alice in Wonderland’ and almost as much as Sam Raimi’s ‘Oz the Great and Powerful’. All in all, Disney delivers another solid big-budget live-action fantasy.

CHEF

(Fun Fact: The first time I saw this, the theater I was in had to be evacuated just a few minutes after the movie started due to construction on the nearby entertainment complex located within the same mall my theater is located in. Because of that, I had to go see the film the following day instead. Thankfully no incidents occurred the second time.)

This film clearly shows that after spending the last few years directing nothing but big-budget films like the ‘Iron Man’ films and ‘Cowboys and Aliens’, Jon Favreau must’ve been fairly frustrated with the studio system. In his newest film ‘Chef’, his frustrations with Hollywood translate into the main plot in which the main character, Chef Carl Casper (played by Favreau himself in one of the best performances of his career), also feels like he’s unable to express his creativity, albeit in his case as a chef in a fancy restaurant, not as a director in Hollywood. Because of this, the film has an excellent message that you should always stay true to yourself and it really emphasizes the idea of freedom of expression. This movie is a really heartwarming feel-good film that quite frankly is just really, really pleasant to watch and amidst all of the summer blockbusters we get every year, this film is a definitely good change of pace. I don’t necessarily think that it’s one of the ‘best’ films of the year so far, mostly because I didn’t find the film to be as ‘funny’ as a lot of people were saying, but I was able to overlook that because the film is so charming that it’s really impossible not to like it. Of course if you do see it, make sure that you do eat something beforehand because otherwise if you don’t you might regret it.

NEIGHBORS

Definitely one of the best comedies of the year so far, ‘Neighbors’ works because while it is centered on a ‘turf war’ between a fraternity and a couple with a newborn baby, the film doesn’t have a ‘villain’, per se; the main couple Mac and Kelly are a likable couple (Seth Rogen and Rose Byrne have excellent chemistry; Byrne in particular is the film’s biggest standout because she just has great comedic timing) but because we see that the members of the frat are trying to become a part of their frat’s history (which is actually a pretty admirable goal), they’re not portrayed as being unlikable. Plus, having seen this with a friend of mine who is in a fraternity, I can easily verify that this film does do a very good job at portraying the brotherhood of fraternities, as these brothers will stick by each other no matter what even when they start to fight. I mean, if this film did portray these guys as being nothing than just a bunch of a-holes, I don’t think that the movie would’ve worked as well as it did and it would’ve painted frats in a negative way. Thankfully, that didn’t happen here with this film and as is, it’s a fun little film that has quite a lot of laughs.

TRANSFORMERS: AGE OF EXTINCTION

Once again, the newest Transformers film has been universally bashed by pretty much everyone and once again, I find myself in the minority as one of those who really enjoyed this film. Like with the first two Transformers sequels, I do feel that this one is definitely better than what everyone’s putting it out to be. Now I will agree that the film is overlong at a runtime of nearly 3 hours. The main reason why this is a problem is because this film could’ve easily ended at one point and had the other half of the film saved for a later release date but instead it keeps going and even I’ll admit that I was rather exhausted by the end of the film. But as is typical with Michael Bay’s ‘Transformers’ films, the visual effects and action sequences are phenomenal and while the human characters may not be the most developed characters ever, the new additions to the cast are a very much welcome breath of fresh air for the franchise, highlighted by Mark Wahlberg who proves to be a superior lead than Shia LaBeouf. I’m very eager to see what happens next for the film franchise, though I do think that it’s time for a different director to take over, just because I’m sure that Michael Bay doesn’t want to keep making these films for the rest of his life. They already take up more than a third of his directorial filmography. But as is, Bay delivers yet another entertaining popcorn flick in this lucrative franchise.

VERONICA MARS

First off, I just want to note that I wasn’t one of the contributors to this film’s Kickstarter campaign because at the time it was going on, I hadn’t seen the original show. But after that Kickstarter campaign became one of the most successful ventures ever on the site which resulted in this film being able to get made, I was finally compelled to watch the show and I’m really glad that I did. It’s easily one of the most underrated shows of this past decade and it’s really sad that it only lasted three seasons ending on a rather low note with a finale that actually would’ve been good if it had been a ‘season finale’ but instead was the ‘series finale’, leaving fans with a lot of questions left unanswered. Thankfully now we have this movie and if by any chance it means that there won’t be a follow-up, this is a much more satisfying conclusion to the series. And yeah, the movie’s basically a ‘love letter’ to the fanbase (after all, they were responsible for the movie being able to get made) which means that technically it is geared more towards the fans of the show. But still, I think that this movie can appeal to non-fans because it continued to represent why the show was so good in the first place; intriguing storylines, memorable characters, and one of the best female TV leads ever in Veronica Mars thanks to both the excellent writing and Kristen Bell’s performance in the main role. I love the show, and I loved the movie.

EDGE OF TOMORROW

I’ll be honest… I did not expect this film to be as good as it was. Now for the record I was looking forward to it but I never thought that it would get excellent reviews from critics… but it did. This film offers a much more original story than what we’re used to seeing these days though for the record this is based off of a light novel so the term ‘original’ can only go so far. ‘Edge of Tomorrow’ is a film that revolves around Tom Cruise’s character Bill Cage stuck in a time loop but the film manages not to become tiresome because of this situation. In fact, this movie’s greatest strength is its humor, which comes from Cage’s trial-and-error campaign. Speaking of Cruise, this is probably the best he’s been in quite some time, especially because his character in this does have an arc and doesn’t immediately start off as a badass soldier, like a lot of the characters that Tom Cruise tends to play these days. Also excellent in this is Emily Blunt, who hopefully will get more roles in action movies because she is a legitimate action star and her character in this is a great action heroine. This film unfortunately has been performing rather poorly at the American box office (thank god for the International box office for saving this movie from being a flop) so that means that if you haven’t seen this film yet, you’re really missing out.

TOP 5 OF THE YEAR SO FAR

5. THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2

This is easily the ‘Man of Steel’ of 2014 and by that I mean that this film has been very, very polarizing amongst both critics and audiences. How polarizing is it, you ask? Well, on my podcast group ‘The Feature Presentation’, I’m the only one of us five main guys who actually liked it; in fact, I’m really the only one of us five who actually prefers the Marc Webb directed reboot series to Sam Raimi’s original trilogy, which for the record I still like but at the same time I don’t feel is perfect. And yes, I don’t think that this film is perfect either, but I never found it to be as overcrowded, either in characters or plot-lines, as everyone was saying it is. Maybe it was and maybe that does result in a film that’s rather uneven in a lot of areas but I never really got that impression when watching this. What I really loved about this film was the cast (specifically Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone), the action sequences, and the visuals. Going back to Garfield’s performance, I also feel that this film really captured who Spider-Man was as a superhero; someone who gives the people of New York hope when all seems lost. That’s why he’s my personal favorite comic book superhero. He’s someone who is down-to-earth and just like us who just so happens to have superpowers, making him one of the most likable superheroes of all time. But I will say this about the film and, at the same time, this new Spider-Man franchise; if Sony really wants to develop their own Cinematic Universe a la Marvel, then they really need to start executing it because it’s really only teased at the end of this film. Now I do like the idea that they have in mind (e.g. ‘Sinister Six’) but again if they want it to happen, they actually have to do it. But still I do like what they want to do and I’m really looking forward to the upcoming sequels as well as the announced ‘Sinister Six’ and ‘Venom’ spinoffs… the fact that I’m saying all of this and that I have more faith in Sony than DC right now… says a hell of a lot, folks.

4. 22 JUMP STREET

One of the main reasons why most comedy sequels tend to suck is because a lot of them copy the same plot of the first film. This sequel does copy the same plot as ‘21 Jump Street’ but at the same time everyone involved with it is very self-aware of that. Not only does this film have just as much good material as the previous film had but a lot of this film’s humor comes from how the characters are very much aware of the situation they are in; they’re doing the exact same mission that they did in the first film, with the only major difference being that this time they’re going undercover at a college and not in high school. But it does work thanks to the great bromantic chemistry between Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum and a very smart script that plays off of the fact that this is basically repeating every major plot point from the first film. This is easily one of the best comedy sequels of all time, if not the best, and right now it’s my pick for the best comedy of the year. It’s another great film from the excellent directorial duo that is Phil Lord and Chris Miller. Speaking of those two…

3. THE LEGO MOVIE

Lord and Miller struck gold twice this year, starting off the year with this February release, ‘The LEGO Movie’. Now at first glance, this could have been nothing more than a glorified commercial for the LEGO brand and regardless of how good the film turned out, it sort of still is a ‘marketing gimmick’ (but really that’s unavoidable). But even with all of that in mind, the film really delivered when it came to the writing. The film has a great message that shows that we are all special in our way, whether we play by the rules or boldly go outside the box. This film speaks to both groups and this film really does a great job of representing the legacy and popularity of the brand, primarily through a great twist that was genuinely unexpected in an age where moments like that could be leaked at any time before a film even comes out, potentially ruining the moment. With terrific animation, a great voice cast but most importantly a whole lot of heart, ‘The LEGO Movie’ is easily the best animated film so far this year and at this point, as far as I’m concerned, Phil Lord and Chris Miller can do no wrong. After all, all of their film projects up to this point were deemed unlikely to be that good and once they came out, we were all proven wrong.

2. CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER

My personal favorite film of Phase One of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (not counting ‘The Avengers’) had to be ‘Captain America: The First Avenger’ for being very reminiscent of an old-school summer blockbuster but having the modern blockbuster magic at the same time. Its immediate sequel, ‘Captain America: The Winter Soldier’ may be set in a different time period (in this case the present day) but the end result… is quite frankly the best solo MCU film to date. Yes folks, I feel that this film is even better than the first ‘Iron Man’. While I never minded that ‘Iron Man 3’ and ‘Thor: The Dark World’ didn’t try to connect with the MCU that much, ‘Cap 2’ really takes advantage of the grand scale of the MCU as it really sets the stage for what’s to come in future MCU movies due to some incredibly game-changing events (e.g. SHIELD taken over by HYDRA). While their previous filmography in comedy doesn’t really suggest that they’d be a good choice to direct an action film, directors Anthony and Joe Russo did an excellent job with the movie with excellent visuals, a very good amount of humor (what else would you expect from two directors that before this were mostly known for comedy), and some very well-shot action sequences that were shot in a shaky cam style but it was effective enough and wasn’t annoying (like some other movies with lots of shaky cam work recently like ‘Alex Cross’ or ‘Battle: Los Angeles’). Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, and Samuel L. Jackson give their best performances in the roles of Captain America, Black Widow, and Nick Fury to date along with a terrific supporting cast, resulting in one of the best superhero films yet… though another superhero film managed to edge it out for the best of the year so far. That other film is…

1. X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST

For many people, this was their most anticipated film of the year being that it was a film based off of an iconic X-Men storyline from the comics, had a large ensemble cast of old and new members of the film franchise, and was directed by the same man who brought the franchise into relevance in the first place, Bryan Singer. It may not have been my most anticipated film of the year (that honor went to ‘Amazing Spider-Man 2’) but overall it’s the one film this year that quite frankly delivered the most without any real disappointments. Sure, the film actually does focus more on the trio of young Professor X (James McAvoy in particular is the biggest standout of this film), young Magneto (Michael Fassbender was just excellent here as he was in ‘First Class’), and young Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence, who already did a really good job in ‘First Class’, was even better in this film). But even then this is the first time in an X-Men film where there is no weak link in the cast whatsoever. Even though a lot of members of the cast are basically just doing cameos in this film, they all do their job well in a film that quite frankly really delivers on its action and characters, really showcasing the ‘group dynamic’ that the X-Men have been known for. Singer returning to the franchise (even if, at first, it was only as a producer/writer for ‘First Class’) saved this franchise from rock bottom after the disappointing ‘X3’ and the horrible ‘Origins’… oh yeah, and now thanks to this new film we can now forget about those two as it’s clear that the filmmakers wanted to erase the mistakes made by those two films… and they did. All of this is why ‘X-Men: Days of Future Past’ is currently my favorite film of 2014.

But we still have half a year and this Top 5 is definitely subject to change. What new films will make my Top 12 ‘Best of’ list by the end of the year? Well, tune in near the end of the year for that list. Until then, thanks for reading and stay tuned for more movie reviews.