Us (2019) review

In 2012, Comedy Central debuted their latest series, Key and Peele, a sketch comedy show created by the duo of Keegan Michael-Key and Jordan Peele, who had previously gotten their big break on the hit comedy series MADtv. The show ran for 5 seasons up until 2015 and was a major critical hit, winning two Emmys and a Peabody Award and spawning several classic sketches such as Luther, President Barack Obama’s Anger Translator, and the East/West College Bowl, featuring football players with increasingly ridiculous names. Following its conclusion, both Key and Peele began to further their careers on their own accord, with Key taking on notable supporting roles in films like Tomorrowland and The Predator. Peele, meanwhile, transitioned into directing and started in the most unexpected place, the horror genre, with his 2017 directorial debut, Get Out. This psychological horror film about a black man who runs into trouble when he meets his white girlfriend’s family became one of the biggest hits of the year, grossing over $255 million worldwide on just a meager $4.5 million budget and amassing tons of critical praise from both critics and audiences. This ultimately led to Peele becoming the first African-American to win the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay. But now he’s back with his second directorial outing, Us, which once again delves into the horror genre while also serving as the first big step in what looks to be a huge year for Peele given that he’s also developing a new revival of the iconic series, The Twilight Zone. And thanks to strong performances and an equally strong script, this effectively creepy flick does, in fact, feel like a Twilight Zone story.

During a seemingly normal summer, the Wilson family, consisting of matriarch Adelaide (Lupita Nyong’o), her husband Gabe (Winston Duke), and their two kids Zora (Shahadi Wright Joseph) and Jason (Evan Alex) arrive at their beach home in Santa Cruz, California. While the family plans to have a relaxing vacation, Adelaide remains on edge due to a traumatic experience from her past when she visited the area with her parents in 1986, thus resulting in her being highly protective of her loved ones. This becomes especially important when, one night, Jason notices that four people are standing outside their house. When Gabe tries to ward them off, the four strangers manage to break into the house with relative ease. And if that wasn’t enough, Adelaide, Gabe, Zora, and Jason quickly discover that these four figures in red jumpsuits (Red, Abraham, Umbrae, and Pluto) look and act exactly like them (with Nyong’o, Duke, Joseph, and Alex also portraying their doppelgangers). As it turns out, the Wilson family’s doppelgangers are quite the violent bunch as they’re all armed with a pair of scissors and are hellbent on killing their ‘other selves’ so that they can take their place. Thus, the Wilsons find themselves having to survive this night of pure terror on their own against beings who always seem to be one step ahead of them. And as they soon find out, they aren’t the only ones who are experiencing this.

The first thing to note about this film is that you shouldn’t go into it expecting another Get Out. While both can be described as psychological horror films, these two films couldn’t be any more different when it comes to their themes and overall execution. Get Out, of course, was a horror-thriller steeped in extremely timely themes regarding race relations. Us, by comparison, is a bit more streamlined with its narrative but still manages to cover some deep themes from the struggle to overcome traumatic events in one’s life to the ongoing conversation of ‘haves vs. have nots’. It also surprisingly allows Peele the opportunity to show off his comedic sensibilities as this film features quite a bit of humor that mainly stems from banter amongst the main characters. By comparison, Get Out was a lot more serious (even though that didn’t stop the Golden Globes from nominating it for Best Comedy/Musical, for some reason) with almost all its ‘humorous’ moments coming courtesy of the incredibly self-aware Rod the TSA Agent. Ultimately, though, if there’s one major thing that these films have in common, it’s that they’re both full of strong themes and layered characters. And as a horror film, Us produces plenty of effectively creepy moments once the doppelgangers are properly introduced. Granted, it does take a little while for this to happen, but it’s a good kind of slow build-up that ultimately paves the way for a neat final twist that’s just as well-layered as the plot that it stems from.   

Just like Get Out, Us also benefits from strong performances from its cast. It’s all headlined by Lupita Nyong’o as Adelaide, who obviously gets the most character development in this film given that much of the plot revolves around that traumatic incident from her past and how she tries to move on from it. And because of it, it results in one heck of an emotionally-charged performance. She also has excellent chemistry with Winston Duke as Adelaide’s husband Gabe who, by comparison, plays more of a comedic role in the plot with some of the same self-aware quips as Rod from Get Out. And if you’ve seen Black Panther, then you’ll know exactly why Duke is more than qualified for such a role. Closing out the main quartet of leads are newcomers Shahadi Wright Joseph and Evan Alex as the Wilson kids Zora and Jason, who manage to be a lot more resourceful than most kids in horror films as they play an active role in the family’s efforts to fend off their doppelgangers. And on that note, a key aspect of this film is, of course, the fact that these cast members also portray their doppelgangers, who are referred to in this film as ‘the Tethered’. Everyone handles these dual roles very well, with each of them managing to make their Tethered an effectively freaky shadow in their own unique way (e.g. Jason’s Tethered, Pluto, mirrors his exact movements while also sharing Jason’s habit of wearing a mask). Like before, though, it’s Nyong’o who steals the show as her doppelganger, Red, who’s notably the only Tethered of the bunch who can speak (albeit in a raspy tone, but the point still stands) whereas all the other Tethered folks are either silent or restricted to grunts and screeches.   

Thanks to both this and Get Out, it can very well be argued that Jordan Peele is at the forefront of the horror genre’s recent renaissance. When I mentioned his upcoming reboot of Twilight Zone in the intro, that was, in fact, intentional as both of his current directorial efforts feel like they directly stem from that franchise’s brand of storytelling. In fact, Peele has even listed a specific episode of the show, ‘Mirror Image’, as a key influence for this film. Nevertheless, Us is yet another excellent directorial outing from him that avoids being nothing more than just a carbon copy of Get Out. Sure, this one isn’t quite as focused on timely themes as much as Get Out was, but the attention to detail when it comes to its themes and character development is still second to none. And because of this, Us boasts an incredibly well-layered narrative that slowly but surely builds up to a solid conclusion that gives several of the scenes that came before it a whole new context upon repeat viewings. It also helps that the film sports an excellent ensemble cast, all of whom do a terrific job handling the challenging dual roles of their characters’ normal selves and their sinister Tethered doppelgangers. In short, Us is yet another brilliant addition to the recent string of excellent horror films that we’ve been getting these past few years. And if that wasn’t enough, who would’ve guessed that many of these would end up coming from filmmakers who are primarily known more for their comedic projects, including the likes of David Gordon Green (the 2018 Halloween sequel), John Krasinski (A Quiet Place), and of course, one of the minds behind Comedy Central’s sketch comedy series Key and Peele.

Rating: 5/5!

TOP 12 FAVORITE FILMS OF 2018: TOP 3!

Welcome back to Rhode Island Movie Corner’s annual End of the Year list where I’m counting down my Top 12 Favorite Films from 2018. And today, folks, we’ve finally reached the grand finale of this epic 4-part series of posts as I’ll be delving into my Top 3 Favorite Films from this past year. If you missed the last three parts where I discussed films 12 through 4 (plus my 6 Honorable Mentions), then just head to the links below. And thus, without further ado, let us return to the list one last time.

PART 1

PART 2

PART 3

At Number 3, we have a film that, in my review for it, I described as ‘exactly the kind of film that we need right now’. Simply put, calling this one a heartwarming visual and emotional delight would be a massive understatement.

3. MARY POPPINS RETURNS

Now I’ll be the first to admit that if you compare this film to its iconic 1964 predecessor, you’re bound to notice quite a few similarities that they share. For starters, the plots of both films are generally similar in structure, with both focusing on Mary Poppins’ efforts to help the Banks family overcome a specific familial conflict that involves the bank that the patriarch works for. But it goes a little further than that because even this film’s songs share similar placement and purpose when compared to the songs from the original film. There’s a song that sees the Banks children have their first experience with Mary Poppins’ magical abilities. There’s an elaborate song-and-dance number set during the evening that helps to liven up spirits after a not-so-cheery incident at the bank. And then there’s the grand finale, which brings the main cast together with what is easily the most uplifting tune of the bunch. The only major difference between the two films from a narrative perspective is that this film has a more prominent villain in Colin Firth’s Wilkins, the head of Fidelity Fiduciary who seeks to repossess the Banks’ home at 17 Cherry Tree Lane. By comparison, the original Mary Poppins didn’t really have a villain, even when considering that one scene where Jane and Michael argued with their father’s employers at the bank over the matter of Michael making a financial investment. But with all this in mind, it should be stressed that Mary Poppins Returns is not just a remake of the original film.

Despite all the similarities that it shares with its predecessor, this is a legitimate sequel, and there are quite a few moments in this film that provide some nice nods to the original. This includes everything from the Banks’ housekeeper Ellen recognizing Mary Poppins without hesitation to the family being told that the tuppence that Michael deposited in the bank as a child truly was a good investment as it blossomed into the family’s savings. And thanks to solid direction from Rob Marshall, this film does maintain the same great balance that the original managed to achieve when it comes to mixing its whimsical bits of fantasy with its effectively poignant family drama. It also helps that the film sports an excellent ensemble cast that’s highlighted by Emily Blunt in the title role of the nanny who’s practically perfect in every way, Mary Poppins. Despite the fact that she had to overcome the immense pressure of having to follow in the footsteps of Julie Andrews’ Oscar-winning take on the character, Blunt manages to make the role her own by implementing some of the character’s snark from P.L Travers’ original novels while still maintaining the overall warmth that Andrews brought to the role. And just like how Andrews worked wonderfully alongside her primary co-star, Dick Van Dyke, Blunt works phenomenally with her primary co-star, Lin Manuel Miranda. Sure, Jack the lamplighter could just simply be described as ‘this film’s Bert’, but Miranda’s charisma is on full display throughout and there’s even a sweet little romance that forms between Jack and Jane Banks. Speaking of the Banks family, Ben Whishaw and Emily Mortimer are both solid as well as the grown-up Michael and Jane, respectively, as are Pixie Davies, Nathaniel Saleh, and Joel Dawson as Michael’s children, Annabel, John, and Georgie. And then to top it all off, there are also some very memorable cameos from the likes of Meryl Streep as Mary Poppins’ eccentric cousin Topsy and Bert himself, Dick Van Dyke, as Fidelity Fiduciary chairman Mr. Dawes Jr., the son of Mr. Dawes Sr. from the original film (who, of course, was also played by Van Dyke).

But, of course, we can’t forget about the other important aspect of this film, the music. This film’s soundtrack was provided by the duo behind the Broadway hit Hairspray, Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman. And despite what I said before about how these songs have quite a lot in common with the Sherman Brothers’ iconic soundtrack from the original, this film’s soundtrack is generally on par with its predecessor. Like the Sherman Brothers’ soundtrack, this film’s soundtrack does a nice job of mixing emotional melodies with toe-tapping show tunes. On the emotional side of things, there’s the Oscar-nominated ‘The Place Where Lost Things Go’, Mary Poppins’ lullaby to the Banks children, and ‘A Conversation’, a solo for Michael where he reflects on everything that’s happened since the death of his wife Kate one year prior. And as for the upbeat tunes… gosh, take your pick. ‘Trip a Little Light Fantastic’, the big ‘Step in Time’ style number featuring Jack and his fellow lamplighters. ‘Turning Turtle’, Meryl Streep’s big scene where she laments how her life figuratively and literally turns upside down every second Wednesday of the month. ‘A Cover is Not the Book’, the lively duet between Mary Poppins and Jack that even allows Lin Manuel Miranda the opportunity to do some freestyle rap a la Hamilton. But my personal favorite track has to be the grand finale, ‘Nowhere to Go But Up’, sung by the cast as they float around in the sky via balloons provided by the Balloon Lady (Angela Lansbury; and yes, I have the feeling that this probably would’ve been Julie Andrews’ cameo role if she hadn’t declined to do so to prevent her from overshadowing Emily Blunt). Thus, with an amazing soundtrack, a terrific ensemble cast, and a lovely visual style (complete with another traditionally-animated sequence just like in the original film), Mary Poppins Returns is easily one of the most heartwarming films to come out in recent years.

    

Our next film is one that has undeniably been one of the biggest hits of the year. And while some parts of the internet have recently tried to enforce their ‘it’s not THAT great’ mentality upon it, it’s clear that this film has very much become one of the landmark entries of its genre.

2. BLACK PANTHER

In the past, I’ve talked about the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s knack for strong emotional poignancy as exemplified in films such as Guardians of the Galaxy and Captain America: Civil War. A lot of this is thanks to the considerable amount of time that the franchise has spent establishing the world and its characters, allowing us to become fully endeared to the MCU’s eclectic collection of protagonists as they face off against all sorts of foes. And the MCU’s strong sense of emotional depth is arguably at its finest in Black Panther, as both the plot and key bits of character development are fully steeped in emotion. Main protagonist T’Challa finds himself facing the pressure of being Wakanda’s new ruler while still coping with the loss of his father T’Chaka during the events of Civil War. Main antagonist Erik Killmonger, who’s revealed to be a member of the Royal Family and T’Challa’s cousin, wages a personal war against Wakanda after his father, Prince N’Jobu, was killed by T’Chaka for aiding their enemy, Ulysses Klaue, in the process of stealing Wakanda’s most valuable resource, Vibranium. And if that wasn’t enough, T’Chaka then decided to abandon young Erik, effectively making him ‘the truth [he] chose to omit’ and resulting in T’Challa realizing that his father wasn’t the perfect ruler that he thought he was. In other words, this is quite arguably the closest that the MCU has ever gotten to telling a Shakespearean tragedy, and thanks to amazing direction from Ryan Coogler, all these big emotional moments hit their mark, especially thanks to the film’s terrific ensemble cast.

Chadwick Boseman continues to excel as T’Challa while also shedding some of the stoicism that he brought to his debut appearance in Civil War through the usual MCU-style humor (e.g. the badass ‘I Never Freeze’ line of his from the trailer that ultimately turned out to be more about him getting nervous around his ex-girlfriend) and all the big emotional moments in this film. He’s then joined by some of the best female leads that the MCU has seen to date via the trio of Nakia, Okoye, and Shuri. As Nakia, Lupita Nyong’o gets to be more than just T’Challa’s love interest thanks to her strong devotion to Wakanda taking far greater precedence over her relationship with her new king. At the same time, though, she and Boseman do manage to have some of the best chemistry to come from an MCU couple. As for Danai Gurira and Letitia Wright as Dora Milaje leader Okoye and T’Challa’s tech-savvy sister Shuri, respectively, the two of them prove to be major standouts thanks to their phenomenal dry wit. And speaking of standouts, there’s also Winston Duke as M’Baku, the fierce leader of Wakanda’s rogue Jabari tribe. But while he’s initially portrayed as a major thorn in T’Challa’s side, he ends up undergoing one of the best about-faces that any character has had in recent years by helping to save T’Challa from his near-death fight with Killmonger because T’Challa had spared his life during their own royal rumble earlier in the film. Plus, Duke also gets to have some of the best humorous moments in the film, like when he threatens CIA agent Everett Ross (Martin Freeman, in a solid reprise of his role from Civil War) with the prospect of being fed to his children… before immediately admitting that he was kidding and that he and his tribe are vegetarians.

After that, you have your reliable supporting players like Forest Whitaker as the noble shaman Zuri, who is revealed to be connected to the death of N’Jobu because he had been sent by T’Chaka as an informant, and Angela Bassett as T’Challa’s mother, Queen Ramonda, even if she admittedly doesn’t have that much to do in the grand scheme of things. But, of course, as everyone else has noted, the biggest standout of them all is Michael B. Jordan, who is phenomenal as the film’s main antagonist, Erik Killmonger. He’s easily one of the most layered villains to ever come out of the MCU, with a radical ideology regarding Wakanda’s stance on staying out of world conflicts that he inherited from his father which, despite his status as a villain, does make him the kind of villain that one can somewhat sympathize with. This remains the case throughout the entire film ultimately leading up to his demise. After being stabbed by T’Challa with his own spear, he mentions that his father once promised him that he would show him Wakanda in all its beauty (“Can you believe that? A kid from Oakland running around believing in fairy tales?”). T’Challa then proceeds to help him witness one of Wakanda’s beautiful sunsets, and while T’Challa does offer him the chance to heal his injuries with their kingdom’s advanced technology, Killmonger refuses. His reasoning? “Just bury me in the ocean, with my ancestors that jumped from the ships because they knew death was better than bondage.” He then proceeds to pull out the spear from his body and falls to the ground dead in a moment that parallels Roy Batty’s iconic ‘Tears in Rain’ monologue from Blade Runner.

With all this in mind, it’s easy to see why Black Panther became such a cultural phenomenon. As the first superhero film of the MCU era to be centered around an African-American hero, its success can only mean great things for an industry that’s slowly but surely starting to embrace a more diversified identity. Not only did it become the highest-grossing MCU film of all time domestically, but it also became the highest-grossing solo-based MCU film worldwide. And with a 97% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, it’s also the best-reviewed MCU film to date. This, of course, led to it becoming the first superhero film to ever be nominated for Best Picture, and while it ultimately didn’t win the big award, it did give the MCU its first-ever Oscars wins for Best Costume Design, Best Production Design, and Best Original Score. Unfortunately, as is the case with anything that becomes incredibly popular, this film has attracted its fair share of critics. Their arguments usually tend to include jabs at the mediocre CGI in the finale, and while the visual effects during this part of the film are admittedly far from being the best to come from the MCU, they’re still just one small part of a larger film. And for some reason, the internet got really worked up over this becoming the first superhero film to be nominated for Best Picture rather than some of the genre’s other critically-acclaimed outings like Logan (which did get a Best Adapted Screenplay nomination, for the record). But at the end of the day, there’s no denying that Black Panther truly is one of the MCU’s finest outings to date because of a phenomenal ensemble cast, excellent direction from Ryan Coogler, and for having some of the best emotional depth in a franchise that’s already well-known for this sort of thing.

I’m not even going to try and build up suspense for this one. Anyone who knows me and the films that I often tend to like will undoubtedly know what my #1 of 2018 is. To be perfectly blunt, this was set into motion the minute I walked out of that theater. Thus, without further ado, my #1 of 2018 and my new favorite Marvel Cinematic Universe film is…

AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR

Infinity War is a masterpiece of the superhero film genre. It is the emotional, epic, thrilling culmination of everything that the Marvel Cinematic Universe has been building up to ever since the original Iron Man a decade prior. Under the phenomenal direction of the Russo brothers, this film is quite arguably the very definition of everything that’s great about this franchise. The action sequences are outstanding and are bolstered by excellent visual effects. And thanks to the franchise’s amazing ensemble cast, this film has plenty of that great MCU-style humor complete with a lot of fun character pairings. There’s Iron Man and Doctor Strange who, despite having similar personalities (while also being played by two actors who’ve both played Sherlock Holmes… also, no, there isn’t a moment where someone says ‘no s***, Sherlock’), do not get along. There’s Thor’s scene with the Guardians of the Galaxy, who then later interact with Iron Man and his team and proceed to clearly annoy the hell out of him (i.e. this scene and Robert Downey Jr.’s priceless reaction shot). Even small moments like Bucky Barnes picking up Rocket Raccoon and spinning him around to take out a bunch of baddies or Steve Rogers meeting Groot for the first time, hearing him say ‘I am Groot’, and then saying ‘I am Steve Rogers’ are utterly delightful. And yet, the most important character in this film ironically isn’t any of the Avengers themselves. Instead, that honor goes to the film’s main antagonist, Thanos the Mad Titan (Josh Brolin). Thanos… is the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s greatest villain to date.

Ever since he was first introduced in the mid-credit scene of the original Avengers, the MCU has slowly but surely been building up to Thanos becoming the most intimidating adversary that the Avengers have ever faced. However, his initial appearance in the first Guardians of the Galaxy prompted quite a lot of jokes that revolved around the fact that said appearance mainly consisted of him sitting in a chair. But then comes Infinity War… which opens with Thanos and his Black Order decimating half the surviving people of Asgard, giving the Hulk a beatdown unlike any other, killing Heimdall after he saved Hulk by sending him back to Earth, and killing Loki, his former ‘ally’, by snapping his neck right in front of his brother Thor. This all occurs in the first ten minutes of the film, and simply put, it does exactly what Kevin Feige said it would do and make Thanos a force to be reckoned with. It also helps that Thanos is one of the most-layered villains that the genre has ever seen. His goal? Wipe out half the universe to combat the kind of over-population and waste of resources that destroyed his home on the planet Titan… and yes, I’ve seen the argument that questions why Thanos doesn’t just create more resources. However, the primary thing to take from all this is that Thanos is truly committed to achieving his goal. He even goes as far as to sacrifice his ‘favorite’ adopted daughter Gamora by throwing her off a cliff on the planet Vormir to collect the mythical Soul Stone, even though a key reaction shot shows that it thoroughly destroys him to do so. And at the end of it all, when he’s confronted by a vision of a young Gamora asking him what it cost to achieve his goal, Thanos solemnly responds with a single word, “Everything”. Thus, with an outstanding performance from Josh Brolin and quite arguably the best motion-capture visual effects ever seen on film, Thanos is very much a villain who lived up to all the hype that had been surrounding him since May 2012.

If those big emotional scenes with Thanos weren’t enough of an indication, Infinity War is easily the most emotionally-charged installment of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. This film hits hard when it comes to putting its protagonists (and yes, even its antagonist) through the emotional wringer. And because of all the time that’s been spent developing these characters in previous MCU films, these big dramatic scenes are perfectly handled. I mean… jeez, where do I start? There’s the scene where Thor tells Rocket about everything that’s happened to him and everyone that he’s lost along the way, and when Rocket poses the question of whether Thor can beat Thanos, a dispirited Thor responds with, “What more could I lose?”. There’s the subplot regarding the pressing matter of the Avengers protecting the Mind Stone that’s housed in Vision’s forehead. And despite their best efforts to try and destroy it without it affecting Vision, his lover Scarlet Witch is forced to do it herself, even though it will kill him, while the rest of the Avengers desperately try to fend off Thanos… who then proceeds to render it all for naught by reversing time and killing Vision himself to collect the Mind Stone. There’s also the previously mentioned subplot involving Gamora’s status as Thanos’ adopted daughter, as she reveals to Star-Lord that Thanos will try to find her as she knows the location of the Soul Stone. To prevent this from happening, Gamora makes Star-Lord promise (even making him swear on his mother, no less…) that he will kill her if Thanos managed to capture her. Sure enough, that’s exactly what happens when the Guardians confront Thanos on Knowhere, with Star-Lord and Gamora saying ‘I love you’ to each other for the last time before the former pulls the trigger. And while Thanos ends up diminishing the impact of this moment by using the Reality Stone to turn Star-Lord’s blaster fire into bubbles, it’s clear that Star-Lord was willing to do what was necessary even if it meant having to do the unthinkable and kill the woman that he loves.

With that in mind… let’s talk about ‘that’ scene. You know what I’m talking about. It’s the one moment from this film that has become quite infamous on the internet, and it occurs during the big fight scene on Titan between Thanos and the team of heroes that consist of Iron Man, Spider-Man, Dr. Strange, and the Guardians sans Gamora and Rocket. In a pivotal moment, our heroes manage to subdue Thanos and begin to try and pull the Infinity Gauntlet off him. However, things begin to change when everyone learns about what Thanos did to Gamora on Vormir. And in a fit of rage, Star-Lord begins to attack Thanos, which then leads to him regaining the upper hand against them. To put it very lightly, the internet did not react kindly to this little moment to the point where they treated Star-Lord with about the same amount of respect as Jar-Jar Binks, effectively blaming him for everything that happened after this moment. And to be perfectly blunt… I don’t really see what the big deal is. To be clear, I’m not saying that what Star-Lord did at this moment wasn’t a mistake because it was. And yet, ignoring for a moment what happens afterward, this is something that I’m sure a lot of others would’ve done had they been in his shoes because it’s a natural response to the loss of a loved one. In fact, this could’ve easily happened to any of the other heroes that were involved in this scene. For example, imagine how Iron Man would’ve reacted if Thanos admitted that he had killed Pepper Potts. In fact, didn’t Tony go through this exact same situation in Civil War when he lashed out at Cap and Bucky when he learned that the latter killed his parents, even though this was at the exact moment when they were about to capture Zemo? Thus, in this film, he’s the one who tries to talk Star-Lord down because he knows exactly what’s about to happen. And yet, given the internet’s reaction to Star-Lord’s big gaffe, it sounds like they wanted Tony to have kept his cool during the Civil War finale rather than have any kind of emotional reaction to the revelation about his parents’ deaths.

But perhaps the most baffling part about this whole debacle is the insinuation that Star-Lord was the one who’s primarily responsible for this film’s big finale when a lot of the other Avengers made their own mistakes along the way. Scarlet Witch, for example, took way too much time to agree to the destruction of the Mind Stone as it isn’t done until a point where Thanos has already acquired the Time Stone from Doctor Strange, who willingly gave it to him just to save Tony Stark’s life. A similar situation occurred with Gamora when she revealed the location of the Soul Stone just to save her sister Nebula from further torture. And let’s not forget about Thor’s big error during the finale… but we’ll get to that in just a bit. Basically, it’s truly bizarre that out of all the things that happened in this film, Star-Lord’s error is the one that people venomously single out… it’s even more bizarre that the internet is trying to pin all this on any of the Avengers, to begin with. Yes, despite everything that I just mentioned about the other Avengers’ mishaps, I just don’t understand why some people are trying to blame them for this film’s finale because it legitimately undermines how great of a villain Thanos really is. Let’s be clear, folks, Thanos (not Star-Lord) was the sole figure who was responsible for that finale, because no matter what the Avengers tried to do to overcome him, he was always one step ahead of them. And because of this, the most unthinkable scenario ends up occurring… Thanos wins. Yes, folks, the time has finally come to address what is easily the signature moment of Avengers: Infinity War; a moment that the filmmakers have officially dubbed as ‘the Decimation’.

After reversing time to acquire the Mind Stone from Vision’s forehead, Thanos has finally managed to secure all six of the Infinity Stones. But before he can snap his fingers to wipe out half the universe, Thor comes in just in the nick of time to impale Thanos with his new weapon that was formed in the forges of Nidavellir, Stormbreaker (and yes, the scene where he, Groot, and Rocket first arrive on the Wakandan battlefield is another one of the film’s epic highlights). And yet, while it may seem like Thor has managed to beat the Mad Titan in an emotionally cathartic parallel to the opening scene of the film where he was helplessly outmatched against his latest adversary, Thanos changes everything with one line of dialogue, “You should have gone for the head”. Thanos then snaps his fingers, effectively resulting in half of the universe being erased from existence. And it isn’t just ordinary people who are turned to dust, because in the span of just a few minutes, Bucky Barnes, Black Panther, Groot, Scarlet Witch, Falcon, Mantis, Drax, Star-Lord, Doctor Strange, and finally Spider-Man fade out of existence in front of their friends and family. The post-credit scene (no mid-credit scene for this one given all the crap that had just gone down a few minutes prior) then confirms that Nick Fury and Maria Hill are among the victims of this event as well, but not before Fury manages to contact his old pal Carol Danvers AKA Captain Marvel via pager. The mid-credit scene for the next MCU film, Ant-Man and the Wasp, further stresses the gravity of this moment by establishing that Dr. Hank Pym, Janet van Dyne, and Hope van Dyne were also erased from existence, and this complicates things for Ant-Man as it occurs right as he begins to travel into the Quantum Realm.

This… is one of the most flawlessly executed moments in the history of the franchise. While the rest of the film features an amazing score by Alan Silvestri (one of the franchise’s best), it isn’t used at all during this scene. Instead, the only bits of sound to perforate the silence are background noises and character dialogue, which obviously helps to strengthen the impact of this scene. And simply put, the film doesn’t skimp on the emotional drama of these deaths, as these are some truly hard-hitting losses. Some of the most notable examples of this include Okoye having to witness her king’s death for the second time in just two films and Rocket being helpless to stop Groot’s disintegration, which is made even worse by the latter’s final words which, as confirmed by James Gunn, translate out to ‘dad’. And yet, arguably the most hard-hitting death of them all happens at the very end with Spider-Man, as a frightened Peter hugs his father figure, Tony Stark, and constantly repeats the phrase “I don’t want to go” before fading away into nothing. One can only imagine how Tony feels about all this given his line from Spider-Man: Homecoming about how he would feel personally responsible if anything happened to Peter. If that wasn’t enough, it also ties into a fear that he addressed in Age of Ultron regarding the visions that he’s had of witnessing his friends’ deaths while he himself survived. And how does this film end? With Thanos doing exactly what he promised Doctor Strange during their conversation on Titan by resting and “watching the sunrise on a ‘grateful’ universe”.

Now with all this in mind, I know exactly what some of you are thinking… yes, it’s clear that a lot of what happened during this finale will most likely get fixed in Avengers: Endgame. You can tell this just by being aware of some of the upcoming MCU films like Spider-Man: Far From Home and planned sequels to the likes of Doctor Strange and Black Panther. And yet, that doesn’t take anything away from the emotional agony of this film’s last half hour. Sure, the Avengers have experienced some low points over the years, like when they were divided by the Sokovia Accords in Civil War. But in this film, they were hit with what is undoubtedly the biggest loss that they’ve ever experienced, and no matter what happens in Avengers: Endgame, it’s clear that this is something that can’t easily be undone. At the end of the day, though, all the great things that have come from this film serve as a testament to what Marvel Studios has managed to accomplish over the course of this past decade. They’ve crafted a franchise unlike any other that has established a grand universe full of layered characters that we’ve very much come to care about over the course of the 21 films that have currently been released at the time of this post’s publication. Thus, while Infinity War may be the first half of the finale for what Kevin Feige has recently designated as ‘the Infinity Saga’, it still stands as the emotionally-charged culmination of everything that’s been set up so far for one of the best film franchises around. And on April 26^th, we’ll finally get to see how our heroes overcome this because to quote Doctor Strange in one of this film’s key scenes, “We’re in the Endgame now…”

And with that, Rhode Island Movie Corner’s Top 12 Favorite Films of 2018 list has officially come to an end. As always, I’d like to thank everyone who’s been following along on this big retrospective of some of my favorite films from this past year. I apologize for the considerably long time that it took for me to get both this and the Worst of 2018 list published, but that’s just what happens when you’re in a situation like I am where you’re preparing for the conclusion of your internship program at the Happiest Place on Earth. And now that these posts are finally complete, I can fully commit to preparations for some of the exciting posts that I have planned for 2019 along with all the reviews that I will continue to produce for you lovely readers. Thus, to quote the one and only Roger Ebert, “I’ll see you at the movies”.

TOP 12 FAVORITE FILMS OF 2018: #6-4

Welcome back to Rhode Island Movie Corner’s annual end-of-the-year list where I’m counting down my Top 12 Favorite Films of 2018. We are now halfway through the list, and today in Part 3 of this 4-part series, we’ll be delving into films 6-4. If you missed my 6 Honorable Mentions and films 12-7, just click the links below to be directed back to Parts 1 and 2. Thus, with all that out of the way, it’s time to once again get back to the list…

PART 1

PART 2

To start off the second half of this list, we have an admittedly controversial pick at #6 because it’s a film that’s based on a rather polarizing bit of source material. In the case of the film, though, I’d argue that it did manage to alleviate some of the issues that audiences have had with its original incarnation.

6. READY PLAYER ONE

Ready Player One was the first film of 2018 that I saw twice in theaters. After the second time, I then proceeded to download the audiobook of author Ernest Cline’s original novel off Audible, and in doing so, I began to understand why it’s been rather controversial. While Ready Player One did do well with critics and audiences when it was first published in 2011, it’s since attracted a more polarizing response from those who feel that it’s nothing more than a hodge-podge of pop cultural references. And to be fair, it’s easy to see how it could’ve been just that given that the story revolves around an advanced VR system that allows its users to live through all their various pop cultural related fantasies, whether it’s climbing Mount Everest with Batman or driving a DeLorean from Back to the Future. As such, while I tend not to get into discussions about the long-standing debate of ‘book vs. film’, there are various reasons why I find that this is one of the cases of book-to-film adaptations where the film is indeed better than the book. For starters, it helps that the film was directed by someone as revered as Steven Spielberg who, along with co-writer Zak Penn, managed to streamline some of the more aggressively nerdy aspects of Cline’s story. Most specifically, they managed to tone down a lot of the ‘leetspeak’ that dominated much of the novel and has arguably dated it. Sure, there are still some very cheesy one-liners here and there (e.g. “a fanboy knows a hater”), but at the same time, we probably should be thankful that we didn’t have to watch a Spielberg film that featured phrases like ‘Suxorz’, a derogatory term used to describe the main antagonist’s army of indentured servants.

But easily the biggest improvement over the novel is how the film portrays its characters. Even with that said, though, several critics have noted that one of the biggest shortcomings of the film is that it’s quite lacking in terms of character development… and they’re not entirely wrong about this. Aside from main protagonist Wade Watts/Parzival, his ally/love interest Samantha/Art3mis, main antagonist Nolan Sorrento, and Wade’s best friend Helen/Aech (albeit to a lesser extent due to the film not delving into the full reveal of Aech’s identity as a young lesbian woman), every other character in the film has a very limited role in the plot. But if there’s one upside to this, it’s that the film manages to make these characters a lot more likable when compared to the novel. Because of the novel’s heavy use of ‘leetspeak’, the main characters frequently came off as being rather unpleasant, with a lot of their interactions consisting of them just lobbying geek-related insults at each other. Wade Watts, especially, was quite obnoxious when it came to some of his narration. Thankfully, this isn’t as big of an issue in the film as Tye Sheridan does a very nice job of making this version of Wade a lot more down-to-earth. And while the book does spend a lot more time focusing on the formation of Wade and his friends’ clan, the High Five, their camaraderie feels a lot more natural in the film. Sheridan has solid chemistry with Olivia Cooke as Samantha/Art3mis and I do appreciate that the film has them meeting in person a lot earlier than in the book, which didn’t see them interact outside of the OASIS until the very end. And while the other members of the High Five obviously don’t get as much to work with by comparison, Lena Waithe (Aech/Helen), Win Morisaki (Daito/Toshiro), and Philip Zhao (Zhou/Sho) all get to have their own unique standout moments in the film, like when Daito enters the final battle manning one of the mechs from Mobile Suit Gundam.

In conclusion, despite all that I’ve said about this film, I do still recognize why Ready Player One has been such a controversial bit of media. At their core, both the book and film rely heavily on their various references to pop culture, and because of this, they can also serve as a representation of some of the more unpleasant aspects of fandom that, as I’ve noted before, have sadly become a lot more prominent this past year. But when it comes to the film, it thankfully manages to tone down some of the more extreme elements of its source material. Simply put, Steven Spielberg turned this full-blown tribute to 80’s pop culture (something that he himself had a prominent hand in creating) into the kind of film that he was known for making at the time like E.T. and the Indiana Jones series. And while I’m not saying that this is necessarily ‘as good’ as those films, I have the feeling that it would’ve been a lot more like the book (which, to reiterate, wouldn’t have been a good thing) had a different filmmaker been involved. Heck, Spielberg even went as far as to limit references to his own filmography save for one moment with a T-Rex and a few nods to Back to the Future (which he only produced). And because of all this, that trademark Spielbergian magic is on solid display here in a visually stunning sci-fi adventure that boasts some fantastic visual effects that help bring the world of the OASIS to life. Highlights of this film’s impressive visuals include an incredibly thrilling race through the streets of a virtual Manhattan that sees racers deal with everything from wrecking balls to King Kong and an almost pitch-perfect recreation of Stanley Kubrick’s 1980 horror classic The Shining. In short, while I don’t ‘hate’ Ready Player One the novel the same way that a lot of people on the internet do, I ultimately prefer the film adaptation because, if anything, it proves that you really shouldn’t underestimate one of the most prolific filmmakers in the industry.

My Number 5 pick is a lot like Solo as it’s another film that truly deserved to do better than it ultimately did at the box-office. Thus, it’s quite sad that both ended up being undone by some incredibly moronic bits of controversy.

5. FIRST MAN

As you might have guessed from the title, First Man tells the story of the iconic Apollo 11 mission where Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first people to walk on the moon. More specifically, the film focuses on Armstrong (it is, after all, an adaptation of his 2005 biography of the same name) and the emotional state that he was in prior to launch. Thus, for most of the film, Armstrong may come off as a blank slate to most people as he spends a lot more time preparing for the mission than he does interacting with people, whether it’s his NASA co-workers or even his wife Janet and their two sons. However, the film ultimately reveals why this is the case during the final moments of the film after Armstrong and Aldrin manage to land on the moon’s surface. While Aldrin heads off to jump around on the surface, Armstrong, in a moment of solitude, stands before the Little West Crater and proceeds to drop a bracelet into it that belonged to his daughter Karen, who tragically died at a young age from a brain tumor. Now to be clear, there hasn’t been any official confirmation that this moment ever happened, but as the filmmakers have pointed out, it’s still a reasonable conclusion to come to as it’s been said that it wasn’t uncommon for astronauts to leave family mementos on the moon. But in the context of the film, it does work to explain what Armstrong was going through at the time and why he ultimately decided to focus more on his work than his friends and family. In doing so, it provided him an outlet where he wouldn’t be distracted by his grief, and the eventual success of the Apollo 11 mission allowed him to have that final moment of emotional catharsis and officially move on from the loss of his daughter. It’s a beautifully executed emotional moment thanks in large part to an excellent performance by Ryan Gosling as Neil Armstrong.

Aside from the film’s emotional poignancy, director Damien Chazelle also manages to craft some genuinely tense sequences whenever a spaceflight is involved. Whereas most films of this nature tend to rely on grand exterior shots of spacecraft traveling through space, most of this film’s spaceflight sequences stick within the cramped confines of the ships themselves. In doing so, it helps to illustrate the fact that what these astronauts are trying to accomplish is incredibly dangerous, and the film certainly doesn’t gloss over this little factoid. Whether it’s the near-disastrous Gemini 8 mission that Neil Armstrong was involved in or the devastating fire that killed the crew of Apollo 1, it’s clear that many risks were taken to get a man on the moon. But once the film finally gets to the grand finale that is the Apollo 11 mission, that’s where things start to change. Compared to previous spaceflight sequences, more exterior shots are used (while still primarily focusing on interior shots) and said shots are generally held for longer periods of time whereas previous sequences featured more rapid cuts. And, of course, once Armstrong and Aldrin step out onto the moon’s surface, all lunar sequences were filmed with IMAX cameras, and while we weren’t granted the chance to see this film in true 70 mm like some of Christopher Nolan’s recent films, this is still one of the best uses of the format. Simply put, this was the very definition of a film that was a must-see in IMAX… a shame, then, that not many people went to go see it in IMAX because the film didn’t do so hot at the box-office. While it wasn’t an outright flop, it just barely managed to gross over $100 million worldwide… and if you follow film-related news, then you’re probably aware of one of the reasons behind this.

It all started when the film premiered at the Venice Film Festival this past August, where it was reported that it did not include a scene where Armstrong and Aldrin plant the American flag on the moon’s surface. Chazelle and Gosling (with further support from Armstrong’s sons Rick and Mark) noted that this was because they wanted to focus more on Armstrong’s story, but nevertheless, this attracted tons of controversy that mainly came from the conservative side of the political spectrum. And while I know that some will argue that there was a bit more to it than just that, it’s clear that this debacle played a considerable factor in the film’s commercial underperformance. Because of this, I must ask the following… was the planting of the American flag really the most important aspect of the Apollo 11 mission? Yes, it’s true that a lot of what led to Apollo 11 was due to the Space Race that was going on at the time between the U.S. and Russia, something that the film does properly address. And yet, this whole controversy seems to imply that simply one-upping Russia was the only thing that mattered during this moment in history, thus ignoring all the achievements in human engineering that helped make it possible. Plus, if there’s one thing that was overlooked during this debacle… it’s that the flag does appear in the damn film… granted, it’s only seen from afar, but the point still stands. This is nothing but a completely fabricated bit of controversy, and if you ask me, it’s way more offensive to the legacy of the Apollo 11 mission than what it was trying to implicate. Thus, I do hope that First Man becomes one of those films that gains a greater audience in the years to come, as it’s another excellent outing from Damien Chazelle that shows that there was much more to Neil Armstrong than just the fact that he was the first man to walk on the moon.

And now we return to the controversial claim that I made back in Part 2 where I noted that this year’s Best Animated Feature winner, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, was not my #1 animated film of the year. Instead, it’s my Number 4 pick, which I’d argue was a worthy follow-up to its beloved predecessor even with all the expectations that it had to overcome.

4. INCREDIBLES 2

Calling Incredibles 2 one of the most anticipated films of the past year would be a massive understatement. Pixar’s 2004 classic The Incredibles is easily one of the studio’s most beloved outings. Plus, it’s quite arguably the only Pixar film not named Toy Story that fans legitimately demanded a sequel to given that it ended on a cliffhanger that teased a new villain. And while it may have taken 14 years for it to happen, the continuing adventures of the Parr family have finally seen the light of day. Now, obviously, the superhero film genre has changed quite a bit since the original Incredibles, namely thanks to the introduction of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. And if anything, it’s clear that writer/director Brad Bird was well-aware of this as this film continues to focus more on its characters than its superhero-related hi-jinx. Sure, this film does feature some more excellent superhero action sequences, but at the end of the day, it’s all about the Parr family and their strong dynamic. With that in mind, though, some felt that this film heavily rehashed the plot of the first film by having one of the parents go off to fight crime while the other stays behind. And while it’s true that the plot of this film sees Helen Parr AKA Elastigirl head out to fight crime while Bob Parr AKA Mr. Incredible becomes the stay-at-home dad, there’s a bit more to it than that. The first film was mainly about Mr. Incredible overcoming a severe mid-life crisis, which ultimately ends up helping him reaffirm his devotion to his family.

As for the sequel, it sees Bob and Helen undergo a switcheroo regarding their parental roles. Helen, who had become a homemaker since the outlawing of superheroes, finds herself having to leave her family during a crucial time in their lives even though what she’s doing will help ensure their future. Bob, meanwhile, must swallow his pride and let his wife do all the superhero stuff while he tries to understand the ins and outs of being a stay-at-home dad, which includes everything from him trying (and failing) to fix his daughter’s dating woes to asking the age-old question when it comes to helping his son with his homework, “Why would they change math?”. In other words, this does a nice job of tying into what is arguably Bob and Helen’s greatest character arcs in these films, with Bob having to learn that even someone as strong as him isn’t invincible and Helen rediscovering her identity as a superhero after spending several years trying to move on from such a lifestyle. Meanwhile, their kids (i.e. Dash and Violet) continue to play vital roles in the plot, and yes, for those who were eager to see how this film would follow up on the previous film’s finale, it doesn’t disappoint when it comes to showcasing the full extent of infant Jack-Jack’s various powers (e.g. the scene where he fights off a raccoon). Thus, as I noted before, the strong dynamic from this family of supers is easily the best aspect of the film, but they are matched by a solid villain in the form of the mind-controlling Screenslaver, who’s revealed to be tech-savvy Evelyn Deavor. However, this also happens to be one of the more contentious aspects of the film for many people for various reasons that range from the rather obvious reveal that she is the villain to the argument that she’s just not as good of a villain as Syndrome was in the last film. Once again, though, I’d argue otherwise as both Incredibles films do a good job in giving us villains who serve as a critique on the concept of superheroes.

In the first film, we had Syndrome AKA Buddy Pine, Mr. Incredible’s highly enthusiastic #1 fan who turns to the dark side when his idol rejects him (in other words, toxic fandom in a nutshell). His plan is to use the various inventions that he has created to grant those without superpowers the chance to be superheroes themselves. As he puts it, “when everyone’s super… no one will be”. In the case of the sequel and Evelyn Deavor, we have a villain whose motivations are based on the public’s dependence on superheroes. As revealed by her brother Winston in a flashback, their father was such a big fan of superheroes that he even had direct landlines to two of the Supers, Gazerbeam and Fironic. And yet, unfortunately, this ends up costing him his life as he couldn’t get into contact with them while he was dealing with burglars because of the Supers being outlawed. Thus, while Winston works to “bring supers back into the sunlight”, Evelyn secretly aspires to get rid of them for good. In short, both Incredibles villains work excellently within the context of their respective film’s plots. And thanks to its strong emotional depth and phenomenal animation that, dare I say, is often on par with Into the Spider-Verse when it comes to replicating the comic book style, Incredibles 2 is an excellent follow-up to its iconic predecessor. However, I’m not going to compare these two films to determine ‘which is better’ because I feel that this would be a bit unfair to the sequel as I obviously have a lot more experience with the original Incredibles. It was one of my favorites as a kid (and yes, it still stands as one of my all-time favorite Pixar films to this day) and I even still remember going to see it in theaters back in 2004. But because the sequel is just as well-made by comparison, I’m happy to say that those who didn’t ‘grow up’ with the original now get the chance to witness everything that made The Incredibles an undisputed classic of my generation.

And that concludes Part 3 of Rhode Island Movie Corner’s list of my Top 12 Favorite Films from 2018. Thanks for following along and be sure to check back in tomorrow for the big finale where I delve into my Top 3 Favorite Films from the past year.

TOP 12 FAVORITE FILMS OF 2018: #9-7

Welcome back to Rhode Island Movie Corner’s annual end-of-the-year list where I’m counting down my Top 12 Favorite Films of 2018. This is Part 2 of 4 and today we’ll be delving into films 9-7. If you missed my 6 Honorable Mentions and films 12-10, just click the link below to be directed back to Part 1. And thus, back to the list…

PART 1

My Number 9 pick might be a bit controversial because, unlike a lot of the internet, this isn’t my #1 favorite animated film of the year. And yet, the fact that this is still in my Top 10 should hopefully indicate that I still thought that the film was great.

9. SPIDER-MAN: INTO THE SPIDER-VERSE

Into the Spider-Verse is a well-deserved success story for all involved. For Sony Animation, it is a major rebound for them after their infamous 2017 outing, The Emoji Movie. It’s a film that once again sees them collaborating with Phil Lord and Chris Miller after their previous work on the Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs films, although it should be noted that Lord and Miller only produced this while Lord was one of the primary screenwriters. Directorial duties instead went to the trio of Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey, and Rodney Rothman. But thanks to the combined efforts of these five filmmakers, Spider-Verse features excellent writing that expands upon its traditional superhero origin story by being one of the first major superhero films since the start of the MCU to explore the concept of multi-verses. Several iconic iterations of Spider-Man are featured prominently in this film, from the badass Spider-Woman to the hilarious Spider-Ham… and yes, there’s a Spider-Man who’s a talking pig. Ultimately, though, this film primarily serves as the first official Spider-Man film to center on the character of Miles Morales, who is easily the most popular rendition of Spider-Man after Peter Parker. And amidst Lord and Miller’s trademark sense of humor, the film very much delivers on the emotional aspect of Miles’ transformation into Spider-Man. Over the course of this film, he witnesses the brutal death of his universe’s Peter Parker, learns that his uncle Aaron Davis is one of the Kingpin’s henchmen, the Prowler, and is then forced to witness his uncle’s death at the hands of Kingpin. Thus, when Miles finally makes his mark as Spider-Man in what is easily the definitive scene of the film, it’s one of the most emotionally cathartic moments in recent memory. And just like every other sequence in the film, it boasts brilliant animation that is easily the closest that any animated film has ever gotten to replicating the classic comic book style. Thus, with a win for Best Animated Feature at this year’s Oscars, along with the announcement that both a sequel and various spin-offs are in the works, it’s clear that a promising new franchise has been born.

The bigger question, though… who pointed first? ("SPIDER-MAN POINTED FIRST, OBVIOUSLY!")

Well, to prove my point about how Into the Spider-Verse not being my #1 favorite animated film of the year is a controversial opinion, my #8 pick is… an animated film. Not only that, but this film has apparently been a bit polarizing due to one key aspect of its plot. Still, it’s another solid addition to the growing pantheon that is Walt Disney Animation’s library of animated classics.

8. RALPH BREAKS THE INTERNET

Ralph Breaks the Internet served as the first theatrically-released sequel to a Walt Disney Animation film since The Rescuers Down Under back in 1990. And overall, this follow-up to the studio’s 2012 outing Wreck-it Ralph managed to avoid ending up as Disney’s equivalent of The Emoji Movie even though both films are set within the confines of the internet and feature several references to current internet culture. Sure, just like the original and its references to classic arcade games, the references that this film makes to internet culture do run the risk of making it rather dated given the internet’s ever-changing landscape. Ultimately, though, the film wisely works around this by ensuring that the internet itself is not the focus of its story. Instead, this film’s creative and vibrantly animated spin on the internet only serves as the setting for the story, which is generally on par with the original when it comes to its strong themes and heartfelt narrative. It’s a film that treats its internet concepts seriously, simultaneously highlighting its best aspects while also paying attention to its worst (e.g. the firestorms that are comment sections). And in the process, it strengthens the film’s themes of change and insecurity, which are both represented in figurative and literal terms. And while the film does reference a few real-life websites here and there, it’s clear that the filmmakers did their homework when it comes to portraying them in a realistic manner. Even the highly talked about sequence where Vanellope meets with all* the Disney princesses (*yeah, yeah, I know that there are some notable absentees…) is handled very well. In different hands, it could’ve been the most blatant bit of corporate synergy that Disney has ever done. And yet, this sequence allows all of Disney’s current princess voice actresses to play off some of their characters’ common criticisms without betraying anything that has made these heroines so beloved in the first place.

But even with all this in mind, it seems as if Ralph Breaks the Internet has been a bit polarizing. Surprisingly, though, this applies more to audiences instead of critics, as the latter gave the film decent reviews that were generally on par with the original. Audiences, however, were a bit more split due to the story’s handling of Vanellope, who is arguably the main character this time around. When Ralph accidentally causes Sugar Rush’s steering wheel to break, the two of them travel to the internet to try and find a replacement wheel. But along the way, Vanellope, who’s been starting to have a bit of an identity crisis after years of doing the same old thing in Sugar Rush, ends up falling in love with another racing game named Slaughter Race to the point where the film ends with her staying there instead of directly returning to the arcade. Simply put, some felt that this arc wasn’t handled very well, with the main argument of theirs being that Vanellope’s decision to spend more time there instead of trying to help Ralph fix Sugar Rush makes their current dilemma worse while also being a poor sign of friendship. However, I don’t think that it negatively affects Vanellope as a character too much because it does tie into the primary theme of the film which shows that relationships, especially between best friends, do change over time. And even after all the hi-jinx that Ralph and Vanellope get into in this film (including stopping a giant, zombie-like, Ralph-shaped virus from destroying the internet), the two continue to stay in touch even after Vanellope moves over to Slaughter Race, complete with a genuinely effective tear-jerker scene where the two friends part ways. Because of all this, I would argue that Ralph Breaks the Internet is, at the very least, on par with its predecessor. Even though it doesn’t follow the same arcade-based narrative as the original, its internet setting does allow it to have its own identity instead of just being a carbon copy of the first film.   

Next up is a film that was undoubtedly one of the most anticipated blockbusters of the year as it served as the latest installment of one of the best action franchises around. And as you might have guessed, this newest entry did not disappoint.

7. MISSION IMPOSSIBLE – FALLOUT

Prior to this film’s release, my personal favorite entry of the Mission Impossible series was the fourth film, Ghost Protocol. This remained the case even after the release of the fifth film, Rogue Nation, which was just as well-received as its predecessor if not arguably more so. This then led to a genuinely legitimate debate at the time as to which one was the series’ best installment. And while I will agree that Rogue Nation had a better villain, I still prefer Ghost Protocol by a slight margin as it was the first entry of the series to not just be about Ethan Hunt by giving the rest of his IMF teammates solid character development. By comparison, Rogue Nation went back on this a bit by being a bit more Ethan-centric though, thankfully, this wasn’t the case for the entire film. And now we come to Fallout, the second MI film in a row to be directed by Christopher McQuarrie, which is more like Ghost Protocol in terms of balancing Ethan and his teammates’ roles in the plot. Obviously, like every other Mission Impossible film, Ethan Hunt is still the main character but this one also manages to give him some of the best character development that he’s had in the entire series. His commitment to stopping Solomon Lane and his followers forces him to take some major risks to achieve that, including a temporary ‘alliance’ with Lane’s associates to break him out of prison. As the film goes on, though, it’s reasserted that Ethan is still very much one of the good guys, and there’s even some nice closure to his relationship with his ex-wife Julia (Michelle Monaghan), who’s revealed to have remarried to another doctor, Erik (Wes Bentley). Meanwhile, just like Ghost Protocol, the film does a nice job of giving Ethan’s teammates decently sized roles in the story. It’s all headlined by Rebecca Ferguson returning as the badass Ilsa Faust, who initially finds herself in conflict with Ethan over orders from her superiors to kill Lane. Series mainstay Luther Stickell (Ving Rhames) also has a notable character moment when Ethan saves him during a botched operation in Berlin, even if said mission ends up setting the stakes of this film’s plot into motion. Finally, Simon Pegg is great once again as Benji Dunn even if Benji’s big character moments were in the previous two films.

This solid character development is then paired nicely with everything that director Christopher McQuarrie brought to Rogue Nation. Under his direction, Fallout features some of the best action sequences in recent years, especially when seen in IMAX. There’s Ethan and CIA agent August Walker’s (played excellently by Henry Cavill) HALO jump into Paris, their brawl with one of their targets within a bathroom, and an intense chase through the streets of Paris with Ethan on a motorcycle… and yes, that’s just to name a few. Ultimately, though, arguably the best action sequence in the film is its finale, in which Ethan and company try to stop Lane and Walker, the latter of whom is revealed to be the extremist behind this terrorist plot, from detonating two nuclear bombs in the Kashmir region. Whether it’s Ethan giving chase to Walker in a helicopter, the two of them brawling on a cliffside, or Benji and Ilsa trying to deal with Lane, this is easily one of the most intense finales that has ever been seen on film due in large part to how high the stakes are. Granted, previous MI films have done a nice job in creating tense scenarios, like in Ghost Protocol when Ethan and his team were on their own in their efforts to stop a Russian strategist from starting a nuclear war. But in the case of Fallout, which also focuses on a plot involving nuclear weapons, having Ethan and co. in the same location as the nukes really stresses the consequences of what will happen if they fail. And for the record, it literally goes to the last second with this, complete with a bright white flash… that’s ultimately revealed to be sunlight, but the point still stands. And because of all this, Mission Impossible – Fallout manages to surpass all its predecessors as the new high mark of the franchise. Plus, if that wasn’t enough, it’s recently been confirmed that Christopher McQuarrie will return to helm two more sequels, which will be filmed back-to-back for releases in 2021 and 2022, respectively.

And that concludes Part 2 of Rhode Island Movie Corner’s list of my Top 12 Favorite Films of 2018. Thanks for following along and be sure to check back in tomorrow for Part 3, where we’ll be delving into films 6 through 4.

TOP 12 FAVORITE FILMS OF 2018: #12-10 + Honorable Mentions

Honestly, at this point, there’s no need to address the overall quality of a year based on the films that were released during that time. There are always going to be a lot of great films that come out every year for every demographic of every genre. Instead, I’m going to use this intro to comment on how 2018 proved… that fandoms are REALLY starting to get problematic. In the past, I’ve lamented on how sometimes people on the internet tend to forget that film is a subjective medium, meaning that no single film is going to be well-received by everyone. This past year, however, has bear witness to some of the most extreme cases of ‘fan reactions’ that I’ve ever seen in my time as a film critic. Basically, thanks to various factors that include the continued popularity of series like CinemaSins and the actions of a certain political figure who shall not be named, film discourse has erupted into a series of violent outbursts towards things that seriously don’t require that kind of intense reaction. Don’t even get me started on how many actors/actresses have been forced off social media this past year due to the intense harassment that they’ve received from online trolls either due to a comment that they’ve made on our current political landscape or because they allegedly ‘ruined’ something that these trolls liked. Now let me be clear… I know damn well that these misogynistic, homophobic, xenophobic ‘fans’ (the term ‘fans’ used VERY loosely in this case) only make up a small portion of the various fandoms that make up our current pop cultural zeitgeist. Still, it’s imperative at this point that the film fan community distance itself from this kind of behavior because I strongly believe that it’s only going to get worse if left unchecked. With that out of the way, it’s time to delve into my Top 12 Favorite Films from 2018. For those who are new to this site, the reason why I do a Top 12 list instead of the more traditional Top 10 is that it allows me the chance to talk about more of the great films that I loved from this past year. It may have also had something to do with the fact that I launched this site in 2012 and I did a Top 12 that year just for the occasion.  

As always, though, we must first lay down the primary ground-rules that I have for this list. The first is quite simple; to fully address the films that will be featured on this list, I will be delving into their biggest spoilers. Thus, in case some of you haven’t seen the films that I’ll be discussing here, don’t worry, because I will be providing links to my original non-spoiler reviews of these films. Next, as is the case with any year, I’m unable to see every major film that is released in theaters. Granted, I did join the AMC Theaters’ A-List program this year, which allows me to see more films at a fraction of the cost (Disclaimer: Not a Promotion). However, you also must factor in my recent job as a Cast Member working at Disney World, which took up a lot of my time this past year. Thus, if you’re wondering why films like Roma, Won’t You Be My Neighbor, or The Favourite aren’t on this list, then that’s the reason why. This then brings me to a ground-rule that I’ve had to implement in recent years which admittedly is more of a disclaimer. As some of you may have gathered by the films that I usually cover on this site, this list will mostly consist of blockbuster-type films, many of which are sequels, reboots, remakes, etc. I know that this won’t fly well with film buffs who tend to stick towards the independent side of the industry, but to put it simply, that’s just not the market that I follow as a film critic. Granted, that doesn’t mean that I won’t cover those kinds of films. It’s just that these situations occur on a rarer basis.

Plus, to be perfectly frank, I feel that the independent side of the industry tends to spawn a frustratingly condescending attitude towards blockbuster-type projects. Now to be clear, even someone like me knows that blockbuster films usually aren’t meant to be deep, thought-provoking dramas, but at the same time, that doesn’t mean that they can’t. And every year, we do have a few blockbuster-level films that I’d argue are more than capable of standing toe to toe with whatever gets nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars (this year, especially, with a certain superhero flick…). Plus, as last year’s mother proved, just because a film is ‘original’ or ‘independently produced’ doesn’t automatically make it good. And lastly, we have the most important point of all; please, please, PLEASE be respectful of other folks’ opinions. If that mini-rant that I had earlier wasn’t enough of an indication, this past year has been extremely trying when it comes to some of the most hostile fandom-related incidents in recent memory. I mean, do I really have to keep bringing this up, folks? If you didn’t like any of the films that I’m about to discuss, then that’s totally fine. All the power to you! Just don’t be a jerkass to those that did like them, because if you ask me, the greatest sin that any film critic/fan can do is make others feel bad for having a different opinion. And so, without further ado, let’s start delving into this list. This is Part 1 of 4 and today we’ll be discussing films 12-10.

But first, let’s discuss my 6 Honorable Mentions…

HONORABLE MENTIONS

FANTASTIC BEASTS: THE CRIMES OF GRINDELWALD

For starters, yes, I’m part of the crowd that did like the second installment of the Fantastic Beasts series even though it ended up being the worst-received installment to date of J.K. Rowling’s Wizarding World franchise. And to be fair, this one’s far from being the series’ best installment as it does feel like the ‘middle chapter’ of its larger story. The plot is rather minimal, not every plot-line gets the attention that it deserves (e.g. Queenie being coerced into joining Grindelwald’s cause after getting into a fight with Jacob over their future), and the ending is a bit too anticlimactic. In short, this is a film that’s clearly more focused on setting up the next installments of the franchise, and while I’m fine with most of the big twists that are revealed here (e.g. the troubled Credence being told that he’s [supposedly] a long-lost member of the Dumbledore family), the screenplay still could’ve benefitted from a few extra rewrites. And yet, despite its narrative shortcomings, everything else that’s great about this franchise is still there, for the most part. The world-building is still as strong as it’s always been and the same goes for the gorgeous production design and solid visual effects work. Eddie Redmayne, Katherine Waterston, Alison Sudol, and Dan Fogler are still excellent as Newt, Tina, Queenie, and Jacob, respectively, and are joined by some excellent newcomers headlined by Jude Law making the most out of his admittedly minor role as a young Dumbledore. And while I want to reiterate that this isn’t meant to be a defense of any of his recent actions, Johnny Depp does do a good job in the title role of Grindelwald. Obviously, his casting has been the cause of much scrutiny, but as strange as it may seem, none of this film’s shortcomings are directly his fault. As such, I’m still on board with this franchise… though, hopefully, the next film gets the narrative back on track.

AQUAMAN

Hey Aquaman, aren’t you glad that I decided to see your big solo film first before starting this list? I certainly didn’t do it for the DCEU fandom, who continue to be one of the most toxic fandoms of recent memory by A.) harping on those who didn’t think that this would be a box-office hit and B.) once again crapping on those who didn’t like it even though the film did fare decently with critics. To make a long story short, Aquaman is indeed one of the best installments of the DCEU. It completely forgoes the Zack Snyder aesthetic that made past films visually impressive but emotionally empty in favor of a light-hearted adventure atmosphere with some solid emotional depth and incredibly vibrant visual effects that effectively bring the world of Atlantis to life. The arc of seeing Aquaman rise to become the ruler of Atlantis is incredibly satisfying, and Jason Momoa is finally given the chance to shine in the title role. The same goes for Amber Heard as the film’s phenomenal female lead, Mera, as both she and Momoa manage to overcome their underwhelming debuts in Justice League where they were mostly just there to do cool stuff. Here, they get the same amount of proper character development that Gal Gadot got as Wonder Woman in her solo film, which is very much welcome. Really, my only issue with the film is that the villains (Ocean-Master and Black Manta) were a little underwhelming. Not terrible, mind you, as they are, at least, better-written than most villains in the genre. Still, they’re a tad bit underused in the grand scheme of things. Ultimately though, Aquaman is a very entertaining entry in the superhero genre and it’s cool to see that it ended up becoming a massive box-office success. It joined the billion-dollar club and even surpassed Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight films at the worldwide box-office. Yes, the character that was once considered ‘a joke’ now claims the distinction of having the highest-grossing DC Comics based film of all time.

DEADPOOL 2

As I’ve stated numerous times before, while I did enjoy the first Deadpool film, I wasn’t necessarily in love with it as much as the rest of the internet. While it was a very entertaining superhero flick that gave Ryan Reynolds the chance to finally do justice to the title character, it still felt like it adhered a bit too close to some of the common superhero film tropes that it was directly satirizing. As such, director David Leitch’s follow-up does take a lot more risks even if they don’t all work (e.g. killing off Deadpool’s fiancé Vanessa at the beginning, though thankfully she’s brought back at the end when Deadpool uses Cable’s time-traveling device). And despite some awkward tonal shifts here and there, Deadpool 2 also boasts far stronger emotional depth. Whereas the first film was primarily about Deadpool learning to become a hero, this one focuses on him finding a family and gaining a true sense of belonging, proving that even an unapologetically raunchy superhero like Deadpool can hit you with the feels. Ryan Reynolds continues to be outstanding in the title role while the additions of Josh Brolin (in his second awesome superhero role of 2018; more on the other one later…) as the time-traveling Cable and Zazie Beetz as the lucky Domino just sweeten the deal even further. Thus, as you might have guessed, I consider Deadpool 2 to be a superior sequel. Again, nothing against the original Deadpool as it did get the ball rolling for this proper take on the fan-favorite Marvel anti-hero. It’s just that the sequel is more like what the first film was trying to be but wasn’t necessarily able to reach due in part to it being the first major R-rated superhero film of the MCU era.  

ANT-MAN AND THE WASP

Despite being yet another critical and commercial hit for Marvel Studios, Ant-Man and the Wasp ended up getting overshadowed by the other two MCU films of 2018. To be fair, though, it’s probably not that surprising considering that the other two were a culturally relevant mega-hit and the franchise’s largest crossover to date, respectively. Still, that’s not to say that it isn’t yet another entertaining installment of the MCU. Now that he’s no longer burdened with the pressure of being ‘the guy who replaced Edgar Wright’ on the original Ant-Man, director Peyton Reed manages to craft a more confident sequel that boasts flashier visuals and action sequences. The humor is just as on-point as it’s always been in the MCU and the main plot-line of Hank Pym and Hope Van Dyne trying to find his wife/her mother Janet Van Dyne AKA the original Wasp (played excellently in her admittedly limited screen-time by Michelle Pfeiffer) provides the film with that trademark MCU emotional poignancy. Ultimately, though, the biggest highlight of the film is getting to see Evangeline Lilly finally have the chance to get in on the action as the new Wasp, and simply put, she kills it. But, of course, Paul Rudd is still wonderful as well as Scott Lang AKA Ant-Man, who continues to be one of the MCU’s most relatable protagonists as the well-meaning family man who screws up more than he should. Because of all this, Ant-Man and the Wasp once again proves that solo superhero films are just as important as the big ensemble films. And just like how the first Ant-Man served as a welcome change of pace after the grand-scale escapades of Avengers: Age of Ultron, this film does lighten the mood after the emotional carnage that we experienced in the previous MCU film… even when considering this film’s mid-credits scene, which reiterates the gravity of what happened in the other film.

A QUIET PLACE

Over the course of this past year, I’ve repeatedly mentioned the one thing that I’ve found to be a key contributor to a great horror film, having characters that you care about as they endure various horrific events. That is very much the case in director John Krasinski’s highly successful silence-based horror-thriller A Quiet Place, in which a family tries to survive an alien invasion where the alien creatures can detect them via loud noises. The gut-wrenching opening sequence where the youngest son Beau is killed by one of the aliens immediately establishes the family’s sympathetic nature and is one of the many sources of the film’s strong emotional depth. This is then further exemplified by the plot-line of the father, Lee (Krasinski), trying to mend his relationship with his deaf daughter Regan (Millicent Simmonds), who feels responsible for Beau’s death as she had given him the toy rocket that had alerted the alien. It all culminates in what is easily the most emotional moment of the film where Lee nobly sacrifices himself to save his kids from the aliens but not before reassuring Regan that he’s always loved her. And that ultimately ties into what A Quiet Place is truly about as it’s not just a horror-thriller about sound-detecting aliens. It’s about parents trying to protect their kids from the harsh world that they live in… and yes, that makes this film incredibly timely. And thanks to strong direction from Krasinski, pitch-perfect sound design to portray a reality where silence is the key to survival, and phenomenal performances from Krasinski, his real-life wife Emily Blunt, Simmonds, and Noah Jupe, A Quiet Place is one of the best-written horror films to come out in recent years.  

A STAR IS BORN

Because this is the fourth film version of A Star is Born, it admittedly follows the same general plotline of its story’s previous adaptations. It’s the story of an aging rock-star who romances (and later marries) an aspiring ingenue while also helping her make a name for herself in the music industry. But while her star is on the rise, his ends up going on the decline and the film ultimately ends with him tragically committing suicide, which is then followed by a heart-wrenching performance from his wife, who now publicly goes by her husband’s last name. And yet, even with its traditional narrative, the film benefits from amazing direction from Bradley Cooper, who makes one hell of an impressive directorial debut with this tightly-scripted and emotionally poignant musical drama. It’s a love story that hits all the right emotional notes, whether it’s the charming first interactions of its main protagonists or the heartbreaking ways in which this story of star-crossed lovers reaches its conclusion. The film also benefits from some of the best romantic chemistry in recent memory between Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga. Cooper is his usual charismatic self as rock-star Jackson Maine while Gaga majorly impresses in her first leading role as up-and-coming singer/songwriter Ally (e.g. her performance of the film’s final song, ‘I’ll Never Love Again’, which was filmed just hours after her best friend died from cancer). They’re then backed by a solid supporting cast that includes Anthony Ramos as Ally’s best friend Ramon, Andrew Dice Clay as her supportive father Lorenzo, and most of all, Sam Elliott, who also gets to partake in some of the film’s biggest emotional moments as Jackson’s brother/manager Bobby. In short, calling this a successful directorial debut from Bradley Cooper would be a massive understatement, and it’s easy to see why it’s touted as one of 2018’s best.

And now we officially kick off the Top 12 with a film that truly deserved to do better than it ultimately did. Despite having to endure all the scandals that were spawned from a controversial change in direction halfway through filming, the film managed to be another entertaining installment of its historic franchise. Sadly, though, it ended up massively under-performing at the box-office, and while I know that this is going to be a ‘hot take’, I primarily attribute this to the toxic side of its franchise’s fandom that, over the past year, has made it very difficult for folks for me to consider themselves a ‘fan’ of this franchise.

   

12. SOLO: A STAR WARS STORY

As I’ve mentioned a few times this past year, the Star Wars franchise is in an odd place right now… and yet, ironically, it has nothing to do with the films themselves. Ever since Disney took over the franchise in 2012, the newer Star Wars films have consistently done well with critics and audiences. But then came Star Wars: The Last Jedi in 2017… and most of you reading this already know what happened there. Despite many critics praising director Rian Johnson’s unique take on the franchise, it attracted a CONSIDERABLY hostile backlash from certain audiences, and even after more than a year since the film’s release, I still don’t necessarily understand what these folks were so mad about because their reasonings are all over the place. But one thing that is certain is that ever since the film’s release, those ‘fans’ (and I use that term very, very loosely) have launched an all-out war against Disney and Lucasfilm for this alleged ‘crime against humanity’. Their ‘acts of justice’ have included the following; sending death threats to producer Kathleen Kennedy, Johnson, and any other major female figure associated with the franchise, petitioning to remove The Last Jedi from canon, attempting to remake it (yes, seriously…), forcing The Last Jedi star Kelly Marie Tran off social media, etc. In other words, remember what I said in the intro to this post about the terrible fandom-related incidents from this past year? Well, this was what I was mainly referring to, and it’s obviously put a ton of unwarranted pressure on J.J. Abrams and his crew when it comes to Episode IX and making sure that it isn’t as polarizing. And as for the second installment of the franchise’s line of spin-offs, Solo: A Star Wars Story, it seems as if all that Last Jedi backlash ended up hurting it quite a bit.

Now obviously there’s a bit more to this than just the Last Jedi debacle, as this film attracted quite a bit of negative attention when it was announced that its directors, Phil Lord and Chris Miller, were basically kicked off the project due to creative differences with Lucasfilm. And even though the studio ended up rebounding from this by hiring the legendary Ron Howard to take over, the damage was already done. Star Wars fans were already skeptical of a ‘prequel’ film based around Han Solo (arguably the franchise’s most beloved character) to begin with, and Lord and Miller’s involvement was practically the only thing keeping them onboard given the duo’s tendency to make the most out of questionable concepts. And yet, at the end of the day, the final film is nowhere near the disaster that some thought it would be. Is it the best installment of the series? No, not even close, but at the same time, it still manages to be a fun little Star Wars film with a sci-fi western vibe. It’s decently edited and despite having to face the burden of following in the footsteps of Harrison Ford, Alden Ehrenreich does a solid job as a younger iteration of Han Solo. He’s then backed by an excellent supporting cast that includes Donald Glover as a young Lando Calrissian, Emilia Clarke as Han’s original love interest Qi’ra, and Woody Harrelson as Han’s mentor Tobias Beckett. The film even ends with an awesome and genuinely unexpected cameo when it’s revealed that Qi’ra is secretly in cahoots with none other than Darth Maul, which ties into the various Star Wars animated series like Clone Wars that revealed that he survived his apparent demise at the end of The Phantom Menace.

In short, Ron Howard managed to come in and overcome the messy situation that this film had gotten into after the whole Lord and Miller incident with relative ease. Unfortunately, upon its release, Solo did not do well at the box-office. It may have had a $100 million opening during Memorial Day weekend, but it ultimately grossed around $392 million on a hefty $275 million budget, a final total that paled in comparison with the last 3 Disney-backed Star Wars films, each of which grossed over $1 billion worldwide. Some attributed this to ‘Star Wars fatigue’, as it was released just five months after The Last Jedi instead of being released during December just like the other recent Star Wars films… but I take issue with that notion for one simple reason. If there’s such a thing as ‘Star Wars fatigue’, then how the hell is Marvel getting away with releasing 2-3 MCU films a year, plus all the other superhero films from the likes of DC, Fox, and Sony? By comparison, despite the short window between the releases of The Last Jedi and Solo, there’s only been one Star Wars film a year since Disney took over the franchise. Because of this, the continued argument of ‘superhero fatigue’ that has been in play since 2015 makes a lot more sense than ‘Star Wars fatigue’ (words cannot describe how much it kills me to have to put that in writing given my feelings towards that damn superhero fatigue argument). While I know that it’s not necessarily the main reason, I do believe that one of the key factors to Solo’s underperformance was the venomous side of the Star Wars fandom who decided to boycott the film as their cheap way of getting back at the studio for The Last Jedi. And that’s a damn shame because Solo didn’t deserve that. With that said, would it have been nice to see Phil Lord and Chris Miller’s version of the film? Yes! But just like Marvel Studios and the Edgar Wright/Ant-Man debacle, Lucasfilm moved on and Lord and Miller moved on. Thus, in the years to come, I do hope that Solo will be given more of a chance in the eyes of the Star Wars fandom.

During last year’s Top 12 list, I briefly talked about a recently trending point that’s been brought up in film discussion that I’m not a fan of; the ‘it’s not as fresh as the original’ argument. This is basically an extension of the ‘it’s not as good as the original’ argument but with a more cynical twist in which a film gets knocked just for being a sequel. And in 2018, my number 11 pick was arguably the most affected by it.

11. CREED II

Upon its release, Creed II got knocked a bit (no pun intended) for being a bit too predictable with its plot. But to that, I ask the following… who goes into a Rocky film expecting original plots? In fact, even the first Creed shared a lot in common with the original Rocky by being the story of an unknown who surprisingly manages to go the distance against the heavyweight champ and ultimately wins over the crowd despite losing the fight. Really, the reason why that film worked as well as it did was thanks to strong direction from Ryan Coogler and excellent performances from Michael B. Jordan, Sylvester Stallone, and Tessa Thompson. And because of this, the film very much revitalized its iconic franchise for a new generation while still respecting its roots. This is once again the case with Creed II, even though it wasn’t directed by Coogler this time due to his commitment to a certain superhero flick. Newcomer Steven Caple Jr. does do an excellent job in his place, however, and while there aren’t any major long-take fight scenes like in the previous film, the fight scenes in this film are still fantastic. Most importantly, though, the film continues to emphasize what is truly the most important aspect of the Rocky franchise, its characters. Having Adonis Creed take on Viktor Drago, the son of Ivan Drago AKA the man who killed Adonis’ father Apollo in Rocky IV, obviously makes this one of the most emotionally-charged entries in the entire franchise because of the intense history between these two families. Sure, Viktor isn’t the steroid-laden tank that his father was in Rocky IV, but that doesn’t make him any less of an imposing adversary for Adonis in the ring given that his father is his trainer.

Simply put, Adonis is very much put through the emotional wringer here. Just like Rocky in Rocky II, Creed II has Adonis endure some of the toughest challenges of his life. His first fight with Viktor ends up going so poorly that he receives one of the worst beatings that anyone has ever gotten in this series. And while he and his fiancé Bianca end up having a baby girl, Amara, they’re hit with a devastating bit of news when they learn that she was born deaf, a trait inherited from Bianca’s progressive hearing loss. But, of course, as is usually the case with these films, it all turns out okay in the end and everything that Adonis goes through in this film allows us to be fully behind him when he goes into the rematch against Viktor. A lot of this is thanks to Michael B. Jordan, who continues to shine as Adonis thanks to his natural charisma. He also continues to have excellent chemistry with Tessa Thompson who, in just two films, has managed to be more than just Adonis’ Adrian because of the considerable effort made by the writers to ensure that she’s just involved with Adonis’ decision-making as he is. After all, as one key scene in this film clearly dictates, they’re truly ‘a team’. And then, of course, you have Sylvester Stallone returning as Rocky Balboa, and while he doesn’t get the same kind of emotional material that he got in the previous film when he was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, he still gets to partake in some of the film’s biggest emotional scenes. This mainly stems from A.) his hesitancy to help Adonis train for his fight with Viktor because of everything that he and Apollo went through when they each fought Ivan and B.) the scene at the end where he finally reunites with his son Robert, with Milo Ventimiglia making a cameo reprising his role from Rocky Balboa.

But perhaps the most fascinating part about this film is how it manages to humanize, of all people, Ivan Drago. Yes, the same man who, in his previous appearance in Rocky IV, was basically just the final boss of an old-school video game. Here, he attempts to regain the glory that he had lost after his defeat to Rocky by training his son Viktor to challenge Adonis. But as Viktor himself points out, it seems highly questionable for his father to try and win back the same people who had shunned him, including his ex-wife Ludmilla (played once again by Brigette Nielsen), who left Ivan and Viktor when the latter was just a baby. This ultimately comes to a head during the second Creed-Drago match. After Adonis manages to knock down Viktor (a moment that’s perfectly tuned with the reprisal of the classic Rocky theme, which is used much more prominently here than in the previous film), Ludmilla leaves before the fight is over, effectively dampening Viktor’s spirits. Thus, as Adonis starts to gain the upper hand against Viktor, Ivan ends up throwing in the towel to prevent anything bad from happening to his son, a moment that effectively humbles them both. And once again, this ultimately ties into what these films have truly been about. They’re not the kind of films that are intent on re-inventing the wheel when it comes to their plots. Instead, they serve as emotionally poignant crowd-pleasers that inspire their fans to be like Rocky and Adonis and overcome seemingly insurmountable odds. And because of this, Creed II is another excellent addition to this legendary franchise.

My Number 10 pick was undoubtedly one of my most anticipated of the year given my deeply personal history with the franchise that it’s connected to.

10. CHRISTOPHER ROBIN

On the surface, this may just seem like the latest installment of Disney’s recent string of live-action remakes. And yet, while it is technically a live-action take on one of Disney’s beloved IP’s, this isn’t a remake of any prior film. Instead, it’s a unique new spin on Winnie the Pooh that focuses on Pooh’s titular best friend, now grown up, as he finds himself reunited with his friends from the Hundred Acre Wood as they try and help him regain his lost sense of imagination. Seeing Christopher Robin go through all sorts of devastating moments in his life at the beginning of the film, from having to grow up faster than expected following the death of his father to enlisting in the army and fighting in World War II despite missing the birth of his daughter Madeline, immediately gives this story its emotional poignancy. Simply put, it’s a story about the dangers of growing up and the importance of friends and family, which the film handles very well. However, some have argued that this was perhaps a bit too dour of a story for a Winnie the Pooh film. And to be perfectly fair, the first half of the film does maintain a generally grim atmosphere even when Christopher Robin returns to the Hundred Acre Wood for the first time since he was a kid. However, this is only the case for the first half of the film, and it does keep in line with the arc that Christopher Robin goes through. Once he starts regaining his childhood spirit (after a considerably tough scene where he yells at Pooh, which is then followed by a very dark nightmare involving Heffalumps), the film shifts gears and returns to the charming escapades that the Winnie the Pooh series has always been known for. And the finale in which Pooh, Tigger, Piglet, and Eeyore travel to London to try and ‘save’ Christopher Robin paves the way for some great humorous scenes by way of their interactions with the real world.

Ewan McGregor headlines the cast as Christopher Robin and does a fantastic job in the role. His interactions with Pooh and company feel incredibly natural and he works quite well with Christopher Robin’s big character arc. He also has excellent chemistry with Hayley Atwell, who admittedly doesn’t get as much to work with by comparison but still does a great job as Christopher Robin’s wife Evelyn. The same goes for Bronte Carmichael as their daughter Madeline, who shares a lot of scenes with Pooh and the gang and gets some nice emotional material of her own to work with through the conflict that she and her father get into over his plans to have her go to boarding school. As for Pooh and his friends, the film does a nice job of translating these beloved characters into a live-action setting, as their live-action redesigns don’t stray too far from what audiences are used to. And even though the film focuses more on the quartet of Pooh, Tigger, Piglet, and Eeyore while the rest of the Hundred Acre Wood gang (Rabbit, Owl, Kanga, and Roo) play more of a cameo role in the story, their charming personalities are still fully intact thanks to the solid performances from the film’s voice cast. Said cast is, of course, highlighted by the one and only Jim Cummings reprising his long-time roles as Pooh and Tigger, and… simply put, the positive reactions that this film’s teaser trailer got should give you an idea of why this was such a big deal for many people. For lack of a better term, he is the Pooh and Tigger of my generation, and his return to these iconic roles was the icing on the cake for yet another delightful installment of a series that’s near and dear to my heart.

And that concludes Part 1 of Rhode Island Movie Corner’s list of my Top 12 Favorite Films of 2018. Thanks for following along and be sure to check back in tomorrow for Part 2, where I’ll be listing films 9 through 7.