Tuesday, April 14, 2020

TOP 12 FAVORITE FILMS OF 2019: #9-7

Welcome back to Rhode Island Movie Corner’s annual end-of-the-year list in which I’m counting down my Top 12 Favorite Films of 2019. This is Part 2 of 4 and today we’ll be covering films #9-7. For those of you who are just joining us that might have missed out on Part 1, where I listed my 6 Honorable Mentions and films #12-10, just head to the link that’s provided below. Let’s not waste any more time and get back to the list…

Today’s post starts off on a controversial note as our Number 9 pick is one of the many recent live-action remakes of a Disney animated classic. In fact, I’d say that this one has arguably become the new focal point when it comes to the debate over the necessity of this current trend of Disney’s live-action output. Nevertheless, I still found it to be just as enjoyable as its animated counterpart, which is saying a lot in this instance given that the latter is my personal favorite Disney animated film of all-time.

I really don’t need to explain why Disney’s recent line of live-action remakes have been a considerable source of contention within the film fan community because the situation basically speaks for itself. Simply put, many have questioned why Disney would even bother to do live-action adaptations of some of their most beloved animated films, especially since many of the recent ones have attempted to remake films from the Disney Renaissance era AKA the films that folks of my generation are undoubtedly the most attached to. This includes 1994’s The Lion King, which ended up being Disney Animation’s highest-grossing film for two decades until that record was overtaken by Frozen in 2013. And yet, ironically, since director Jon Favreau’s remake is technically still an animated film since the characters and environments are CGI, its $1.6 billion performance at the box-office officially puts the story of Simba, the king of Pride Rock, back on top as the highest-grossing animated film of all-time. However, this film has probably been the most polarizing of the recent Disney remakes to date, especially due to how Favreau ultimately retells this classic story. Say what you will about these recent remakes, but at the very least, they have made a few key narrative changes that help keep them from being a carbon copy of their animated counterparts, whether it’s by giving Prince Charming more scenes with Cinderella or turning Maleficent into a tragic anti-hero. This was also very much the case with Favreau’s previous Disney remake, 2016’s The Jungle Book, where he combined elements from both the animated film and Rudyard Kipling’s original novel to craft its plot. The Lion King, on the other hand, basically maintains the exact same plot as the original film, from the infamous wildebeest stampede that leads to the death of Mufasa to the final clash between Simba and his nefarious uncle Scar atop Pride Rock while the entire kingdom burns around them.   

The only major narrative changes that I can think of primarily revolve around Nala, who’s introduced as an adult at a much earlier point in the film instead of when she attacks Timon and Pumbaa. She also has a minor rivalry with Shenzi the hyena that culminates in one final brawl between them at the end. Aside from that, a few non-dialogue sequences from the original are also extended, including the scene where a tuft of Simba’s mane (disclaimer: in the original, it was a collection of dust and pollen that he’d laid down in) makes its way to Rafiki, promptly informing him that Simba is still alive. Despite this, however, Favreau does do a nice job of properly maintaining the emotional depth of the original film. This includes, of course, Mufasa’s death, which still hits hard even if, based on what I’ve come across online, some found it to be rather goofy in its execution. Another thing that people tend to bring up about this film is that because it goes for a more realistic atmosphere from a visual perspective, it doesn’t feature a lot of the most iconic images from the original, including the scene where Timon distracts some hyenas by dancing the hula. Overall, though, this doesn’t bother me that much and the film does make up for its lack of a grass skirt wearing meerkat with a brilliant reference to ‘Be Our Guest’ from Beauty and the Beast. It also helps that the film has an excellent voice cast to portray these classic characters. James Earl Jones slips back into the role of Mufasa with ease and Chiwetel Ejiofor is a wonderful successor to Jeremy Irons as Scar. Donald Glover provides a nice earnestness as adult Simba and while she doesn’t factor into the film as much as you may think given who’s voicing her, Beyoncé does a solid job in the role of adult Nala. But, of course, the biggest scene-stealers are Billy Eichner and Seth Rogen as Timon and Pumbaa, whose brilliant ad-libbed humor makes them worthy successors to Nathan Lane and Ernie Sabella.

I also loved the new takes on the original film’s classic soundtrack of songs written by Elton John and Tim Rice. That said, though, I’m aware that the remake’s soundtrack has been one of its most polarizing elements to the point where even Elton John thought it was underwhelming. Overall, though, most of the new renditions of these classic songs turn out solidly. ‘Circle of Life’ is still an unforgettable opening number, especially since it retains the iconic opening Zulu vocals from Lebo M. ‘I Just Can’t Wait to Be King’ is just as toe-tapping as ever and I love the little instrumental beat that’s added in before the “Everybody Look Left/Everybody Look Right” lyric. ‘Be Prepared’? Okay, I’ll admit that this version is the one disappointment of this soundtrack, namely because it’s basically just a single verse that’s mostly spoken. I mean, it is worth noting that, before the film’s release, it was rumored that there was a chance that the song wasn’t going to be included. But while it ultimately made it into the film, one of the most iconic villain songs to come from a Disney film ends up feeling like an afterthought. Thankfully, ‘Hakuna Matata’ is still an all-time classic with some fun alterations like Timon not censoring Pumbaa’s use of the word ‘farted’ during his solo or the fourth wall jokes that the duo make regarding how much time has passed (“Yeah, you’ve grown 400 pounds since we started…”). And sure, Seth Rogen’s admittedly not the best singer, but Billy Eichner, JD McCrary (who voices young Simba), and Donald Glover do make up for this. Finally, some excellent duet work between Donald Glover and Beyoncé results in a lovely rendition of the classic romantic melody that is ‘Can You Feel the Love Tonight’. As for the two new additions to the soundtrack, there’s ‘Spirit’, a powerful solo from Beyoncé (Because come on, why wouldn’t you give Queen Bey her own song?) that plays when Simba finally decides to return home to Pride Rock, and ‘Never Too Late’, a fun and upbeat track from Elton John that’s played during the credits.

Given that the original Lion King is my favorite Disney animated film of all-time, I wouldn’t be surprised if some of you figured that this would be the one Disney remake that I’d be against. Even I’ll admit that as much as I try not to let expectations impact my thoughts on a film given how that’s never a good thing (just wait until we get to #3 on this list), the fact that The Lion King means so much to me did have a considerable impact on how I viewed the remake. Ultimately, though, I did enjoy this new version of it just as much as I did the original. Does this mean that I think it’s the better version of The Lion King? No, no I don’t. At the same time, though, I’m not going to hold that against this film since I feel that it’s great in its own unique way, which also applies to my views on the other recent Disney remakes. As I’ve said before, it’s truly not that big of a deal that they exist because, at the end of the day, it’s not like they’re going to replace their animated counterparts. That’s why I’m thankful for the advent of Disney+, which has prominently featured both versions of the various films that have been remade these past few years. Now sure, as far as these remakes are concerned, The Lion King is probably the most straight-forward of the bunch since its biggest change is its visual style rather than doing anything to update the story. And yet, if we were to look at this new Lion King through the lens of it being a visual effects demonstration, it’s a full-blown success in that regard since the same visual wizardry that brought Favreau’s version of The Jungle Book to life is once again on full display here. In other words, it’s truly saying something about how authentically real this film looks when its only ‘real’ shot is the very first shot of the African landscape before the start of ‘Circle of Life’. In other words, this is easily one of the best-looking films of 2019.

2017 was the very first year that a horror film managed to earn a spot on my Top 12 Favorite Films of the Year list, and while it only managed to make the #12 spot that year, I still credit that film as the one responsible for giving me the opportunity to start getting more invested in the genre. And while this isn’t meant to imply that I found it to be ‘better’ than its predecessor, its sequel does manage to land at a higher spot on this year’s list.

When it comes to the 1990 miniseries adaptation of Stephen King’s It, many felt that its weakest moments were the ones that involved the adult incarnations of the story’s main protagonists, the Losers’ Club. Thankfully, that is not the case with director Andy Muschietti’s big-screen adaptation of the story as the scene in this film where the Losers’ Club reunites for the first time in 27 years far surpasses anything that we got from the adults in the miniseries. And, of course, this is all thanks to how impeccably cast this film is. While it could’ve been easy to just go with an all-star cast for this beloved group, Muschietti instead opts for actors who are perfect counterparts to the young leads from the first film. Sure, there are some big stars like Jessica Chastain, who was the clear front-runner to play Beverly Marsh, and James McAvoy, who’s outstanding as Bill Denbrough, but then you have guys like Isaiah Mustafa, who thoroughly proves that he’s more than just ‘the Old Spice Guy’ with his phenomenal turn as Mike Hanlon. In short, everyone is perfectly cast in their respective roles, and when it comes to the biggest standouts, that honor goes to the duo of Bill Hader and James Ransone as Richie Tozier and Eddie Kaspbrak. Ransone is quite arguably the most pitch-perfect casting of the whole film when compared to his younger counterpart from Part 1, Jack Dylan Grazer, but Hader shines the most as Richie, who serves as both the film’s primary source of comic relief and the catalyst behind one of its most devastating moments. However, we still get plenty of scenes with the younger versions of the Losers’ Club, and while some CGI work had to be done to de-age them to look like they did in the first film, it isn’t really that noticeable unless you seriously try to look for it.

Despite this, however, there is one major aspect of It: Chapter Two that has been a key source of contention amongst both critics and audiences… its runtime. It: Chapter Two is the very definition of a ‘massive’ film, clocking in at nearly three hours long. And while I don’t feel that there were any major parts of the film that ‘dragged’, I do see why this may be an issue for others. This especially applies to the middle part of the film, which ends up maintaining a very specific formula where almost every member of the Losers’ Club reflects back to a moment from their childhood where they dealt with Pennywise on their own before having a new run-in with Pennywise as adults. The final battle with the infamous dancing clown is another sequence that goes on for a while and the Native American ritual known as the Ritual of Chüd that the Losers’ Club uses to defeat him can sometimes feel a tad bit convoluted. And yet, while I admittedly haven’t read a lot of the original novel (I’m a few chapters in on Audible, and as I’m sure many of you already know, Stephen King books can be quite long), I’m aware that a lot of these issues were also apparent there as well. Thus, I think Muschietti and the writers do deserve credit for at least trying to streamline some of the most complicated aspects of this story, particularly the Ritual of Chüd (Seriously, from what I’ve heard, it’s even weirder in the book). Ultimately, though, the main reason why this film’s hefty runtime doesn’t bother me too much is that, at the end of the day, we’re still following the same terrific and fully endearing group of protagonists that we were introduced to in the first film. And because of this, the best aspect of It: Chapter Two is how it dutifully retains its predecessor’s strong emotional poignancy.

Simply put, there are a lot of powerful emotional moments in this film; in fact, I’d dare say that It: Chapter Two even manages to surpass its predecessor when it comes to this aspect of the story. There’s the struggle that Bill goes through to overcome the guilt that he feels over his brother Georgie’s death since it’s revealed that he wasn’t sick on that fateful rainy day like he had claimed. This guilt is then further compounded by his ultimately failed efforts to save a young boy named Dean from the same tragic fate. But when he’s finally confronted with this dilemma by a vision of his younger self during the group’s final encounter with Pennywise, he overcomes it by affirming to himself that this one decision of his did not cause his brother’s death. Stanley Uris’ suicide is another devastating moment and its impact is felt throughout the whole film. When Richie nearly leaves town, he’s ultimately convinced to stick around when he drives by Stan’s church and remembers the speech that Stan gave at his bar mitzvah about the struggles of growing up and how everyone has memories that they wish they can forget. This is a particularly beautiful sequence as Stan’s monologue is paired with scenes of the young incarnations of the Losers’ Club at some of their lowest points. And then there’s the final sequence in the film where Bill opens a letter that Stan had written to the group before his death. In the letter, he admits that he was simply too scared to face Pennywise again and knew that the group wouldn’t stand a chance against him if they weren’t all together. Now… this may create a complicated situation for some since it can be argued that this sequence is trying to ‘rationalize’ Stan’s suicide. Thus, if you’re one of those folks who has an issue with this scene because of that, I don’t blame you because I fully recognize why. At the very least, some of the other messages that Stan puts in his letter (e.g. being proud of who you are and never letting go of those you love) are quite touching. These words are then coupled with scenes of the Losers’ Club living their best lives, including Ben and Beverly in a loving relationship and Mike, the only member of the group who stayed in Derry, finally leaving for the first time in his life.

But when it comes to the most devastating moment in this film, that would have to be everything that revolves around the death of Eddie. While the Losers’ Club does defeat Pennywise once and for all, Eddie gets impaled by Pennywise’s spider-like final form and ultimately succumbs to his wounds. This death is already tragic on its own merits given all the strong character development that our heroes have gotten in these films, but the real kicker is how Richie reacts to it. This effectively ties back to a moment earlier in the film when Richie was confronted by Pennywise, who proceeded to boast that he knew Richie’s “dirty, little secret”. And with Eddie’s death, we finally understand what that secret was; Richie was in love with Eddie. Because of this, it’s practically impossible not to shed a tear during the scene where the other members of the Losers’ Club console the normally loud-mouthed, wisecracking Richie or his final scene where he finishes writing the letters that he had carved onto a bridge back when he was a kid, ‘R+E’. As I’ve said numerous times in the past, I feel that one of the most important elements to a great horror film is giving us main characters that we truly care about, and these two It films have been some of the best examples of that in recent years. Thus, while I totally get why some people feel that It: Chapter Two wasn’t necessarily as good as its immediate predecessor, I’d still argue that it serves as a perfect bookend to this timeless story of love, friendship… and a killer clown. And because of this, I can now safely say that the amazing duology that is director Andy Muschietti’s adaptation of Stephen King’s It is now, collectively, my new favorite horror film of all-time.

While this isn’t the first time that I’ve talked about a superhero film on this year’s list given that Captain Marvel was one of my Honorable Mentions, Number 7 is the first of the genre’s 2019 slate to make it into the Top 12. The film in question is the latest installment of the DC Extended Universe and one that I personally hope will end up serving as a template for how future DC films should be made going forward.

7. SHAZAM

Djimon Hounsou, Adam Brody, Meagan Good, Zachary Levi, Michelle Borth, Grace Fulton, Asher Angel, and Jack Dylan Grazer in Shazam! (2019)

It goes without saying that the DC Extended Universe’s road to replicating the ongoing success of the Marvel Cinematic Universe has been rocky, to say the least. One could say that this is due to how they tried to rush the process of setting up its cinematic universe so that they can do a Justice League film despite having little to no time to set up its characters. Others might pin it all on the frequent creative conflicts behind-the-scenes that often led to several films being neutered in the editing room against the filmmaker’s will. But if you ask me, the biggest reason why the early DCEU films didn’t turn out as good as they could’ve been is because the franchise fell victim to believing the ongoing stigma against the MCU that views their films as being nothing more than family-oriented comedies. Thus, the early DCEU films tried way too hard to be the complete opposite of that, and while I don’t have a problem with ‘dark and gritty’ superhero stories, these films were arguably more focused on cool visuals and having their characters partake in cool action sequences rather than giving them proper character development. I mean, as much as people like to rag on the MCU films for their extensive use of humor, they still go above and beyond when it comes to developing their characters so that we’re able to fully connect with them. Let’s put it this way… imagine if Marvel decided to make the first Avengers right after doing Iron Man 2, effectively skipping over Thor and Captain America’s first solo films in favor of them making their official franchise debut in the highly anticipated team-up outing. That’s exactly what happened with 2017’s Justice League, and as much as the DCEU fandom wants to harp on the fact that the film that we got wasn’t director Zack Snyder’s intended version of it, I’d argue that the bigger issue was that it ultimately served as a prime example of how Warner Bros. and DC shouldn’t have rushed it out into theaters.

Thankfully, though, it seems like the DCEU is starting to get its act together when it comes to realizing that a good story and strong characters should always come first when it comes to this genre. Case in point, 2017’s Wonder Woman and 2018’s Aquaman provided their respective protagonists with the strong character development that they sorely needed after initially debuting in films where they were a small part of a much larger story. This then brings us to the DCEU’s latest (and quite frankly, best) installment, Shazam. On the surface, some may view this as DC’s attempt at trying to do an MCU-style superhero film, and to be fair, it’s easy to see why. Aside from some surprisingly dark moments that feel like they came straight from a horror film (which does make sense given that’s what director David F. Sandberg is primarily known for), this is easily the franchise’s most light-hearted installment to date. And sure enough, it’s full of excellent comedic moments, from the wacky antics of an easily scared mall Santa to the various attempts at giving the main protagonist a cool superhero name (“His name is Thundercrack!” (“That sounds like a butt thing…”)). However, when I say that Shazam is the closest that the DCEU has ever gotten to making an MCU film, I don’t just mean that in the sense that it’s a light-hearted comedy that’s the superhero equivalent of the 1988 classic Big. Instead, it’s because the film does what every good MCU film does; namely, it takes its time to properly develop its main protagonist, Billy Batson, and give him a solid, emotional character arc.

As the film begins, he’s solely focused on trying to find his mom, who he was separated from at a young age. Thus, even after he ends up getting placed in the care of foster parents Rosa and Victor Vazquez, he makes little effort to connect with his new foster siblings. And while his transformation into a superhero with ‘bullet immunity’ and other various superpowers does lead to him bonding with his disabled foster brother Freddy Freeman, who’s a huge superhero enthusiast, even that goes awry when he starts using his powers for selfish reasons. Eventually, he does manage to reunite with his mom… resulting in the most devastating moment of the entire film when he learns that when they got separated, she intentionally abandoned him because she felt that someone else can take much better care of him than she ever could. But if there is a silver lining to this whole ordeal, it’s that it ultimately compels Billy to reunite with his ‘real family’, his foster siblings. The arc that Billy goes through in this film is very much on par with some of the most emotional character arcs that we’ve seen from the MCU, and as Billy, Asher Angel excellently handles all the character’s big emotional moments. But, of course, the role of Billy Batson is a character that requires two actors to play it, and Zachary Levi is also outstanding as Billy's superhero alter-ego Shazam. Whereas Angel does the heavy lifting for the character’s emotional arc, Levi handles the bulk of the film’s comedic material and utterly nails the role of a kid in an adult superhero’s body. It also helps that both Angel and Levi have an excellent screen partner in Jack Dylan Grazer as superhero fanboy Freddy Freeman, who’s easily one of the best sidekicks to ever come from this genre. His extensive knowledge of superheroes works in numerous ways as it contributes to plenty of the film’s best humorous moments while also doing its part to keep Billy grounded when the fame and glory start to get to his head.

This then brings us to Billy and Freddy’s foster siblings; college-bound Mary (Grace Fulton), introvert Pedro (Jovan Armand), gamer Eugene (Ian Chen), and the ever-adorable Darla (Faithe Herman). Now admittedly, the film doesn’t spend too much time with them apart from Darla, who’s initially the only one aside from Freddy to know about Billy’s new powers, and Mary given that she’s the de facto den mother of the group. But if you want to talk about one of the most satisfying payoffs to ever come from a superhero film, then just look at this film’s finale, where Billy finally understands the advice of the grand wizard Shazam and transfers his powers to his foster siblings, turning them into superheroes as well. This, in turn, really helps the film’s finale (set at a winter carnival) stand out against the obviously much grander-scaled finales that have come from this genre. Plus, almost every one of Billy’s foster siblings (save for Mary (played as an adult by Michelle Borth), whose notable superhero scenes were reportedly cut for time) gets their chance to shine here, especially Meagan Good as adult Darla since she utterly nails the role of a 9-year old girl in a grown-up’s body. It also helps that our heroes have a great villain to face in Mark Strong’s Dr. Sivana, who serves as a terrific foil to Billy. His whole backstory revolves around the fact that, for most of his life, he was mercilessly bullied by his older brother and belittled by his father, both of whom regarded him as a loser. And while there was an instance where he was approached by the wizard Shazam to be considered as his next champion, he was ultimately rejected when he was tempted by a group of monstrous creatures known as the Seven Deadly Sins, who he later unleashes as an adult. However, the Seven Deadly Sins just end up being a group of indistinguishable CGI monsters; in other words, they’re the film’s only real weak link. Nevertheless, Sivana is easily one of the DCEU’s greatest villains to date and it’ll be interesting to see what comes of the potential alliance between him and an alien caterpillar known as Mister Mind that confronts him in the film’s mid-credits scene.

(And yes, there is a villain from the Shazam franchise that is a telepathic caterpillar from another planet. Need I remind you that this is the same genre that has given us a sentient tree creature and a hot-headed weapons-toting raccoon?)

But, of course, there has also been much anticipation regarding the eventual debut of Shazam’s most famous adversary from the comics, Black Adam. For years now, Dwayne Johnson has been slated to play the character and was long rumored to appear in this film. However, it was ultimately decided not to include Black Adam in favor of him making his official debut in his own solo film in 2021. And while I know that some people were disappointed by this, it was probably for the best since Johnson’s reportedly intense commitment to the role might’ve been a bit too much for a film of this nature (and yes, I say that despite the previously mentioned sequences in this film that are the very definition of nightmare fuel). However, it’s practically a given at this point that Billy Batson will eventually face off against the grand wizard Shazam’s former champion sometime soon; until then, we can all relish in the greatness of his feature film debut, which is currently my favorite installment of the DC Extended Universe. Now granted, I fully recognize that one could find a lot of bias in that sentiment given my affinity for the MCU and how it could be argued that Shazam is the DCEU’s attempt at trying to do a film in the style of the MCU. But like I’ve said numerous times in the past, MCU films are much more than the ‘silly comedies’ that certain audiences regard them as… and when I say ‘certain audiences’, I find that this usually means the hardcore faction of the DCEU fandom that is still loyal to Zack Snyder and his unrealized plans for the franchise. As I’ve also pointed out in the past, hardcore DCEU fans have easily been one of the most toxic fandoms in recent memory to the point where even when the franchise has a genuine critical/commercial hit on its hands, they still inexplicably end up finding something to complain about. They continue to accuse anyone who dares to say something critical about the DCEU films of being ‘paid by Disney’, never give Patty Jenkins the full credit that she deserves for her work on Wonder Woman, and yes, have not shut up about the Justice League fiasco and the mythical ‘Snyder Cut’  for the past two years.

Now as some of you might remember, I did give positive reviews for both of Zack Snyder’s first two DCEU films, Man of Steel and Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, when they first came out. But when it came to Justice League, I was amongst the many who found it to be the only disappointing release from what was otherwise one of the superhero film genre’s greatest years to date. And since then, I’ll admit that this has had an impact on my views of the early DCEU films and I’m not as positive towards them now as I am for the likes of Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Shazam, and Birds of Prey. Simply put, the Zack Snyder era of the DCEU is over, and as much as the DCEU fandom will try to argue otherwise, it’s much better off because of it. While Snyder may be one of the best visual directors in the industry, story and character development has never been his strong suit, and that was very much apparent in his DCEU films. By comparison, a film like Shazam doesn’t try to go all out with the visuals and instead does what every good superhero film should do by telling a strong, character-driven story that elicits phenomenal emotional depth. It just so happens that this is also one of the funniest installments of a genre that has given us an endless array of classic comedic moments over the years. Thus, in conclusion, I hope that one day the DCEU fandom realizes that there is honestly nothing wrong with the idea of incorporating comedy into a superhero film.   

And that concludes Part 2 of Rhode Island Movie Corner’s Top 12 Favorite Films of 2019. Thanks for following along and be sure to check back in tomorrow for Part 3 as we kick off the second half of this list with films #6-4.

No comments:

Post a Comment