2021 Midyear Recap

Well, we’re halfway through 2021 and right off the bat, I’m happy to report that there are quite a lot of things to feel good about when it comes to film. The most obvious thing to take note of is the fact that, thanks to the efforts that have been made to combat the COVID-19 pandemic (I, myself, am now fully vaccinated (Hooray!)), we’re slowly but surely starting to see things return to normal. And for the world of film, this can best be summed up by the utter satisfaction of resuming the timeless practice of going to see new releases in a theatrical setting instead of having to see films forced to abandon their theatrical releases and be moved to streaming services like Netflix and Disney+. To be clear, that doesn’t mean that I think that streaming services are a ‘bad’ thing given the high-quality content that can be found on them, but at the same time, I guess you can say that I’m just an ‘old-school’ kind of film fan who loves to see the biggest blockbusters with a crowd rather than just watching them by myself at home. Case in point, in 2020, I only managed to see four films at the theater before everything shut down, and after that, the only time that I watched something in a ‘theatrical’ setting was when I went to go see Tenet at my local drive-in since that was far and away the safest moviegoing experience at the time. By comparison, I’ve been to the theater almost every week these past few months and I very much look forward to seeing more of 2021’s most anticipated releases over the next six months.

But until then, the time has come once again for one of Rhode Island Movie Corner’s longest-standing traditions, the Midyear Recap. For those who are new to this site, the title of this post speaks for itself. Simply put, today I’m going through all the new releases that I saw during the first half of 2021, whether they were via a streaming service (which, admittedly, was something that I usually didn’t cover back then but has since become a necessity for, well, obvious reasons…) or anything that I’ve seen in a theater since the end of this past May. We start off with any of the films that I didn’t like and conclude with my Current Top 5 of the year. Now, as I alluded to earlier, the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in last year’s Midyear Recap being severely truncated compared to previous installments of this type of post since I only managed to see six new releases by that point: the four previously mentioned theatergoing experiences, one Disney+ release, and an On-Demand title. I’m happy to report that this isn’t the case with the 2021 installment of the Midyear Recap as I’ve seen more than double the number of new releases that I saw in the first half of 2020. That said, though, before we begin, I recognize that I’ve been considerably behind in my work here on this site since, of the 13 films that will be appearing in today’s post, I’ve only done proper reviews for 5 of them. To be clear, I will eventually have full reviews for the other 8 films done for you guys, but since I always like to have these Midyear Recaps come out around this time of the year, that is the reason why today’s post ultimately came out first. And so, with all that out of the way, I invite you all to sit back, relax, and join me in my journey through the best and worst of the first half of 2021’s cinematic releases as Rhode Island Movie Corner proudly presents the 2021 installment of its annual Midyear Recap.

WORST OF THE YEAR (SO FAR)

ZACK SNYDER’S JUSTICE LEAGUE

Oh boy… well, we’re starting off on a fun note today by undeniably putting me directly in the crosshairs of this film’s diehard fans. But I’m sorry, guys, it is what it is… I didn’t like Zack Snyder’s Justice League. To be fair, I wasn’t big on this film’s infamous theatrical cut either when it came out in 2017 but when it comes to the mythical ‘Snyder Cut’, my problems with it are a lot different than those from the theatrical cut. Thus, while I’ll fully concede that Snyder’s cut is the better-made film in every possible manner, much of that is also the reason why it’s the less appealing of the two from my personal perspective. Sure, the theatrical cut was a rushed mess of a production defined entirely by the clashing of two vastly different directorial styles… but at least that version wasn’t four frigging hours long, horrendously paced, and clearly hindered by all the backstory and characters that it needed to set up. And as much as this version of the film is far more character-based, most of its heroes are still woefully underdeveloped under Snyder’s direction. In short, this is all another clear-cut sign of how the DC Extended Universe was rushed to try and match the scope of the Marvel Cinematic Universe without the filmmakers involved realizing that the MCU got to where it is today because it took its time in setting up its world and characters. Thus, regardless of what version of Justice League you watch, it’s a vastly outdated attempt at trying to be the next Avengers; sure, it has the same epic scale of an Avengers film, but it doesn’t even come close to having the same amount of heart.

But as I’ve noted in the past, that’s not the only reason why this film doesn’t resonate with me in the slightest as the circumstances of how it got willed into existence makes it an unfortunate symbol of the deplorable toxicity that has plagued film fandom these past few years. In other words, as good as it may be to see that Zack Snyder got the chance to release his version of the film after everything that he went through during its production (especially after he was forced to leave it due to a family tragedy), that doesn’t even remotely excuse the terrible actions of his most devoted fans. I’m talking about the ones who send death threats to anyone who dares to criticize one of Snyder’s films; the ones who act like these films are indisputable masterpieces… even when they’re not even close to being that. The ones who are so keen on Snyder’s dark and grim portrayal of characters that are mainly geared towards younger audiences that they view anything that isn’t that as an ‘insult’ to the superhero genre, whether it’d be from their direct competitors in the MCU or even other DCEU films that are decidedly different in tone. Snyder himself hasn’t made things any better given his recent trend of overly abrasive (and dare I say, a bit egotistical) comments that do nothing but rehash the same old tired point of his frequent struggles with studio interference. Thus, while both Snyder and his fans have spent the past several months complaining about what could have been, I’m just one of those folks who wishes that we’d all just simply move on from all this. The DC Extended Universe has certainly moved on from its ‘SnyderVerse’ era, and to be perfectly blunt, it’s been much better as a result.  

OTHER UNDERWHELMING RELEASES

CHERRY

This was a film that I legitimately wanted to love, especially given that it was the latest from the Russo brothers after the past several years that they’ve spent giving us some of the greatest installments of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (especially Avengers: Endgame despite what MCU stans will say otherwise). And yet, while Cherry does showcase a lot of their talents as directors, it’s ultimately a bit too ambitious for its own good. Adapted from the 2018 novel of the same name by Nico Walker, both the book and film present a fictionalized spin on Walker’s time in the US Army and how the PTSD that immediately affected him afterwards resulted in a life of crime and rampant drug use. But despite the film’s commendable efforts of portraying the horrors of PTSD, with Tom Holland and Ciara Bravo doing phenomenal jobs in the lead roles, it mostly feels very unfocused as it tackles everything from the main character’s flawed relationship with his wife, who also becomes a drug user herself, to his spree of bank robberies that gradually get messier in their execution. As a result, the film suffers from some mediocre pacing that makes its hefty runtime feel even longer, and while I do understand that this is not even remotely intended to be a ‘light-hearted’ story, certain aspects of the film like its predominately crude sense of humor end up doing too good a job in making this a rather unpleasant watch at times. To be clear, though, this doesn’t mean that I think that Cherry is as bad as some critics have viewed it as; overall, it’s an admirable attempt at making a stylistic crime thriller steeped in devastating emotional poignancy but, at the same time, clearly could’ve benefitted from some additional tinkering in post-production to work out some of its flaws.

NOTEWORTHY WATCHES

ARMY OF THE DEAD

So… I wonder if all those Snyder diehards who are undoubtedly furious at me for being critical of the Snyder Cut might just lighten their tone when they learn that I was more positive towards Zack Snyder’s other 2021 release, the Vegas-set zombie heist film Army of the Dead. No? Well, I’m not surprised, that’s just their M.O. at this point. Regardless, it’s nice that Snyder got the chance to do something different for a change given that this was his first film in a decade to not have anything to do with characters from the DC Universe. It even let him return to the genre that kick-started his career after making his directorial debut with the 2004 remake of Dawn of the Dead. With that in mind, Army of the Dead does feel more like the kind of film that Snyder’s best accustomed to, and sure enough, all his directorial traits are on full display here. That said, though… it also serves as a frustrating reminder of how Snyder hasn’t really evolved much as a director. Sure, Army of the Dead doesn’t hold back with its visual flair and meticulously crafted action sequences, but just like many of Snyder’s other films, it suffers from an incredibly underdeveloped script that doesn’t fully capitalize on the unique aspects of its premise. It also doesn’t help that character development is still one of Snyder’s biggest weaknesses as a director, thus stranding a genuinely solid cast that includes the likes of Dave Bautista and Tig Notaro with barely any quality material to work with. As such, I’d describe Army of the Dead as an archetypal Zack Snyder film as it highlights his best… and worst directorial attributes. And while I obviously liked it more than Justice League, it didn’t exactly wow me either.   

THE SPONGEBOB MOVIE: SPONGE ON THE RUN

The discourse surrounding SpongeBob SquarePants nowadays is… weird, to say the least, and what I mean by that is that you’d never expect a show as innocent (and often quite surreal) as SpongeBob to amass one of the most toxic factions of fandom that, no joke, can often be on par with the Snyder diehards or the Fandom Menace. Basically, to make a long story short, this mainly stems from those who are overly protective of the legacy of the show’s creator, the late Stephen Hillenburg, to the point where they cruelly attack any of its developing spin-offs such as Kamp Koral and The Patrick Star Show. In their eyes, Hillenburg would’ve never approved of any of these… even though long-time series writer Vincent Waller confirmed that Hillenburg was, at the very least, aware of Kamp Koral’s production and would’ve most likely been totally cool with it. I mean, if I were to be perfectly blunt, we live in an age now where SpongeBob is known more for the endless number of internet memes that it’s spawned rather than anything from the show itself. And while I’ll fully admit that I haven’t regularly watched the show for many years and was once amongst those who spent way too much time lamenting its decline in quality after the release of The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie, it seems like, from what I’ve heard, the show has legitimately managed to improve itself in recent years. Sadly, though, that fact has been undermined by a fandom that’s been blindly loyal to an utterly false narrative and, as a result, has resorted to attacking material that clearly isn’t marketed towards them.

In some ways, all this gatekeeping clearly must’ve had an impact on the third SpongeBob film, Sponge on the Run, especially seeing how it has several flashback sequences which show SpongeBob and his friends at the Kamp Koral summer camp which, of course, is the setting for the show’s first official spin-off. Overall, though, Sponge on the Run is another solid cinematic outing for everyone’s favorite sponge who lives in a pineapple under the sea. While it does adopt a different style of animation compared to both the show and the previous two films, the transition from 2-D animation to CGI doesn’t result in the loss of the show’s unique style and its penchant for utterly surreal imagery (Where else are you going to see sights like Keanu Reeves as an all-knowing tumbleweed?). And while the plot is incredibly straight-forward in its execution (e.g. this isn’t the first time that we’ve seen a ‘SpongeBob’s pet snail Gary goes missing’ plot), the film makes up for this by being a lot more heartfelt than the previous SpongeBob film, 2015’s Sponge Out of Water. Nothing against that film, for the record, but the scenes in this film where SpongeBob’s friends explain just how much he means to them are beautifully done and do a great job of symbolizing the best parts of a franchise that’s left a considerable impact on the pop cultural zeitgeist. Thus, while I’ll admit that there’ll probably never be another SpongeBob film that resonates with me as much as the original since it’s the one that I grew up with, Sponge on the Run isn’t even close to being the ‘dumpster fire’ that some parts of the franchise’s fandom undoubtedly view it as. Case in point, I’d argue that this film is a much better representation of the legacy of Stephen Hillenburg and his greatest creation rather than the recent actions of those who act as if they’re speaking on Hillenburg’s behalf.      

GODZILLA VS. KONG

One of the best things that I can say about Godzilla vs. Kong, the culmination of the recent MonsterVerse series of films that reimagined the titular monsters for a new generation, is that it does something that its immediate predecessor, 2019’s Godzilla: King of the Monsters, wasn’t able to do; it doesn’t take itself too seriously. In other words, it knows damn well that the main thing we’re all here to see is two of the most iconic creatures in cinematic history duking it out with each other, and with that in mind, it more than delivers on that front. Plus, unlike the Godzilla films, which mostly had its big monster set-pieces take place at night with mediocre lighting, Godzilla vs. Kong opts to be more in line with 2017’s Kong: Skull Island by featuring more daytime-set action sequences and far more visually appealing nighttime action sequences. If there’s one downside to this, however, it’s that, just like the other MonsterVerse films, all these great action sequences can’t entirely make up for a mediocre script, and while Godzilla vs. Kong goes as far as to present the franchise’s most sci-fi heavy plot to date, it’s practically an afterthought this time around. Still, as someone who wasn’t too big on King of the Monsters, where I felt that the human plot of the film was even worse than usual, I personally found some aspects of this film’s human plot (i.e. the friendship between Kong and a young native deaf girl named Jia) to be better handled by comparison even if it’s still nothing special. In a lot of ways, this mirrors my overall thoughts on the MonsterVerse franchise in general; while there’s a lot of fun to be had with these films, they also could’ve been written a lot better. For what it’s worth, though, while Godzilla vs. Kong is easily the franchise’s most narratively undemanding installment to date, I’d argue that this is what ultimately makes it work better than others.

MORTAL KOMBAT

The genre of films based on hit video games has been around for several decades now, and unfortunately, most of these adaptations have either been disappointingly underwhelming or downright terrible. In recent years, however, it seems like the genre’s consistently bad luck has managed to somewhat improve as we’ve had some genuinely solid video game film adaptations such as Pokémon: Detective Pikachu and Sonic the Hedgehog. And sure enough, that trend continued this year with the big-budget cinematic reboot of Mortal Kombat 26 years after the 1995 Mortal Kombat film managed to be one of the genre’s rare successes. But as entertaining as the 1995 film is, the new Mortal Kombat surpasses it in practically every way imaginable, especially when it comes to its action sequences. Whereas the 1995 film (and, for that matter, its infamously worse 1997 sequel Annihilation) was forced to limit the intensity of its fight sequences to maintain a PG-13 rating, this new Mortal Kombat doesn’t hold back from replicating the franchise’s notoriously graphic violence as it very much earns its R rating. Granted, it does take a bit for the film to get to those moments since it’s the very definition of a ‘franchise starter’ film that mainly serves to build up the world and its characters, especially since it centers around a film-exclusive character, Cole Young, as its main protagonist. Still, when it does get to the things that fans of the franchise want to see, I’d argue that it does them well enough to make up for any shortcomings that stemmed from the journey there. Thus, just like the original live-action Mortal Kombat film, this new cinematic spin on one of the most iconic video game franchises of all-time is another one of the better instances of a hit video game being adapted into a film. I’m genuinely interested in seeing a sequel to this, especially since it ends with a tease of the debut of franchise mainstay Johnny Cage; that said, though, if they do end up making a sequel… let’s just hope that it doesn’t turn out to be another Annihilation.

A QUIET PLACE – PART II

2018’s A Quiet Place was one of the most highly-acclaimed horror films of recent years thanks to John Krasinski’s fantastic direction and a powerful sense of emotional poignancy that helped give its story of a family struggling to survive whilst being hunted by aliens with a heightened sense of hearing its humanity. For some, including Krasinski himself, it didn’t seem like a sequel was needed despite the potential ‘sequel hook’ that the first film arguably ended on; eventually, though, Krasinski found a way to continue the story of the Abbott family and does so excellently. Now, despite what I just said, I wouldn’t quite say that A Quiet Place Part II is as tightly scripted as its predecessor as there are a few plotlines and character beats here and there that weren’t quite as developed as they probably should’ve been. Still, when it comes to the things that made the first film work as well as it did, those aspects continue to be on full display in a sequel that doesn’t go overboard with its attempts at expanding its universe. Instead, it mainly serves as another showcase of Krasinski’s strong direction with plenty of brilliantly staged and appropriately intense set-pieces such as the opening flashback that covers the exact moment when the aliens arrive on Earth. But, of course, one of the biggest selling points of these films has been the sympathetic group of protagonists who headline it, the Abbott family, and just like the first film, the indisputable star of the show is Millicent Simmonds as Regan, especially since this film promotes her into being the main protagonist. Thus, with all this in mind, while I can’t say that A Quiet Place Part II is a ‘superior sequel’, it is a sequel that manages to be just as good as its predecessor because it doesn’t lose sight of what made that first film such a success.  

F9: THE FAST SAGA

At this point, there are two distinct camps when it comes to the Fast and the Furious franchise. On one side, you have those who unabashedly love it despite all its ludicrous moments and melodramatic plots. And on the other side, you have those who can’t even remotely stand these films because of those exact reasons and spend a lot of time lamenting how they ‘symbolize the death of cinema’. As for me, I’m sure that I’ve made it clear by now that I’m in the former camp, and with that in mind, one of the first things that I can say about the series’ ninth mainline installment, F9, is that when compared to the previous film, 2017’s The Fate of the Furious, it seems like this was a much smoother production. Whereas Fate of the Furious ended up getting defined by all the intense drama that occurred behind the scenes, I’d argue that the return of series mainstay Justin Lin as F9’s director was crucial to making this film’s proceedings feel a lot livelier than some of the franchise’s most recent installments. Now, as usual, everything that I just said should still be taken with a grain of salt since this is Fast and the Furious we’re talking about, and sure enough, F9 continues the series’ recent trajectory of getting more insane with each new installment. But to go off the enthusiastic reaction that this got from the crowd that I saw it with (e.g. there was quite a lot of applause when a certain fan-favorite protagonist returned from his alleged demise), F9 manages to be, in its own unique way, a return to form for this series… even if some will argue that this isn’t really saying much given its usual reputation.

TOP 5 OF 2021 (SO FAR)

5. LUCA

To the surprise of no one, Pixar has delivered another excellent animated feature with their sole 2021 outing, Luca. Directed by Enrico Casarosa (director of La Luna, the lead-in short for Brave), Luca follows a pair of young boys who travel to an Italian town and compete in a triathlon… all while trying to keep their real identities as sea monsters secret, especially since the town that they visit is full of dedicated fishermen. What follows is a story that many have noted to have some of the lightest narrative stakes to come from a Pixar film, and yet, in an age where Pixar films tend to get scrutinized more than they should, it really should be noted that this isn’t a bad thing in this instance. Instead, Luca’s greatest strength is its effortless charm as it does a phenomenal job in immersing us within its world as seen through the eyes of its lovable main protagonists. Yes, the story is as straight-forward as you can get with clear-cut heroes and villains but that doesn’t mean that Luca can’t hit the same kind of powerful emotional beats that have become a staple of Pixar’s filmography. Simply put, Luca isn’t meant to be a thought-provoking parable a la something like Inside Out or Wall-E. Instead, it’s a pleasantly light-hearted ‘slice of life’ adventure story directly inspired by Enrico Casarosa’s own experiences living on the Italian Riviera that also pays a ton of tributes to Italian cinema and the works of the legendary Hayao Miyazaki. Because of all this (as well as Pixar’s consistently beautiful animation), Luca is an utterly delightful film that, above all else, proves a point that me and some of my peers have been making for years now in that not every Pixar film needs to be a ‘15/10 masterpiece’ to be a worthwhile addition to the studio’s legendary filmography.

4. CRUELLA

Following in the footsteps of 2014’s Maleficent, Cruella, the newest installment of Disney’s recent line of live-action re-imaginings of their animated classics, presents a story where its iconic antagonist (in this case, 101 Dalmatians’ Cruella de Vil) is portrayed as a more sympathetic protagonist. Granted, I’d argue that this film gives Cruella more of a wild side than Maleficent had in her titular films, but at the end of the day, it’s unclear if this version of the infamous dognapping fashion designer will end up going to the extreme lengths that she’s gone to in other films. Thus, just like Maleficent, I think it’s safe to say that this film’s portrayal of Cruella hasn’t gone over well with everybody; and yet, I also think that it all comes together nicely in Craig Gillespie’s stylish, edgy, and sharply directed comedic crime thriller. Obviously, much of what makes this film work as well as it does has to do with Emma Stone’s Grade-A performance in the title role. Even with the pressure of following in the footsteps of Glenn Close’s iconic turn as the character in the 1996 live-action remake of 101 Dalmatians, Stone’s natural charisma is on point throughout as she truly makes the role her own. Plus, it’s simply a delight to see her version of Cruella go toe to toe with this film’s main antagonist, the Baroness, delightfully played by Emma Thompson. Really, apart from some minor issues that stem from the runtime and some admittedly predictable plot twists, Cruella is the very definition of a crowd-pleaser. Plus, regardless of how much I enjoyed it, this film will always be in my good graces for being the first new release that I saw in a movie theater in more than a year.

3. THE MITCHELLS VS. THE MACHINES

Many have said that The Mitchells vs. the Machines, the latest release from Sony Pictures Animation (even though COVID forced them to sell the distribution rights to Netflix), is one of the best examples in recent memory of an animated film that thoroughly appeals to both kids and adults, and to put it simply, it’s easy to see why. While they’re only involved with it as producers, this film clearly benefits from the influence of the dynamic duo of Phil Lord and Chris Miller as writers/directors Mike Rianda and Jeff Rowe craft an unabashedly wacky yet wholly poignant story with strong themes. And while the film does take a lot of inspiration from modern internet culture, it doesn’t go overboard with this stuff to the point where it’s only accessible to those who are the most well-versed with it. Whereas early trailers may’ve suggested that it would largely be based around the traditional ‘technology vs. nature’ debate, the film instead focuses more on themes such as the unbreakable bond of family and the beauty of one’s individuality, especially as seen through of the eyes of its incredibly sympathetic protagonist Katie Mitchell. As a result, The Mitchells vs. the Machines is a film that successfully manages to present some of the funniest AND most emotional cinematic moments in recent years, thus making it yet another rousing success for the big-name talents who worked on it.

2. RAYA AND THE LAST DRAGON

I wouldn’t be surprised if this film’s higher placement over The Mitchells vs. the Machines may garner some backlash from animation fans, mainly by way of me potentially being accused of playing it safe and preferring the more mainstream works of Walt Disney Animation over something that’s more of a creatively unique venture. To be clear, though, these films are practically interchangeable at this point when it comes to their spots amongst my favorite films of the year and none of this is meant to be any kind of statement on their quality because they’re both fantastic. Case in point, Raya and the Last Dragon is, big surprise, another smash hit for Walt Disney Animation as directors Don Hall and Carlos Lopez Estrada create a highly entertaining action-adventure that pays full tribute to the Southeast Asian culture that inspired it. Simply put, there’s a lot to love about this film; gorgeous animation, a lovable cast of main protagonists, the fact that it made the effortlessly adorable Kelly Marie Tran the latest and greatest Disney princess heroine, etc. Ultimately, though, one of the greatest things about this film is its utterly timely themes of unity. Given that the bulk of the plot revolves around its titular heroine’s quest to reunite the five factions of her homeland of Kumandra, which has been torn apart by greed and mistrust, it goes without saying that several key moments in this film feel like they’ve been ripped straight from the real world. As a result of all this, Raya and the Last Dragon very much succeeds in being a prime example of Walt Disney Animation’s newly minted Chief Creative Officer Jennifer Lee’s goal of creating more diverse Disney stories.   

1. IN THE HEIGHTS

You ever find yourself in a situation where you’re going to see a new film and, based on what you’ve seen from the marketing, think to yourself that it’s practically guaranteed to be something that you’re going to love? Well, for me, this scenario very much applied to In the Heights, the film adaptation of the Tony-winning Broadway musical of the same name that was the first big success for the one and only Lin-Manuel Miranda several years before Hamilton made him a household name. And just like its source material, the film adaptation of In the Heights is an utterly delightful musical that celebrates universal themes such as family and the strength of one’s community. Under Jon M. Chu’s fantastic direction, the film boasts visually stunning musical numbers and features an all-star cast that’s headlined by one of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s most notable disciples, Anthony Ramos, in the starring role that Miranda originated on Broadway. Now, yes, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the fact that this film ended up attracting some negative publicity after its release for not being entirely accurate with its ethnically diverse casting (which, ironically, wouldn’t be the first time that this happened to a Jon M. Chu film as Crazy Rich Asians faced a similar controversy). However, I personally feel that this shouldn’t completely overshadow what is, at its core, a powerful feel-good drama that follows a group of lovable protagonists as they go about their daily lives in their hometown of Washington Heights. Thus, if you haven’t seen it yet (which may account for many of you given its surprisingly mediocre box-office performance), I highly recommend that you do so because, without taking that whole diversity scandal into account, I honestly can’t think of anything bad to say about it.

And that concludes the 2021 installment of Rhode Island Movie Corner’s Annual Midyear Recap. As always, I want to thank you all for joining me on this little adventure regardless of how it ultimately took me a much longer time to finish this post than it probably should’ve. As I alluded to in the intro, I know that I’ve been vastly behind schedule when it comes to the content that I’ve been publishing on this site. There are a few reasons for this that I won’t exactly get into right now (nothing bad, for the record, it’s just that there have been other things that’ve taken up a lot of my time recently), but like I said before, this doesn’t mean that I’ve stopped doing what I’ve been doing for the past decade. Case in point, proper reviews for the films in today’s post that I haven’t already covered are in the works, starting with the one that I’ve been working on for The Mitchells vs. The Machines which I’ll try to finish in the next week or so. And sure enough, there are plenty more reviews to look forward to now that new theatrical releases are starting to get back on track, from all the new MCU films coming out (and yes, that includes all the recent Disney+ shows, which I plan to cover in some kind of ‘event week’) to highly anticipated releases such as Denis Villeneuve’s Dune and, after all its delays, Daniel Craig’s final James Bond film, No Time to Die. Not only that, but if all goes well, you can look forward to the return of another RIMC tradition at the end of the summer. Simply put, words cannot describe how great it feels knowing that the cinematic experience has returned!

2020 Midyear Recap

Normally around this time of year, I produce a Midyear Recap where I go through every single film that I’ve seen in the first half of the year. It’s a Rhode Island Movie Corner tradition that I’ve thoroughly maintained ever since this blog’s inception in 2012. But as you might have guessed, there has been a major complication when it comes to this year’s installment of the Midyear Recap. Yes, thanks to that pesky coronavirus, theaters were forced to shut down until further notice, which means that many of the biggest films that were set to come out these past few months had to be either pushed back to later in the year (or next year, in some cases) or moved directly to On-Demand and Streaming services. Personally, I only managed to get four films in at the theater before this all went down, which isn’t even enough to do the ‘Top 5 of the Year (So Far)’ segment that always ends these posts. However, in the wake of all the nationwide closures back in March, I have since seen two more films thanks to the On-Demand/Streaming circuit, effectively allowing me to have a proper Top 5 of 2020 by the halfway point. And since I’m usually not one to buck away from the traditions that I’ve established for this site, I will still go ahead and deliver the 2020 edition of Rhode Island Movie Corner’s annual Midyear Recap. For those who are new to this site, the annual Midyear Recap is exactly what you think it is. In today’s post, I will be going through all the new films that I’ve seen in 2020, whether it was in a theater or at home, in the order of ‘least favorite’ to my current #1 of the year. And to be clear, I’m only counting the films that I’ve seen that came out this year. In other words, this isn’t going to be one of those cases where I go over everything that I’ve been watching while being in lockdown for the past few months since a lot of it consists of films and shows that had come out in years past. And so, without further ado, join me as I proudly present what will easily be the shortest installment to date of Rhode Island Movie Corner’s annual Midyear Recap.

ARTEMIS FOWL

Well, to start things off on a controversial note… yes, I did like this film. That said, though, I fully understand why a lot of people didn’t like it. Artemis Fowl will surely go down in history as one of the most infamous adaptations of a popular book series in recent memory as it makes a bunch of radical changes to the title character and combines story elements from the first two books in the series despite the fact that it does properly maintain the first installment’s premise. But like I said in my review of the film from a few weeks ago, I went into it without having read the book beforehand. I did attempt to read it back when I was younger, but for reasons that I can never explain, I wasn’t able to connect with it like I did with the likes of Harry Potter. However, I fully recognize that if I had read it, I probably would’ve taken greater issue with all these changes. In fact, this is the exact same situation that I was in when I first saw the film adaptation of Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief in 2010. At the time, it was a film that I was really looking forward to since I was a massive fan of the book series ever since I read the first one in my 8^th Grade English class. But while I didn’t necessarily ‘dislike’ the film when I finally saw it, all I could think about was how it was far from being the most faithful adaptation of its source material. Because of this, I’ll admit that I didn’t see its sequel, Sea of Monsters, when it came out in 2013; and yet, from what I can gather… I didn’t miss much. That one ended up being the last outing for the film franchise, effectively making it a failed attempt at an adaptation. Luckily for fans of the series, though, it has recently been announced that a TV series is being primed for Disney+ that has the potential to be a more faithful adaptation. In other words, it’s a lot like what happened with A Series of Unfortunate Events. Its 2004 feature film adaptation looked to be the start of a franchise that could rival the likes of Harry Potter, but those plans stalled out after just one film. But then, in 2017, it got a TV series adaptation on Netflix that was widely lauded for being a far more faithful take on the franchise, and because it ran for three seasons, it was able to do what the film couldn’t and see its story told to completion.

But anyway, back to Artemis Fowl. As noted earlier, the biggest deviations that the film makes from the books primarily revolve around the title character. In the books, Artemis Fowl II is a 12-year old ‘criminal mastermind’ who starts out as a more villainous character before he gradually transitions into being more of an ‘antihero’ in subsequent installments. The film, however, basically abolishes his ‘villainous’ traits to make him more of a traditional protagonist who, instead of looking to recoup his family’s fortune, is trying to rescue his father from a villain who didn’t appear in the first book. Naturally, this didn’t go over well with fans of the franchise, who promptly made it clear that the idea of having an antagonist as the main character of the series was never an issue for them and that all these changes robbed Artemis of the traits that made him interesting in the first place. Despite this, however, the film ends up faring a lot better when it comes to other aspects of its production. To be clear, I’m not saying it’s perfect (far from it, in fact…), but with a brisk 95-minute runtime and some fun production design to bring its fantasy world to life, it’s harmless, for the most part… you know, if you don’t take the story and character changes into account. Really, the only other thing that holds it back aside from its radical changes to the narrative is how it’s surprisingly lowkey when it comes to being a ‘franchise starter’. Sure, it maintains the idea of what author Eoin Colfer described as ‘Die Hard with fairies’, but it doesn’t spend as much time within the fantastical underground world of Haven City as it could’ve. And because of the negative reviews that it’s gotten and its fate as a Disney+ release, I think it’s safe to say that this won’t be eliciting a sequel that could make up for all this. But like I said before, perhaps this will end up being a case like Percy Jackson and A Series of Unfortunate Events where, sometime down the road, Artemis Fowl will end up getting a new adaptation that would give fans a far more faithful take on their beloved franchise.

And now, without further ado…

MY TOP 5 OF 2020 (SO FAR)

5. BAD BOYS FOR LIFE

So far, Bad Boys for Life has been one of the biggest hits of 2020’s film slate when it comes to how it has fared with critics and audiences. Even as the third installment of a franchise that has been around since 1995 and hasn’t had a mainline installment since 2003, it’s currently the highest-grossing film of the year with a worldwide total of $419.1 million. And in an unexpected turn of events, it’s also the best-reviewed installment of the franchise to date with a solid 77% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. While the first two Bad Boys films that were directed by Michael Bay were solid hits with audiences to the point where 2003’s Bad Boys II is genuinely considered by some to be one of the best action films of its time, they weren’t as successful with critics. But with Bad Boys for Life, critics felt that the directorial duo of Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah were able to take the brazenly chaotic escapades of Bay’s Bad Boys films and do something worthwhile with it, and sure enough, that’s exactly what they did. Overall, Bad Boys for Life strikes a solid balance when it comes to how Adil and Bilall maintain the general atmosphere of the series. While they certainly do their part to maintain that classic Michael Bay style through the film’s lavish cinematography and flashy action sequences, it isn’t as insanely over-the-top in its depiction of ‘Bayhem’ like Bad Boys II was. Instead, it’s more in line with the original Bad Boys from 1995, which was Bay’s directorial debut, and while it certainly showed signs of the figuratively and literally explosive style of directing that he would become known for, nowadays one could argue that, by Michael Bay standards, it’s one of his tamest films.

But perhaps the most fascinating aspect of Bad Boys for Life is how it managed to be its franchise’s best-written installment. Granted, this is still just as much of a generally mindless action flick as its predecessors, but the film deftly addresses the 17-year gap between it and the release of Bad Boys II. It does a wonderful job of emphasizing how Mike Lowery and Marcus Burnett aren’t the young hotshots that they once were, especially when it comes to the former since the film quickly shatters the image of Mike’s seemingly invincible persona that thoroughly dominated the previous two films. And then, of course, there’s the big reveal that Armando, the young assassin that’s been hunting him and Marcus, is the son that he fathered with the film’s main antagonist, cartel leader Isabel. This and the subplot of Marcus turning to religion after Mike nearly dies from one of Armando’s assassination attempts helps give the film some truly unexpected bits of strong emotional poignancy. And through it all, Will Smith and Martin Lawrence properly maintain the strong camaraderie between them that made the previous films the enduring hits that they are. Because of all this, it’s quite easy to see why Bad Boys for Life ended up becoming one of this year’s biggest hits. Not only did it deliver on everything that fans of the franchise have wanted to see for years (especially since this film spent a considerably long time in development hell for various reasons), but it also managed to do the unexpected and show some genuine signs of maturity. And really, considering some of the shenanigans that Mike and Marcus got into in Bad Boys II, that’s saying a lot. As I’ve said before, the Bad Boys films are far from being my favorite action films of all-time, but I assure you that I had just as much fun with one of the best recent examples of an all-around crowd pleaser as everyone else.

4. SCOOB

Scoob was originally set to make its theatrical debut on May 15^th, but of course, that plan changed when the pandemic forced all the theaters to close. So instead, Warner Bros opted to do what Universal and DreamWorks did when they decided to have Trolls World Tour released on On-Demand the same day as its intended theatrical release date on April 10^th, which was also fully compromised by COVID-19. Thus, both films debuted with the ‘Theater at Home’ price tag of $19.99, and while I understand why some might find this to be a bit much for just a rental, I do feel that it’s a reasonable asking price given the circumstances. Plus, if there’s at least two people watching the film together, I’d argue that this is enough to justify what’s basically the equivalent of two theater tickets. The same method of pricing also ended up applying to films that were in theaters right when COVID-19 hit (e.g. The Invisible Man, Emma, and even an upcoming film on this list), which resulted in many of them opting to fast-track their debuts on On-Demand services. However, this practice has attracted some controversy from theater owners, especially after Universal announced that, because of how successful Trolls World Tour was on the streaming market, they were considering doing simultaneous theater and On-Demand releases for some of their other films down the road. In response, both AMC Theatres and Regal Cinemas announced that they wouldn’t distribute any of the studio’s films that are released in that manner. And while that’s all I’ll say about this debate for now, I’ll also admit that Scoob, the newest take on the classic franchise that is Scooby-Doo, has been the only film forced to On-Demand services by COVID-19 that I’ve rented at the ‘Theater at Home’ price range.

One of the biggest selling points of this reboot of the Scooby-Doo franchise is how it looks to be the start of a potential cinematic universe that revolves around the classic characters of Hanna-Barbera Productions. And while I know that some people might groan at the prospect of another attempt at an MCU-style franchise, especially since most attempts at following the MCU formula haven’t even remotely come close to replicating Marvel Studios’ success, the idea of a Hanna-Barbera cinematic universe is a genuinely exciting one. This is especially if you’re like me and your experience with the company’s properties is admittedly limited to the likes of The Flintstones and, of course, Scooby-Doo. As such, one of the best aspects of Scoob is how it spotlights some of Hanna-Barbera’s lesser-known characters like the Blue Falcon (or in this case, the Blue Falcon’s generally aimless son Brian who took up his father’s mantle in the wake of his retirement), Dynomutt the Dog Wonder, and Captain Caveman. Sure, this does sort of come at the expense of the film being a traditional Scooby-Doo adventure, especially since the Mystery Inc gang is split up for a good chunk of the runtime, but it makes up for this with some solid emotional depth through its handling of Shaggy and Scooby’s relationship. After all, as the film clearly points out, they’ve always been the heart of this franchise. And while I fully recognize why the decision to recast the voices of the Mystery Inc. gang (save for Frank Welker as Scooby) has led to quite a lot of backlash, the new voice cast does manage to do a solid job in their respective roles. Like I’ve said before, though, this doesn’t mean that I think that they should replace the series’ current voice cast. But overall, I had quite a lot of fun with Scoob. While it does have its fair share of modern references, it does a wonderful job of maintaining that classic Hanna-Barbera style from its wide array of Easter eggs to animation that perfectly reflects the franchise’s traditionally animated roots. All in all, it’s a delightful little family flick that will hopefully get the chance to spawn its proposed cinematic universe despite the COVID-19 based circumstances that led to it forgoing its theatrical release in favor of an On-Demand debut.

3. SONIC THE HEDGEHOG

By this point last year, the first live-action film adaptation of Sonic the Hedgehog was shaping up to be one of the biggest cinematic disasters in recent memory. When the film’s first trailer was released, literally the only thing that anyone talked about was how utterly mediocre the initial design for the title character was. This more humanoid version of Sonic quickly became a prime source of internet mockery in a manner quite similar to what happened when the first trailer for Cats hit or when the live-action Aladdin remake showcased its first look at Will Smith’s Genie in the character’s traditional blue form. And yet, in a genuinely unexpected turn of events, director Jeff Fowler announced that he and his team would take the criticisms of the design to heart and completely rework it. They even decided to delay the film to February of this year rather than its original November 2019 release date so that the VFX artists wouldn’t have to be forced to endure the dreaded crunch time that would’ve stemmed from such a severe deadline. Granted, it’s been reported that this happened regardless and the studio that worked on the visual effects ended up shutting down by the end of 2019, which resulted in the VFX artists who worked on the redesign getting laid off, but that’s another story for another time. When Sonic’s big redesign was officially shown off in the second trailer, the film’s online reputation did a complete 180 as fans reacted far more positively towards this version of the character. It certainly helped the film upon its release, where it managed to net over $306 million worldwide and stand toe-to-toe with last year’s Pokémon: Detective Pikachu as one of the rare positively received live-action adaptations of a popular video game. Sure, just like Detective Pikachu, the reviews weren’t ‘amazing’, per se, but both films certainly fared a lot better with critics than most of the other films that have come from what is quite arguably the film industry’s unluckiest subgenre. And in this instance, it’s easy to see why Sonic the Hedgehog managed to avoid the same fate as other films based on video games as it’s a solidly entertaining popcorn flick.

Now with that said, the film is admittedly rather basic in terms of its plot. In other words, it’s your standard fish-out-of-water/road-trip comedy that’s very straight-forward with its narrative/character arcs. Plus, fans of the franchise may be a bit disappointed with the fact that the film sees Sonic spend more time on Earth than he does on his home world of Green Hills, even though, to be fair, the concept of Sonic interacting with humans in the real world isn’t anything new for this series. Despite this, however, the film manages to work around this thanks to its easy-going atmosphere and it boasts some fun action sequences that do a nice job of utilizing Sonic’s super-speed abilities (and yes, this includes some slow-motion sequences a la the Quicksilver scenes from the recent X-Men films). And despite what I said before about the film’s inherently predictable nature, it does have a lot of heart to its proceedings thanks in large part to the strong bond that forms between Sonic and a local cop named Tom Wachowski that’s spurred by the former’s desire for friendship after years of isolation. As such, the film is very much bolstered by the phenomenal duo of Ben Schwartz, who proves to be a pitch-perfect voice for Sonic, and James Marsden, who makes the most out of his ‘best friend archetype who spends most of his time interacting with a CGI character’ role as Tom. And, of course, the one and only Jim Carrey is an undeniable standout in the role of Sonic’s arch-nemesis, Dr. Robotnik. All in all, it’s legitimately nice to see this film manage to overcome all the negative publicity that surrounded the original cinematic look for Sonic, especially since there was a good chance that this widely-maligned design could’ve easily derailed the film entirely had it not been redone. And because of how successful it managed to be at the box-office, a sequel was recently announced to be in the works, which makes perfect sense seeing how the film ends with a mid-credits scene where Sonic’s best friend Miles ‘Tails’ Prower arrives on Earth to look for him.

2. BIRDS OF PREY

The fact that Birds of Prey is one of the hardcore DCEU fandom’s most utterly despised films (despite being one of the franchise’s better-reviewed entries) is something that will always make me laugh. After all, like I’ve said plenty of times before, one of the reasons why the DCEU diehards have been one of the most toxic factions of modern film fandom is how they’re blindly loyal to the works of Zack Snyder to the point where they refuse to listen to anyone who dares to have a problem with his DCEU films even though they’re certainly far from perfect. Thus, when this film came out, the Snyder faithful grimaced at the idea of a film like this being made instead of something like Man of Steel 2 or the long-demanded release of the fabled ‘Snyder Cut’ of Justice League (which, of course, will finally happen next year). However, I do hope that this isn’t one of the reasons why Birds of Prey admittedly underperformed at the box-office. While it did manage to double its budget (which was around $82-100 million) with a worldwide total of $201.9 million, it didn’t reach the breakeven point of around $250-300 million. And to be clear, this isn’t necessarily one of those cases of a film whose theatrical release window was hindered by COVID-19 since it came out at least a full month before all this went down… although it did end up fast-tracking its On-Demand debut once the pandemic went into full effect. It could be argued that this may have had something to do with Birds of Prey being the DCEU’s first R-rated theatrical release (not counting the Ultimate Edition of Batman v Superman), but it’s still sad that this happened to a female-directed film that was primarily headlined by a female cast. In fact, to be perfectly blunt… it also speaks volumes about how the DCEU diehards can often have the same sexist tendencies as the haters of Star Wars: The Last Jedi. Remember all those alt-right clickbait videos on YouTube that I’ve talked about recently? Yeah, Birds of Prey has gotten that terrible treatment too. Let’s just say that there’s a good reason why the completely unrelated (though thematically similar in a lot of ways) Harley Quinn animated series on DC Universe directly spoofed this kind of toxic behavior in the Season 2 episode ‘Batman’s Back Man’.

As for the film itself, I should probably start things off by addressing the elephant in the room. While the film is named after the superheroine group of the same name from the comics and does feature some of its most prominent members like Black Canary and Huntress, Birds of Prey is primarily a Harley Quinn story. It’s told almost entirely from her perspective and revolves around her efforts to rebuild her life after breaking off her relationship with the Joker while the titular squad doesn’t officially come together until the final act. I’m also aware that there’s been some controversy over the film’s portrayal of Cassandra Cain who, instead of being the martial-arts trained mute that she is in the comics (where she becomes Batgirl), is a street-smart pickpocket that Harley takes under her wing. Despite this, though, the film does an excellent job of maintaining the character-driven approach that the DCEU has thankfully been going with for their most recent outings. Even if it does come at the expense of proper set-up for the Birds of Prey, this film’s portrayal of Harley Quinn is superb, both in terms of how she’s written and how Margot Robbie finally gets the chance to assert herself as the definitive live-action incarnation of the character. And while they don’t get as much focus as they probably should’ve, the other female leads are great as well, especially Mary Elizabeth Winstead as Huntress, who gets a lot of the film’s best comedic moments thanks to all the playful jabs at her attempts at being a serious vigilante (who still gets to partake in many of the film’s best action beats). Plus, while we’re on the subject of action, did I forget to mention that, during the film’s reshoots, any action sequences that were filmed by the second unit were supervised by none other than John Wick’s Chad Stahelski? Basically, what I’m getting at is that this film’s got some great action sequences.

And so, in conclusion… yes, I’m part of the crowd that really liked this film. As such, I’m also disappointed that it didn’t do as well as it could’ve at the box-office, partially due to the growing problem of overly entitled toxic ‘fans’ (and yes, as always, the term ‘fans’ is used loosely here). To be clear, I’m not saying that it’s perfect, namely due to it being a bit unfocused at times because of the whole ‘it being more of a Harley Quinn film than a Birds of Prey film’ thing, but thanks to the solid direction from Cathy Yan, it manages to overcome this to be another solid outing for the post-Snyder era of the DCEU. If I were to rank this film amongst the other installments of the DCEU, I’d put it at Number 4, right behind the Grade-A trio of Aquaman, Wonder Woman, and Shazam but still ahead of all the Zack Snyder DCEU films (plus Suicide Squad). Yes, as I pointed out a few weeks back when I discussed the announcement of the Snyder Cut’s long-awaited release, I’m not exactly as positive towards the Snyder-directed DCEU films as I was back then. And while the DCEU diehards will try to argue otherwise, Birds of Prey is simply yet another example of how the franchise has fared a lot better since it moved away from the overly dour atmosphere of Snyder’s films. The only real downside to all this is that the DCEU won’t be acknowledging the shared universe format as much going forward… though, really, that’s more on DC and Warner Bros for not realizing that perhaps rushing Justice League just so that they could match The Avengers wasn’t such a great idea. Whatever the case, though, while it may not be the most ideal interpretation of the team that it’s named after, Birds of Prey does, at least, show that there’s quite a lot of potential for them going forward.     

1. ONWARD

While it goes without saying that I’ll probably have a new #1 by the end of the year, my favorite release of the year so far has been Onward, the first of Pixar’s 2020 releases (barring any new COVID-19 related complications that could force the further delay of Pete Docter’s Soul, which is currently tapped for a November release). Onward serves as the sophomore directorial effort of Dan Scanlon, who had previously helmed the studio’s heavily underrated Monsters Inc prequel, 2013’s Monsters University. This time, however, Scanlon had the chance to do an original story that was inspired by the death of his father when he was younger and the strong relationship that he formed with his brother in the wake of their loss. This is effectively translated into a fantasy adventure set in modern suburbia where two elf brothers, Ian and Barley Lightfoot, embark on a Dungeons and Dragons inspired quest to retrieve a powerful gem that they can use to bring their deceased father back to life for one day. While I’m personally not too familiar with D&D, those who are will surely be delighted by all the references that this film makes to it, including a scene where Ian and Barley are confronted by the most terrifying foe of all… the gelatinous cube! But of course, Onward also dutifully maintains the most definitive aspect of any great Pixar film by fully delivering on its emotional poignancy, especially when it comes to its ending. It’s probably one of the best examples of a bittersweet but ultimately happy ending as Ian willingly gives up the chance to properly meet his dad to protect him and Barley from a giant dragon just so that Barley can have one last moment with their dad after he had revealed that he was too scared to say goodbye to him when he was sick. And as for Ian, while he may not have gotten the chance to meet the father that he never knew, the journey that they went on ultimately helped him realize that Barley was the one who filled that void for him.

The strong brotherly bond between Ian and Barley is easily the best part of this film, and it’s all thanks to the phenomenal voice work from Tom Holland and Chris Pratt in their respective roles. And while the film’s focus on Ian and Barley’s quest means that the other characters in the film don’t exactly get as much to work with as they do, Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Octavia Spencer are just as great as Ian and Barley’s utterly dedicated mom Laurel and Corey the adventure-loving Manticore, respectively. All this and the fun fantasy world that it takes place in results in Onward being another top-notch outing from Pixar… even if some felt that it wasn’t exactly one of their ‘best’. Yeah, despite amassing an incredibly admirable 88% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, a common point that’s been brought up in a lot of reviews for the film is that it isn’t quite up to par with some of Pixar’s most beloved outings. And yet, this only continues to prove the point that my pal Kyle Ostrum and I have been saying for years now about how Pixar films that aren’t considered an outright masterpiece tend to get overlooked because of the intense expectations that come with every new film that the studio releases. There’s also the matter of this film arguably being the biggest release hindered by the COVID-19 pandemic, which went into full effect just about a week into the film’s release, and because of this, it was forced to join the increasing number of films that had to fast-track their releases onto the On-Demand market. As such, I do hope that this film manages to gain some greater attention on the home video market because I genuinely think that it’s just as worthwhile as all the other Pixar classics. The fact that it only did about $103 million worldwide on a budget of around $175-200 million is simply due to it being forced to experience the unlucky break of being released at the worst possible time.

And that concludes the [severely truncated] 2020 edition of Rhode Island Movie Corner’s annual Midyear Recap. As always, thanks for following along even with everything that made this the shortest Midyear Recap that I’ve done to date. With that said, I should note that, despite what some may suggest, I’m genuinely optimistic that we’ll be able to return to the concept of going to see films at the theater sometime in the future. While it’s currently unclear as to when it’ll be safe to partake in this timeless pastime again, hopefully there’ll be enough time this year to see some of the biggest upcoming releases, and believe me, there’s a lot to look forward to when it comes to films that I strongly believe should be seen with a crowd in the theater. There’s the highly anticipated follow-up to one of the best installments of the DCEU, the MCU’s first installment of the post-Infinity Saga era, the epic live-action reimagining of one of the Disney Renaissance’s most underrated gems, and the long-awaited return of one of the most iconic duos to ever grace the big-screen… and yes, that’s just to name a select few. And personally, I’d hate to see the theater-going experience die out just because this pandemic forced us to stay at home for a few months. Thus, in conclusion, I’m only going to say one thing, folks… WEAR A DAMN MASK so that we can keep this pandemic from getting any worse.     

2019 Midyear Recap

We’re now halfway through 2019 and despite the increasingly frustrating actions of modern fandom that continue to paint the film fan community in a negative light, the time has come for Rhode Island Movie Corner’s annual Midyear Recap. For those who are new to this site, the title of this post speaks for itself. Simply put, it’s just me going over every new film that I’ve seen so far this year from worst to best… in other words, it’s basically the equivalent of going through the annual rankings lists that I make on the film fan website Letterboxd. As is always the case, these current rankings are not officially set in stone, meaning that, for example, my current pick for ‘worst of the year’ probably won’t still be what it is by year’s end (I’ll be honest, though, my ‘best of the year’ will be… I’ll explain later…). Still, the one major advantage that these ‘Midyear Recap’ posts provide is that they’re the only posts that I do in a year (aside from the fan-based ‘Favorite Films of Summer’ polls) that allow me to truly go over everything that I’ve seen rather than just highlighting a select few. That, of course, is what always happens with my ‘Best of the Year’ and ‘Worst of the Year’ lists, which only focus on the 10 films (12 in the case of the ‘Best of’ lists) that I list and a select few Honorable Mentions. Thus, without further ado, it’s time to reflect upon the first six months of 2019 and the various films that have hit theaters in that timespan. With that in mind, I welcome you, ladies and gentlemen, to the 2019 installment of Rhode Island Movie Corner’s Midyear Recap.   

WORST OF THE YEAR (SO FAR)

GODZILLA: KING OF THE MONSTERS

I really wanted to like this film. As someone who ‘liked’ the 2014 American adaptation of Godzilla, I was hoping that this new film would fix some of the issues that quite a few people had with its predecessor. Namely, the hope was that it would give more screen-time to Godzilla, especially after it was revealed that the film would also feature several of his iconic monster co-stars, including Mothra, Rodan, and perhaps his most famous adversary, King Ghidorah. And yet, at the end of the day, it still feels like Godzilla’s playing more of a supporting role in his own franchise. Like the previous film, King of the Monsters places a lot of emphasis on its human characters, and while a lot of people harped on the 2014 film for doing this, at least that one didn’t have to juggle an extremely large ensemble cast. And because of this, this film’s cast is wasted considerably despite the best efforts of folks like Kyle Chandler, Vera Farmiga, and Millie Bobby Brown. At the very least, when the film does showcase Godzilla doing what he does best (i.e. fighting other monsters), those parts are well-handled even if these new Godzilla films could benefit greatly from having some more action sequences that are set during the day. Ultimately, though, Godzilla: King of the Monsters is a bit too serious for a film of this nature. Yes, the previous Godzilla film was incredibly serious as well, but you can arguably view that as director Gareth Edwards’ way of paying tribute to the original Godzilla film from 1954.

Now admittedly, Godzilla: King of the Monsters has been the only 2019 film that I’ve seen so far that I ‘didn’t like’. Usually, the next category in this post would be the other films that I wasn’t too big on, hence the category’s name, Other Notable ‘Stoinkers’. And yes, as some of you might have guessed, I basically borrowed the ‘stoinker’ term from the popular film review series Schmoes Know. Thus, given my current situation, I’m doing something a little different this year by creating a new category that focuses on the films that I found to be just ‘okay’.

MIDDLE OF THE ROAD

MEN IN BLACK: INTERNATIONAL

Since I’m not someone who usually dings a film for being ‘unnecessary’ (since that term can practically be applied to any film and, to be perfectly blunt, is starting to get a bit overused this year), that didn’t affect my views on this year’s rather disastrous spin-off of the classic Men in Black franchise. However, as I noted in my review for it, Men in Black: International endured a generally hellish production due to frequent creative clashes between director F. Gary Gray and producer Walter F. Parkes. Parkes reportedly ended up winning this conflict and the film that was ultimately released in theaters was his intended version of it rather than Gray’s, which would’ve been a lot timelier with its narrative. Parkes’ cut, by comparison, ends up being a basic rehash of the previous Men in Black films, from a twist reveal that surrounds its primary McGuffin to a finale that’s set at a notable historic landmark. And because it’s so intent on playing things ‘by the book’, the film rarely lives up to the opportunities that it had to showcase how the world of Men in Black operates outside of New York, hence the International in its title. At the very least, the film does benefit from a solid pair of performances from Chris Hemsworth and Tessa Thompson as Agents H and M, respectively. The strong chemistry that made them such a dynamic duo in Thor: Ragnarök is on full display here and it also helps that they do end up providing a different dynamic when compared to J and K from the original trilogy. Ultimately, though, this (plus a scene-stealing turn from Kumail Nanjiani as a tiny alien named Pawny who joins H and M on their adventures) isn’t exactly enough to prevent Men in Black: International from being an underwhelming entry in this long-running franchise. It’s not ‘terrible’, per se, but it goes without saying that it could’ve been a heck of a lot better.

THE UPSIDE

After spending a few years plagued by distribution issues, The Upside, an Americanized remake of 2011’s French hit The Intouchables, finally hit theaters this past January. And while this does mean that the film is exactly what you would expect from a January release, it still manages to be a decent little crowd-pleaser. Like its source material, the film follows a recently paroled man who ends up becoming the caretaker for a quadriplegic millionaire. As such, what follows is your basic comedic misadventure about two incredibly mismatched characters who, despite their differences, end up getting along and help each other become better people in the process. And yet, despite its simplistic narrative, the film does a decent enough job with its humor thanks in large part to its excellent lead duo of Kevin Hart and Bryan Cranston. These two have excellent comedic chemistry, with Hart’s usual animated persona mixing greatly with Cranston’s dry wit. At the same time, though, the film also has some very effective emotional moments, and while we know that Cranston’s got plenty of experience when it comes to dramatic material (Breaking Bad, anyone?), Hart gets a prime chance to flex his own acting chops as well. Because of all this, I can safely say that while The Upside isn’t really anything special, it’s still an enjoyable dramedy that, if anything, is better than most of the films that come out in January.

WORTHWHILE RECOMMENDATIONS

DUMBO

Dumbo is the very definition of a harmless family flick… which is a statement that I’m sure some of you will find questionable given that this is another one of Disney’s recent live-action remakes. Not only that, it’s a remake of one of the studio’s earliest animated features directed by a filmmaker who, despite having a very prestigious resume, has become a lot more polarizing in recent years. Still, there are quite a few things to love about this new rendition of the lovable elephant whose large ears allow him to fly. Under the direction of Tim Burton, this film is yet another showcase of his trademark visual style. In this instance, Burton eschews his traditional gothic visuals for a heartfelt tribute to the classic Americana of yesteryear. This is especially apparent from the film’s grand locales, including the lavish theme park named Dreamland where most of the film’s second half takes place. Really, this film’s only major shortcoming is that the new stuff that it adds to expand upon the original film’s story is quite simplistic in terms of its execution. Granted, the original Dumbo had a simplistic plot as well (after all, it is literally only an hour long), but while the new film goes as far as to cover every key moment of the animated film in just the first half-hour so that it can delve into a new plot revolving around a corrupt business tycoon, the new human characters don’t exactly get a lot to work with. However, for what it’s worth, this film’s cast (which is primarily made up of Burton regulars like Danny DeVito, Eva Green, and Michael Keaton) does do solid enough jobs with what they’re given. As such, while I’m not saying that the new Dumbo is better than its animated counterpart, it’s still a generally entertaining film whose heart is very much in the right place.

POKEMON: DETECTIVE PIKACHU

To reiterate a statement that I made in my review of this film, I am genuinely impressed by everything that Pokémon: Detective Pikachu has managed to accomplish. To date, it is the best-reviewed live-action film based on a video game and the only one to boast a ‘Fresh’ rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Granted, its RT score is only in the high 60’s, but then again, most films of this genre tend to have an RT score that’s 30% or lower. How did this film manage to avoid that terrible fate? Well, simply put, it did so by providing a very faithful take on its source material. In this instance, while the film is an adaptation of a spin-off of the Pokémon series instead of one of the main games, it is full of references and nods to the various other facets of the franchise that are sure to delight those who are amongst its devoted fanbase. And yet, at the same time, it also manages to appeal to those who aren’t as familiar with Pokémon thanks to a story with solid emotional depth via main protagonist Tim Goodman’s efforts to figure out what happened to his father with the help of a talking Pikachu. While the film’s primary mystery plot ends up yielding predictable results, the strong camaraderie between Tim and Pikachu (played excellently by Justice Smith and Ryan Reynolds, respectively) is the heart of the film. Plus, this film also proves that Reynolds isn’t just limited to Deadpool’s unabashedly raunchy style of humor, though with that said, he does manage to throw in some jokes that go under the radar for a film that’s primarily geared towards younger audiences. Ultimately, though, Pokémon: Detective Pikachu proves to be a very fun time, and while it’s far from perfect, it still deserves a lot of credit for all its success despite being part of one of the unluckiest genres in all of film.

DARK PHOENIX

To start things off, yes, I did like Dark Phoenix, the latest installment of the X-Men film franchise… that is also its worst-reviewed entry to date. I’ve gone on record stating that I’m a huge fan of the franchise’s First Class era as it was directly responsible for making me a fan of X-Men. X-Men: First Class and X-Men: Days of Future Past are two of my favorite non-MCU superhero films of all-time and I will still go on record saying that X-Men: Apocalypse was unfairly overlooked by most of the internet. As for Dark Phoenix, though, while I do think that it’s not even remotely as bad as its low RT score suggests, it still could’ve been a lot better. As its title suggests, the film is an adaptation of the popular Dark Phoenix Saga storyline from the comics in which X-Men team member Jean Grey’s telepathic powers begin to corrupt her physically and mentally. This storyline was previously adapted to, to put it lightly, ‘mixed’ results in 2006’s X-Men: The Last Stand, and while this new film does opt for a more faithful adaptation of its source material, it still doesn’t give this plotline the emotional gravitas that it deserves. Simply put, the story of Jean Grey going rogue is treated like your standard superhero/supervillain conflict, and the addition of a woefully underdeveloped bunch of antagonists in the alien race known as the D’Bari doesn’t help the matter. For what it’s worth, though, longtime series writer Simon Kinberg makes a respectable directorial debut thanks to his solid handling of the action sequences. And while many of the newer additions to the franchise don’t get much to work with this time around, James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender are still phenomenal as Xavier and Magneto. Ultimately, though, that didn’t prevent this film from underperforming with both critics and audiences, the latter of whom are clearly just waiting for the series to get rebooted so that the X-Men can join the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

GLASS

When I saw M. Night Shyamalan’s 2017 effort Split in theaters, I hadn’t yet seen Unbreakable, which is quite arguably his most popular directorial effort. Still, I was at least aware of it enough to understand the film’s ending which, thanks to an unexpected Bruce Willis cameo, connected it to the world of Unbreakable. And thus, we now find ourselves with the finale of what has been referred to as the Eastrail 177 trilogy, Glass… which, after two straight hits that helped redeem his career, effectively put Shyamalan back in the same polarizing territory that he was in before 2015. As you might have guessed, this was mostly due to that trademark Shyamalan twist ending which, in this case, pulled a major bait and switch by teasing a potential clash between David Dunn and Kevin Wendell Crumb that ultimately didn’t happen. A few other sources of contention amongst critics and audiences were the big reveal regarding the intentions of new character Dr. Ellie Staple, who was revealed to be a member of a secret organization that hunts superpowered beings, and the extremely controversial ‘trivial’ death of David Dunn. However, while I do agree that the ‘secret organization’ reveal really could’ve been handled a lot better (namely, by having some actual set-up instead of it just randomly coming out of nowhere), the rest of the film does manage to be a solidly engaging finale to this unexpected trilogy.

Simply put, I at least understand what Shyamalan was going for with this film. Instead of being a big-budget blockbuster like the MCU films, Glass was intended to focus more on the psychological aspects of a world of superpowered beings. That was very much the case with Unbreakable, which presented a grounded take on a traditional superhero origin story, and while Split was more of a thriller by comparison that didn’t reveal its connection to Unbreakable until the very end, its psychological themes were still in line with what we got from the first film. Thus, Glass is basically a combination of the best elements of its two predecessors, limiting its biggest action set-pieces to the beginning and end of the film while filling the rest of the run-time with discussions about superhero behavior and character-driven moments of pure emotional poignancy. And on that note, the film also benefits greatly from the excellent trio of performances from the trilogy’s main leads. Bruce Willis continues to get a lot of this trilogy’s biggest emotional moments as David Dunn while Samuel L. Jackson fully revels in Elijah Price’s evolution into a full-blown criminal mastermind. Ultimately, though, the biggest standout of the bunch is James McAvoy who, just like in Split, fully commits (physically and mentally) to the role of Kevin Wendell Crumb, a man with 24 distinct personalities. And despite what I said before about the finale’s underdeveloped ‘secret organization’ twist, the film does sort of manage to bounce back from this thanks to a second twist that reveals that Elijah AKA Mr. Glass one-upped this organization and proved to the world that superheroes do exist. Thus, while I do understand why this film has proven to be quite the polarizing affair, I ultimately found myself amongst the crowd that did like it. I’m not saying that it’s the ‘best’ of the trilogy (that honor would have to go to Unbreakable), but I do think that it provides a fascinating conclusion to this story and the overall arcs of the three main characters who have headlined it excellently.

ALITA: BATTLE ANGEL

I got the chance to see Alita: Battle Angel early at the special fan screening that writer/producer James Cameron had set up at the end of January, and despite not having any experience with the original Battle Angel manga by Yukito Kishiro, I found Cameron and director Robert Rodriguez’s ambitious film adaptation to be quite solid. However, I do mean it when I say that this film is very ‘ambitious’ as Cameron described it as being an adaptation of the first four volumes of the manga. As such, it does often feel like the film is trying to tackle more than it can handle in a two-hour runtime. In other words, this is certainly one of those films that is hellbent on setting up a sequel, and while I personally don’t mind some of the things that it’s setting up, it also means that not every plotline for this film is given the attention that it should. Still, for what it’s worth, Rodriguez and Cameron certainly don’t skimp on the visuals, especially when it comes to bringing the title character to life. Despite some initial skepticism over the decision to give Alita large, anime-like eyes to honor the source material, this design does ultimately work in the final product. It also helps that Rosa Salazar does an excellent job in the title role, making Alita very sympathetic and handling the character’s arc from innocent cyborg girl to badass warrior very well. And while the rest of the cast doesn’t get as much solid material to work with as her, she’s still backed by some solid supporting roles from the likes of Christoph Waltz as Alita’s caretaker Dr. Ido and Ed Skrein as Zapan, a cocky cyborg bounty hunter who constantly crosses paths with her. Ultimately, though, it’s unclear right now if this will end up getting a sequel. Apparently, it did manage to break even at the box-office, but at the same time, this was one of those instances where it ended up getting saved by the worldwide box-office as it wasn’t that big of a hit here in the U.S. As such, I will note that while I am open to seeing where this franchise is going, right now we can only wait and see if it does indeed continue.

(P.S. It also would’ve been nice if this hadn’t become the film that misogynistic trolls rallied behind to spite a different film… but I’ll get to that in a little bit…)

ROCKETMAN

The Elton John biopic Rocketman is the second musical biopic revolving around a legendary musician from the U.K. in just two years that director Dexter Fletcher was involved with. The other film, of course, was last year’s Bohemian Rhapsody, even though that was an instance where Fletcher only came in to finish it after the whole ‘Bryan Singer incident’ and ultimately went uncredited for his work. But he takes full reign on Rocketman, resulting in a film that those who felt underwhelmed by Bohemian Rhapsody will probably find to be a lot better. Sure, like many of the other films in its genre, Rocketman does abide by several of the usual musical biopic tropes (e.g. a montage of drug/alcohol use that derails the main protagonist’s career). However, thanks to both A.) a strong visual style that perfectly honors Elton John’s knack for the eccentric flair, and B.) having a more honest spin on both his highs and lows, Rocketman manages to be one of the genre’s most authentic outings. But, of course, the biggest highlight of this film is Taron Egerton, who does a phenomenal job in the title role of ‘the Rocket Man’. We already knew that Egerton could do amazing renditions of Elton John’s music after his standout performance of ‘I’m Still Standing’ in the 2016 animated film Sing. And while this film does lead to his excellent takes on other classics like ‘Tiny Dancer’ and ‘Goodbye Yellow Brick Road’, he also fully succeeds in encapsulating Elton’s extravagant personality and, in the case of the more emotional moments of the film, his inner turmoil. With all this in mind (and at the risk of using an incredibly cheesy pun), Rocketman is truly a rockin’ time to be had thanks to its pitch-perfect portrayal of one of the most iconic figures of the music industry.  

JOHN WICK: CHAPTER 3 – PARABELLUM

As many have pointed out, the John Wick franchise is practically the antithesis of all the issues that many have had with modern action films. Rather than a bunch of action sequences that are full of quick cuts and erratic camerawork, the action sequences in John Wick are wonderfully shot and tightly edited to showcase their amazing fight choreography. That was the case with the original John Wick from 2014 and its first sequel, Chapter 2, in 2017, and as you have might guessed, the franchise has now gone 3 for 3 thanks to its latest installment, Parabellum. Given that it takes place immediately after the events of Chapter 2, the film puts John Wick through some of his toughest challenges yet now that he’s been excommunicated from the hitman community after he broke the Cardinal Rule and killed his target on Continental Grounds. But as always, Keanu Reeves continues to shine as the legendary ‘Baba Yaga’ thanks in large part to his full-on dedication to doing his own stunts. And as usual, he’s backed by a solid supporting cast that includes series regulars like Ian McShane and Lance Reddick and excellent newcomers like Halle Berry and Mark Dacascos. Really, the only thing holding this film back when compared to its predecessors is that there are times where it feels like the plot’s being stretched a bit thin for a film that notably boasts the longest run-time of any film in the series. Mind you, it’s still a very well-written action film that naturally expands upon everything that we got from the previous films, but at the same time, it can be argued that the first two films had tighter scripts. Ultimately, though, John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum is another wonderful addition to this awesome new franchise and one that is already paving the way for a fourth film in 2021 that, given how great the last three films were, will surely be another stellar action flick.

   

CAPTAIN MARVEL

It’s quite sad that Captain Marvel ended up becoming one of those films that has practically defined the worst parts of modern fandom even though it didn’t even remotely deserve any of the intense backlash that it got. I mean, it’s truly saying something when the first female-led installment of the Marvel Cinematic Universe ends up being the one to attract this much controversy before its release. To be clear, I’m not referring to the various bits of skepticism that were being thrown around due to the advertising (which, to be perfectly blunt, I have no idea why this was happening, but that’s another story…). Instead, I’m referring to when Brie Larson commented on the need for greater diversity when it comes to film critics. Despite this being a perfectly reasonable request that yours truly is very much supportive of, this got misconstrued by the same misogynistic jackoffs who continue to rage over Star Wars: The Last Jedi as ‘Oh, Brie Larson hates all white men’. Thus, they proceeded to flood YouTube with clickbait garbage to the point where, nowadays, looking up videos of anyone who’s deemed ‘dangerous’ in their eyes (e.g. Rian Johnson, Kathleen Kennedy, heck, even J.J. Abrams) fully bombards you with this dreck. They also tried to combat this film by showing support for Alita: Battle Angel… which totally must’ve been successful given that Captain Marvel out-grossed Alita in its entirety in just one weekend on its way to becoming the MCU’s seventh billion-dollar grosser. Seriously, all this… for a film that’s totally fine and another great addition to its legendary franchise.

Now, for the record, I’m not saying that this is one of the MCU’s ‘best’ installments. It does start on a rather slow note and the plot itself is a far more straightforward affair when compared to some of the MCU’s most recent outings. And while the big twist that reveals that the supposed main villain Talos is only trying to protect a band of Skrull refugees is solidly done (while also giving us one of Ben Mendelsohn’s best performances to date as Talos), it ends up having a negative impact on the real villains, Starforce, since their roles in the plot are quite limited. Jude Law’s Yon-Rogg does get a pass, though, since the film properly establishes his role as a mentor for Carol. And on that note, this film’s biggest selling point is Brie Larson, who does a phenomenal job in the role of Carol Danvers. While some apparently found her to be a bit too braggadocious, Larson perfectly encapsulates Carol’s snarky attitude and hard-boiled tenacity to the point where her proper evolution into becoming Captain Marvel results in one of the most satisfying ‘superhero origin’ stories in recent memory. She also has a wonderful camaraderie with Samuel L. Jackson, who’s great as always as Nick Fury in a film that even manages to show us some of his backstory since it takes place in 1995 before he became the head of S.H.I.E.L.D. With all this in mind, it goes without saying that I implore you to not listen to the sexist dumbasses online when it comes to this film as it’s another genuinely worthy addition to the MCU. While it may not be my favorite MCU film, I will defend it come hell or high water.

US

After hitting it big with his directorial debut Get Out in 2017, Jordan Peele delivered yet another phenomenal horror flick this year with Us and one of the best things about it is that it managed to be a much different kind of horror film when compared to Get Out. While its plot is a bit more streamlined when compared to Get Out, Us is just as well-written in terms of its strong themes and layered characters. Whereas Get Out was based around race relations, Us serves as a commentary on the class system, and while it is a bit of a slow burn at first before it gets to its biggest horror moments, it all leads to a very satisfying payoff that even gives Peele a chance to flex his comedic talents at times thanks to the characters’ witty banter. And because this is a film where the main characters find themselves facing off against their feral doppelgangers, everyone in the main cast does a phenomenal job handling the daunting task of playing two radically different characters. It’s all brilliantly headlined by Lupita Nyong’o as the protective mother Adelaide and her sinister counterpart Red AKA the leader of these doppelgangers who are known as ‘the Tethered’. And then there’s the brilliant final twist regarding a big secret about Adelaide and Red that is excellently built up so that it makes complete logical sense. With all this in mind, it’s easy to see why Jordan Peele has been regarded by many as one of the top figures behind the horror genre’s recent renaissance. While some say he’s the next Alfred Hitchcock, I’m in the camp who’d call him the next Rod Serling. After all, we are talking about the same guy who just revived Serling’s classic series The Twilight Zone a few months ago and one could easily describe both Get Out and Us as Twilight Zone type stories.

TOP 5 OF 2019 (SO FAR)

5. THE LEGO MOVIE 2: THE SECOND PART

Over the past five years, we’ve witnessed a great new franchise start to blossom in Warner Bros.’ LEGO franchise. It all started, of course, with Phil Lord and Chris Miller’s masterpiece effort The LEGO Movie in 2014 and was then followed by the one-two punch of the highly entertaining LEGO Batman spin-off and the quite underrated adaptation of LEGO Ninjago in 2017. But now we’ve returned to the world of the OG LEGO Movie for the official sequel, and while Lord and Miller technically aren’t the directors this time around, their influence is still felt throughout. The LEGO Movie 2 easily surpasses the first film when it comes to its rapid-fire humor and its cavalcade of brilliant fourth-wall gags. At the same time, though, it also matches the original’s strong emotional poignancy while still doing its own thing instead of just being a carbon-copy sequel. Whereas the first film celebrated the imagination of LEGO’s massive fanbase, LEGO Movie 2 is a tribute to teamwork in times of severe miscommunication. It even goes against the message of the first film’s iconic tune, ‘Everything is Awesome’, by pointing out that this isn’t true but, at the same time, accepting that there’s no such thing as perfection. And with the continually excellent performances of the original’s ensemble cast (along with its stellar newcomers) and that always terrific animation that pays tribute to the perpetual charm of stop-motion, LEGO Movie 2 is yet another successful outing for this awesome franchise. Thus, it’s quite a shame, then, that this film… didn’t do very well at the box-office. It didn’t even break $200 million worldwide, and while I won’t go into detail about it in this post, the argument that some are making about why this happened just makes me mad because, simply put, this is one of those films that doesn’t even remotely deserve to be so criminally overlooked.

4. ALADDIN

At the time of this post’s publication, Disney’s live-action remake of Aladdin is very close to grossing over $1 billion worldwide, and if you ask me, that’s a legitimately impressive feat for this film to accomplish. Granted, it wouldn’t be the first of Disney’s recent live-action remakes to do so since Alice in Wonderland and Beauty and the Beast have both managed to reach this historic mark while The Jungle Book was this close to making it. And yet, at the same time, you must remember that this was quite arguably the most controversial of the bunch as it faced tons of scrutiny before its release over everything from certain casting choices to the widespread mockery that followed the first reveal of Will Smith in Genie’s traditional blue form. Thus, I believe that this film’s financial success shows that while it wasn’t exactly a hit with critics, it seems like quite a few of its biggest skeptics were ultimately won over in the end. And as I’ve been saying repeatedly over the years, it’s another example of why these Disney remakes aren’t the ‘blights upon humanity’ that some say they are. No, I’m not saying that this new take on Aladdin is better than the original, but thanks to some solid direction from Guy Ritchie, it still manages to be a fun fantasy adventure complete with a trio of excellent performances from its leads. Despite all odds, Will Smith manages to overcome the pressure of having to follow in Robin Williams’ footsteps to deliver a fun, new spin on the Genie. Meanwhile, Mena Massoud brings the proper charisma to the role of Aladdin while also having wonderful chemistry with Naomi Scott, who fully revels in Jasmine’s new characterization that allows her to have a far more proactive role in the story. Because of all this, the new Aladdin is another fun addition to Disney’s ever-growing line of live-action remakes, and while I know damn well that I’m in the minority on this, I always look forward to seeing these new spins on Disney’s animated classics.

3. SHAZAM!

It’s truly nice to see that DC has finally started to get back on track when it comes to its cinematic outings. Case in point, we have Shazam, a film that, to some, may just seem like DC directly copying the successful formula of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. However, when I say that Shazam is easily the closest that DC has ever gotten to making an MCU film, I don’t mean that only in the sense that it’s one of their most light-hearted outings to date. Instead, it’s because I believe that DC has finally begun to understand everything that has made the MCU the juggernaut that it is. Instead of just trying to be darker than the generally light-hearted MCU films (though granted, this film does get extremely dark in some places despite being geared towards younger audiences), Shazam is a superhero film that places greater emphasis on its story and characters rather than how much it tries to replicate iconic imagery from the comics. The transformation of foster kid Billy Batson from a self-seeking loner to a selfless hero who stays loyal to his friends and family is handled excellently, and Asher Angel and Zachary Levi do phenomenal jobs as Billy and his adult superhero self, respectively. They’re also backed by an excellent supporting cast that includes It breakout star Jack Dylan Grazer as Billy’s loyal foster brother/superhero enthusiast Freddy Freeman and Mark Strong as quite arguably the DCEU’s best villain to date as the sinister Dr. Sivana. Thus, as you might have guessed, all this makes Shazam my new favorite installment of the DC Extended Universe. As I’ve said before, this, Aquaman, and Wonder Woman are the kind of films that DC should’ve been making from the beginning instead of the likes of Man of Steel, Batman v Superman, and Justice League.

2. TOY STORY 4

It goes without saying that the internet didn’t exactly react positively to the announcement that there would be a fourth Toy Story film because, for many people, the series had already reached a perfect conclusion with the third film back in 2010. And yet, against all odds, Pixar managed to deliver yet another masterpiece with Toy Story 4. For starters, it’s quite arguably up there with Toy Story 3 when it comes to being one of the most emotional installments of the franchise, right down to its big emotional gut-punch of an ending. Whereas Toy Story 3’s ending was more about the conclusion of the toys’ relationship with their original owner Andy, Toy Story 4 truly serves as the last hurrah for these beloved characters, and it’s all backed by an excellent script that addresses the theme of finding one’s purpose in life. Granted, some may be disappointed by the lack of screen-time for several of the series’ main characters, but the film makes up for this thanks to solid new bits of character development for Woody and Buzz, the welcome return of Bo Peep in what is easily her largest role in these films to date, and plenty of fun new characters. I mean, how can you go wrong with characters like a handmade spork toy going through an existential crisis voiced by Tony Hale, an overly eager pair of plush toys voiced by Key and Peele, and a badass Canadian stuntman voiced by the equally badass Keanu Reeves? And because of all this, Toy Story 4 is just the latest and greatest masterpiece from Pixar that once again establishes why Toy Story is quite arguably the best animated franchise around.    

1. AVENGERS: ENDGAME

I’m just going to level with you, folks… this will most likely be my #1 at the end of the year. After all, the same situation occurred last year after I saw Avengers: Infinity War; it may have only been April, but it was immediately locked in as my favorite film of 2018. And as I always say when it comes to these films, can you blame me? Avengers: Endgame is a film that benevolently rewards its franchise’s devoted fanbase with what is easily the most epic installment of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. After Infinity War pulled off the most shocking finale in recent cinematic history, Endgame deftly continues onward to show how the Avengers work to overcome their biggest loss yet. It’s a film that is full of references to other installments of the MCU, whether it’s through a surprise cameo or a pivotal callback to a key moment from a previous film. It’s a film that boasts some of the most epic imagery in franchise history right down to a final battle that’s simply legendary. And just like Infinity War, it’s a film that’s one of the most emotionally charged installments of a franchise that has always been known for prioritizing strong character development over everything else. As such, it goes without saying that if you’ve been a longtime fan of the MCU, the ending of Endgame is guaranteed to break you because, above all else, it truly signifies the end of an era. Obviously, this won’t be the end of the MCU as it will undoubtedly continue to be the powerhouse franchise that it has been for the past decade. But as for Endgame, it was exactly the ending that it needed to be for the legendary run that Marvel Studios has now officially designated as ‘The Infinity Saga’.

And that concludes Rhode Island Movie Corner’s annual Midyear Recap. As we say farewell to the first half of 2019, we now look ahead to the rest of the year’s exciting new releases. There’s the final chapter of the Skywalker Saga, the second half of the Losers’ Club’s conflict with Pennywise the Clown, and the highly anticipated follow-up to a beloved modern classic from Disney Animation… and yes, that’s just to name a select few. Until then, thanks for following along and be sure to sound off in the comments below with your own personal Top 5 Favorite Films from the first half of this year.