TOP 10 FILMS OF 2018

Another year, another bunch of movies watched and reviewed. With all of them done and dusted, here’s my top 10 films of this year And, with this year’s Star Wars contribution being, well, Solo, we don’t have to worry about that coming first, meaning this might actually be a bit different to the past three years. Annoyingly, it was really difficult to narrow this list down to 10, but here goes…

10. Love, Simon

Coming of age films aren’t really anything new. They got really popular in the 80s thanks to directors like John Hughes and now one gets released every so often. Sadly, they usual fall somewhere on either end of the spectrum of good/badness. Love, Simon, thankfully, lands on the good side of that spectrum. It’s not just a good coming of age film, but it’s a damn good film on its own that tackles issues that are more relevant in today’s society than ever before. It’s got a solid cast and a couple of absolutely golden scenes in amongst a film that’s already verging on great.

(I should point out that this film was very nearly tied with a few others. They didn’t make the cut, but they came very close, so in an honorary joint eleventh place comes Game Night, Deadpool 2, Aquaman, Outlaw King and Darkest Hour)

9. The Greatest Showman

Technically, this film came out last year. But I saw it at the start of this year so it gets to make the list. On the whole, I have mixed thoughts about musicals. Some are really, really fun and that makes them good, like Grease. And some are just awful, like Mamma Mia. However, despite it’s complete lack of historical accuracy, the Greatest Showman has probably become my favourite musical that I’ve seen and it’s the only one that’s got it’s own playlist on my phone. The songs are great, so much so one was nominated for an Oscar, and the film on the whole is a very fun ride.

8. Bumblebee

It’s not very often that praise is given to the Transformers movies. With good reason, too. But Bumblebee doesn’t feel like the other live action Transformers films when you watch it. The opening scene throws you into a live-action take of the first episode of the 80s cartoon. The robots look the way they should, they sound the way they should. Everything feels right for once. Bumblebee is not a perfect film, I’m not trying to argue that. But it feels like what the other Transformers movies should have been and it’s a fun ride in its own right. It has heart and it has character, the likes of which the other instalments in the series are massively missing. Like I said, it’s not a perfect film, and there’s a couple of things that I would change, but for restoring my faith in a franchise that should’ve been put to rest a long time ago, Bumblebee earns its spot here.

7. Bad Times at the El Royale

Films like this one don’t come out very often and that’s both a good and bad thing. It makes me wish they came out more often but it makes them special when they do arrive. Unlike the other films on this list, I didn’t know what to expect going into Bad Times. Not in the way that I hadn’t made my mind up, but I don’t remember ever seeing a trailer for it. I went because I didn’t know what it was and I liked the sound of the idea behind it. But Bad Times delivered a film that surfs and switches between genres as it goes along and it works perfectly. The cast are superb and th character are some of the best that have been put to screen in a long time. I can’t really describe the film, but what I can say is that it’s something special that everyone should give a watch.

6. First Man

I could see First Man being some people’s favourite film of the year. And you could make a good argument for it. It’s a gripping story with surprising depth set against the backdrop of one of the most momentous moments in human history. I thoroughly enjoyed watching it despite the slightly lengthy runtime simply because the film made me care about what was happening. Not just Neil Armstrong’s journey to the Moon but also the effects it had on the people around him. But beyond that, the film has one of my favourite soundtracks of the year and its use of old cameras and Earth moving into IMAX on the Moon was a genius idea.

5. Bohemian Rhapsody

I’m a big fan of Queen and the last twenty minutes of this film being their Live Aid performance made me very happy in ways I can’t quite describe. Beyond that, the film itself was a more than solid tale of how one of the greatest bands of all time came to be. The performances were great throughout and the likeness between the cast and real-life counterparts was insane, especially Rami Malek as Freddie Mercury. I’ve seen a lot of people saying it could’ve been more stylish and brave considering the band itself, but any film that blasts Queen’s music at cinema volume is going to earn a high up spot on my list. And, y’know, it really was very good.

In all honesty about this top four, it could be in pretty much any order. These films were above and beyond the point of being good, and they’d probably go back and forth on the list depending on which I watched last. But keep in mind that wherever they place, they’re all my favourite films of this year, and thus earn the highest spot on my list.

4. Mission: Impossible – Fallout

The fact that this franchise is twenty-two years old and it’s latest edition is its best is slightly surprising. Fallout was what I would describe as the perfect summer/action blockbuster and then some. It has, admittedly, a very similar lot to the other movies of this franchise, but series highlight action sequences and set-pieces elevate Fallout from the other films. It has a great soundtrack, great tension and pace and all in all is just a bloody fun ride which perfectly explained and justified why Henry Cavill had to grow a moustache that caused Hollywood so many problems. Dare I say it’s on the same level as Terminator 2? Is that allowed? Because I think in Fallout’s case it should be.

3. A Quiet Place

I often think the worst part about horror movies is that they’re all the same. But what makes A Quiet Place so nearly perfect is that it doesn’t just use silence to create jump-scares. Silence is the base premise of the entire film and it’s used so damn well. The cast is brilliant and the direction is superb as well. A Quiet Place isn’t what I’d call a horror film, but it is the most tense film I’ve ever seen and as well it should be. A true lower budget highlight among big blockbuster films, A Quiet Place isn’t just one of the best films of this year, it’s probably one of the best films ever made.

2. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

Ok then, Into the Spider-Verse. Best animated film of the year? Check. Joint best Spider-Man film ever made? Check. Best film of the year? Very probably, I keep going back and forth but as of this exact moment it’s landed at number 2. Spider-Verse is one of those films that I doubt we’ll ever get to see in live action. There’s some weird occurrence that you can have so much more going on in a film if it’s animated, that you couldn’t pull off in live action. Whatever this weird occurrence is, Into the Spider-Verse is definitely a damn near perfect film that’s both crazy to its core and a great lesson about being Spider-Man. The animation is spectacular to levels I can barely comprehend and it has one of my favourite ‘hero reveal shots’ of all time. It is a highlight of the year and I recommend it to anyone who hasn’t seen it. You’re missing out. You may as well go and watch it, because that’s all it is. A leap of faith.

1. Avengers: Infinity War

When a film has an entire ten-year franchise leading up to it, there’s a lot riding on it. Infinity War was what it had all been leading to. And not only was it damn good, but somehow it managed to balance an entire universe of characters and made it look easy. It delivered the MCU’s biggest and best villain yet and told a story that was worth the ten-year run up. I can imagine some might not agree with it being at the number-one spot. But, first, It’s my list. And second, Infinity War was the film that had me coming out of the cinema experiencing every emotion at once. It was both the film it needed to be and so much more at the same time. Right now, my excitement for Avengers: Endgame is just about higher than my excitement for Star Wars Episode 9 almost solely based on this film. Yes, Spider-Verse was incredible. So was A Quiet Place and Mission: Impossible. But a) like I said, all four of the top spot are pretty much interchangeable, and b) Avengers: Infinity, for me, was the stamp mark of this year. If I had to boil this years down to one film, it’s this.