Entry posted by Voltex
981 views
Let's go!
TOP 10 FILMS OF 2014
1. Captain America: The Winter Soldier
This is, without a doubt, my new favorite superhero film. I was never interested in Captain America, believing him to be too morally righteous to really be an interesting character, but this film proved otherwise; after all, what do you do with a perfect character? You challenge their faith and their ideals. Having the hero called "Captain America" plunged into a political conspiracy was a genius move, and it was helped by fantastic casting and excellent characters. The likes of Falcon and Alexander Pierce made for wonderful additions to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and even Black Widow had a chance to shine. Plus, the action was pretty fun to watch as well.
Besides, I've seen the movie, what, four times now? I still want to watch it again. I think that says a lot.
2. The LEGO Movie
The LEGO Movie could have so easily been a bloated toy commercial... and that is why I was so happy when it turned out that it wasn't. Emmet is certainly a likeable, clueless protagonist, but the film really shines with the rest of the cast. Vitruvius, Lord Business, Benny, Batman, Wyldestyle/Lucy, The Man Upstairs... the list goes on. Not to mention the fact that the animation is beautiful; with a world literally built from Lego bricks, any destruction is a sight to behold, and typical everyday things such as buying a coffee in the morning become instantly reinvigorated as the animation works around its restrictions. This movie has a lot of heart and a lot of laughs; I hope the various sequels and spinoffs in the works can matchup to this one.
3. Edge of Tomorrow
I refuse to call it some silly thing like Live.Die.Repeat so I shall continue to refer to it as Edge of Tomorrow. That's not to say that "Edge of Tomorrow" isn't necessarily a silly title as well (and I mean honestly I thought we were starting to move past changing the titles of adaptions... what I wouldn't give for a movie titled something as cool as All You Need is Kill), but whatever. This sort-of time travel action film was one of my most anticipated films this year and I was very happy when I managed to work seeing it into my extremely crowded summer schedule; I just wish everyone else had as well. It's a shame that terrible marketing will probably cause this movie to fade away, because it was a real treat.
4. The Grand Budapest Hotel
Full of mystical whimsy, multiple aspect ratios, and delightfully snarky, it's like The Grand Budapest Hotel was made with me in mind. I unfortunately missed this one in the cinema, but did manage to watch it recently on Netflix and enjoyed it very much. Ralph Fiennes is excellent as the deadpan snarker M. Gustave, the main character of the film, who is caught up in a conspiracy regarding the final will of a dead woman and finds himself hunted down by both the law and those who are... well, to put it bluntly, actively pursuing illegal activities. I would recommend this film the most out of any other on this list, purely because I have not seen anything quite like it before.
5. The Maze Runner
The other films on this list (even the ones below) might be better movies, but where The Maze Runner really impressed me was how it stood as an adaption of the book, which I actually wrote a blog post on years ago. Despite the numerous changes they made in adapting it to film, after several rewatches, I admit that I am happy with all of them. Certain side characters are fleshed out more onscreen (Jeff the Medic, Winston the Slicer, a few others) and the main antagonist of the book, Gally, is made to be more of a tragic character in the film, which gives the film's ending more of an emotional impact. Every change that was made worked to the film's advantage, and it's one heck of a ride. With a Hunger Games adaption that didn't quite reach the levels of its predecessors this year, The Maze Runner filled my appetite for an amazing book adaption, and I'm looking forward to the sequel.
6. Guardians of the Galaxy
To think that, just a few years ago, we were all worried that a big screen superhero team-up film wouldn't work; and then nobody saw Guardians of the Galaxy coming at all. We were all shocked when it was announced; we were all shocked when the trailers for it were actually pretty good, and we were all shocked when the film was actually amazing, and then we were all shocked again when it pulled in $700 million globally. To their credit, through the whole thing Marvel tackled it with a confidence that would not have been shown by any other studio, and it worked big time. This film is funny at all the right times, although it never really feels like the characters are in danger; hopefully that will improve in the sequel.
7. Red vs. Blue: Season 12
Yes, technically it's a webseries; but Red vs. Blue is always released as a movie after the completion of each season every year, so I'm going to count it - mostly because this year was so good. While there are areas in which it could improve, and it did get overcrowded towards the end with the sheer number of main characters (somewhere around fifteen or whatever?), it was nice to see some of the more typically comic-relief members of the core group get some character development and watch them as they struggled to lead in the absence of their leaders. I'm unsure of whether Season 13 will match the quality of the previous two seasons, but I'm hopeful.
8. X-Men: Days of Future Past
I've never been a big fan of the X-Men film series (I think I've seen one of the first three and 2013's The Wolverine, which was sub-par), but the time travel aspect piqued my interest. When I learned that it was based upon one of the fan-favorite comic storylines, I knew that I had to check it out; so I did. The highlight of this movie is definitely Quicksilver, and his big scene in the kitchen is jaw-dropping. It's just a shame that he's only in it for fifteen minutes (although it's certainly put pressure on Avengers: Age of Ultron with its own version of Quicksilver). As a semi-reboot of the franchise, Days of Future Past also works as a jumping point for me to get into the series, which is appreciated.
9. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1
Is it as good as the prior two films in the series? No, absolutely not. This film has not convinced me that breaking Mockingjay into two parts was necessary, which only highlights the fact that the move was entirely money-based. I mean, you could at least try to convince me that it was worth it. That said, I still enjoyed the film, and the actors are all working so hard with what they've been given that the movie manages to be entertaining in spite of it all; the late Phillip Seymour Hoffman as Plutarch Heavensbee and the infiltration of the Capitol training center are the main highlights that I walked away with.
10. 22 Jump Street
Not quite ever reaching the comedic gold that was 21 Jump Street but hitting close, 22 Jump Street manages to sneak into my top ten. I felt like the movie spent too long poking fun at how it was basically repeating various parts of the first film and should have spent more time being more original, but I'll take what I'm given. Besides, that credits sequence earns so many bonus points. I just hope that the sequel that should not be in development doesn't totally suck.
SO! Those are my top ten films of the year. It was made without seeing any of the following films, which I unfortunately missed and might have possibly placed on this list:
-Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
-Nightcrawler
-Birdman
-Interstellar
-Gone Girl
-The Imitation Game
-
4
8 Comments
Recommended Comments