Best And Worst Films of 2017 - Chris Edition
- Dec 29, 2017
- 3 min read
2017 was a controversial year in cinema. The most entertaining movies (Baywatch, The Greatest Showman) were critically slammed. The most promising new action franchises (Atomic Blonde, The Hitman's Bodyguard) were the most argued, making it into people's Worst of 2017 lists just as often as the Best of 2017 lists. But the films which seemed to hold no hope (Cars 3, Happy Death Day) were actually fantastic. I've picked through the best and worst films I saw this year - nowhere near as many films as my counterpart - to find five hits and five misses.
Best
This year has been a killer year in cinema. My shortlist for Best Film was so long that I still have four honourable mentions after narrowing it down.
Honourable Mentions
5. Life
I don't think anyone expected the best Alien movie of 2017 to be this Ryan Reynolds and Jake Gyllenhaal horror flick from small-time Swedish director Daniel Espinosa. What an ending!
4. Kingsman: The Golden Circle
Despite being a film of much contention here at The Last Reviewer, to the point where a new category was created for Difference of Opinion, this Kingsman sequel earns its place on my list for sheer entertainment value alone - which speaks volumes about how much fun it was.
3. John Wick Chapter 2
John Wick was one of those films that I expected would forever be everyone's favourite standalone action movie. So I never expected this film to wipe the floor with the scale, class, and charisma of the first.
2. Thor Ragnarok
I'm a complete sucker for a good Marvel movie. So the highest rated movie in the MCU since Iron Man, and one from now-legendary director Taika Watiti, definitely is one of my favourites of the year.
1. Baby Driver
Edgar Wright was already my favourite director, but throw in Jon Hamm, Jamie Foxx, Kevin Spacey before the controversy, and The Punisher, and you've got the best action music video of all time, let alone 2017.
Worst
There have been some truly awful films this year, especially from once-great franchises such as Pirates Of The Caribbean or Transformers. It seems I've managed to avoid the worst of it, such as mother! and Valerian, leaving a host of disappointments with so much wasted potential.
Dishonourable Mentions
5. Assassin's Creed
I mentioned wasted potential, and Eamon said in his 2017 article, Assassin's Creed is the pinnacle of it. Between all of history, the incredibly deep lore of the games, and big names such as Fassbender and Irons, this movie had everything going for it, but instead it was a bland confusing CGI shitshow.
4. Suburbicon
Speaking of wasted potential and confusing shitshows, Matt Damon, Julianne Moore, and George Clooney were all attached to this "satirical comedy" crime thriller. The one thing they did right was the 50s vibe, but every other element of this mess served only to confuse and discomfort the audience further.
3. Atomic Blonde
The worst thing about Atomic Blonde is that it was so close to being fantastic. Charlize Theron kicked ass as a superspy (in the mere three action scenes, that is) and Boutella, McAvoy, and Goodman were excellent side characters. But the story was a disjointed mess with a half-assed twist, and the style was simply mimicking superior films.
2. Alien Covenant
This isn't an Alien movie. It's a Prometheus sequel that is just as dumb as Prometheus, with a different version of the Xenomorphs in it. I'm really getting sick of seeing Michael Fassbender showing up in bad films (second appearance on this list alone).
1. American Assassin
American Assassin is the most boring spy film, with the most unlikeable main character, the dumbest bad guy, and the most shoe-horned-in role for Birdman. There is literally no good reason to see this film instead of any other film.
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