Best and Worst of 2018

Another year, another slew of films. Some good, some bad, some classics in the making. There are my 5 best, and 5 worst, movies of 2018.

5 - Mile 22

It’s just so boring. There was so much potential, a quality cast, and what we got was 2018’s biggest waste of time. Technically proficient but horribly written, poorly acted, and a woefully underutilized Iko Uwais, director Peter Berg has cemented himself on my blacklist.

4 - Show Dogs

It’s just bad. So completely and utterly bad. A soulless experience that will leave you feeling much the same. A lifeless husk of a movie.

3 - Ready Player One

Spielberg takes on the book that dominated nerd culture through nostalgia, weak characters, and bad writing. Ready Player One is overly reliance on reminding the viewer of the past, and does little to secure its future. It will be forgotten, if it hasn’t already.

2 - The 15:17 to Paris

Of all the directors to fail so hard, Clint Eastwood was not expected. 15:17 minutes has about 10 minutes of great cinema, with the remaining hour and twenty minute being boring, and poorly acted. A good attempt, but a futile one.

1 - The Cloverfield Paradox

I refuse to believe that there’s an actual plan for the so called “Clover-verse”. Paradox cemented this. An unfocused mess of a movie that was tossed aside, a modern bargain bin movie, relegated to live forever in the darkest corner of Netflix, right alongside the Adam Sandler deal.

5 - The Death of Stalin

So funny that you start to question everything, The Death Of Stalin works not only as a darkly humorous film, but also a scathing criticism of dictators, despots, and communism. Excellent performances and quality writing is balanced with just enough reminders of reality to make things a little more real, and thus a little more absurd.

4 - Mission Impossible: Fallout

No one could have guessed that the sixth film in a twenty year old franchise would be the best. Fallout pushes Tom Cruise to his limits, and exists purely to thrill the viewer. Character and plot come second to incredible stunt work, and it’ll keep you watching till the credits roll.

3 - Apostle

Raid director Gareth Evans turn his hand to horror, and does a surprisingly good job of it. While Apostle is certainly a departure, Dan Stevens delivers a gripping performance in a film that, while leaving more questions than answers, is as engaging as it is thrilling, which is a lot.

2 - Mandy

Nicolas Cage comes back, tinged in red, soaked in LSD, and with blood running down the screen. Mandy is a revenge film, but one unlike any other. To describe it as “nuts” would be an understatement. More like a metal ballad brought to life with a kilo of plastic explosives.

1 - The Shape of Water

Guillermo Del Toro strikes again, this time telling the story of a woman who falls in love with a fish-man, and he makes it work. It’s certainly a strange one, but weirdly endearing. It may not be for everyone, but it’s definitely for me.