2012 has come and gone, and your friends at ComicsOnline wanted to take a look back at some of the best movies of the year. What made our list?
Once in a long while a story comes along that changes the way certain stories are done… a story that inspires countless other stories after it for years to come due to how it changes things. Back in the 1920′s, Edgar Rice Burroughs changed what has come to be known as “the hero’s journey” with one story even before Tarzan was an idea in his head… It told the story of a warrior from a distant land that would come to free an entire planet from slavery and tyranny. This story was called A Princess of Mars. The basis of which was used for countless other stories and movies since then… most notably being Star Wars and James Cameron’s Avatar. But now, nearly an entire century later, Walt Disney Pictures has brought the original science fiction epic to movie theaters around the world with John Carter.
John Carter tells the tale of a former military commander (Taylor Kitch – Battleship, Friday Night Lights) living life out in the wild west in order to get away from his battle filled memories of the recent past he had to live through. Looking for a way in order to live the rest of his life out in style and wealth, he quickly finds himself in a deadly predicament which threatens to end his quiet retirement… In order to escape he hides out in a special cave where he finds an amulet. The amulet transports him to the far off world of Barsoom (otherwise known to us as Mars) where he encounters strange alien beings and mystical airships. John Carter quickly befriends one of these alien creatures (Willem Dafoe – Spiderman) and saves a princess (Lynn Collins – True Blood) who tells of her people being ruled by a tyrannical dictator, and she believes that John Carter is the only one that can save her people.
Life of Pi is the most visually beautiful film. Seriously. Ever. From the introductory titles to the end, this film is stunning. Here, the story is enriched by the animals, the water, the sky, and of course the people. Life of Pi is also one of the rare films worth the trouble of balancing 3D glasses over your existing glasses. The audio is amazing too. I would be surprised if this film doesn’t win top awards for cinematography, sound, and visual effects.
Now if you were told that someone was going to be creating a movie about a boy and his teddy bear, one would think that this would be a family flick with wholesome morals and fun for the whole family…But when you find out that the mastermind behind the film is the guy who has dominated Fox’s Sunday night lineup with Family Guy, American Dad, and The Cleveland Show, you might want to reconsider bringing the kids. Seth MacFarlane has decided to make the leap to life action film, and with a little help from some of his friends, he has created the story of Ted.
While audiences will recognize MacFarlane’s voice (because he is just doing his Peter Griffin voice), Ted is a very unique and different character than those in Family Guy for one main reason, Ted has heart. In a film where you have a walking and talking stuffed teddy bear who has to really come to life and interact with the world, you will need some quality CGI work. In the case of Ted, the title character is brought to life very seamlessly to the point where there is no question that Ted is a living, breathing character. MacFarlane steps up his game to write one his most consistent things that he has created, allowing for the characters to actually grow and develop during the course of the film, and not get bogged down with random pop culture moments or side stories (a la Family Guy). Most of the time with his animated projects, the jokes tend to be very hit or miss, and Ted surprisingly succeeds at staying on the ball for the film with off the wall humor that goes from beginning to end.
7. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is the long-awaited prequel to Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings 3-film saga. While the LotR series were comprised of one film for each source book, The Hobbit is a smaller book being drawn out into another trilogy of movies. Is this really a good idea or just a fiendish marketing ploy?
The film also sees the return of a couple of our favorite characters from the Lord of the Rings trilogy: Gandalf (Sir Ian McKellen – Lord of the Rings Trilogy, X-Men Trilogy) and a younger version of Bilbo (Martin Freeman – Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy 2005, Love Actually, Sherlock). This feature begins the tale of how Bilbo ended up with The One Ring in the first place. The Dragon Smaug has stolen the treasure from the Dwarf Kingdom of Erebor, so Bilbo joins the quest and journeys to the Lonely Mountain to reclaim it.
Like their Toy Story trilogy before it, Pixar’s Wreck-It Ralph exists in a world where once humans look away, our toys have lives of their own. This time instead of classic toys, we have a story of classic arcade video game characters. Ralph (John C. Reilly – 9, Walk Hard) is the villain of a thirty year old classic arcade game called Fix-It Felix, Jr. that hearkens back to arcade classics like Rampage, Crazy Climber, and Donkey Kong Junior. Ralph suffers from depression brought on by his lot in life; he is tired of being a bad guy living in a dump and would like some positive recognition. On the 30th anniversary of their game, Ralph confronts Felix (Jack McBrayer – 30 Rock, Phineas and Ferb) and the tenants of the building they wreck and fix daily and is told that if he earns a medal on his own, he can live in the building’s penthouse. Wreck-It Ralph tells the story of Ralph’s salvation.
Sure, we all love Joss Whedon and we’re already salivating over his upcoming blockbuster The Avengers, but Dollhouse has been off the air for a while, so what’s he been doing? It turns out he spoiled us years ago.
At the 2007 San Diego Comic-Con, Joss Whedon (Buffy, Angel, Firefly, Dollhouse) announced on stage that he and Drew Goddard (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Cloverfield) were co-writing something, describing, “It is a film called Cabin in the Woods, and it is the horror film to end all horror films. Literally. And more about that, I will not say.” Nearly five years later, we now know what he meant.
At its simplest form, one might describe the initial scenario and mood of The Cabin in the Woods as Evil Dead meets Friday the 13th, but while it clearly draws on classic horror traditions, it turns out The Cabin in the Woods is more than an orchestrated rehash of hackneyed horror tropes. Compared with many other recent offerings in the genre, Cabin in the Woods is a breath of fresh air amongst a growing sea of mediocre and contrived horror flicks. This is a supernatural gore fest of delicious insanity with twists and turns that are anything but expected, paired with a refreshing and altogether unique backstory.
As far as I’m concerned, Marc Webb, James Vanderbilt, and the entire team – bless them – got it right. The Amazing Spider-Man as a story is closer to the original comic and respects the origin story with an exciting new twist. The science is far more believable, as are all the characters. The fact that the entire time Uncle Ben was speaking, I hadn’t remembered that Martin Sheen was even in the movie until he appeared on screen, so it was a nice surprise. Emma Stone nailed Gwen Stacy, Denis Leary nailed Captain Stacy, and Sally Field and Martin Sheen were perfect as Ben and May Parker. I don’t care if you loved or hated (like me) Sam Raimi’s rendition of Spider-Man. This movie is definitely one you should see if you have any amount of enthusiasm for the genre, and especially if you felt cheated by Spider-Man 3 (*coughEvancough*). So go! I mean, after you finish your beer and see (or set off) fireworks and stuff. Or before fireworks, since it’s early. Whatever. Whether 2-D or 3-D (which was amazing, by the way) – just see the movie!
It’s no secret America loves to watch a hero fall only to rise up again like the proverbial phoenix and surpass the overwhelming odds stacked against them. It’s also no secret that with a title like The Dark Knight Rises, it can be expected that such a thing will happen. From the outset we see the effects of Batman’s sacrifice at the end of The Dark Knight. Eight years have passed since the Dent Act was put in place and Gotham is virtually a crime free city. Batman is all but forgotten and Bruce Wayne (Christian Bale – The Machinist, Batman Begins, The Dark Knight) has become a crippled recluse, leaving the Playboy lifestyle of his younger days behind.
He is, however, introduced to Selina Kyle, or Catwoman (Anne Hathaway – Love and Other Drugs, The Devil Wears Prada), as she makes off with some pearls from his safe. Hathaway, incidentally, is one sexy Catwoman – much more so than Berry’s portrayal, in this reviewer’s humble opinion. Shortly thereafter, this film’s villain, Bane, and his past with The League of Shadows are pointed out to Bruce and he starts to get back in the game – he can’t let his beloved city fall to this punk. Finally, he decides it’s time to put the suit back on. By this time, everyone knows that Bane is planning something destructive for the newly reformed Gotham, but what is anyone’s guess.
Nolan has done a fantastic job of bringing his vision of the Batman universe to a close (at least for now) and manages to slip a little taste of things to come toward the end, as well as a couple of fantastic twists. Let’s hope he hasn’t truly decided to move on and leave the franchise with someone else.
Time travel is a tricky thing. It behaves differently in different universes, so when a story that takes place in a new one pops up, we as the nerds of geek pop culture are eager to learn how it works. Will it be like Doctor Who? Back to the Future? Terminator? Star Trek? The problem is, we have been burned too many times before by bad sci-fi to immediately trust that a new fictional universe is going to respect us and the story enough deliver a system that they will stick to. We want to know what the rules of time travel are before we are going to be satisfied enough to enjoy the story. Writer/Director Rian Johnson (Brick, Terriers) does right by us with Looper.
Looper takes us to a new universe where sci-fi elements like time travel serve to tell a suspenseful and action-packed, yet compelling story of one man’s self-reflection and hope for redemption. It is tense from the start and does not let you go until the end.
After years of anticipation, Marvel finally released The Avengers in theaters this summer. The largest (and one of the most epic) superhero endeavors ever brought to the big screen, the film features Captain America (Chris Evans), Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr), Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), and Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) standing up to fight the foes that no hero could face alone (with a little help from S.H.I.E.L.D.). We had known that The Avengers would be coming since first the epic post-credits scene from Iron Man, but we still were unprepared for this masterpiece from Writer/Director Joss Whedon (Cabin In The Woods, Firefly, Serenity).
The Avengers was not just a film, it was an experience. More importantly, it was an experience that I didn’t want to ever end. Joss Whedon crafted the perfect comic book movie. It acknowledged the legacy of these characters, and managed to present them in the most vivid and unquestionably stunning way possible. The Avengers was the end of Phase One of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and we already know that Phase Two will consist of Iron Man 3, Captain America: The Winter Solider, Thor: The Dark World, Guardians of The Galaxy, and the recently reported Edgar Wright helmed Ant-Man (come on Nathan Fillion!). These films will pave the way for the next installment of The Avengers in 2015, which cannot come soon enough. Get ready for more Marvel movies, True Believers!
