There are four other movies I'd like to talk about briefly about before i get to the list the first is The Amazing Spider-Man and before I saw it I was in the Why-do-we-need-this-movie-we-already-got-before-with-Sam-Rami camp but once I saw it I had to admit it was a good movie and a great take on the Spider-Man franchise, so check if out if you haven't yet. The second film I want to mention is John Carter, a film that did bad at the box office due to bad publicity in my opinion, while it wasn't the greatest movie ever made it isn't anywhere near as bad as you may have heard, and the people who complained that it was ripping off Star Wars and the Flash Gordon serials should know that the book this film is based off was out before all of those and that they ripped this movie off, I also this this movie suffered with marketing, if it had of been called John Carter of Mars, of Princess of Mars would it of done better? Maybe it would of but unfortunatly it wasnt and it got ripped to shreads by critics, I for one am diaspointed as it looked like it would of been a good film series one that could of rivled Star Wars but we'll never get to see that.
Lastly I'd like to mention The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey & Django Unchained – At the time of writing this I haven’t seen these films but going on pedigree alone I can guarantee that these are both amazing movies. With The Hobbit I’ve heard mixed things but if you’re a fan of the LOTR trilogy you should love it and with Django all I’ve heard has been good, plus it’s a Quentin Tarantino film so you know it’ll be amazing (Death Proof was ok). As soon as I get to see these two I will update this list, who knows one of them could top the list when I do. Anyway with out further ado, here's my top ten films of 2012, enjoy.
10 The Raid: Redemption & Dredd – The Raid was one of the most beautifully shot and original films I have ever seen, I recommend you see the original version not the dub, there’s not many subtitles to read. Dredd is in the same space as unfortunately it has a near identical story to The Raid, I imagine its just a case of bad timing though rather than a genuine attempt to rip off the former and again is a great action film well worth checking out.
9. The Hunger Games – This is here more for the book which I thought was amazing and while I knew the film couldn’t live up to my expectations as it was aimed at a teen market, I wasn’t prepared for how much of a departure it was from the novel. Still a great film that you should check out and the sequel looks like it will be good too.
8. Chronicle – One of the freshest reimagining’s of the superhero genre ever. When this came out earlier this year it was my favourite film of the year so far. It makes great use of the found footage genre too and it inventive having the characters controlling the camera with their minds to make it more stable and to get the wide angle shots. A work of genius, please watch it.
7. The Secret World of Arrietty – I’m a sucker for anything Studio Ghibli, while not my favourite of their films it’s still a captivating film and defiantly worth watching. This film is based on The Borrowers books and in typical Ghibli is visually stunning and heartfelt, the Disney dub is great and so is the original Japanese voice track. The Ghibli movies are a great starting point for anyone wanting to get into Anime and you can get them very easy.
6. The Cabin In The Woods – I love horror movies, especially the classics like The Evil Dead, so when I first hear about this film and that it was a Joss Whedon movie (he helped write the script) I was in. I knew that this was a twist on the usual horror movie set up but I tried to avoid spoilers, so when I saw this film and how it deconstructed the horror movie genre and the film in a film style of it, I was blown away. Go see this film if you love horror movies and especially if you’re a Joss Whedon fan, you’ll love it.
5. Pitch Perfect –This is the funniest film I've seen all year, and is up there with the best Comedy films of recent year. A heart warming story that never feel forced or unreal and gives the world Fat Amy and shows that Anna Kendrick is quiet a capable young actress. Well worth checking out.
4. Promethus – The sort of prequel to the Alien films, this one really polarizes people, you either love it or hate it. I loved it, it wasn’t a perfect movie but as far as sci-fi movies go its up there with the best, I think living in the shadow of the Alien movies doesn’t help its case but its easily the 4th best Alien movie if not 3rd so that’s go to count for something. I say check it out at least but be warned it’s a film that likes to think it’s smart.
3. The Avengers – The first film on this list that I excited to see before it ever existed. Marvel well and truly deserve a round of applause for making such an ambitious film, full stop, leave alone make one of the best superhero/comic book films ever. The planning that went into this film with all the little post credit scenes just make the pay off so much better, no other film can boast such an ensemble cast of such well known and loved characters, and who knew Mark Ruffalo’s Hulk would steal the show? The only downside is one second viewing some of the magic is lost and having seen it opening night in a packed cinema watching it alone really doesn’t compare, but leaving that aside this is a phenomenal film and one to watch if you’re a comic book fan.
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2. Looper – The most creative and original film I’ve seen since The Raid ha. But seriously this is an amazing film and one you need to see, its story is such a fresh take on the time-travel genre and is the best sci-fi film I’ve seen all year. I won’t say too much more on this film as I have a review of it ready to post to the blog but you need to see this film.
1. The Dark Knight Rise – How do you follow up The Dark Knight, possibly the best super hero/comic book movie ever made? By breaking down your main character to a shell of the man he was before, by having him face a villain that can dominate him in a way no one was ever done before, by literally breaking your hero down and then slowly rebuilding him, by conquering his fear, to rise to the challenge. In case you can’t tell I love this movie and The Dark Knight Trilogy as a whole, Christopher Nolan is an amazing director and one of my personal favourites, but what the man has done here with such a fantastical character like Batman is mesmerising. While Bane might not quite match the intensity of the Joker in the Dark Knight, he isn’t really meant too, all of the villains in the trilogy so far have represented different aspects Bruce Wayne has had to overcome in order to be the hero Gotham city deserves. Watch this film if you haven’t I’d recommend watching all three movies together.
