2018’s Cinematic Highlights

As regular readers will know, I don’t rush into choosing my favourite films of any given year until a few months into the next one – partly because a film’s staying power is a key factor for me when picking my favourites, and partly because there are still some films left to catch up on.  But that said, as we’re approaching Hollywood’s awards season at the moment, I do like to hand out a few light-hearted prizes of my own!

So without further ado, here are some of my highlights from 2018’s cinematic releases.

Family Film of 2018 – Mary Poppins Returns.  One of the biggest reliefs of the year was that the belated Mary Poppins sequel was a good as it was, working as both a standalone film if you’ve never seen the original, and a heart-warming shot of nostalgia if you have.  You’d have to have a heart of stone not to leave the cinema with a smile on your face and a spring in your step.

Best Villain of 2018 – Michael B. Jordan in Black Panther.  I can’t think of another major blockbuster where the “villain” of the film not only has a valid moral position that is arguably more justified than that of the “hero” (albeit that he takes it too far), but he also succeeds in changing the hero’s perspective by the end of the film.  Michael B. Jordan gave a complex performance as Eric Stevens/Killmonger that all but stole the film.  We were spoilt in 2018, as Josh Brolin came a close second in this category for his role in Avengers: Infinity War, where he made the morality of Thanos’ mass-murder almost understandable.

Best Stunts of 2018 – Mission: Impossible - Fallout.  Where do you even begin in singing the praises of the stunt team who worked on the sixth (and best) Mission: Impossible film?  Do you talk about the HALO (High Altitude, Low Opening) parachute scene, where Tom Cruise was filmed for real repeatedly jumping from a plane at 25,000 feet by a cameraman performing the same stunt backwards?  Or do you talk about the breathless car-and-motorcycle chase through Paris, where they closed the Arc de Triomphe?  Or the bathroom fight scene which was hands down the most impressive fight choreography of 2018?  Or the foot chase over the rooftops of London (where Tom Cruise snapped his ankle for real, as shown in the Blu-ray special features)?  Or the helicopter chase, where Tom Cruise learned how to fly stunt manoeuvres for real, and was then filmed with mounted cameras?  Or the helicopter payload stunt?  Or the … well, you get the idea.  In an age of CGI trickery, the stunt skills displayed in this film show there really is no substitute for the real thing.

Best Original Film of 2018 – A Quiet Place.  I’m not a huge fan of horror films, but I still maintain that this film is more of a suspense thriller than a true horror.  However you want to categorise it, the bottom line is that John Krasinski’s direction in A Quiet Place is a masterclass in creating tension, and the film itself is creative and intelligent, and above all, it packs several emotional punches that aren’t diminished on repeat viewings.  Proof (if proof was needed) that Hollywood can still surprise us with an original film that comes out of nowhere.

Best Score of 2018 – Black Panther.  I’m a big fan of movie scores, and I think Ludwig Goransson’s melding of traditional orchestral techniques with local African musical styles produced the most original film score of the year.  I’d also like to mention Lorne Balfe’s score on Mission: Impossible - Fallout as a very close second choice, as the unrelenting pace and tension, created by his use of percussion in particular, significantly contributed to the film’s sense of momentum and drama.

Best Cameo(s) of 2018 – Deadpool 2.  Everyone spotted the cameo by the cast of the new X-Men films, but did you spot the cameos from Brad Pitt and Matt Damon?

Comedy of 2018 – Game Night. This was a surprisingly enjoyable comedy that felt like a throwback to 80s comedies (in a good way).  A great cast and a great script make this well worth a watch.  As a slight sub-category, A Simple Favour takes the award for Black Comedy of 2018, and should appeal to anyone who appreciates dark humour combined with elements of film noir.

Biggest Disappointment of 2018 – Mile 22.  I enjoy a mindless action flick as much as the next person, and it’s not like I was expecting much from this in terms of plot or characterisation … but when even the action is muddled, poorly shot and unengaging, the end result really had no redeeming features.

Biggest Surprise of 2018 – Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.  When it was announced that Sony was making an animated Spider-Man movie that had nothing to do with the massively successful Marvel Cinematic Universe and its version of Spider-Man (played by Tom Holland), I thought it was at best a terrible idea, and at worst a cynical attempt to cash-in on the character’s popularity with a subpar animated feature.  How wrong was I?  Instead, this was one of the greatest love letters to comic-books that I have ever seen – original, inventive, funny, touching and visually unlike anything you’ve ever seen before.

Guilty Pleasure of 2018 – Overlord.  A gory, action packed and unashamedly B-movie horror film about secret Nazi super-soldier experiments – I mean, what’s not to love?  A close second was the Tomb Raider reboot, which was a lot of fun and one of the best videogame-to-film adaption to date.

Hidden Gem of 2018 – Annihilation.  Writer/director Alex Garland’s follow up to Ex_Machina is a tense, nightmarish sci-fi thriller that doesn’t spoon-feed you all the answer, but because it was released on Netflix rather than theatrically, it perhaps didn’t find the audience it deserved.  Well worth hunting down.

Most Visually Impressive Film of 2018 – Ready Player One.  Steven Spielberg’s first proper crowd-pleaser in a decade packed so much on screen that even after several viewings, I still think I’ve hardly scratched the surface in terms of all the hidden visual details in this nostalgia-packed blockbuster.

Biggest Redemption in 2018 – Bumblebee.  Let’s be honest, the live-action Transformers films have ranged from disappointing to unwatchable, so expectations for this prequel were pretty low – but this charming spinoff has restored my faith that a good live-action Transformers film is possible after all.

Person of the Year 2018 – Emily Blunt for Mary Poppins Returns and A Quiet Place.  Emily Blunt had a storming 2018, putting in two of the most memorable performances of the year – making the iconic role her own in Mary Poppins Returns, and upping the tension and emotion in A Quiet Place – two roles at polar opposites of the acting spectrum.  Honourable mentions should also go to Josh Brolin for his interesting performances in Avengers: Infinity War, Sicario 2: Soldado and Deadpool 2, and Michael B. Jordan for his stellar work in Black Panther and Creed II.

Favourite Cinematic Moment(s) of 2018 – Avengers: Infinity War.  It’s almost impossible to pick a favourite moment from this film, as there are so many to choose from.  Focusing on the “punch the air” moments rather than the heart-breaking ones, a close second must be Natasha Romanoff’s (Scarlett Johansson) line “She’s not alone” – but the number one shivers-down-the-spine scene has to be the first appearance of Captain America (Chris Evans) at the most critical of moments.

Obviously, these aren’t all of my favourite films from 2018, but they are some of the highlights!

Watch this space for my Top Ten of 2018 in a couple of months, but for now, you might want to check out some of the above highlights if you’ve not seen them already.