2023’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 now entering Hollywood’s awards season, I do like to mark the New Year with a look back at the last year to hand out a few light-hearted prizes of my own!

So without further ado, here are some of my highlights from 2023’s movie releases.

Family Film of 2023 – Wonka.  When it was first announced, I thought a prequel origin story for Willy Wonka was entirely unnecessary … but the end result was an utter delight.  A film that I would wholeheartedly recommend to viewers of all ages, it’s also my Best Musical of 2023 (and I’m admittedly not a huge fan of musicals).  Runners-up in the Family Film category also include the underrated Netflix animated fantasy-sci-fi Nimona, and the surprisingly good Puss in Boots: The Last Wish.

Best Score of 2023 – Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.  For me, the mark of a great score is one that not only heightens the movie-going experience, but which also works when listened to on its own – and Daniel Pemberton’s excellent score to the Spider-Verse sequel achieved both.  Just missing out for a second time on the title was Lorne Balfe for the score to Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning (Part One) (after he was also runner-up in 2018 for Mission: Impossible – Fallout).

Biggest Surprise of 2023 – Barbie.  There were so many films in 2023 that were far better than I was expecting – including the abovementioned Wonka and Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, as well as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem and The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, which were all far better than I thought they would be.  But arguably no film was as much of a (pleasant) surprise as Barbie, where writer/director Greta Gerwig took a brand that I had zero interest in and turned it into one of the best films of the year (and 2023’s highest grossing movie).

Best Franchise Redemption of 2023 – Fast X.  I was not a fan of Fast & Furious 9 (I thought it was – by far – the weakest in the series since Fast Five), so it was a huge relief that Fast X managed to find the right tone again and deliver one of 2023’s most fun blockbusters.  Runners-up in this category included Evil Dead Rise (which was far better than I was expecting after the po-faced 2013 remake), and Extraction II (which took my Biggest Disappointment of 2020 and finally delivered everything that the first movie had promised but ultimately failed to deliver).  I also wanted to mention in this category the third Poirot film (A Haunting in Venice) and The Equalizer 3, both of which were improvements on their predecessors.

Best Horror Movie of 2023 – Scream VI.  Bearing in mind that I’m not a huge fan of horror movies, there were plenty in 2023 that I enjoyed, including the expectedly enjoyable Evil Dead Rise and the delightful pitch-black horror-comedy M3GAN – but as a fan of the series, my favourite was definitely Scream VI, which managed to offer some fresh twists to the formula, and became one of my favourite instalments in the franchise.  It’s just a shame that the plans for Scream 7 appear to have completely fallen apart in recent months...

Best Animated Movie of 2023 – Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.  It was an amazing year for animated movies, with the abovementioned Nimona and Puss in Boots: The Last Wish both standing out from the crowd, and in any other year, the visual creativity on display in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem would have guaranteed it the top spot … but there’s no question that Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse was on a whole other level to everything else.  It’s taken the industry 5 years to catch up to where 2018’s Into the Spider-Verse was, but in 2023 Across the Spider-Verse somehow managed to outdo its predecessor, providing an animated movie that quite literally looked unlike anything else you’ve ever seen.

Best Soundtrack of 2023 – Barbie.  It really was a great year for movie music too – and while Wonka was my favourite musical and Across the Spider-Verse was my favourite score, Barbie was my favourite soundtrack with its eclectic mix of original songs, the best of which was the iconic “I’m Just Ken”.  My runner-up was the excellent “jukebox” soundtrack to Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, which in any other year may have taken the crown (just as Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 did in 2017), and I also wanted to mention the old skool hip-hop “jukebox” soundtrack to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem which was great fun.

Best Comedy of 2023 – Dungeons & Dragons: Honour Among Thieves.  Speaking of things that were great fun, I’m not sure there was another film in 2023 that made me laugh as continuously as the Dungeons & Dragons movie.  Don’t get me wrong, Wonka and Barbie both were hilarious throughout, and many other films had brilliantly funny moments and lines – but the D&D movie delivered non-stop laughs even on my fourth viewing!  I also need to mention the excellent British film Rye Lane as the Best Rom-Com of 2023.

Best Action Movie of 2023 – Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning (Part One).  There was some stiff competition from John Wick: Chapter 4 (which had some of the franchise’s best fight sequences), but the seventh Mission: Impossible film had a bit of everything – amazing car chases, shootouts and fight choreography and some breathtaking stunt sequences.  I also have to mention Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3‘s corridor fight sequence and Extraction II‘s prison break sequence as being joint winners of the Best Action One-Shot of 2023.

Best Original Movie of 2023 – The Creator.  There can be some argument over what constitutes an “original” film (were Barbie and Dungeons & Dragons “original” films?), but The Creator has no connection to any existing brand or franchise, and was an amazingly realised sci-fi action thriller.  The Creator also takes the award for Best Visual Effects of 2023 for the stunningly realistic Asian sci-fi settings, the robots and vehicles, which looked better that many other far more expensive films.

Best Biopic of 2023 – Oppenheimer.  Admittedly, I’m not a fan of the biopic genre, which is perhaps why I loved Oppenheimer so much, because it’s really much more of a taut, race-against-the-clock thriller than a biopic.  Compared to something as unengaging as 2023’s Napoleon biopic, Christopher Nolan’s movie was gripping from start to finish.

Best Swansong of 2023 – Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.  There aren’t many film series that have concluded as satisfactorily and emotionally as the Guardians trilogy, which was definitely one of the highlights of the year, delivering all the action, humour and heart you could have wished for.  My runner up was the very enjoyable Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (which was a huge improvement on the last film), and there’s also another great film this year (listed in another category) where even saying that it may be the end of the series could be considered a spoiler.

Biggest Disappointment of 2023 – Luther: The Fallen Sun.  Not the worst film of 2023 by any stretch, but as a fan of the TV series, I wanted and hoped for so much more from this.  I also felt let down by Napoleon and We Have a Ghost, which also weren’t bad films, but they didn’t live up to my expectations.

Most Unfairly Maligned Films of 2023 – The flip side of that is that there were a tonne of films in 2023 which I felt got a raw deal.  Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, Rebel Moon – Part One: A Child of Fire and The Marvels in particular were very enjoyable films that didn’t deserve the backlash they received.  The Flash was also a lot of fun, featuring the return of Michael Keaton’s Batman, and the final scene included my Best Cameo of 2023 (certainly, it was the most unexpected!).

Hidden Gems of 2023 – Dungeons & Dragons: Honour Among Thieves.  Despite its reasonable marketing budget, I think the fact that so few people actually saw the Dungeons & Dragons movie (based on its box office performance) means that it still qualifies as a “hidden gem”.  Maybe people were put off by the name “Dungeons & Dragons”, thinking it was only for nerds – but it’s a delightful adventure-comedy that should appeal to audiences of all ages, and there is literally no one that I wouldn’t recommend this film to.  My runners up include The Creator (which I think a lot of people may have missed), and They Cloned Tyrone (although, as much as I thoroughly enjoyed that film, it’s much more of an acquired taste with perhaps a more niche audience).

Best “Breakthrough” Performance of 2023 – Hayley Atwell for Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning (Part One).  It seems ridiculous to call this a “breakthrough” performance when Hayley Atwell was the second lead in 2011’s Captain America: The First Avenger, but the truth is that Hollywood has completely failed to recognise Hayley Atwell’s talent over the intervening years.  Hopefully her standout performance in the latest Mission: Impossible film will mean that Hollywood finally sits up and takes notice.

Villain of 2023 – Jason Momoa for Fast X.  Although Jason Schwartzman’s performances as the Spot (in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse) and as Lucky Flickerman (The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes) where both delightful, no villain made more of an impact in 2023 than Jason Momoa’s deranged Dante, who was the best thing in Fast X and who breathed new life into the franchise.

Guilty Pleasure of 2023 – Renfield.  It may not have been high art, and it may have had a few flaws, but I had a whale of a time watching Renfield, and the ridiculously over-the-top and gory fight scene in the apartment block was one of my comedy highlights of the year.  My runner-up is Rebel Moon – Part One: A Child of Fire – yes, you can argue that it’s derivative and a little predictable, but I still really enjoyed the ride, and am looking forward to both the R-rated extended cut of Part One, and the release of Part Two in April.

Person of the Year 2023 – Hugh Grant for Dungeons & Dragons and Wonka.  If you had asked me in March who my person of the year was likely to be, I probably would have said Jonathan Majors for his work on Creed III and Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, but little did I know how the rest of 2023 would pan out for him.  Had Dune: Part Two not been postponed until 2024, Timothee Chalamet may well have taken the title given his performance in Wonka, and then there’s Teyonah Parris’ excellent work in They Cloned Tyrone and The Marvels, Jason Momoa’s in Fast X and Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, and Pom Klementieff’s in Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning (Part One) and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.  But two of the films that I enjoyed the most in 2023 were Wonka and Dungeons & Dragons: Honour Among Thieves, and Hugh Grant’s comedic performances came very close to stealing both movies – and so for that reason, he’s my Person of the Year for 2023.

Favourite Cinematic Moment of 2023 – Barbie.  There are so many great cinematic moments to choose from in 2023, but if you’re looking for a powerful, poignant yet uplifting moment that defined 2023’s cinematic experience, you can’t ignore America Ferrera’s emotional monologue in Barbie.  One of the best moments in one of the best films of the year, the monologue (delivered with no score or other background music) hit home in an unexpected way, and hopefully gave some audience members something to think about, and gave others the comfort of giving a voice to their truth.

These movies aren’t necessarily all of my favourite films from 2023, but they are certainly some of the highlights!

Watch this space for my Top Ten of 2023 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.