Well, I've not posted here in a while, and as 2012 was absolutely the best year for movies that I can remember, I thought I'd post my top 5 films of last year, along with why I thought they were better than the rest.
5 - Looper
The time travel thriller I reviewed at the time of its release comes in at my number five spot. The clever take on time travel, the fantastic characters and the dark and gritty (as much as I'm starting to hate that phrase) world created within this single story has earned it its place in my top five. It's a film set in a world you entirely buy into and Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Bruce Willis both bring their A-game. Atmosphere is rich, as are the questions of morality that the wonderfully flawed protagonist starts to bring up. But there are four bigger flicks for me to get through, so let's not dwell on Looper for too long!
4 - The Dark Knight Rises
Chris Nolan's third and final Bat-film was a brilliant end to the series, even if it wasn't quite at the level of 2008's The Dark Knight. Bane provided a fantastic villain in the form of a truly unstoppable opponent for Batman and a terrorist that brought a satisfyingly thought-provoking political edge to the film. There were a couple of moments I was unsure of at first, but have come round to liking. The first was when, during Bruce's escape from the pit, a flurry of bats flew out and surrounded him. While it seemed a little cheesy to me when I first saw it, I now think it is a beautiful moment - the bats were the symbol of fear that inspired Bruce to become Batman and in his escape it is fear once again that is inspiring him to protect the people of Gotham. The bats show that, perhaps for the first time in the movie, the Batman is truly back. The other moment it took me a bit of time to come round to liking was seeing Bruce in the café after his supposed death. Initially, I thought it was making things too obvious - we could have just seen Alfred nod and had it left to us to infer Bruce's survival. But the more I thought about it, the more I realised that this wasn't the right time for enigmas to be left hanging. This was the end - the actual, final definitive end - to The Dark Knight series. It feels better seeing Bruce and knowing he's alive (sorry, mad internet theorists, but that's not up for debate in any way). It felt good to have everything wrapped up properly and without any mysteries left unsolved. Though having said that, I would have liked to see Joseph Gordon-Levitt in the batsuit...
3 - The Amazing Spider-Man
I feel like this is the 'controversial' choice. Not only have I brought up the superhero film that has divided opinion like no other, but I've said its better than The Dark Knight Rises. Please, don't sharpen your pitchforks just yet! Let me explain! First and foremost, I am a massive Spidey fan. Like, a really, really massive Spidey fan. He is my all-time favourite superhero and one of my all-time favourite characters. Nobody is as easy to relate to as Peter Parker, the ordinary kid with ordinary problems (y'know, not an angry billionaire playboy) and this film captured that perfectly. This is why I find it shocking any human being can honestly claim to prefer Sam Raimi's Spider-Man films. People might say Peter Parker was nerdier in them and more like he was in the comics, but:
a) Yes, he was nerdier, but he was a two-dimensional stereotype of a nerd. He had no real character and was such a cliché that you couldn't really believe in him as a character. And...
b) No, he was not more like he was in the comics. In Amazing he still has that essential nerdiness, but he's more human and that's exactly who he was in the comic books. That was what made him brilliant. His conversations with Gwen, Connors and his family, his quiet, withdrawn nature, and his actual intelligence (that didn't exist in Raimi's films) are all signs that Marc Webb and Andrew Garfield have created a far better realisation of Peter Parker.
Okay, now why I preferred it to The Dark Knight Rises. TDKR had too many problems, for a start. Batman still used his Batman voice when nobody else was around... why??? There's no explanation as to how Bruce got back into Gotham; shares transactions that happened during an armed attack on the stock exchange aren't questioned at all; Batman's magic knee-brace broke the believability of the film and Batman quite knowingly killed a man (the lorry driver in the final chase across Gotham). The Amazing Spider-Man had a protagonist it was much easier to relate to and who you genuinely care about, a human story with real heart to it, some incredible action sequences (such as Peter's rooftop fight as he searches for Uncle Ben's killer and the film's finale involving Spidey, the police and the Lizard), a great new costume for Spider-Man that you believed Peter Parker could actually make, the big-screen debut of web-shooters, the best Stan Lee cameo to date and an absolutely stunning cast. The only way this film could have been improved was if some of the deleted scenes had been left in (in the deleted footage, there's actually a reason for the Lizard fleeing from the school fight!).
2 - The Avengers
So, while Spidey scoops the title for best single-superhero film of the year, the teaming up of Marvel's big-timers takes the title of overall best superhero flick of 2012. Why? Because it was The Avengers, that's why. It may not have had all the complexity and intelligence of The Dark Knight Rises, but that doesn't always make for a better movie. We may not have had characters we could relate to as easily as Peter Parker, but what we did have was a range of incredible characters - particularly Tony Stark and Bruce Banner - with their own strengths and flaws. The film knew what it was more than TDKR did - its tone was consistent and just right. Character is (as you've probably guessed by now) a big deal for me and seeing Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, Bruce Banner, Nick Fury and Loki all thrown into the mix together was fantastic. The dialogues that emerged were just brilliant. And the film certainly didn't disappoint when it came to action and big, bold moments that made you want to cheer (Banner's "I'm always angry" moment being one of the most notable). Everything you could want from a superhero blockbuster is in here - brilliant exchanges between characters, size and scale, some truly heroic moments, amazing sets, a great villain, a fast pace, a healthy helping of humour and some fantastic action sequences.
So, what tops this? What has defeated all other films of 2012 to snatch the number one spot on my list? What had what it takes to beat Bruce Willis, Joseph Gordon-Levitt twice, Batman, Spider-Man and the Avengers? Well, while the USA has proved it makes most of the best and biggest pictures, it was proven in 2012 that in film, even more than in sport (let's be honest, who actually cared about the Olympics?), the very best comes from Britain...
1 - SKYFALL
Bond. James Bond. (And yes, he actually said it in this one!) 50 years of Bond to be precise, and what a way to celebrate! It was really only towards the end of 2011 that I started to become a big Bond fan (getting into the films as me and my friends started to make our own Bond fanfilm) and I, like any decent human being, had come to the conclusion that Goldfinger was to forever be the best Bond film. I was wrong. Skyfall is the best Bond has ever been. Not only is Daniel Craig utterly fantastic in the role (okay, he doesn't quite take the title of best Bond from Mr Connery), but the return of Q, the casting of Javier Bardem as the best Bond villain to date, the brilliant re-appearance of the Aston Martin DB5, two incredible Bond girls (one of whom will have any Bond fan grinning from ear to ear by the end of the film), Ralph Fiennes's Mallory, Thomas Newman's utterly 'Bond' soundtrack, a great story, some incredible action sequences and Judi Dench's best ever performance as M, all make this not only an unbeatable Bond film, but an utterly amazing film all round. It's almost impossible to believe that this is the follow-up to 2008 failure, Quantum of Solace. Skyfall brings back the eccentric, yet still believable, action you expect from Bond - Bond's leap from a digger into a train carriage is not a stunt likely to be forgotten any time soon and his encounter with some Komodo Dragons is a nice little nod to the Roger Moore era. Ben Whishaw is a perfect choice for Q, giving Bond some more down-to-earth gadgets ("What were you expecting, an exploding pen? We don't really go in for those anymore") and thank goodness he did - the last time we saw Q it was the Aston Martin "Vanish", something we'd all rather forget. Adele's theme tune is also the best we have had in a Bond film, set to a beautiful opening title sequence following the film's stunning first scene in Istanbul. Skyfall never lets up, taking us through the incredible sites of Shanghai, London (both over- and underground) and Bond's ancestral home, Skyfall manor, in Scotland. The film's closing scene is also just perfect as we see a return to the classic 1960s era of Bond and the gun barrel sequence comes in as the theme tune blares out. What's more, it doesn't feel wrong not having the gun barrel at the start of the film - the opening shot, set to a sting of the Bond theme, makes up for it perfectly. Aside from all these utterly Bond-esque features, Skyfall has a great story, filled with rich layers of character and depth, mixed with some utterly breathtaking action sequences, giving it the perfect blend of brains and brawn. It is, totally and utterly, the best film of 2012 and one of my favourite films of all time.
Roll on, 2013...
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